Hello,
It has been hot here in Southern California…
I was eating my usual snack and like every summer,
The swamp cooler makes it humid in the house…
It makes the Oreos and Cheetos soft and not as crunchy…
I was worried that this much humidity would be bad for my
Shamisen…
Some days it is more humid than others…
It is not so bad today…
What kind of precautions should I take for protecting my Shamisen
from damage?
I can eat snacks in any situation…
Well you should definitely always wrap up your shamisen after you practice and/or in between any other time you use it.
If you can find a place, it is better to practice in a location with as little humidity as possible.
Since you mentioned southern California I imagine finding a dry place could be easy. Mike Penny and I used to go out in the desert a lot back in the old days.
I have been really paranoid about my skin from day 1.
So much to the point that I have had 3 nightmares in the last year about breaking it (>_
Apart from playing EVERY DAY and having nightmares in various languages, I do what Norm does. Also remember to not keep it against a outer wall. The temperature of the wall changes a lot.
Also, don’t eat snacks and then touch the shamisen without washing your hands 
And watch out for crumbs falling onto the skin and being smashed by the bachi.
Thankfully I ate an almond biscotti before viewing this post. Otherwise I’d start salivating.
A year or two ago, a guy from Australia wrote me, saying that his shamisen’s skin kept rupturing. He sent it to Japan to get fixed, but then it ruptured again 6 months later (or something like that). It didn’t sound like the weather changed much (where he was), so I was completely stumped. Of course, seeing what Norm wrote, I guess I didn’t know his playing/storing habits.
Speaking of which, very interesting, Norm! Especially about playing every day. I wonder why that is? Grant had both of his dou(s) tucked away (wrapped and in boxes) for at least six months, and recently found out that both had ruptured upon taking them out. (His normal dou had two sizable holes, whereas his Mugen21 Dou had completely split)
Also, don’t eat snacks and then touch the shamisen without washing your hands
Actually, eating pizza before playing mandolin was an old trick I used for sliding on my mandolin. 
(Later I switched to camellia oil) Anywho, I make sure to wash my hands before playing shamisen, especially so the ichi no ito doesn’t get loaded up with grime/dirt. It’s easy to clean steel strings, but I’m not sure that can be done with silk.
Thanks for all the great advise… : ),
I have seen a picture of a Washi Bag in Kyle’s book,
I am guessing this is the same as a Washi Bukuro???
I have searched the Bachido Store but haven’t seen a listing…
I can understand why Norm is paranoid, to much moisture is bad
and so is dry wind and fans…
Hopefully, I can find a happy middle ground here…
I will have to be carefully since we use lots of fans to circulate the air here.
And I never thought of the temp. in the walls as Karl said…
I think the back rooms here are cooler, they get the early morning sun…
There is much to learn…
Ah yes, that is the Washi Bukuro.
Gah! You’re right, I didn’t put it in the store. How did a washi bukuro slip my mind?
I’ll make a note to add that in later this week.
Okay…
I have 5 items saved in my cart/wish list, already…
But, I’ll wait for the Washi Bukuro and hopefully I will be able to run
my order thru, sometime next week…
My budget has me limited, but it sounds like I need one…
As you already know my Shamisen is ???
I guess non-standard is way of putting it.
From my earlier posts…
Do you think Tsugaru parts would fit it,
I was wanting to buy Tsugaru parts and stuff,
Since that is the ultimate goal…
A REAL Tsugaru Shamisen!!! : )
Interesting question. It would depend on which tsugaru parts you are thinking about adding. 
Changing the parts (ito, koma, etc) does make a good difference in sound.
Since your ultimate goal is having the real deal, I would also recommend saving up for an actual futozao shamisen, because the size of the body and skin material/tightness are even bigger factors in getting the tsugaru flavor. Fortunately, you currently have a shamisen which you can have fun with. By the time you save up for one, we might have cheaper models available.
Speaking of which, very interesting, Norm! Especially about playing every day. I wonder why that is? Grant had both of his dou(s) tucked away (wrapped and in boxes) for at least six months, and recently found out that both had ruptured upon taking them out. (His normal dou had two sizable holes, whereas his Mugen21 Dou had completely split)
To be fair, both of those skins had been around longer than you and I have been playing! Haha.
The mugen was at least 7 years, and my standard is more than 5 I’m sure.
I’m certain that the standard dou (which was the one I primarily played upon) got the hole from me leaving it out on my stand without wrapping it.
For years I have had the habit of always putting my shami into a washi bag, inside of a plastic bag (just around the dou), and then the whole thing inside of a cloth bag.
I got lazy for whatever reason and sort of stopped doing that. And when you live in a single room without a lot of venting or anything, even you sleeping (among other things) can make it humid.
But, let it be known that I’ve never wiped or put a towel anywhere near my shamisen. So in my opinion I think that might be a little overboard if you aren’t living in a super humid place. But I’m sure it can’t hurt it.
Kevin and I sort of decided that since the skins on my dou have lasted so long, it must be because of the exceptionally mild climate out here in California/Santa Cruz.
I know that wiping down the sao is good for removing dirt/grime, but I speculate how much wiping the skin would remove moisture. If anything, I think placing a dry, warm towel on top would help evaporate the moisture on the skin (if one felt that their skin was too moist).
Finally done!!!.. for today, at least. Time to put up the blogcast and watch Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy! I watched the 6-hour BBC miniseries about five times, so am looking forward to the movie. (We started to watch it yesterday, but the family got too confused)