Hi Bachido,
Been a while. I dropped off of the forum due to a completely insane semester at school, which actually went really well, but I’m going to try and be more active here again.
I’m preparing to start my own build, and was wondering what the specific differences are in dou sizes. I’ve heard different sizes referred to, but have seen no comparison and have no idea what exactly changes. I was also wondering what size the template in Shamisen of Japan is.
Thanks for the help!
I’m wondering the same thing but for a different reason - doukake sizing… are doukake all a standard size? one doukake fits any tsugaru shamisen…?
Yeah the doukake for tsugaru shamisen are interchangeable since tsugaru shamisen should all have similarly sized dou. The difference is for nagauta and jiuta. Nagauta dou are smaller and have straighter sides while tsugaru dou are bigger and have more curved sides. Jiuta is somewhere in between. That being said the difference in size between the different kinds of dou are only very slight, maybe an inch at best. However I did notice that both my tsugaru and nagauta measure about 9.5 cm from front to back.
I was also wondering what size the template in Shamisen of Japan is.
If you are wondering what kind of shamisen it shows you how to make in the book then it’s tsugaru size. Then again theres nothing stopping you from getting creative and making your dou whatever size you want 
There can be some variation in dou size within tsugaru shamisen as well, I believe the student models tend to be a bit smaller than the professional ones. Or at least that’s my understanding.
You would think there would be some variation between different makers and such but I have never heard of anything like that. It wouldn’t surprise me though since some people might want to change the dou size to adjust the sound of their shamisen.
Maybe someone else on the forum might have some more useful information for you.
Hey guys, we discussed this on a previous post () but I will copy what I found out here.
"OK, I asked the fine folks at Kameya and got some things straightened out. First is that there are “standard” measurements but since they are hand made there are some variations. There probably are some stylistic or shop differences where they intentionally vary.
First, the baseline standard dimensions for a dou are 5 sun 9 bu wide by 6 sun 5 bu long. A sun (寸) is 3.03cm.
This makes the standard go-rin dai dou ~18.0 cm X 19.8 cm as is typical on a hosozao shamisen.
A ni-bu dai dou is ~ 18.6 cm X 20.3 cm
The Tsurgaru go-bu dai dou should be ~ 19.3 cm X 21.2 cm.
Keep in mind that this is measuring across the top of the dou to the sharp edge. The widest dimensions of the dou are larger because the sides are convex. This is where a lot of variation can occur with Joe shamisen player measuring his shamisen and reporting the dimensions."
The differences don’t seem that large but it makes a big difference when you are comparing them side by side.
Ah, yes that was what I was looking for. I had a feeling it was already discussed in one way or another. Thank you for that.
My shamisen dou was shaped as close as I could get to the template in the book. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that a “ready made” doukake fits. Kyle obviously did his homework for the dou measurements.
Hi Michael!
I think I own a jiuta shamisen judging from the Hatomune, kawa and itomaki. It is also a chuuzao.
I’m wondering what size of doukake I need to buy for this type of shamisen?
I’m a bit confused by the number showing on Katoh’s and on Bachido’s website. Does it just tells you which model or is it also a size?
Hi Jacinthe,
You probably have a ni bu dai shamisen. Look for 二分大 . The numbers are models numbers but I believe that on Bachido they are all for the larger Tsugaru shamisen. I am sure Kyle could get you a jiuta one though. I have contacted Kameya in the past for doukake. If you give them a description of what you are looking for they can email you some pictures. There are a huge number of cloth patterns, so color and design will vary.
Thank you Michael! I will know what to look for from now on.
I assume the dou size would potentially change with the Chuzao built for tsugaru playing. The chuzao tsugaru aren’t as common as the futzao tsugaru but they do exist. Something to watch out for because if I’m right that means there would be two sizes for tsugaru technically.
Dou sizes are standardized as are most other aspects of a shamisen. Shamisen are not made as a “chuuzao” they are made as “jiuta”, “minyo” etc. The problem comes if you don’t know what style your shamisen really is. Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation out there.