Good morning everyone,
So I recently took a workshop with Kyle and have decided to take the plunge into shamisen. But being on a college budget and being very green to the shamisen world, spending 1000+ on a shamisen would not be feasible. So I resorted to scowering the internets for something a bit more in my range (
eBay shamisen are risky to buy. It may be not genuine or broken. You can start with a sanshin or a gottan. Or spend a little more buying a level 1 shamisen, whose price has lowered a bit.
Can you explain the difference between those two and the tsugaru version? I know little to nothing about this. :L
http://bachido.com/overview/shamisen-styles
Everything is explained in the store section too
http://bachido.com/products/standard-shamisen
I’m all in favor of waiting a bit, saving some, and investing the money into quality you know will last.
If you were at one of our workshops, that means you were most likely playing on a nagauta shamisen. In the case that you would like to continue with that style (be it for nagauta minyo or tsugaru minyo), I’d suggest against picking up a sanshin.
If you have particular questions, feel free to PM me about them.
Best wishes on your personal shamisen journey~!!
If you are able to fork over the shipping n’ such, amazon.jp is a great place these days. For example :
If you’re serious enough to buy one there but aren’t familiar with navigating the Japanese end of Amazon then I’m sure some kind soul would be willing to provide assistance : P
Can someone translate those two amazon pages? I’m already planning to get a nagauta from Harry but I also want a tsugaru or jiuta.
Can you explain the difference between those two and the tsugaru version? I know little to nothing about this. :L
The Tsugaru shamisen has skin on it , while the kankara and gottan have none. The koma stands on a can and on bare wood, respectively.
The Tsugaru is pretty expensive comparing to a kankara or gottan.
The kankara is not a “shamisen” but a sanshin. It is 80 cm long.
The gottan is a shamisen with no skin, but it is a good starter shamisen, being 100 cm long.
Can someone translate those two amazon pages? I’m already planning to get a nagauta from Harry but I also want a tsugaru or jiuta.
Chi, I can’t translate it right now but the prices are about 700 dollars in the first one and 550 on the other. The differences are, one has the set and Azuma Sawari the other (cheaper one) has only the set.
Damn spellcheck, I meant Garry not Harry. Sigh… Anyway, thank you for the general translation. I greatly appreciate it. I really need to finish learning japanese.
If you, or anyone, ever have the time to translate the rest let me know. Oh and does anyone know how much the shipping will be?
Thanks guys, this is a lot of information to take in. But thats great 
Gonna keep searching.