I just re-skinned my nagauta, and instead of paying $90 to take it on my flight (it’s a long case) I can ship it for about $40, should I?
I’m so scared it will rip, but the case seems good enough, I’ve seen the warnings on the temp changes during a flight, but surely there is a way to ship shamisens right?
I have the washi bag and another cover for it…
and I’m throwing in some dissecants.
Thank you in advance for any advice.
Take the dou with you and pack it up good, and ship the rest, I think Kyle made a post somewhere about traveling with your shamisen.
Are you sure your case won’t fit the international flight rules?
I checked Finnair and Air France and they both have the same rule.
“The sum of the external dimensions (length + width + height) of each piece of baggage can be no greater than 158 cm.”
I have a futozao and my case measured 153-154 cm when adding the length, width and height together.
I’m taking the whole instrument in my backpack on the flight and put my clothes and other stuff in the case and will check it in.
I’m mostly concerned about if the case will survive having a lot of other baggage on it 
Thank you for the tips. I think I will pack the dou on carry on
We brought two (disassembled) shamisens from Seattle to Sapporo. I cut pieces of hardboard to match the outline of the dou, and rubber-banded them on to protect the skins during the trip. We packed both instruments in our checked bags, well surrounded by soft clothing.