Sorry for the friends of elephants if the answer is yes, but do you think it is ivory ? I just bought this bachi on yahoo auctions. If it is ivory, how can I clean it ? Thank you for your advice.
That is an excellent question. I wonder if it’s even possible? It doesn’t look like dirt, but rather discoloration of the actual ivory itself.
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Thank you Kyle. Does this mean that you think it is ivory ? I’ll have confirmation (maybe) when I have received it… The seller himself was not 100 % sure, but I made a bet…
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I can only guess that it is ivory. I don’t think bone bachi were made.
looks like ivory to me! It’s old and I’d also say to never take that awesome patina off it. Honour the source! Cheers.
True. There’s something to be said about keeping the vintage look. 
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yes go vintage!
Well, I received the bachi. Nice ivory but I’m really surprised by the size. It seems very thin. The bottom is 1.5 x 1 cm. Could this be a child bachi ? anyway it is very comfortable for the pinkie
Personally, I doubt it’s a child bachi. If it is ivory, and from the source (Japan) it’s most likely for a full grown adult. Japanese people don’t have the biggest hands (no offense intended in any way at all).
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Well, thanks Adrian. I was quite sure it could not be a child bachi as there are no child shamisen, I guess… (except for the Nitta koshamisen… but it was not its original purpose).
Patrick,
Those finger oil stains are pretty dark. You can safely bleach ivory with 3% hydrogen peroxide. What I did to lighten the finger stains was to soak white paper towel pieces with peroxide and place them on top of the stained portions. Refreshen the hydrogen peroxide a couple times a day. After a few days the stains should be a lot lighter. This way you can lighten the stains without taking away the overall vintage yellowing.
I could imagine that this was made from a piece of ivory that would only yield a thinner bachi. I see what looks like a joint about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom - is there a layer of ivory applied onto a core of ivory? Very beautiful object and I must agree with others - the stain is a human stain and represents hours of music. Let it be.
Seriously, please don’t buy ivory, you guys. You have no idea how bad it is. Elephants are just an inch away from being endangered because There is constant poaching going on due to the demand of a few countries new upper class demands for ivory. It’s worse now than it ever has been. It is estimated that last year, there were over 10,000 elephants killed. Do you really want to be a part of that?
BTW, I have a bachi that looks just like that, but it’s bone. If it doesn’t sound and feel like glass when you tap it, it’s probably not ivory. Ivory has sort of a tinkly sound when you tap it. And if it didn’t cost a thousand dollars or more, I doubt it’s ivory.
Sorry to be a Debbie Downer you guys, but this really is a serious issue, using endangered animals to make music. We should make music WITH them, not from them.
At least you didn’t buy a NEW ivory bachi. I definitely would have cried if I had seen that.
By the way, how does it play? I found that so far, I have liked my cheap plastic bachi over all my others, lol! (Seriously, I really do - of course I’m not a good player, so I don’t know how good my word is.)
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Agree, Lorraine - ivory trade is supposedly banned, but continues, and the elephants are on the brink.
If you type in ivory on the shopping tab on a Google search, it will not bring back any actual ivory objects - that’s kind of cool.
I have a small cache of mastodon ivory. It is the one ivory that is OK - our ancestors already killed all of the mastodons off. Groan.
Did I mention that one in eight birds species is in collapse?
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Thank you, Tomo, I actually felt bad yelling at people, but really, shamisen players are gentle and wonderful people for the most part, so I want to remind everyone of something that they probably weren’t aware of, or maybe didn’t REALLY think about. I won’t even buy a zouge koma.
Anyhow, I found this website for Patrick. I may have ivory itomaki (I didn’t know that this shamisen had this when I bought it - they looked plastic in the photos), so this will help me as well. If you don’t want to read this loooooong explanation, scroll to the bottom, I put up photos that I took of ivory next to bone.
From http://www.carolinacustomscrimshaw.com/faq.html
"How do I tell if something is ivory, bone or an ivory substitute (plastic or resin)? Ivory is actually the natural tooth of an animal. Teeth continue to grow throughout an animal’s lifetime and as a result, they have a noticeable structure and “growth lines” (called Schreger lines). Look at the piece carefully under a magnifying glass. Under a 10x magnifier, elephant and mammoth ivory will have visible striations or grain that often
show up as diamond or “V” shapes or cross-hatching on the surface or edges of polished ivory. Bone lacks such noticeable striations and will appear more uniform across the surface. Under magnification bone usually shows circular or oval shaped dots on cut surfaces. These dots are the remnants of tiny vessels that once supplied the living bone. Resins or plastics have a uniform surface, usually with no striations or diamond or “V” patterns, however some manufacturers are now introducing faux ivory
with an attempt to reproduce some of these features.
When looking at a piece, check the bottom or sides for the diamond or cross-hatch pattern typical of real ivory. Then check again for a slight wood-grain pattern, this is also typical of real ivory. Next, check the feel. Real ivory should have a cool-to-the-touch feeling. Resins or plastics may duplicate one or some of these features, but none duplicates them all.
Also, color often varies slightly (I emphasize slightly) throughout natural ivory (more variable in mammoth) from a creamy white to a creamy yellow-tan or a creamy, light yellow-brown, whereas bone and plastics are either consistent in color throughout, or their color variations may be extreme, especially in stained or colorized resins and plastics.
The next test involves using an inexpensive black light which you can find at most department or home improvement stores. Shine the black light on the piece, preferably in total darkness. Ivory develops a beautiful natural patina with age which shows up as a yellow-brown overall color under normal lighting conditions. Under black light this patina will show up as a dull mottled yellow with an occasional spot of bright blue or white/blue where the original surface shows through from wear. Bone, and especially
plastics, are often given a patina to simulate ivory’s natural look by soaking the piece in chemicals, manure, or even tea. These usually reflect a bright yellow under black light. When using an ultraviolet light, regardless of the appearance or chemical composition of the manufactured ivory substitutes, they all share a common identifying characteristic.
When ultraviolet light is shined on manufactured ivory substitutes that do not have an artificial patina they absorb the ultraviolet light exhibiting a dull blue appearance. Ivory, without a patina, on the other hand, has a bright blue or white/blue florescent appearance.
You can also take a Q-tip, dip it in alcohol and rub the piece in an inconspicuous area. If the patina comes off and colors the Q-tip, chances are good it’s a paint or varnish or some other substance that was applied to give the impression of age. There is one other way to tell if a piece is ivory or plastic, but be aware this should be used only as a last resort since it can be a destructive test, especially to plastic. It is the “so-called” red hot pin test. Take a pin and heat it in a flame until it is red hot. Touch the hot pin to an inconspicuous area of the piece. If it is real ivory, nothing much
will happen. It may, however, produce a tiny smooth scorched point (which is never good for the resale value of a genuine ivory piece). If, on the other hand, it is resin or plastic, the needle will easily melt into the surface and produce a “burr” or small rough. If you are very close when you touch the pin to the piece, you may even smell burning plastic. The “hot pin test” is actually more myth than practice. The test results are actually very
difficult to verify and let’s face it, no seller is going to let you touch a hot piece of metal to real ivory and a fraud won’t let you do it to their plastic piece either."
From Lorraine: Of course, if it’s bone, those two last tests won’t work. Bone will glow, too, but I’ll put a black light over my itomaki to see if there is a difference. The burning test will produce the same result with either ivory or bone, and I wouldn’t do it anyway.
I think Patrick’s bachi is bone. As I said, my bachi is bone (confirmed by the seller, an antique dealer in Saitama), and it looks exactly like his. Also, I think the most telling thing is that if the bachi was inexpensive (ivory costs THOUSANDS of dollars, even a small ivory jewelry item will cost several hundred), it’s most likely NOT ivory.
P.S. I polished and repaired my bachi, but left the stains, in honor of the previous owner, who’s name was Hashimoto. That’s all I know about him/her, but I love to use that bachi and wonder who that person was, where and when they played, and what type of music they liked.
As it turns out, two of the itomaki I have are ivory, and one is bone, but not polished very well. (the owner must have broken one at some point).
I thought these were PLASTIC itomaki when I bought the shamisen! (I bought a “junk” shamisen to fix up which is turning out to be kouki, I think! I really want to know where this came from, because I bought it from a guy in Modesto for a hundred dollars! 
)
Here is a closeup of the bottom of my bachi (on the left) next to one of the ivory itomaki - see the “crosshatching” on the itomaki, and the bottom of the bachi doesn’t have crosshatching, but rather, striations, and dark stripes?
Here are the bone and ivory itomaki together - the bone has all the dirt and such, and you can see holes where the veins run through (I couldn’t see holes on my bone bachi until I looked at the bottom).
Here is a photo of my bone/Bekkou bachi. (I didn’t know what bekkou was when I bought this …)
Look for the crosshatching on the BOTTOM of the bachi. If it doesn’t have that, it’s not ivory.
Hi Lorraine. I looked at my bachi and the texture is more like your ivory itomaki that the bone one. I do not have a good enough camera to take a close-up of the details. But if you’re right and if it is bone, no problem for me. I’m not a ivory fetishist and I did not buy it at the price of ivory (not even plastic…). Besides, I do not use it because it is really too small for me. Thanks for your message. I agree with your fight for animals health.
Patrick, your bachi is ivory; bone would be extremely unusual. There are a lot of old ivory bachi of this style available on the used market. They used to come up on ebay all the time for less than $100 and there are a lot on the secondary market in Japan. It is also common for them to be made of two pieces like yours.
By the way, Patrick - NO judgement was intended! I know you didn’t kill that elephant, and the bachi is USED. Like I said - I have old ivory itomaki - I even have a fur coat (my grandmother bought it in the 1930s and left it to me). I think we all have an old item like this somewhere, from a time gone by when we didn’t know any better (as a human race, I mean).
Just want to keep people aware of the NEW ivory trade, that’s all. XOXOXO!!
Oh, and thanks for the opportunity to finally use those useless macro lenses I bought for my iPhone, HAHAHAHA! I bought these lenses for the wide angle, but I got THREE useless ones with it - who ever uses a FISHEYE, a 10x macro, or a 15x macro??
Today I got to use the two macro lenses - although I’ve yet to use the fisheye.
Oh, by the way, I used … (was it Michael’s ?) hint about the hydrogen peroxide, and my itomaki cleaned up beautifully. Thank you!
a fisheye … i dont have one but i think it could yield cool perspectives i hope you try it out sometime …
guess the only thing questionable i had was as a kid aunt brought an elephant leather wallet from thailand as a gift it was a cool wallet but so it would have been made of some other leather too …