Haha! Believe it or not, I was going to bid on that kokyu (if it’s the one that was on ShopGoodwill), but I was in Japan and was on a train when the bidding ended, so I missed it. Congrats! 
I have been looking everywhere for a 4 stringed kokyu. It appears it needs more work than what the pictures showed on the auction site, so hopefully it can be restored.
P.S.
Put a kokyu bridge on that koshamisen and you essentially have a kokyu without the spike.
Hi Kyle, =) yes, same one. I’m hoping to restore, reskin both sides in the future and something I haven’t done, work on that horse hair bow gone wild. I think this was someone’s personal goods when emigrating to the U.S., as it has a cargo ship and an import/export company sticker on the lacquered wood box. The dou/body is light, so maybe more a household instrument than professional use? not sure. This is fine for me because I like antiques.
Funny- I saw that eBay kokyu (you posted earlier in April). I almost hit the buy it now. Knowing that you got it, I’m happy because it found a good home and you will play it, because I’d love to see more kokyu out there in the world. Your pictures show better detail than auction photos and it is stunning! I had dreaded that maybe it got purchased to be resold for profit by someone who knew nothing about it. Anyways, very happy for you and that instrument and I hope to see more.
It might be a long shot or maybe lucky with leads, but the taiko community folks on FB might have or know of kokyu people. I saw a mention in Great Lakes Taiko Center (Michigan) old newsletter; a picture of Heidi Chan, Toronto; but maybe there are more people out there. Either way, you’ve got great musical skills already so glad to see kokyu too.
Sakura, ah yes, I understand more now. If you are blind, then a regular book, pictures and videos won’t be very helpful unless there is assistance, such as someone with sight. Probably hands-on instruction, or very particular oral teaching (with lots of talked description, paced differently) would be possible. Maybe there is a network or society for sight-limited musicians? Or maybe you can find and contact this professor, who is studying goze (and btw, he also cannot see). This is his talk in January 2014.
Speaker: Kojiro Hirose, Visiting Scholar, University of Chicago; Associate Professor, Graduate University for Advanced Studies and National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan
OK, the video was very inspiring and interesting!
I’m connected with the stories of goze, biwahoshi and todoza because I’m blind and this was the cause I love traditional Japanese music
However, I don’t think I would be able to contact Kojiro Hirose, because he’s a researcher and doesn’t have time to communicate… but I think he’s very special…
I’m doing a paroject with other koto/shamisen/juushichigen/shakuhachi players, commemorating the blind composers in pre-modern era of Japan
Maybe we will talk of this in another thread…
Sakura, your project sounds very interesting. Please do post in another thread when you can or in the future. =)
Virginia, what project? I don’t remember…
Did you refer to wapop?
Sakura, you wrote, “I’m doing a paroject with other koto/shamisen/juushichigen/shakuhachi players, commemorating the blind composers in pre-modern era of Japan.” It would be interesting to me to hear more whenever you post about it, in another thread.
Virginia, if you’re interested, I will be glad! But the project doesn’t really focus on traditional pieces, but it’s a fusion behind cultures…
I don’t know if I can post this topic, because I had posted this topic in threads regarding various questions
If you’d like to know more, just email me, please
Chris wrote earlier about this festival. Interesting! Here is just one YT video. It is melancholic but memorable.
It must be hard to walk and play the kokyu? (Chinese) Erhu metal clips were made to walk or stand with Chinese fiddles, grabbing the wood body or base and clipping onto belt. They work but I don’t like the contraption much. Anyways, this festival is interesting to watch.
This other video is also interesting because kids are playing a mix of instruments, shamisen and sanshin.
Cana, this might help you and anyone else interested in kokyu. This is only one bow and it is vintage. I have no idea how this compares to other bows, new or old; or what size this kokyu might be. Since I don’t know the official names to parts, here is my best description.
Roughly… the bow is constructed of three pieces, made of wood (not bamboo), connected with hollow brass metal pieces, brass end caps (tip, butt). Overall, “L” shape. The shorter leg, the tip is 3.25" long (hair connects at about 3"), and I don’t see a joint so to get the slight curve maybe bent wood? Total length of bow, longer leg is 39". Hair (unknown material, I haven’t investigated yet), 0.5" thick, 26" length exposed (1"L metal cylinders, so hair 26-28" total length). At top, hair connects with ring over hook; at bottom, ring of hair connects to ring of shaft with thin rope. (There is a video online that shows how to secure and tighten this.) It tapers: 3/8" thick tip (half-round like shape… similar to shamisen sao), tapers to 0.5" end handle (however, with a polygon-shape). Where you place fingers and where ring connects is 3/4" thick, still half-round shaped. The polygon shape begins somewhere under the rope, with hanging tassel. Here are pictures:
https://youtu.be/KAHOoe139WQ
“The Owara Kazenobon is annual festival in September of Yatsuo town. It used to be a local folk festival for the inhabitants of the town. However, word about the unique melancholic melodies and mysterious dance has spread, and in recent years it has been drawing large numbers of spectators from all over the country.”It must be hard to walk and play the kokyu? (Chinese) Erhu metal clips were made to walk or stand with Chinese fiddles, grabbing the wood body or base and clipping onto belt. They work but I don’t like the contraption much. Anyways, this festival is interesting to watch.
Ah, Kaze no Bon. There’s other, smaller festivals like that all over the prefecture. Yatsuo just has the largest. The song is the same though. It’s deceptively difficult to play, and very hard to sing properly.
Kokyuu playing requires so much movement of the body that I really have no idea how it’s managed. In your video, you can see how the player’s whole body shifts to accommodate it as he walks.
This video shows a pretty good seated profile as well.
Regardinging Kokyuu bow materials, my knee-jerk reaction would be horse hair. But I can ask at my school next week if you like.
I watched a few YT videos, to observe the shamisen, kokyu, singing, and I could hear taiko sometimes but didn’t see it. Most were indoors, then I was surprised when it was a street procession. The music stuck in my head, but not something I could sing back right away. On the bucket list should I ever get to explore Japan. Thanks for the local insight!
I would guess horse hair also. I have a few old Asian bows (Chinese, Thai, Korean) and most are horse hair, except a modern one with synthetic. I first assumed horse but something seemed off (color, touch), then I thought maybe synthetic nylon. Luckily, either is an available material. =)
Virginia, but if you don’t play any instrument you craft, for who are they destined?
And the videos are cool!
The song is pretty like a minyo, but the singer reminds me a jiuta performer