Hi all!
I left my shamisen in a large room with many open windows and I assume that it got either wet or the room was too humid. I live in the Catskill mountains in New York at a monastery, is there anything I can do to fix this problem, either a place I can send it too or some kind of shamisen glue I can use to set the skin back? I bought my Shamisen in Tokyo, and the skin is real, so I’m not sure what to do.
Thanks,
-Tim
Hey there.
Judging by the pictures, the front skin is no longer tight, right?
When the skin loses tension (from a slip like this) you’re basically cooked. The skins are pulled into tension with special tools and then glued down with a rice based adhesive that is highly susceptible to humidity in order to ease removal and replacement.
I’ve read about players in the old days basically grabbing the skin and pulling it back down over the side (if it’s not torn). But skins were much less tight in those days. Even if you manage to do that (say by moistening the skin to make it flexible and then pulling down) you’re unlikely to return to the original stiffness and tuning.
You may want to get in touch with @Kyle_Abbott and see about kawahari with Hibiki or Hakuho, both of which will be much more durable in your climate.
Daaang, that’s a shame to see! Given how much of the skin has popped off, my guess is that the glue (noriko) wasn’t concentrated enough and spread too thinly. When the consistency is right, attempting to pull the skin off will result in a good amount of fibers ripping off of the main sheet - almost fused to the glue. But if it’s too thin, that effect doesn’t happen.
For the cheapest and easiest fix, I’d suggest using Hibiki (https://bachido.com/store/skin-replacement-hibiki/)
Admittedly I’m a bit out of practice for stretching natural skin with tsugaru tension, so at this point in time I’d refer you to my partner in Ibaraki for natural skin replacement. But Hibiki should be just fine. 
I second @Kyle_Abbott recommendation for reskinning with Hibiki.
That is especially important if you live in an area with high humidity levels.
Hibiki has been proven time and time again to be pretty much immune to moisture.
And to be honest, I am almost positive your back skin will pop off as well in short time.
So I would recommend you to skin both sides with Hibiki, even if the back looks good for the moment.