why is the koma up there??
@Ortjo: FYI, for jiuta shamisen, if they’re going to be using the shamisen again quite soon (i.e. within a few hours, etc.) and don’t want to completely put the shamisen away, some players move the bridge up to the top, as in that photo (and they also move strings 1 and 3 off the string slot and down onto the “base” of the koma) as a temporary “resting status”, for lack of a better term. This takes some tension off the strings/koma and the skin, which is better for the shamisen, and then, when they’re ready to play, everything is quickly ready again.
(Of course, the other reason why the koma was up there might be because the person who took the photo had no idea what they were doing… )