Shamisen dimensions

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Dear Community!
Please don’t laugh on me because of this topic…
I am building now a very rough shamisen for practicing the hand (finger) movements and reading the tablature while my real shamisen arrives from Japan (it’s about a month). It’s just made of paper vaste, and other things from my desktop.
…but I really didn’t find a correct dimension guide on the internet. (the length of the Sao, the dimensions of the Dou and the Tenjin)

Now it looks like this… but it’s not the real size of a shamisen.
Please help me sharing with me the (possibly) dimensions.
Thanks in advance for your help!

[Brown]

The dimensions of a shamisen depend partly on its intended genre.

A standard sized instrument measures about 1 meter overall, while a tanzao will be 90~95 cm long. This does not include the curve of the tenjin, but does include the small bit that sticks out the end of the dou.

The body of the instrument also varies in size.

Here are four common sizes. Nagauta, Gorindai, Ichibugorindai, and Gobudai.

Here are their dimensions in traditional Japanese

長唄胴 - 6寸5分x5寸9分

5厘大胴 - 6寸5分5厘x5寸9分5厘

1分5厘大胴 - 6寸6分5厘x6寸5厘

5分大胴 - 7寸x6寸4分

And in metric:
Nagauta - 19.7 x 17.88
Go Rin Dai - 19.85 x 18.03
Ichi Bu Go Rin Dai - 20.15 x 18.33
Go Bu Dai - 21.21 x 19.39

[britt]

Thank you so much for your help!

[britt]

One last question.
Can you share the Bachi dimensions with me too?
Thanks so much in advance!

[Brown]

This is virtually impossible to answer in an acceptable way.

Bachi vary dramatically in size and proportion. While genre outlines expectations, personal taste and preference have a massive impact. Weight is also variable.

Consider the following image, taken from Sansuien’s website.

On the top left is a kobachi used, very sparingly, in kouta.

At the bottom right is a Gidayu bachi, used almost exclusively in Bunraku Puppet productions.

In between are multiple genres and variants therein.

The bachi I favor for minyo is about 19.5cm long and is perhaps half that at its widest.
My tsugaru bachi is perhaps 16cm long, roughly half that as wide.

I also have a few other examples - a jiuta that is perhaps 23cm long and 10cm or so wide. It’s also heavy as heck.

[britt]

Thanks so much again!