Shopping for gidayu shamisen in Japan

General
#1

Hi everyone,

I am new to these forums. Super site of information, happy to have found it!

I thought as I was visiting Japan I would try and pick up a gidaya shamisen. I searched online and was only able to find a single shop listed that sold them (http://www4.ocn.ne.jp/~okoto1/index.html). I wrote a super nice email using my very-best very-bad Japanese only to discover that there is no email address listed on the site :slight_smile: I am too chicken to try phoning them to ask the questions I wanted to!

I was wondering if anybody here new a shop that sold this type of shamisen in or around Tokyo?

Really appreciate any info you may have,

Philip

#2

Hi Philip!
Glad you are here in the community and posting! :slight_smile: Feel free to post any questions you have.

Hmm… I would recommend inquiring with E-Kameya. They speak a bit of English and might be able to special order a gidayu shamisen if you are sure you want one. It’s definitely worth inquiring. :slight_smile: Here’s their website- Top | KAMEYA Shamisen OnlineShop

May I ask, when are you going to Japan?

#3

Hi Kyle,

Thanks for the message. I’m actually having a conversation with the people at e-kameya at the moment, they really are very helpful.

I’m off to Japan in the middle of March. Going to go catch me some live Shamisen here: http://www.waentei-kikko.com. Looks awesome.

Take care…

#4

You may try faxing them, a few years ago it seemed to be still really popular in Japan.

PS. Ryokan Shigetsu may offer some shamisen/koto events as well, maybe worth checking their schedule, don’t think it’s online though but you can e-mail http://shigetsu.com/e/

#5

Gidayu shamisen being popular?

From what I’ve heard from my sources, the Gidayu world is subsidized by the Japanese government. Recently, many Nagauta/Jiuta shamisen shops (which don’t have government subsidies) have been forced to close down due to lack of business/interest. I believe if the Gidayu school wasn’t subsidized, it would probably have the same fate.

Of course, opera and other classical, ‘refined’ arts all require financial help to survive, so that’s completely understandable for Gidayu as well. But I wouldn’t take that to meaning it’s popular in Japan. :wink:

#6

Ah, meant fax :wink: I’ve been always wondering why it’s used in the western world even.

Hmm, gidayu being subsidized and nagauta (=kabuki) not, that’s a surprise!

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