Hey guys,
So I’ve noticed that shamisen performers always seem to sit in seiza when they’re on the side of the street and I’m wondering how you can manage to sit in it for so long.
I can’t actually get my butt down to my feet to be able to do so. Does anyone else have trouble sitting in it, or do you have any tips/tricks to be able to sit in it comfortably?
Thanks everyone 
I’ll just say the two obvious things, and the pros can fill in with the good stuff. Lose weight and wear stretch pants 
Just like everything else, the more you practice sitting in seiza the more comfortable you will be. To start out you should try sitting on a big fluffy pillow so your ankles don’t get sore. After a while your legs will stretch out and it won’t hurt as bad.
Either you have to be Japanese or just do your morning exercises including stretching.
Stretching and yoga… and espresso.
It’s a piece of cake for those who were raised sitting on the floor (like I was), but many young Japanese (I mean, 20s~30s) have a really hard time sitting in seiza because they grew up sitting on chairs.
one of these:
I’ve been working on it for a long time.
Since I started playing Shamisen, and since I started doing Japaense Martial arts (where seiza is actually one of the “kamae”, or stances), I’ve been slowly becoming more tolerant of it for longer periods of time. However it is not easy, and usually my feet fall asleep and my knees will end up hurting.
However, it is very true that the more you practice, the more comfortable it becomes.
Hmm,
So long story short, lots of practice and lots of stretching… sounds familiar.
Thanks guys
I always admire your earnest attitude toward learning Japanese culture.
I have heard Japanese seiza was started by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. That keeps Samurai from stand up instantly and grab sword to kill his boss for coup detat or something. So all the samurai should sit on seiza and cannot move instantly.
Btw, I cannot sit on seiza for a long time nor can wear Kimono by myself(^_^;) Poor me, Japanese!
I love the mushroom chair, Amanda!
I prefer to play in seiza, but my old knees don’t. I have found that a seiza seat to take the weight off my legs and knees and put it on my butt makes a big difference. You can buy one at a good price or make one pretty simply.
Here is a link to several different examples:
http://www.e-kameya.com/product/accessory/chair.html
I’ve actually always wondered where this “sit in seiza for Tsugaru” thing came from. I know players of other styles of shamisen will usually sit in seiza (Oh, how I pity the knees of kabuki musicians), but with Tsugaru, I feel like all the Japanese players I’ve seen always play in chairs. We always had chairs or stools for my lessons, and I don’t think my teacher ever once mentioned sitting in seiza. I figured people just didn’t care about seiza since Tsugaru was a newer and more casual style. Only since joining Bachido have I seen people playing in seiza, and it definitely seems more prevalent among non-Japanese players than the Japanese themselves. Trying a little too hard to prove ourselves, are we…? (You know I’m just kidding!) Anyway, I figured you Santa Cruz guys just sat in seiza when busking cuz you didn’t feel like lugging chairs around.
Jamie: that is a good point, even Japanese have never thought of. Tsugaru is rather a new style in our history and as it has been played on streets, must have been casual compared with other formal shamisen style. Being formal requires good posture but Tsugaru style is quite casual and you just play where you are, traditionally and usually on streets. Of course chairs are not around us 300 years ago.
Anyway, seiza is formal and looks good and cool especially when non Japanese playing Tsugaru shamisen on seiza. Any Japanese would like to praize to see non Japanese playing on seiza(^O^)
I laughed hard when I saw Nitta san crossed his legs on a chair and Kyle on seiza.Hey it is opposite way round!!! That was charming! Of course the play is wonderful!
I guess that I’m just going to have to watch TV in seiza from now on so I can sit in it comfortably while busking
That is a good idea to watch TV in seiza. And moving your toes from time to time while in seiza works to make good blood circulation and make you can sit longer.
A very famous nagauta shamisen player injured his knees in a traffic accident, and now performs sitting in a chair (they make a gap in the red platform – the yamadai-- and put a chair in there). But he says playing on a chair allows your knees to move too much. Seiza gives more stability in that regard. But everyone is entitled to sit the way they want!
Being raised sitting on the floor, I always practice in seiza just because it’s the most comfortable for me. So much so, I was strongly considering to sit in seiza on the chair for the taikai (to have the best performance I could provide). Of course, then I worried about that being a potential faux pah (especially if I’d forget to take my shoes off first), so I ended up conforming. (I probably should have done seiza 
)
You should have just sat on the floor in seiza. Sitting in seiza on a chair seems too ironic lol
Ah, but then I’d have to adjust the mic, and that’d be opening another can of worms. At the time, the only can I was trying to open was whoopass, so I had my hands full as it was.
Haha be that as it may I’m sure you opened up plenty of whoopass cans XD
I did what I could.