It’s really cool looking, though, tempted to buy it just because it’s so different (like I have large amounts of money for that … 
) - and it’s fretted like a biwa, but it’s not a biwa …
But … What the hell IS IT???
a kind of gekkin?
http://www.music.umich.edu/research/stearns_collection/Collection_item.php?id=1271
WOh! Badass is what that is!
Wow, every time I think I’ve got the Japanese instruments down, a new one pops up! Thank, Gerry - ya, it looks close … I didn’t count the number of frets. The tenjin area is completely different from the one on eBay, though …
It’s REALLY cool! If I weren’t ODing on Japanese instruments, I’d buy it, but between the taiko, the fue, and the shamisen, I’m overwhelmed.
I agree with Kyle, though. It’s totally badass. Someone from Bachido should buy it and restore it! We would totally love that instrument into new life!
I know what it is! It’s a Frankengekkisen!
Stay away from ebay. It is a den of lies.
(Not that this article is much better…)
Ahhh, THAT’S what it is! Cool! Hey, if it weren’t for eBay, I wouldn’t have a tsugaru shamisen OR a nice bachi. 
Problem is, the sellers pick stuff up from estate sales, and they don’t know what they have. I saw a biwa on eBay listed as a Shamisen, so I wrote to him, and told him what he had. He wrote back with a really nice note, and thanked me for the correct info. That’s why you REALLY have to comb on eBay, but they really do have great deals there.
Hahaha, thanks for the info, Jamie, that was driving me CRAZY! 
P.S. That seller listed that biwa correctly, and put a “buy it now” option on it, and sold it before the evening was over.
haha I’ve seen a few of these round ebay and the like. An easy way to tell if this instrument is chinese is 1 the fret style, 2 the shape and materials used, And the dead giveaway is the bat peghead. Bats are regarded in china as a very very lucky animal therefore is incorporated into loads of things. a year or two back I found a bat figurehead Sanxian, and the owner of the violin shop was completely convinced it was a shamisen. So I brought in my shamisen and explained the differences and materials and what I said about the bat.
Still love that sanxian and I still have first dibs on it if the violin shop gives it away or sells it. Only problem is the skin is in abit of a state. Small holes in it where it looks like rats got to it or somthing.
They did have morin khuurs in the shop too! I wouldave loved to work there. 3 string violins… 5 string violins, 36 string violin! Loads of interesting stuff
I know what it is! It’s a Frankengekkisen!
A gekkin?
I’m late weighing in here, but it looks like a “one of a kind” woofinpoofin. A kind of wooden sanshin on steroids I’m thinkin.