Sakura sakura noyama mo sato mo miwatasu kagiri

Sakura • sakura noyama mo sato mo mi-watasu kagiri kasumi ka kumo ka asahi ni niou sakura hana zakari sakura yayoi no sora wa mi-watasu kagiri kasumi ka kumo ka nioi zo izuru izaya mini yukan • Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, In fields and villages As far as you can see. Is it a mist, or clouds? Fragrant in the morning sun. Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, Flowers in full bloom. Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, Across the spring sky, As far as you can see. Is it a mist, or clouds? Fragrant in the air. Come now, come now, Let's look, at last!

Biwa

• The Biwa is a Japanese short-necked fretted lute. It is the chosen instrument of Benten, goddess of music, eloquence, poetry, and education in Japanese Shinto.

SHO

• The shō (笙 ? ) is a Japanese free reed musical instrument that was introduced from China during the Nara period (AD 710 to 794). It is modeled on the Chinese sheng, although the shō tends to be smaller in size. It consists of 17 slender bamboo pipes, each of which is fitted in its base with a metal free reed. Two of the pipes are silent, although research suggests that they were used in some music during the Heian period. • The instrument's sound is said to imitate the call of a phoenix, and it is for this reason that the two silent pipes of the shō are kept—as an aesthetic element, making two symmetrical "wings". Like the Chinese sheng, the pipes are tuned carefully with a drop of wax. As moisture collected in the shō's pipes prevents it from sounding, performers can be seen warming the instrument over a small charcoal brazier when they are not playing. The instrument produces sound when the player's breath is inhaled or exhaled, allowing long periods of uninterrupted play. The shō is one of the three primary woodwind instruments used in gagaku, Japan's imperial court music. Its traditional playing technique in gagaku involves the use of tone clusters called aitake , which move gradually from one to the other, providing accompaniment to the melody.

Taiko

Hichiriki

Koto

Ryuteki

Shamisen

• The Shamisen (literally "three strings") also called Samisen or Sangen is a three-stringed Japanese musical instrument played with a plectrum called a Bachi. The construction of the shamisen varies in shape and size, depending on the genre in which it is used. The bachi used will also be different according to genre, if it is used at all. The Japanese shamisen originated from the Chinese instrument sanxian. The sanxian was introduced through the Ryūkyū Kingdom (Okinawa) in the 16 th century, where it developed into the Okinawan instrument sanshin from which the shamisen ultimately derives. It is believed that the ancestor of the shamisen was introduced in the 16 th century at port Sakai near Osaka.

Shakuhachi

Shoko

Kotsuzumi

Kakko