1.Japanese Koto - is one of the most important stringed instruments. The instrument is aprroximately 6ft. long, 13 inches wide, and 2 inches thick. It has 13 strings, which extend the length of the body and are tuned to the pentatonic scale made by movable bridges between the body of the instrument and the strings. The instrument is played with plectrums which are attached to the right-hand thumb, index and middle fingers.
Japanese Shakuhachi - is an end blown bamboo flute. The common size is 1.8 Japanese feet in length. It produce a delicate tone and a light texture which characterizes Japanese music. There are usually 5 finger holes. The 4 holes on the front of the instrument are numbered from the bottom, 1st hole, 2nd hole, 3rd hole and 4th hole. The 5th hole is on the back of the instrument.
3. Shamisen - is a remodelled version of the snake-skin covered stringed instrument. Nowadays, it is already covered with either dog and cat skin since snake skin is hard to get in Japan. The Shamisen became an indispensable part of the kabuki and of almost all music in the entire period. There are 3 basic tunings, 1st there is honchoshi or ''main tuning'' with the 2nd string tuned a 4th above the 1st string and 3rd string an octave above.
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