Changes

==History==

==History==

The shamisen is believed to have first emerged in Japan in the late 16th century, being developed out of the snakeskin ''[[sanshin]]'' introduced to Japan from [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Okinawa]] at that time; the ''sanshin'' derived, in turn, from the Chinese ''[[sanxian]]'', likely introduced into Okinawa in the late 14th century. The Okinawan ''sanshin'' is believed to have been introduced to the Japanese port of [[Sakai]] (near [[Osaka]]) sometime around [[1558]]-[[1567]]; the Japanese form of the instrument developed and spread quickly, spreading throughout Japan by around [[1595]].<ref>Andrew Tsubaki, "The Performing Arts of Sixteenth-Century Japan: A Prelude to Kabuki," ''Educational Theatre Journal'' 29:3 (1977), 304.</ref>

The shamisen is believed to have first emerged in Japan in the late 16th century, being developed out of the snakeskin ''[[sanshin]]'' introduced to Japan from [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Okinawa]] at that time (the ''sanshin'' itself had developed out of the Chinese ''[[sanxian]]'', likely introduced into Okinawa in the late 14th century). The Okinawan ''sanshin'' is believed to have been introduced to the Japanese port of [[Sakai]] (near [[Osaka]]) sometime around [[1558]]-[[1567]]; according to some tales it was a blind mendicant performer, a ''[[biwa hoshi|biwa hôshi]]'' named Ishimura Kengyô, who first brought a ''sanshin'' back from Okinawa and created the first shamisen.<ref>''Okinawa bijutsu zenshû'' 5, 307.</ref> The Japanese form of the instrument developed and spread quickly, spreading throughout Japan by around [[1595]].<ref>Andrew Tsubaki, "The Performing Arts of Sixteenth-Century Japan: A Prelude to Kabuki," ''Educational Theatre Journal'' 29:3 (1977), 304.</ref> Ryukyuan performances may have been heard by certain Honshû ''daimyô'' as early as [[1575]], if not much earlier, and at least one record notes a shamisen player from [[Yamashiro province]] (Kyoto) as early as [[1580]].<ref>Henry Johnson, ''The Shamisen: Tradition and Diversity'', Brill (2010), 3-5.</ref>  

Following its appearance, the shamisen quickly became incorporated into a variety of popular entertainment modes and traditions, eventually being adopted into the kabuki and puppet theatres, and geisha and courtesan teahouses, though it was never adopted into more elite contexts such as the [[Noh]] theatre. Some of the earliest genres that made use of the shamisen include ''jiuta'' and ''kouta'' (parlor songs often accompanying dances), ''zokkyoku'' (one of the chief styles of geisha music), and the ''sekkyô-bushi'' and ''[[joruri|jôruri]]'' storytelling modes. The ''ningyô jôruri'' puppet theater incorporated the shamisen from the very beginning, around the year [[1600]], developing its own distinctive genre (''[[gidayu-bushi|gidayû-bushi]]'') and indeed its own distinctive style of instrument (the [[gidayu shamisen|gidayû shamisen]]) by the early 18th century. Meanwhile, though it has been suggested that the shamisen was not initially incorporated into ''onna kabuki'' (women's kabuki) in the early 17th century, it became the central musical instrument in kabuki by the 1650s.<ref>Tsubaki, 304-305.</ref>

Following its appearance, the shamisen quickly became incorporated into a variety of popular entertainment modes and traditions, eventually being adopted into the kabuki and puppet theatres, and geisha and courtesan teahouses, though it was never adopted into more elite contexts such as the [[Noh]] theatre. Some of the earliest genres that made use of the shamisen include ''jiuta'' and ''kouta'' (parlor songs often accompanying dances), ''zokkyoku'' (one of the chief styles of geisha music), and the ''sekkyô-bushi'' and ''[[joruri|jôruri]]'' storytelling modes. The ''ningyô jôruri'' puppet theater incorporated the shamisen from the very beginning, around the year [[1600]], developing its own distinctive genre (''[[gidayu-bushi|gidayû-bushi]]'') and indeed its own distinctive style of instrument (the [[gidayu shamisen|gidayû shamisen]]) by the early 18th century. Meanwhile, though it has been suggested that the shamisen was not initially incorporated into ''onna kabuki'' (women's kabuki) in the early 17th century, it became the central musical instrument in kabuki by the 1650s.<ref>Tsubaki, 304-305.</ref>

The shamisen was strongly associated with the so-called "floating world" of [[Edo period]] urban popular culture, and with the popular aesthetic known as [[iki|''iki'' or ''sui'']]. However, while it may have been a key element of the aesthetic of "cool" or "chic" in the Edo period, some scholars argue that it was because of this very same strong association with low-class, popular culture (and not elite culture) that shamisen music was during the [[Meiji period]] not raised up as a celebrated example of traditional Japanese music, and that Japan instead turned away from these traditions and embraced Western classical music as strongly as it did.<ref name=tokita236/>

The shamisen was strongly associated with the so-called "floating world" of [[Edo period]] urban popular culture, and with the popular aesthetic known as [[iki|''iki'' or ''sui'']]. It nevertheless possessed some cache among elite classes, and shamisen was perhaps the most common cultural skill practiced by young women in the Edo period, and demonstrated by young women as part of their interviews or auditions for employment as attendants in samurai households.<ref>Rebecca Corbett, ''Cultivating Femininity: Women and Tea Culture in Edo and Meiji Japan'', University of Hawaii Press (2018), 128-129.</ref> While shamisen may have been a key element of the aesthetic of "cool" or "chic" in the Edo period, some scholars argue that it was because of this very same strong association with low-class, popular culture (and not elite culture) that shamisen music was during the [[Meiji period]] not raised up as a celebrated example of traditional Japanese music, and that Japan instead turned away from these traditions and embraced Western classical music as strongly as it did.<ref name=tokita236/>

===Musical Genres===

===Musical Genres===