About Us
We have all suroundings to enjoy playing!
We have a shop named 'Rakuya' in Japan.
Takuya Hamatani, who has the Master of Fujimoto-ryuu qualificaton, started shamisen lessons in a room at his home.
This was our start!
We developed an original instrument, the 'Shamisen BOX', to reduce the cost of starting to play the shamisen and to make it easy to play.
After that, the number of students quickly increased.
We've had over 1000 students since we started lessons in 2002.
As the number of students increased, we began to learn how to repair shamisen from traditional craftsmen in Tokyo.
The reason is so that people who buy a shamisen can enjoy playing and customizing it without worrying about maintenance.
We have developed an original instrument “Forest Kokyu” in the same way as we developed the Shamisen Box.
We have made circumstances that encourage people who start playing the kokyu to enjoy it.
Finally, shamisen and kokyu became two pillars for us.
Most people who have started playing shamisen and kokyu under us spend about a year learning the basics and then start playing their favorite songs in their favorite genres.
We do our best to support your favorite instrument become your partner for life, not only by providing you with the basic skills of playing, but also by undertaking all the maintenance from purchase onward.
We hope to be the string that connects wagakki lovers all over the world!
Ito (糸) means string, and Ne (音) means a sound.
So we decided on the name 'Itone (糸音) for our shop dedicated to sales abroad, because we hope to be the string that connects wagakki lovers all over the world.
Traditional Japanese stringed instruments make a sound from strings which are woven from silk.
We want to be bring richness and harmony to our daily lives by becoming the 'string' that connects people to people, things, nature, countries, traditions and the future, not by the strings of woven iron, but rather by the sound of the strings of woven silk.
Because of the decreasing number of people who enjoy wagakki, it's becoming difficult to support this culture just by ourselves.
Fortunately, nowadays the shamisen and kokyu are in some anime and comics, so it has gradually become known around the world.
Please help reinvigorate them from all over the world by becoming a fan of the wagakki.
We welcome your interest in wagakki from the bottom our heart.
About types of shamisen
In Japan, songs that have been sung by everyday people remain all over the country.
We call them ‘Minyo’, and Minyo-shamisen accompanies those songs.
The shamisen culture developed in the 17th and 18th centuries in Edo (Tokyo) with ‘Nagauta’ and ‘Hauta’. And also it developed with a genre called ‘Gidayu’ and ‘Jiuta’ around Osaka.
Because different genres have different backgrounds in different times and places, each shamisen used is slightly different in shape and size. Especially ‘Tsugaru Shamisen,’ which started in the 19th century, is thicker and bigger than the other shamisen.
People choose a shamisen depending on the genre they want to play,
But all shamisen have the same structure and mechanism. And also the way to play, way to hold, and basic thought are all the same. If you start playing a shamisen, rather than being bound by the genre before you start, please choose one that strikes a chord with budget and encounter: "This!"
A new sound beyond the genre might born from your shamisen.
The ‘Minyo’ which I have been familiar with is uses a shamisen called ‘Chuzao’.
Fortunately, ‘Chuzao’ is a middle size between ‘Hosozao’ and ‘Futozao’ so it can produce a similar tone.
So I play all genres using my ‘chuzao’ shamisen.
This is an interesting way to play shamisen, and it is a surprising aspect of my performances.
They all have a similar tone, but strictly speaking, they are different. If you specialize in one genre, you should get the right shamisen for that genre.
If you don’t know which shamisen to choose, I can give you some advice based on my thinking and experiences.
And, of course, if you have a question or problem, feel free to ask.
We are grateful and happy if you find the best one for you from this site, ‘Itone’.
