Samisen

The geisha, with her face whitened with powder, and her lips painted a bright red, and her elaborately-dressed hair full of ornaments, sits down to a sort of guitar called a samisen and sings, but her song has no music in it. ❋ John Finnemore (N/A)

Tak Shindo takes Western-Themed standards and rearranges them to feature classic Oriental instruments such as samisen, koto, gong, flute, temple blocks, and tree cymbals. ... ❋ Mrdantefontana (2006)

Many bunraku fan sites, such as the blogs Mannaka Na Hibi (kayabatyou. blog11.fc2.com) and Yoshida Tamame San Ouen (tamamefun. seesaa.net), are linked to sites of reciters, puppeteers and even samisen players. ❋ Aika Nanao (2009)

A bell rings, the lights dim and a samisen (a three-stringed lute) starts to play as the performance of "Shinjû Ten no Amijima" (Double Suicide at Amijima Temple) begins. ❋ Aika Nanao (2009)

Sugiyama however is captured and with his family meets a filthy torture death and I don't mean waterboarding, stress positions or loud samisen music, however he will not betray Toranaga-sama by withdrawing his resignation and allowing him to be impeached and invited to commit seppuku. ❋ Ann Althouse (2009)

The samisen player leaves, too, but not before she removes the screen in the corner to reveal a futon, the top quilt folded back in invitation. ❋ Donna Storey (2008)

The wizened grandma in the corner strikes up a geisha love song on her samisen. ❋ Donna Storey (2008)

She remembered being a young girl at the Dontaku Festival, the street full of people in bright-colored costumes playing samisen and beating drums. ❋ Patterson, James, 1947- (2006)

Watch for his great piece on Appalacian samisen. . . ❋ Unknown (2005)

The one objection to my room is that to get either in or out of it I must pass through the other, which is occupied by five tobacco merchants who are waiting for transport, and who while away the time by strumming on that instrument of dismay, the samisen. ❋ Isabella Lucy (2004)

There is one covered boat for excursions on the lake, and a few geishas were playing the samisen; but, as gaming is illegal, and there is no place of public resort except the bathing-sheds, people must spend nearly all their time in bathing, sleeping, smoking, and eating. ❋ Isabella Lucy (2004)

Japanese chess, story-telling, and the samisen fill up the early part of the evening, but later, an agonising performance, which they call singing, begins, which sounds like the very essence of heathenishness, and consists mainly in a prolonged vibrating ❋ Isabella Lucy (2004)

Yuki plays the samisen, which may be regarded as the national female instrument, and Haru goes to a teacher daily for lessons on the same. ❋ Isabella Lucy (2004)