Nihonbina, a traditional Japanese musical instrument

It is one of the Japanese yagura instruments. Originating in the area of present-day Iran, it was introduced to Japan via the Silk Road and China during the Nara period, and was utilized as one of the main instruments in the yagura orchestral ensemble. The four-stringed, four-posted (pinto) instrument is the largest of all Japanese lutes at 110cm long, and the plectrum is 20cm long. Originally known as the biwa, it is also known as the rakugo biwa to distinguish it from the satsuma biwa, tsukumae biwa, and hiraga biwa, which were developed in later generations of folk music. It is played in a kneeling position across the knees.

It is similar in appearance to the Fujian Nanyin Pipa, also with a narrow neck and a flat belly in the shape of a pear, four strings, four columns, and two symmetrical half-moon shaped sounding holes called half-moons on the belly plate (panel), and a horizontal 10 to 12 centimeters long leather-covered place in the middle of the belly plate, near the hand, called the plectrum surface or plectrum skin, that is, the plectrum playing part of the body. The plectrum is often painted with beautiful patterns, and in ancient times it was also known by elegant names, such as "Green Mountain", "Xuanxiang", "Makoma", etc. The paintings on the plectrum are often associated with elegant names. The upper part of the pipa's neck is called the deer's neck, and it is made of Tang or Mulberry wood. The lobster tail at the upper end is made of boxwood or white sandalwood, and the turner is made of hanamuru, zitan, or sakura. The four posts (i.e., the taste) of the neck are made from the wood of Japanese flat cypress or paulownia. The armor (back) of the body (carcass) is made of hanamuru, rosewood or mulberry (cherry or zelkova are also used in recent times). The belly (top) is made of chestnut. The armor (back panel) is called straight armor if it is made from a whole panel, which is the top grade; if it is made by putting two or three panels together, it is called stripped armor, which is the lower grade. A round hole hidden underneath the compound hand is called the hidden moon, also called the sound hole. The plectrum is made of boxwood and is relatively small and thin, with the lower end progressively slightly thinner than the upper end. The four strings are rolled with silk, and are called the first, second, third, and fourth strings, from left to right and from thick to thin. The Satsuma lute is the most widely circulated of these.

The instrument is smaller than the kurabina, about one meter in length, and has four strings and four pillars, which are tall and large; it is played with a fan-shaped plectrum. At the end of the Shogunate period, Ikeda Jinbei fused the two styles of the ichiba and the samurai and became the orthodox school of the Satsuma lute. In the Meiji era, Nishin Nagata of Tokyo founded the Nishin-ryu, which has its own special kumihimo lute, which is similar to the Satsuma lute but has five strings and five pillars. It is similar to the Satsuma lute, but has five strings and five posts. The best material is made from mulberry wood.

In the middle of the 16th century, Shimazu Jisinsai, the ruler of the Satsuma clan in southern Japan, made this lute as an accompaniment to the songs and stories that he used to encourage the samurai and the people of the clan to write. The current Satsuma lute*** has five strings, with the fourth and fifth strings having the same pitch, and is tuned according to the player's vocal range, and is mainly used to play melodies. The left hand is usually used to press the strings between the five widely spaced bars, while the right hand holds a plectrum; there are two schools of lute: the Shotokan and the Kinsinryu.

During the Warring States period, Shimazu Tadara, a lord of Satsuma (an ancient country in the southernmost part of the present-day Kyushu region of Japan), ordered the blind monk Fuchiwaki Shujoin to compose a number of moralistic lute compositions in order to educate the sons of samurai and the lute became more popular in the region, and its genre became the Satsuma lute. After the Meiji Restoration, Satsuma biwa was introduced to Tokyo and gradually spread throughout the country, as many Satsuma samurai were the backbone of the movement to honor the king and fight against the barbarians, and many Satsuma clansmen entered politics in the central government. This genre is characterized by a focus on content, with elegance and poignancy coexisting.

Satsuma Biwa is mainly rap, the music only plays the role of accompaniment, not an independent piece of music, similar to the Chinese drums or commentary, but the difference is that the drums or commentary is a kind of music, mainly to provide entertainment for everyone, while the Satsuma Biwa is a kind of serious music used for rituals, usually played in temples, and the content of the music is mainly about wars and history, there is absolutely no love story, and the tone is stirring and clear, and it maintains the tradition of Japanese music. This type of lute is used for enjoyment. The shape is similar to that of the Satsuma lute, but it is similar to the Chikuzen lute in that it has five pillars. There are two types of strings: four and five. The four-stringed Nishiki Biwa is mostly for beginners, and the plectrum is slightly smaller than that of the Satsuma Biwa. In short, since the kumihimo lute was adapted from the satsuma lute, it has the properties of both the satsuma lute and the tsukumae lute.