Popular Japanese Instruments
Many instruments in Japan's history at some point or another originated from China and these are just a few of Japan's many instruments that are rather more or less popular than others.
Stringed Instruments
The Biwa is one of Japan's most common string instruments for traditional music along with the different types of zithers. It is in a teardrop shape and most commonly used in court music and played during the reading of poetry. It was not originally Japanese as most of Japan's music culture wasn't. The biwa came from China as a gift in sometime between the 6th and 9th century. There are commonly 6 different types all different in design and history. The Moso biwa is not seen anymore though. The heike biwa is used mostly for the when the Heike poem is read. The Chikusen biwa is used the most and seen the most even today. The Gaka biwa is used for court music, the Moso biwa was used by blind monks and the Satsuma biwa was used by samurais.
Koto
The koto is a long board zither instrument, and typically has 13 strings but can vary on build. It is roughly 6 feet or so long and the musician kneels or sits at it when playing. But mostly sit on chairs during performances with the koto on a stand. The bridges on some can be adjusted and the player plays by plucking with their thumb, index and middle finger with special fittings on their hand called tsume. They can adjust the sound just as a guitarist does on a fretboard with their right hand by bending or pressing the strings on the other side of the bridge. The koto is formally the national instrument of Japan.
Drums (Taiko)
This drum is called the Odaiko and it literally means in Japan "big drum". They are known for their sheer energy and loud sound. They are played with two musicians standing on either side. The largest odaiko drum is ten meters wide. The same myth that music was thought to be "created" from is the same myth that the taiko (drum in Japanese) originate from, when the gods were stamping their feet to create sound to lure the sun goddess out. Most drums came from China in the Yayoi period (500 BCE - 300 CE) and used in court music. Taiko were also heavily used in warfare, they would pound the drums to motivate the troops and also set a marching pace, and also to intimidate the enemy. The taiko were very important in Japanese music.
Taiko types
There are many different types of drums in Japan, including the odaiko. One of the other most common types is the "nagado-daiko". Which means long body drum. It is roughly shaped like a wine barrel and are constructed in many different ways to achieve different sounds. They are also usually played by more than one drummer at the same time as well. The way that they usually tension the "skin" of the drum would of been a rope but more modernly now they use bolt and turnbuckle systems.
Tsukeshime-daiko
The tsukeshime-daiko is similar to the size of a snare drum, and comes in 5 different sizes. (smallest to largest) Namizuke/ itcho-gakke, nicho-gakke, sancho-gakke and the gocho- gakke. The namizuke has the thinnest skin, and then the skin thickness increases as well as the tension on the kin. They are all the same size on top, but the instruments are made taller or shorter to be able to increase the tension. There is not much data on hand about the history of these drums but they were presumed to also come from China, and also used in the same ceremonies and warfare as the odaiko.
Wind Instruments
The Sho
The sho was first introduced to Japan by China in the 8th century. They were a larger version of the instrument today and they were called sheng. It is a basic free reed mouth organ and was used to blend chords in the court music of Japan. The pipes are often made of bamboo that is extremely old. The sho today is also much thinner than the sheng and plays an octave or more higher.
Shakuhachi
This instrument is the shakuhachi and it is a type of Japanese flute that is fairly popular in Japan. It came from China as well as many other Japanese instruments. It has either 4 or 5 holes on the face and one on the rear and is held vertically like a recorder rather than horizontally like a Western flute. It was commonly used by Buddhist priests as spiritual discipline in the Edo Period. Modern Armstrong flutes are actually modeled after this ancient instrument. Later on in Japan's history it was taught in schools in the Meiji Period.