Hard to Believe, But...

“Heehee. Strum-strum.”

I woke up for a bit in the morning, ate breakfast, and fell back asleep. Around noon I woke up, ate just a little, and was thinking about how to spend my time today when Shizuka-san said she had something fun and gave me this.

“So this is what a shamisen feels like.”

Utaha-nee learned it when she was little, and Shizuka-san can play it to some degree too. I’d only ever seen one in manga or photos, so this was my first time seeing a real one, and it just looks like a three-string guitar. But there are three pegs attached to the end.

And the strange thing is that, unlike a guitar or other string instruments, there isn’t a sound hole in the middle. I figured maybe it could serve as a resonance chamber, but strangely enough, it still makes a proper sound.

ㅡtwing.

“But, um, isn’t there something you use exclusively when playing the shamisen? A rice paddle or something?”

“R-rice paddle... That’s called a bachi. Here.”

“Oh, bachi.”

It looks like a rice paddle with the scooping part cut right off. Since it’s raining today too, for some reason I feel like playing music. Of course, I can’t actually play the shamisen...