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tonkori
Sign in to saveThe is a plucked string instrument played by the Ainu people of Hokkaidō, northern Japan and Sakhalin. It generally has five strings, which are not stopped or fretted but simply played "open". The instrument is believed to have been developed in Sakhalin. By the 1970s the instrument was practically extinct, but is experiencing a revival along with the increased interest in Ainu heritage.
Key facts
- Instrument.name
- Tonkori
- Instrument.image
- Tonkori on display at the National Ainu Museum, April 2023 (5x6 cropped).jpg
- Instrument.caption
- Tonkori on display at the National Ainu Museum
- Instrument.musicians
- Oki Kano
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
9 sectionsContents
- Construction
- Performance
- Revival
- Etymology
- Players
- See also
- External links
- Further reading
- References
The is a plucked string instrument played by the Ainu people of Hokkaidō, northern Japan and Sakhalin. It generally has five strings, which are not stopped or fretted but simply played "open". The instrument is believed to have been developed in Sakhalin. By the 1970s the instrument was practically extinct, but is experiencing a revival along with the increased interest in Ainu heritage.
==Construction== The instrument is typically constructed of a single piece of Jezo spruce approximately a metre long. Its shape is traditionally said to resemble a woman's body, and the corresponding words are used for its parts. A pebble is placed within the body-cavity of the instrument, granting it a "soul". The instrument tends to measure approximately 120 cm long, 10 cm wide, and 5 cm thick.