Strings for Traditional Musical Instruments
Using the same techniques since the Heian period to produce
the strings of traditional musical instruments
Kinomoto-cho Preservation Society
for Traditional Instrument Strings
Designated in 1991
975 Ooto, Kinomoto-cho, Nagahama-shi,
Shiga Prefecture 592-0433
This Society preserves the techniques for producing the silk yarn used in the strings of traditional Japanese stringed instruments, such as the shamisen, biwa lute, and kokyū bowed lute. The silk filaments are obtained in their raw form by exposing the cocoons to hot air, instead of immersing them in hot water, in order to kill the pupae. This preserves the sericin protein, giving the silk strings both flexibility and a beautiful sheen.
(Pulling silk from the cocoon)
