This photograph is a very beautiful composition taken in a studio titled in the negative.<\/p>\n
The five women are harmoniously seated in seiza \u6b63\u5ea7 position, the “meditation position”, each playing a musical instrument.\u00a0The setting is the interior of a house and in the background there is a ruan, a mandolin also known as a “moon guitar”.<\/p>\n
From the left the first instrument is a taiko \u592a\u9f13, a traditional Japanese drum, which comes in all sizes. The second two instruments are kotsuzumi \u5c0f\u9f13, small drums that are mainly played on one shoulder. Finally the last two instruments are shamisen \u4e09\u5473\u7dda literally meaning “three fragrant strings”. They are plucked strings instrument and have a square-shaped sound box.<\/p>\n
Learning to play the shamisen is an integral part of the education of the Geisha \u82b8\u8005. It is always played in a seated position, except for street musicians, and has become a distinguishing feature of the Geisha, who often mix it with singing.<\/p>\n