Neither mandolin nor banjo...

[lukmanohnz]

No idea which site is more appropriate for this video. Maybe neither. Maybe both. Anyway, here you go: https://www.facebook.com/inthen0w/vi...9613635855676/

[pops1]

I have seen this before, amazing job, don't know how they use those picks, and play fretless all over the neck.

[Barry Wilson]

That is some funky stuff. I dig it.

[G7MOF]

WOW! I think that sums it up!

[Michael Wolf]

Nice video, Michael. The instrument is the "Shamisen" and it´s tuned (or can be tuned) B-e-b or B-e-a. They use pentatonic scales very often. Maybe that´s the reason why a lot of japanese music sounds very similar to rock or oldtime music (at least to my ear).
Here are some more pretty funky samples:

[JCook]

Wow, great stuff! We mandolinist types are always complaining about pick noise, but it seems to be part of the music here. Amazing sounds.

Jack

[lukmanohnz]

Nice video, Michael. The instrument is the "Shamisen" and it´s tuned (or can be tuned) B-e-b or B-e-a. They use pentatonic scales very often. Maybe that´s the reason why a lot of japanese music sounds very similar to rock or oldtime music (at least to my ear).

I guess I should have posted it at the Shamisen Cafe... Thanks for the info and video links, Michael!

[Bertram Henze]

I bet they never complain about pick slippage...

[journeybear]

I believe this is an updated version of an old swing tune, "When It's Cherry Blossom Time In Osaka."

And the "pick noise," if you want to call it that, does seem to be an integral aspect of shamisen playing. It adds a rhythmic element to the music, or perhaps just emphasizes it. Some players in the videos Michael posted occasionally use their thumbs, presumably to bring melody to the forefront in these passages.