Biwa is a Japanese traditional musical instrument.

It is said that the origin is a Persian music instrument called Barbat.
The ancient instrument born in central Asia had changed the form and the sound in each places along the Silk Road, and finally brought to Japan as Biwa.

You may know the Oud, Arabic instrument, or Lute, European instrument.
They have same origin with Biwa.

Anyway, Biwa came to Japan in the 7th century from China.

There are some types of Biwa, but they could be roughly divided into two types.

One has been used for Gagaku ensembles.
Gagaku is the ancient court music and dance, and Biwa for it is used even today.

Another was used in ceremonies and religious rites by blind Buddhist monks.
They used the Biwa when they read sutras for making rhythm.

My Biwa has its roots in the second one.

Nowadays, it’s often played with other Japanese or European musical instruments, but basically it’s used for storytelling.

We usually play the Biwa alone and tell the stories of Japanese history like domestic wars carried on hundreds of years ago, or the legends of historical personages.

We play Biwa while telling story to make the story more interesting or more emotional.