Gottan

The major difference between a ‹See RfD› sanshin and a ‹See RfD› gottan is that the body of a ‹See RfD› sanshin tends to be made of a hollowed wooden cavity covered with a type of membrane, whereas the whole of a ‹See RfD› gottan – body, neck, and all – is made up of solid wood, usually of a single type, often Japanese cedar.

[2] The ‹See RfD› gottan's musical repertoire is often light and cheerful, including many folk songs.

[citation needed] Like the ‹See RfD› shamisen, it was used for door-to-door musical busking, known as ‹See RfD› kadozuke.

[3] Often the ‹See RfD› gottan is compared to the ‹See RfD› kankara sanshin, an Okinawan instrument related to the ‹See RfD› sanshin, due to its relative inexpensiveness (made from a used metal can) and ease of construction.

The equivalent all-wood Okinawan instrument is the ‹See RfD› ita sanshin.