The kokyū (胡弓) is a traditional Japanese string instrument, the only one played with a bow.

[citation needed] A kokyū society, dedicated to promoting the instrument, exists in Japan.

The kokyū has also been used in jazz and blues, with the American multi-instrumentalist Eric Golub pioneering the instrument's use in these non-traditional contexts.

One of the few non-Japanese performers of the instrument, he has recorded as a soloist as well as with the cross-cultural jazz band of John Kaizan Neptune.

[citation needed] The kokyū is similar to two Chinese bowed lutes with fingerboards: the leiqin and the zhuihu.