Ichigenkin

Its body is a slender, slightly curved plank carved from kiri (Paulownia tomentosa) wood.

Its raw silk string is plucked with a tubular plectrum placed on the index finger of the right hand while a tubular ivory device similar to a guitar slide placed over the middle finger of the left hand slightly depresses the string—though not so hard that it presses against the hardwood soundboard—to vary the pitch.

As with the Chinese guqin, from which it was likely originally adapted, the ichigenkin has no frets, so sliding tones are an important part of the technique of the instrument.

A two-string version called a yakumogoto (八雲琴, literally "eight cloud zither") was developed in 1820 by Nakayama Kotonushi.

[1] This instrument had a closed back resonant body and a bridge at either end of the strings.