Traditional Japanese musical instruments

Percussion

Hyōshigi (拍子木) — wooden or bamboo clappers
Mokugyo (木魚) — woodblock carved in the shape of a fish, struck with a wooden stick; often used in Buddhist chanting
Shōko (鉦鼓) — small bronze gong used in gagaku; struck with two horn beaters
Sasara (ささら) — clapper made from wooden slats connected by a rope or cord
- Ita-sasara (板ささら) — clapper made from wooden slats connected by a rope or cord
- Bin-sasara (編木, 板ささら; also spelled bin-zasara) — clapper made from wooden slats connected by a rope or cord
Kokorikok (筑子, こきりこ) — many people confuse the kokrikok with the kutsara and kutsara are often sold outside Japan under the name kokorikok. In fact, the kokorikok is a pair of sticks which are beaten together slowly and rhythmically.
Kagura suzu — hand-held bell tree with three tiers of pellet bells
Kane (鉦) — small flat gong
Shakubyoshi (also called shaku) — clapper made from a pair of flat wooden sticks

Drums

Kakko (羯鼓) — small drum used in gagaku
Taiko (太鼓), literally "great drum"
- Ōtsuzumi (大鼓) — hand drum
- Shime-daiko (締太鼓) — small drum played with sticks
- Tsuzumi (鼓) — small hand drum
Tsuri-daiko (釣太鼓) — drum on a stand with ornately painted head, played with a padded stick
Ikko — small, ornately decorated hourglass-shaped drum
San-no-tsuzumi (三の鼓), hourglass-shaped double-headed drum; struck only on one side
Den-den daiko (でんでん太鼓) — pellet drum, used as a children's toy

Strings

Biwa fire
Gottan or hako-jamisen
Ichigenkin (kanji: 一絃琴) — one-string zither
Junanagen (十七絃) — 17-stringed zither
Koto (琴, 箏) — long zither
Kugo (箜篌) — an angled harp used in ancient times and recently revived
Sanshin (三線) — three-string banjo from Okinawa
Shamisen (三味線) — A banjo-like lute with three strings, the shamisen was brought to Japan from China in the 16th century. Popular in Edo's pleasure districts, the shamisen was often used in Kabuki theater. Made from red sandalwood and ranging from 1.1 to 1.4 meters long, the shamisen has ivory pegs, strings made from twisted silk, and a belly covered in cat or dog skin. The strings, which are of different thickness, are plucked or struck with a tortoise shell pick.
Taishogoto (大正琴) — zither with metal strings and keys
Tonkori (トンコリ) — plucked instrument used by the Ainu of Hokkaidō
Yamatogoto (大和琴) — ancient long zither; also called wagon (和琴)

Bowed

Kokyū - bowed lute with three (or, more rarely, four) strings and a skin-covered body

Wind

Flutes

Japanese flutes are called Fue. there are eight different flutes

Hocchiku (法竹) — vertical bamboo flute
Nohkan (能管) — transverse bamboo flute used for noh theater
Ryūteki (龍笛) — transverse bamboo flute used for gagaku
Kagurabue (神楽笛) — transverse bamboo flute used for mi-kagura (御神楽, Shinto ritual music)
Komabue (高麗笛) — transverse bamboo flute used for komagaku; similar to the ryūteki
Shakuhachi (尺八) — vertical bamboo flute used for Zen meditation
Shinobue (篠笛) — transverse folk bamboo flute
Tsuchibue (hiragana: つちぶえ; kanji: 土笛; literally "earthen flute") — globular flute made from clay

Reeded Instruments

Hichiriki (篳篥) — double-reeded instrument used in gagaku

Free reed mouth organs

Shō (笙) — 17-pipe mouth organ used for gagaku
U (竽) — large mouth organ

Horns

Horagai (法螺貝) — seashell horn; also called jinkai (陣貝)

Other

Mukkuri (ムックリ) — jaw harp used by the Ainu people
Koukin (口琴) — general name for the jaw harp, in Edo period also called Biyabon (びやぼん)

Bibliography

Gunji, Sumi and Henry Johnson. 2012. A Dictionary of Traditional Japanese Musical Instruments: From Prehistory to the Edo Period. Tokyo: Eideru. ISBN 978-4-87168-513-9