Itomaki Repair

Description

Itomaki Repair!
Itomaki are secured only by friction, so it’s essential for them to fit tight in the holes. If you’ve noticed your itomaki slipping, there’s a good chance the wood of the itomaki has naturally worn away and doesn’t have enough surface contact to securely lock in the holes. At this point, the peg must be repaired to restore the wood surface to an even taper, which ensures a tight fit.

Note: This process requires removing a slight amount of wood from the peg which fits the peg deeper in the hole. The itomaki is made long enough to accommodate this repair process, but sometimes vintage itomaki (often for classical nagauta shamisen) have undergone this process many times and are basically either too short or too worn to undergo this process again. In this case, brand new itomaki (made by Tokyo Wagakki) can be ordered and fitted to your shamisen. (Because itomaki are not “Plug & Play”, they are made slightly thicker so the craftsman can fit it specially for each hole.