long, but good youtube description:

"The jamisen is the Chinese instrument equivalent to the samisen. Front and back covered in snake-skin, with oval block of hard wood body, measuring 6 inches in length 5 in breadth, and 3 ｾ in thickness, 2 inch holes in diameter are cut. 3 strings pass from the tuning pegs though a small ivory notch on the neck, and over a small ivory bridge on the face, fastened to an ivory knob at the base of belly; jamisen played with small tortoise-shell plectrum, long silk cord and tassel attached. Neck is 2 inches shorter than samisen, pegs are larger. Strings tuned to Honchoshi.

The shamisen is one of Japan's most popular classical musical instruments. Another Chinese import, it came to Japan by way of Okinawa in the middle of the sixteenth-century. The shamisen arrived to Japan through Liu Chiu in 1560. There are three tunings, adopted to Hirajoshi; Honchoshi, Ni-agari, San-sagari The word 'agari' means raising, 'sagari' is lowering, 'choshi' is normal, 'joshi' is tuning, ni-agari is second string raised, san-sagari is third string lowered. The shamisen resembles the banjo, it has a long, thick neck and a small, rectangular body covered with skin. The instrument is made of four boards of Chinese quinced or oak, through which a stick made of red sandalwood or Indian redwood is inserted. The skin covering both sides of the body is usually cat skin, but dog skin is used as well. Three strings of different thicknesses are plucked and the pitch is adjusted using the tuning pegs on the head, just like a guitar or violin. The strings are not plucked with the fingers, a large triangular plectrum is used to strike the strings. Generally the plectrum is made of ivory or tortoise shell, and in the shape of a Ginko tree leaf. The shamisen is frequently used as an accompaniment to songs of various types.

Kabuki theater is a musical theater; it is filled with dance, instrumental music and percussion. There are two instrumental performance groups on the kabuki stage. To the left of the stage is a small room with a narrow window (kuromisu); inside this room sit the geza, or "background music" players. But on the right side of the stage is a raised platform, the choba yuka on which the narrator (tayu) and the onstage music ensemble (debayashi). This ensemble consisted of singers, hand drums (ko tsuzumi and o tsuzumi), a stick drum (taiko), a Noh flute (nokan) or bamboo flute (takebue, and the principle instrument, the shamisen. On-stage shamisen music became a constant feature of the kabuki stage from the middle of the seventeenth century.

America's first performance was extremely successful.
The performance is Hiromitsu Agatsuma"