A native of Tokyo, Nami Kineie is a member of the renowned Pro Ensemble Nipponia. She is a graduate of the Tokyo University of Fine Arts (1980), is on faculty at Bunkyo University, and heads her own school of Shamisen. The shamisen is the traditional three-string lute of Japan and is heard in many styles of music including Kabuki, Bunraku puppet theatre, classic Jiuta and the folk style known as Tsugaru. The body is made out of wood and covered with cat or dog. The three strings are traditionally made of silk. The lowest passes over a small hump at the “nut” end so that it buzzes, creating a characteristic sound known as sawari (This is a little like the “buzzing” of a sitar, which is called jawari).
Players often wear a little band of cloth on their left hand, to facilitate sliding up and down the neck. In most genres the shamisen is played with a large weighted plectrum called a bachi, traditionally made with ivory or tortoise shell. The sound of a shamisen is similar in some respects to that of the American banjo, in that the drum-like skin-covered body amplifies the sound of the strings. As in the clawhammer style of American banjo playing, the bachi is often used to strike both string and skin, creating a highly percussive sound
Rhapsody (2009) is the first leader album for Nami Kineie, who is actively displaying her talents in various fields as a shamisen artist. The album includes: “Shamisen Concerto” (band version), composed by Katsutoshi Nagasawa, “Nami Rhapsody”, composed by Yorihide Fukushima, “Jyo ni Saosasu”, composed by Etsuo Kawasaki, as well as diverse pieces from “Miyako Furyu” a Nagauta (long epic song) to a medley of Russian ballet music. In the medley, popular ballet music is recreated into a unique world of shamisen.
Nami Kineie is also a part-time instructor for the Faculty of Education of the Bunkyo University and Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music; Commissioner of Nagauta Kineie ryu; and a Member of the Pro Musica Nipponia. In 2025, she composed the background music for the game “Crusader Kings III: All Under Heaven“ in collaboration with game developer Paradox Inc.
