The biwa (Japanese: 琵琶) is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The biwa is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime during the Nara period (710–794). Typically 60 centimetres (24 in) to 106 centimetres (42 in) in length, the instrument is constructed of a water drop-shaped body with a short neck, typically with four (though sometimes five) strings. In Japan, the biwa is generally played with a bachi instead of the fingers, and is often used to play gagaku. One of the biwa´s most famous uses is for reciting The Tale of the Heike, a war chronicle from the Kamakura period (1185–1333). In previous centuries, the predominant biwa musicians would have been blind monks (琵琶法師, biwa hōshi), who used the biwa as musical accompaniment when reading scriptural texts.
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