Obihiro Centennial City Museum

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Tonkori
[Five-stringed harp]

Tonkori head section
Tonkori foot section

A five-stringed harp. A stringed instrument commonly played by the Sakhalin Ainu. Among the songs played, there are those mimicking animal cries and accompaniments of lullabies. The body of the harp is made of Ezo spruce and Japanese yew, and the strings are made of nettle or deer tendons. The Ainu believed that spirits inhabited the instrument itself, and called each component by names of body parts.