Paulownia tomentosa
The is a Japanese plucked half-tube zither instrument, and the national instrument of Japan. It is derived from the Chinese and , and similar to the Mongolian , the Korean and , the Vietnamese , the Sundanese and the Kazakhstan . are roughly in length, and made from Paulownia wood ("Paulownia tomentosa", known as ). The most common type uses 13 strings strung over movable bridges used for tuning, different pieces possibly requiring different tuning. 17-string koto are also common, and act as bass in ensembles. strings are generally plucked using three fingerpicks, worn on the first three fingers of the right hand.