Kankara sanshin

The kankara (かんから) or kankara sanshin (literally "sanshin from a can") is a Ryukyu islands three-stringed ethic plucked instrument, initially an improvised derivative of the Okinawan sanshin that was developed in the Ryukyu Islands during the Shōwa period.

Like the wooden-bodied gottan, the kankara is an inexpensive alternative to other, professional Ryukyuan and Japanese lutes – namely the sanshin and the similar, albeit larger shamisen. Unlike the gottan, however, the kankara was invented much later and served a much different purpose historically.