Uwe Hermann | A slightly paranoid Debian developer

Hm, this is a very interesting mix of overtone vocals with some energetic, rhythmic drums. Very nice!

Song: On Ensemble - Taiko Overtone Quartet (6:23 min, 5.2 MB)
License: CC-by-nc-nd 2.0 Music Sharing License
Source: onensemble.org
Purchase from: Artist

On Ensemble is a group of four young taiko artists from North America. They combine traditional sounds with modern influences like jazz or electronic music. "Gengakki Ver 1.1" is a fine shamisen piece featuring great percussions (it starts very slow, don't be confused by that). They also have some videos on their site which are worth watching!

(thanks to hawa from they did it who sent me a bunch of links to shamisen/taiko music)

Song: On Ensemble - Gengakki Ver 1.1 (5:41 min, 6.6 MB)
License: CC-by-nc-nd 2.0 Music Sharing License
Source: onensemble.org

"Samurai Story" — an absolutely stunning, calm piece of electronic music mixed with japanese influences. Great work by Shockshadow.

If someone knows where I can find free (traditional) japanese music similar to this (preferably featuring a shamisen), please let me know! I've been searching for quite a long time, but I seem to be unable to find much Creative Commons licensed music like this...

Song: Shockshadow - Samurai Story (6:59 min, 6.5 MB)
License: CC-sampling-plus 1.0
Source: ccmixter.org

A beautiful mixture of sort of a poem (word spoken by Junko Yanagida, with a very soft voice), accompanied by a flute and rhythmic drums. The first part of the text is spoken in Japanese (I don't understand a word, but luckily there's an English translation in the comments section). The second part is spoken in English and even gets a little symphonic touch (more instruments and a choir in the background), very nice...

Song: Junko Yanagida - Flowers (3:03 min, 3.6 MB)
License: CC-by-nc-nd 2.5
Source: concreteandclay.com