A snake skin Banjo in Japan

Miyo Island, Japan is a tiny dot in the East China Sea. We stayed for Christmas in a small bed and breakfast run by a shell collector and his wife. Around us in the dining room was the most incredible collection of seashells of all shapes and patterns, neatly arranged in rows by size order. After sharing some of the local saki with the other guests, our host broke out the traditional snake skin banjo and played us some tunes.  The Miyo island song was sung in the old language spoken only on that laidback little island.