Japanese free reed wind instrument (Shō) descended from the Chinese Sheng. Instrument consists of 17 reddish-brown bamboo pipes of various lengths inserted into a cylindrical wooden base. The base has a smooth, dark brown coating with gold detailing depicting a bird with long tail feathers and its wings spread out as well as some leaves and flowers; there is a protruding, pointed oval shaped mouthpiece with a metal cap that has a rectangular hole in the center. The pipes are arranged into a symmetrical ascending pattern with the two longest opposite each other on either side of the mouthpiece, this arrangement is meant to give the impression of wings; all but 3 pipes have small holes near the base which are covered by fingers when played; the pipes are held together with a single piece of silver metal which is wrapped around every pipe approximately 10.5 cm above the base, this metal strip is held in place by a combination of features including metal caps placed on the three shortest pipes, metal slots protruding from the two short pipes on the side opposite the mouthpiece, and the strip itself being pinched into the small gap between the pipes above the mouthpiece. Sitting on the pinched section of the metal strip in between the pipes is a small, oblong object made of red patterned fabric and stuffed with an unknown material; this object can be removed and its use is unclear.