This memoir explores the intense and unlikely relationship that grows between a Japanese master and an American student, both exiles from their own cultures who find refuge in the three strings of the Japanese shamisen. As they confront each other, and themselves, each learns what gives their life purpose and what belonging truly means. Part travelogue, part portrait, The Shamisen, Sensei, and Me offers a rare glimpse of a relationship seldom seen today: its beauty, its dangers, its hidden and difficult pleasures.