In the world of traditional Japanese music of the early-modern times, especially the world of jiuta (a genre of traditional songs with shamisen accompaniment), sokyoku (koto music) (combined with the kokyu (Chinese fiddle) music, they are called "sankyoku" or instrumental trio), and so on; shamisen is sometimes called 'sangen' (a three-stringed musical instrument), written as '三弦' or '三絃.'
近世邦楽の世界、特に地歌・箏曲の世界（三曲）等では「三弦（さんげん）」、または「三絃」と呼称し、表記する事も多い。