The kankara (Japanese: かんから) or kankara sanshin (literally "sanshin from a can") is a Japanese three-stringed folk plucked instrument, initially an improvised derivative of the Okinawan sanshin that was developed in the Ryukyu Islands during the Shōwa period. Like the wooden-bodied gottan, the kankara is an inexpensive alternative to other, professional Japanese lutes – namely the sanshin and the similar, albeit larger shamisen. Unlike the gottan, however, the kankara was invented much later and served a much different purpose historically.