reciting without shamisen accompaniment
A style of narrative performance, typically in traditional Japanese storytelling such as jōruri, where the chanter performs without the usual shamisen music.
Sugatari is a form of jōruri recited without shamisen accompaniment.
Compound of 素 (su, 'bare, plain') + 語り (katari, 'recitation, storytelling'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term straightforwardly describes unaccompanied narrative performance.