本音尺八 Hon-on Shakuhachi

November 2022 - This year has seen significant progress in terms of maki-e and urushi techniques, hitoyogiri research, and the introduction of a portable Edo-style jinashi shakuhachi. On the maki-e front, the above is a photo of denchiku, a 1.9 wide bore shakuhachi with its name in green gold, and the root end in tsugaru-nuri, a local traditional urushi technique. You can also look at the hitoyogiri section to see some updates there on the flutes that are available. I also started making Edo-style shakuhachi with a joint, yet preserving the interior shape of the bore, so as to have a traditional flute that is a little easier to travel with (last time I got on an airplane, they didn't want me to carry on anything over 60cm, so this has been pretty helpful).

I've also been dedicating a good deal of time to studying classical hitoyogiri. There is a repertoire of nearly 80 short haiku-like pieces that date back to before the Edo era, likely to Ikkyu's time in the early 1400's. Fortunately, we have several score collections left behind that provide enough instruction on playing to put together something pretty close to what the pieces sound like. My most recent leg of the project has been to compile the scores in on place, so that they are clear, consistent, and yet still faithful to the oldest copies of scores available. If you want to get an even deeper understanding of old-style shakuhachi playing, this is a great place to go.