About Shakuhachi (Bamboo Flute)

The shakuhachi is certainly Japan's most well-known woodwind instrument. A vertically-held bamboo flute, it is made from the very bottom of a bamboo tree. Bamboo is hollow except for this nodes which are spaced at Intervals along the pipe. These nodes are knocked out to form the complete hollow length of the pipe. Four fingerholes are put on the front of the instrument and a thumbhole on the back. The mouthpiece is the open top of the pipe itself with the front side cut at a slight and angle to facilitate blowing the instrument.

Although the placement of holes and tuning of the instrument is a very delicate process, the instrument itself is of a basically simple construction. It is this very fact, however, which allows for very complex techniques in playing the instrument such as the use of the breath with changes in the blowing angle for great or minute changes in sound quality, or partial-holding of fingerholes to make delicate pitch changes.

The instrument takes its name from its standard length of one foot (shaku) and eight (hachi) parts of a foot (called sun), approximately 54cm. There are other lengths of the instrument as well, all with the general name of shakuhachi.

Download Sample Movie 1.2 MB
SIZE PRICE (in Yen)
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.7
1.9		200,000
2.0
1.6
1.8		300,000
2.1
2.3		350,000
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3.0
3.1
3.2		 400,000

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