Making the Japanese Shakuhachi Flute

Ken LaCosse The shakuhachi is a deceptively simple ancestor of the shakuhachi called a hitoyogiri was first
Japanese bamboo flute. With only five finger holes and played by Japanese begger monks about the 9th-11th
a sharp, angled blowing edge, it is capable of produc- century.
ing both sounds of simplicity and vast complexity. Its
efficient design provides a player with a level of subtle In the 17th century, the shakuhachi was played by
tone control found in no other flute. By adjusting the wandering priests called komuso (priests of empty
blowing angle or by partially covering the finger holes, nothing) who wore large baskets over their heads to
its basic pentatonic scale can be expanded to include symbolize their otherworldliness. Komuso membership
slides, halftones, quarter tones as well as subtle micro- greatly increased during the political upheavals of this
tones. Historically, the shakuhachi has a connection to time. Some were attracted by the free and easy role of
Zen Buddhism. In its religious context, it is played not the traveling komuso monk. Others were drawn by its
for entertainment, but as a way of Blowing Zen. developing Zen theology and its utilization of music
as a means to enlightenment. The movement gradually
The deceptive simplicity of the shakuhachi can also be developed into a recognized sect of Zen Buddhism. The
found in the experience of constructing one. In it’s most popular legend of the komuso is that they were granted
basic form, the shakuhachi can be made in minutes. In exclusive rights to play the shakuhachi if they acted as
it’s most complex form, it can take months or years secret informers for the government. They are also said
of diligent labor before a flute is considered finished. to have originated the use of the dense root section in
Regardless of approach, shakuhachi making can be their flutes as a means of self defense.
used as a tool to practice the appreciation and wonder
of paradox in all things.

This flutemaking guide attempts to explain a basic ap-

proach to shakuhachi construction. In this approach, the
emphasis is on the bamboo and working with what each
particular piece has to offer. This method is ideal for
beginners because it is concerned with the shakuhachi
in its unadorned form. Extra tedious steps, or within
this mindset, ‘trappings’ of construction, such as the
blowing edge inlay, lacquer application and middle
joint construction, are not addressed. Although basic, it
is not necessarilly a crude method. Many experienced
makers find endless complexity and challenge within
this approach.

History Priests of Empty Nothing

There are various possibilities as to the origin of the

shakuhachi. One explanation is that an ancient six hole
version migrated from China to Japan along with the Ken LaCosse, of San Francisco, makes Mujitsu
introduction of Buddhism during the Nara period (680- Shakuhachi for students, teachers and professional
794 A.D.). Another explanation is that an musicians throughout the world. Visit Mujitsu
Shakuhachi at: mujitsu.com
Shakuhachi Construction it’s easier to make them on low cost bamboo. Plant nurs-
eries often carry culms of inexpensive, cured bamboo
Tools and Materials List which can make surprisingly fine shakuhachi. Search
for culms that are cut as low to the ground as possible.
There are many specialized tools available for shaku- The nodes are closer together and the bamboo is thicker
hachi construction. They do make most of the steps at this end. Also, the bore is naturally tapered at this end
efficient. However, a quality shakuhachi is mainly a and resembles the optimum shape for good sound.
product of patience, attention and subtle adjustments.
Often, simple tools found at any hardware store are Opening the Bore
sufficient. Here is a list of the basics:
Cut your bamboo to size using the diagram as a guide.
Hack Saw Drill through all the solid nodes with a 3/8” long drill
Japanese bamboo saw (optional) bit. The nodes can then be filed slightly with a coarse
Exacto Blades round file. At this point, do not grind the nodes flush to
Flat file- medium (at least 1” diameter) the bore. These can be adjusted after the holes are drilled
Round file- coarse (1/4 to 1/2 inch diameter) to fine tune the sound quality. Grind open the blowing
Drill (power or hand) edge end node to 2cm.
3/8” Forstner drill bit
Long 3/8 inch wood drill bit Cutting the Blowing Edge
Sandpaper- (coarse to fine)
Measuring Tape (metric) With the bore still in an unfinished state, it’s time to cut
Wood dowels (1/4-1/2 inch diameter) the blowing edge. Starting from the bottom end, draw
Steel wool (extra fine) a center line along the length of the bamboo to act as a
Electronic tuner guide for finger hole and blowing edge alignment. With
Bamboo! a hacksaw, cut the blowing edge on a node and file it
smooth. File the chin rest area back at a slight angle and
Shakuhachi making is a humbling experience. At the round its back edge to make if more comfortable. The
heart of this experience is bamboo. I continue to learn blowing edge should be sharp and match the dimensions
the same lesson from bamboo. Work against it and it in the diagram. Test blow and make necessary adjust-
always wins.Work with it and it just might reveal some- ments until it plays with comfort and relative ease. Sand
thing. Each piece of bamboo has a unique voice. It is the filed areas to your liking.
important to listen for it, recognize it, then help it along
in the direction of its own sound. Shakuhachi making is Additional Bore Work
difficult when we try to force a predetermined voice into
the bamboo. The best flutes are effortless and appear as If the flute plays its one low note exceptionally well,
a result of a good relationship between the maker and leave the bore as is and move on to drilling the finger
the bamboo. With this in mind, let’s begin. holes. If you are not satisfied with the sound, some
secondary bore work will be needed. Slowly grind
Bamboo Selection the nodes singly or in combinations and test blow fre-
quently. It is important to work slowly and to listen. If
A traditional shakuhachi is made from the root section of you overgrind it is more complicated to add back to the
Japanese medake (phyllostachys bambusoides) bamboo. bore. The idea is to get the bore close to where it needs
Only a small number of culms in a grove will exhibit to be before drilling the fingerholes. Then, final bore
all the characteristics considered essential for a quality adjustments can be made.
shakuhachi. Color, node placement, diameter, feel and
density are all important considerations. These charac- Hint: If the bore of your flute is tapered like the diagram
teristics, along with the labor of harvesting, preparing (which is ideal) you may need to grind the bottom 9cm
and curing the bamboo, contribute to its high cost. For open slightly to improve the tone. If the bore is cylindri-
the novice maker, it may be practical to buy inexpensive cal, no grinding is needed at the bottom.
non-root bamboo. Mistakes are inevitable and
 Shakuhachi Measurements
2 cm.
All measurements will vary from flute to flute.

1.5 cm. 30°

Tapered Bore

1 cm.
4 mm.
2 cm.
Total Length = 54.5 cm.

3.2 - 3.5 cm.

Blowing Edge

Holes 1, 2, 4, 5 = 11 mm. Diameter

Hole 3 = 10 mm. Diameter

#5 (Back)
Drilling the Fingerholes
3.6

#4 The holes should be drilled with a 3/8” forstner bit. Other drill bits tend
to splinter the bamboo. To enlarge the holes to the proper diameter,
Nodes

use a 1/4” dremel tool sanding disk and/or sandpaper wrapped around
a 1/4” drill bit blank. Used with a drill, the latter works very well for
5.6

finish sanding the holes. Refer to the hole measurement diagrams for
#3 hole placement. If the length of your flute is not 54.5cm, you can use
the following formula:
5.2

#2 Holes Bottom end to hole #1 = 12.1 x Flute length (divided by 54.5)

Hole to hole distance = Flute Length (divided by 10)

5.45

Hole #4 to #5 distance = 3.6 x Flute Length (divided by 54.5)

#1

Mark the holes on the flute and begin by drilling hole number 1. Test
Smallest Bore blow, then enlarge the hole until the tone is raised to its proper pitch.
Dia. = 1.45 cm.
Conically widening the hole wall as it approaches the bore will improve
Reverse Taper

the higher octave tone. Slightly bevel the top edge of the hole. This will
make it easier to play notes which require partial hole covering. Repeat
12.1

these steps for the remaining holes. Keep in mind that each hole drilled
will slightly flatten the pitch of the holes below. To compensate, the first
hole can be tuned a bit sharp, the second less sharp, the third less sharp
than the second, the fourth less sharp than the third, and the fifth on exact
1.8 cm.
pitch. This tuning method is tricky at first, but after a few attempts you
get the feel of the degree of compensation needed.
If you are happy with the sound of your flute, there is no more work to Fine Tuning the Bore

be done. It’s finished! It may be all that you want and need in a flute. It Fine tuning the bore is the main challenge in con-
may also inspire you to make another, or experiment with other sizes. structing a quality shakuhachi. It is a combination
of mathematics, luck, educated guess, intuition,
If you are inspired to continue making flutes, you may eventually be patience and perseverance.
drawn to enter the soul of the shakuhachi; the bore.
This process is, essentially, adding and/or prefer-
ably removing space along various areas of the
bore until all the tones play well. The actual space
along the bore that will need to be removed or
Critical Points along the Shakuhachi Bore added will most likely be minute, but nonethe-
less, critical to the potential sound quality of the
instrument.

3/4 1/2 1/4 Hole Each note has corresponding ‘critical points’ along
the bore which can be adjusted to affect the tone.
For the low octave notes, these points are found
at the 1/2 point between the blowing edge and
the open hole of the note being played (1/4 & 3/4
points for second octave), as well as directly under
First note D (all holes closed) the open hole. If a particular note is not playing
well, it can be corrected by adding or removing
space at one or more of these areas. To check if
3/4 1/2 1/4 Hole space needs to be added, fold up a small piece of
wet newspaper (approximately 1 1/2” by 1/2”)
and apply it to the 1/2 point in the bore. Play the
flute to check for tone improvement. (A long split
bamboo stick with foam rubber tied to the end
works well to slide the newspaper to the desired
spots.) If it improves the tone, the newspaper can
Second note F be removed and the area can be built up with a dab
of glue and sawdust or paste resin. If there is no
tone improvement, try adding newspaper to the
3/4 1/2 1/4 Hole other critical points. Then try adding in different
combinations, then at every centimeter along the
bore. You can also experiment with smaller or
larger pieces. If there is no improvement after
exhausting all the possibilities, you will need to
remove space at one or more of the critical points.
Third note G Various tools will work to remove space. You can
wrap a thin strip of coarse sandpaper around the
end of a dowel or weld a 1/2” section of a bastard
3/4 1/2 1/4 Hole file to a metal rod. A dremel sanding drum bit
on the end of a long rod also works well. If the
tone improves after grinding one or more critical
areas, stop and move on to the next note that needs
improvement. If there is still no improvement
or the tone sounds worse, the areas will need to
be refilled. It is also possible that a combination
Fourth note A
of adding and removing will be needed. This is
where experience helps. A good rule of thumb is
to exhaust every possible simple solution before
3/4 1/2 1/4 Hole
attempting the complicated combinations. Alter-
ing the critical points for one tone can also affect
the other notes as well so it is important to work
slowly to get a feel of what is happening to the
flute on a whole.

Fifth note C It takes patience and experience to develop

a mental map of the shakuhachi bore using this
fine tuning method. It may be helpful to work a
3/4 1/2 1/4 Hole little every day or two to slowly get to know the
peculiarities of each flute. Each is unique, requir-
ing an approach which is beyond pure mechanics.
The shakuhachi is much more than physics. Listen
to the bamboo.

Sixth note D
 Making the Japanese Shakuhachi Flute

Ken LaCosse The shakuhachi is a deceptively simple ancestor of the shakuhachi called a hitoyogiri was first
Japanese bamboo flute. With only five finger holes and played by Japanese begger monks about the 9th-11th
a sharp, angled blowing edge, it is capable of produc- century.
ing both sounds of simplicity and vast complexity. Its
efficient design provides a player with a level of subtle In the 17th century, the shakuhachi was played by
tone control found in no other flute. By adjusting the wandering priests called komuso (priests of empty
blowing angle or by partially covering the finger holes, nothing) who wore large baskets over their heads to
its basic pentatonic scale can be expanded to include symbolize their otherworldliness. Komuso membership
slides, halftones, quarter tones as well as subtle micro- greatly increased during the political upheavals of this
tones. Historically, the shakuhachi has a connection to time. Some were attracted by the free and easy role of
Zen Buddhism. In its religious context, it is played not the traveling komuso monk. Others were drawn by its
for entertainment, but as a way of Blowing Zen. developing Zen theology and its utilization of music
as a means to enlightenment. The movement gradually
The deceptive simplicity of the shakuhachi can also be developed into a recognized sect of Zen Buddhism. The
found in the experience of constructing one. In it’s most popular legend of the komuso is that they were granted
basic form, the shakuhachi can be made in minutes. In exclusive rights to play the shakuhachi if they acted as
it’s most complex form, it can take months or years secret informers for the government. They are also said
of diligent labor before a flute is considered finished. to have originated the use of the dense root section in
Regardless of approach, shakuhachi making can be their flutes as a means of self defense.
used as a tool to practice the appreciation and wonder
of paradox in all things.

This flutemaking guide attempts to explain a basic ap-

proach to shakuhachi construction. In this approach, the
emphasis is on the bamboo and working with what each
particular piece has to offer. This method is ideal for
beginners because it is concerned with the shakuhachi
in its unadorned form. Extra tedious steps, or within
this mindset, ‘trappings’ of construction, such as the
blowing edge inlay, lacquer application and middle
joint construction, are not addressed. Although basic, it
is not necessarilly a crude method. Many experienced
makers find endless complexity and challenge within
this approach.

History Priests of Empty Nothing

There are various possibilities as to the origin of the

shakuhachi. One explanation is that an ancient six hole
version migrated from China to Japan along with the Ken LaCosse, of San Francisco, makes Mujitsu
introduction of Buddhism during the Nara period (680- Shakuhachi for students, teachers and professional
794 A.D.). Another explanation is that an musicians throughout the world. Visit Mujitsu
Shakuhachi at: mujitsu.com
Shakuhachi Construction it’s easier to make them on low cost bamboo. Plant nurs-
eries often carry culms of inexpensive, cured bamboo
Tools and Materials List which can make surprisingly fine shakuhachi. Search
for culms that are cut as low to the ground as possible.
There are many specialized tools available for shaku- The nodes are closer together and the bamboo is thicker
hachi construction. They do make most of the steps at this end. Also, the bore is naturally tapered at this end
efficient. However, a quality shakuhachi is mainly a and resembles the optimum shape for good sound.
product of patience, attention and subtle adjustments.
Often, simple tools found at any hardware store are Opening the Bore
sufficient. Here is a list of the basics:
Cut your bamboo to size using the diagram as a guide.
Hack Saw Drill through all the solid nodes with a 3/8” long drill
Japanese bamboo saw (optional) bit. The nodes can then be filed slightly with a coarse
Exacto Blades round file. At this point, do not grind the nodes flush to
Flat file- medium (at least 1” diameter) the bore. These can be adjusted after the holes are drilled
Round file- coarse (1/4 to 1/2 inch diameter) to fine tune the sound quality. Grind open the blowing
Drill (power or hand) edge end node to 2cm.
3/8” Forstner drill bit
Long 3/8 inch wood drill bit Cutting the Blowing Edge
Sandpaper- (coarse to fine)
Measuring Tape (metric) With the bore still in an unfinished state, it’s time to cut
Wood dowels (1/4-1/2 inch diameter) the blowing edge. Starting from the bottom end, draw
Steel wool (extra fine) a center line along the length of the bamboo to act as a
Electronic tuner guide for finger hole and blowing edge alignment. With
Bamboo! a hacksaw, cut the blowing edge on a node and file it
smooth. File the chin rest area back at a slight angle and
Shakuhachi making is a humbling experience. At the round its back edge to make if more comfortable. The
heart of this experience is bamboo. I continue to learn blowing edge should be sharp and match the dimensions
the same lesson from bamboo. Work against it and it in the diagram. Test blow and make necessary adjust-
always wins.Work with it and it just might reveal some- ments until it plays with comfort and relative ease. Sand
thing. Each piece of bamboo has a unique voice. It is the filed areas to your liking.
important to listen for it, recognize it, then help it along
in the direction of its own sound. Shakuhachi making is Additional Bore Work
difficult when we try to force a predetermined voice into
the bamboo. The best flutes are effortless and appear as If the flute plays its one low note exceptionally well,
a result of a good relationship between the maker and leave the bore as is and move on to drilling the finger
the bamboo. With this in mind, let’s begin. holes. If you are not satisfied with the sound, some
secondary bore work will be needed. Slowly grind
Bamboo Selection the nodes singly or in combinations and test blow fre-
quently. It is important to work slowly and to listen. If
A traditional shakuhachi is made from the root section of you overgrind it is more complicated to add back to the
Japanese medake (phyllostachys bambusoides) bamboo. bore. The idea is to get the bore close to where it needs
Only a small number of culms in a grove will exhibit to be before drilling the fingerholes. Then, final bore
all the characteristics considered essential for a quality adjustments can be made.
shakuhachi. Color, node placement, diameter, feel and
density are all important considerations. These charac- Hint: If the bore of your flute is tapered like the diagram
teristics, along with the labor of harvesting, preparing (which is ideal) you may need to grind the bottom 9cm
and curing the bamboo, contribute to its high cost. For open slightly to improve the tone. If the bore is cylindri-
the novice maker, it may be practical to buy inexpensive cal, no grinding is needed at the bottom.
non-root bamboo. Mistakes are inevitable and
 Shakuhachi Measurements
2 cm.
All measurements will vary from flute to flute.

1.5 cm. 30°

Tapered Bore

1 cm.
4 mm.
2 cm.
Total Length = 54.5 cm.

3.2 - 3.5 cm.

Blowing Edge

Holes 1, 2, 4, 5 = 11 mm. Diameter

Hole 3 = 10 mm. Diameter

#5 (Back)
Drilling the Fingerholes
3.6

#4 The holes should be drilled with a 3/8” forstner bit. Other drill bits tend
to splinter the bamboo. To enlarge the holes to the proper diameter,
Nodes

use a 1/4” dremel tool sanding disk and/or sandpaper wrapped around
a 1/4” drill bit blank. Used with a drill, the latter works very well for
5.6

finish sanding the holes. Refer to the hole measurement diagrams for
#3 hole placement. If the length of your flute is not 54.5cm, you can use
the following formula:
5.2

#2 Holes Bottom end to hole #1 = 12.1 x Flute length (divided by 54.5)

Hole to hole distance = Flute Length (divided by 10)

5.45

Hole #4 to #5 distance = 3.6 x Flute Length (divided by 54.5)

#1

Mark the holes on the flute and begin by drilling hole number 1. Test
Smallest Bore blow, then enlarge the hole until the tone is raised to its proper pitch.
Dia. = 1.45 cm.
Conically widening the hole wall as it approaches the bore will improve
Reverse Taper

the higher octave tone. Slightly bevel the top edge of the hole. This will
make it easier to play notes which require partial hole covering. Repeat
12.1

these steps for the remaining holes. Keep in mind that each hole drilled
will slightly flatten the pitch of the holes below. To compensate, the first
hole can be tuned a bit sharp, the second less sharp, the third less sharp
than the second, the fourth less sharp than the third, and the fifth on exact
1.8 cm.
pitch. This tuning method is tricky at first, but after a few attempts you
get the feel of the degree of compensation needed.
If you are happy with the sound of your flute, there is no more work to Fine Tuning the Bore

be done. It’s finished! It may be all that you want and need in a flute. It Fine tuning the bore is the main challenge in con-
may also inspire you to make another, or experiment with other sizes. structing a quality shakuhachi. It is a combination
of mathematics, luck, educated guess, intuition,
If you are inspired to continue making flutes, you may eventually be patience and perseverance.
drawn to enter the soul of the shakuhachi; the bore.
This process is, essentially, adding and/or prefer-
ably removing space along various areas of the
bore until all the tones play well. The actual space
along the bore that will need to be removed or
Critical Points along the Shakuhachi Bore added will most likely be minute, but nonethe-
less, critical to the potential sound quality of the
instrument.

3/4 1/2 1/4 Hole Each note has corresponding ‘critical points’ along
the bore which can be adjusted to affect the tone.
For the low octave notes, these points are found
at the 1/2 point between the blowing edge and
the open hole of the note being played (1/4 & 3/4
points for second octave), as well as directly under
First note D (all holes closed) the open hole. If a particular note is not playing
well, it can be corrected by adding or removing
space at one or more of these areas. To check if
3/4 1/2 1/4 Hole space needs to be added, fold up a small piece of
wet newspaper (approximately 1 1/2” by 1/2”)
and apply it to the 1/2 point in the bore. Play the
flute to check for tone improvement. (A long split
bamboo stick with foam rubber tied to the end
works well to slide the newspaper to the desired
spots.) If it improves the tone, the newspaper can
Second note F be removed and the area can be built up with a dab
of glue and sawdust or paste resin. If there is no
tone improvement, try adding newspaper to the
3/4 1/2 1/4 Hole other critical points. Then try adding in different
combinations, then at every centimeter along the
bore. You can also experiment with smaller or
larger pieces. If there is no improvement after
exhausting all the possibilities, you will need to
remove space at one or more of the critical points.
Third note G Various tools will work to remove space. You can
wrap a thin strip of coarse sandpaper around the
end of a dowel or weld a 1/2” section of a bastard
3/4 1/2 1/4 Hole file to a metal rod. A dremel sanding drum bit
on the end of a long rod also works well. If the
tone improves after grinding one or more critical
areas, stop and move on to the next note that needs
improvement. If there is still no improvement
or the tone sounds worse, the areas will need to
be refilled. It is also possible that a combination
Fourth note A
of adding and removing will be needed. This is
where experience helps. A good rule of thumb is
to exhaust every possible simple solution before
3/4 1/2 1/4 Hole
attempting the complicated combinations. Alter-
ing the critical points for one tone can also affect
the other notes as well so it is important to work
slowly to get a feel of what is happening to the
flute on a whole.

Fifth note C It takes patience and experience to develop

a mental map of the shakuhachi bore using this
fine tuning method. It may be helpful to work a
3/4 1/2 1/4 Hole little every day or two to slowly get to know the
peculiarities of each flute. Each is unique, requir-
ing an approach which is beyond pure mechanics.
The shakuhachi is much more than physics. Listen
to the bamboo.

Sixth note D
 The Shakuhachi Society of B.C.
Shakuhachi Fingering Chart www.bamboo-in.com

Hassun 1.8
Go
no
Tsu Re Chi Hi I Ha
Kan register
Otsu register
~
-.e-
$2_
Ro Tsu Re Chi Ri I Ro
0 b-t- -e- P.!.. 'l!- *~
0 *•
•
:lrdt
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'
'
'

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'
''
.~i: lu ~o :ol ~19,, , ('lif
: :
Pf :
:o :
i~
·~
·8
' '

Standard
'
'
''
.''
'
'
'
'
''
' ' :o
!0 ' i D
:! !g
: :g
: :.! i

J. ,,,~'fOO!fir ·.)~J
notes

~/·
' ~
:;:,,
~),
./~.:
- -- -· -- -·-- - ~/
: 1:·.M~'.· /['Zt:: ':\Y~
K:,/).

___ __ ..
{:·~-L-~:, fet
: . ~->-
~/···:··- ~/
LZJ
*/ID
:
j
,.. )[Q]
' (')):
~/·--- --· ~ /~/
:····v~ . ,~):
: :G:
.. . .:.. . /~/ · · -- -- ~/·--
vl2J'f,
: l~): : :
. : :~:::/ l ___:_ _
t-£)
~/ "j"".. .. l1j/
~
:__ __:/ (r1) [:~:::/ :_ r_.: / : i_~_;/
I I
:
I
:
I
:I
:_~ __:/
I
:
I
I I I I I I t

I : I : : : : :

- - - - - - - - - - - - .. - - ... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .. - .. - .. - - .. - - - ~ - - - - - - .. - - ~ .. - - - - - - - - - - .. - . - - .... - - .. .... - - .. - - - - - - - - - -:- - - - - - - - - - - - - - .. - - - - ~ - .. .. - - - - - - ! . - - .. - - - - - ~ - - - - - - - - . - - - - .... .... - .. - - .. - - - - - .. -:- - - - - - - - - .. - - - .. .. ~ - .. - - .. - .. .. - ~ - .. - - - - - - - ~ - .. - .. - . - - - ! - - .. - - - .. - - ! - - .. .... - - .. .. .. - - - - - - - - - - - .. - - - - - .. .. .. .. - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Special
notes ~/~.. •.•-~· _- ftl : :
g}Zl' 00 J*)~I
~
~ ~ ~¥~Uil
~~
~ [g]+
(~)

Pronunciation Ro = roh Ri = ree Hi = hee -t Chu-Meri t Chu-Kari D partially close this hole fo r Meri
Tsu= tzoo U = oo Ha= hah Octaves Unless indicated otherwise, Ro or Tsu Notation
after Ri are played in Kan register. U Meri fl' Kari !Ql optionally closed
Re = ray Ru = roo
Chi = chee I = ee .Lil. Dai-Meri (.) optionally open

Ne San Yon Ni
Meri example no no no no
u Ha Ra A Ru
~ Re u Hi Ha
x
(~~'~ x
~

1-r
~
v ~
J) o.· ~"> (?) 7 Jk ~ iv ~· ~ ~ t7!.x ~ ~-
~~>
~ Fingering

• • • • • • 0 0 0
• • • • • • • • • • 0

; i
for special
notes

II.Lil. JJ
~ ~
llJ. -!. -!. -!.
~ ~< =
-!. -.], t
~ ~
llJ. .!,
; ~ ; ; ~ i • I~
llJ. JJ JJ t JJ JJ -!. t
 w.mejiro japan.com
www.mejiro-japan.com

Let's Make the Shakuhachi

by John Kaizan Neptune
“Woody Hands” 1993-December Issue

This article is an abridgment from the Japanese

magazine “Woody Hands” on John Neptune's
shakuhachi making. Most of the tools being
Utaguchi
introduced and used are available from
www.mejiro-japan.com.
The original text was in Japanese.
Translated by Mejiro Co., Ltd.
**Very special thanks to Chris-san for proofreading
& giving me advise on this document.-Saori**
4 Rear hole

List of Tools
【Items with product numbers 尺八図解
3

can be purchased from www.mejiro-japan.com】 2

1.Stencil (A0096, 2300 yen) 1

2.Measure
3.NT dresser (A0045, 1000 yen)
4.Adhesive paper (A0432--A0437, 420 yen--480 yen)
attached to a round stick
5.Ruler
6.Pencil
7.Scale (Rectangular equilateral triangle)
8.Dresser
9.Stabber (A9007, 1400 yen)
10&11 Small Knives (A0013, 2415 yen)
12.Gari-bou (A0054--A0057, 8500 yen-2000 yen)
& Utaguchi Hanmaru Rasp (A0166, 5400 yen)
13.Atsuhira Thick Rasp (A0042, 6930 yen)
14.Ring auger (Diameter 15mm/A0053, 1700 yen)
15.Professional Saw S (A0033, 7000 yen)
16.Round Lacquer Brush M (A0326, 2000 yen)
17.Abrasive Compound (A0452, 5000 yen)
工具一覧
18.Water Resistant Sandpaper
19.Tonoko Powder (A0300, 1000 yen)
20.Sand Paper (A0432--A0437, 420 yen--480 yen)
21.Acryric Plate (A0176 or A0177, 2400 yen)
22.Hanbishi Rasp or Hanmaru Rasp (A0160 or A0166, 5400--5720 yen)
23.&24. Urushi Lacquers (A0301, 2300 yen)
25.Urushi Spatula (A0318, 1000 yen) & Glass plate

©2009 Mejiro Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

 ① Removing the Inner Nodes www.mejiro-japan.com

The ground work for making the shakuhachi is the fushinuki (removing the inner nodes).
Using a ring auger, gari-bou, and saw, you will remove the 7 nodes.
It takes a lot more strength than it seems, so you need to be careful when using a ring auger.

1
Using a stainless steel or
plastic ruler, mark a line
on the front of the
bamboo. The finger holes
will be opened on this
line, so please be careful.
2 The bottom of the bamboo is called the
kanjiri. A shakuhachi normally has 7
nodes, so the extra nodes are to be cut off.

3
File the bottom with a rasp. Do so until
the surface becomes smooth. The next node should 4 Using a saw, cut the utaguchi (mouthpiece)
remain, so be careful not to file too much.
line.

5
The upper side is thicker than the lower side.
This extra width is crucial in making the utaguchi.

6 Hold the bamboo with the left hand and remove

the bottom node with a small knife or drill.
The diameter should be approx. 20-21mm.
Upper nodes should remain.

1 www.mejiro-japan.com ©2009 Mejiro Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

 www.mejiro-japan.com

7
Stabilize the bamboo with a vise. Use a ring auger to remove
nodes. Be careful with the bamboo’ s shape, as it is generally
curved.

8 9
In order to take off the node at the center,
Parts where the drill and ring auger cannot reach
you might want to use a gari-bou with the
are removed with a gari-bou. Remove the bamboo
curved rod as shown.
dust constantly while you work.

② Utaguchi Making Pt.1

10 11 12
Draw a straight line horizontally Cut diagonally according to File the surface.
across the top. the line as shown.

13 14 15
Measure the diameter. File with sandpaper on a
File off inside the hole. round-edged piece of wood
It should be approx. 20-21mm.
to make a nice arc.

www.mejiro-japan.com ©2009 Mejiro Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

2
 www.mejiro-japan.com

16 Draw a line as shown with 17 File the utaguchi with 18 Check the top side after filing.
a triangle ruler. This is for an utaguchi rasp. It is cut precisely according
an acrylic plate to be inserted later. to the marking.

③ Utaguchi Making Pt.2 The utaguchi shown here is caled Kinko style.
Tozan style looks like a half-moon shape.

19 20
Cut the acrylic plate. Attach the insert with
There should be no gap glue.
between the bamboo Super glue is preferred.
and the insert plate.

21 22
Cut off the extra acrylic Finish the inside edge
with a saw. Do so only with the hanmaru
after the plate is fully (’ half-circle’ ) rasp.
attached.

23 24
Finish the utaguchi by This is the Kinko
utaguchi. Other styles
sanding. Do not take
are called Tozan and
off too much of the
Myoan.
surface. An utaguchi line maker
from Mejiro is useful.

www.mejiro-japan.com ©2009 Mejiro Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

3
 www.mejiro-japan.com

④ Opening finger holes

Finger hole locations are crucial in shakuhachi making.
Though there are slight variations, the diameters are mostly between
9.5mm to 11mm. You will need small adjustments with a small knife.

25

Mark the hole locations onto

the front line drawn in step 1.

26 Cover the marked holes with your fingers.

Sometimes your finger is more comfortable when
the hole is slightly offset from the straight line,
especially on longer instruments.

27
Mark the center of each finger hole circle
with an awl. This becomes the target to drill.

28
In order to open holes precisely and vertically,
use a vice to stabilize the bamboo.
Using an electric drill on a stand is
highly recommended.

29
Make detailed adjustments
with a small knife.

www.mejiro-japan.com ©2009 Mejiro Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

4
 www.mejiro-japan.com

⑤ Tuning Tuning is only possible for those who can play the shakuhachi.
The following is a simple outline of the tuning process.

30
You will need a bowl of water and several pieces of
newspaper (2cmx2cm). By using a long stick or chopstick, you
will place the wet newspaper pieces on the interior wall.
*Before using the actual lacquers or epoxy, take
several wet pieces of newspaper and apply them to the
interior walls. By doing so, you will know where to
add some epoxy,* if necessary, for accurate tuning.
Repeat this process every time you check the tuning,
building up the interior of the bore as necessary in
order to achieve the correct tuning.

31
On a wooden plate, mix the tonoko powder: 4 parts powder to
1 part water. Then add sejime urushi to the kneaded powder.
Do it quickly as urushi gets hard fairly quickly once exposed
to air.

32
33
Place the urushi mixture made above inside
To dry off urushi, it takes 2-3 days in
the shakuhachi. Generally, put a small amount
summer, 5-7 days in winter. When it is
near the mouthpiece and spread it with a flat
completely dry, grind with the gari-bou.
bamboo stick.

34
After it is fully dried, you will need to firm the lacquered part
by applying sejime urushi. This is called “Jigatame.”
Depending on the tuning outcome, you should repeat the
process in steps 31 to 34.

www.mejiro-japan.com
©2009 Mejiro Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.
5
 www.mejiro-japan.com

⑥ You are about to finish a shakuhachi.

Finish up
Polishing the kanjiri (bell) with extra-care and make a beautiful shakuhachi.

35 36
Place the un-dried shakuhachi into a closed Use water-resistant sand paper.
container for drying. The container needs a Add water to prevent dust.
high level of humidity(50%--60%), so it is Protect the other shakuhachi parts with tape.
better to also place a wet towel inside,
not touching the shakuhachi.

37 38
Use particle size #120 to #1500 sand paper, Wipe off any water left after step 37.

starting from the low number (coarse) to Add some oil or Mirror compoundand

high number (fine). Sand it approx. 320 times. polish the kanjiri again.

Be careful not to scratch the surface.

*Very special thanks to Chris-san for proofreading & giving me advise on this document-Saori

www.mejiro-japan.com ©2009 Mejiro Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

6
 SHAKUHACHI FACT SHEET
The shakuhachi is a Japanese bamboo flute, still used today by Buddhist Zen monks
as a meditation tool. Also popular in the past with samurai warriors, its eerie sound
is heard in Japanese folk and classical music. The sound of the shakuhachi is
quintessentially Japanese – it is one of those instruments (like the bagpipes maybe)
which have a strong emotional link with national identity.

The shakuhachi is a heavier, thicker instrument than the Chinese flute from which it
originally evolved. With a hefty bamboo root left intact at the foot, it has even been
used as a weapon of self-defence by Buddhist monks performing for alms in the
street. The mouthpiece is a wide, crescent-shaped notch – this very open design
works together with the five large finger holes and the wide, lacquered bore to
produce the shakuhachi’s characteristic ethereal tone and gusts of breath.
Traditionally the player aims at the sound of the wind blowing through a decaying
bamboo grove.

Clive Bell studied the shakuhachi in Tokyo with the respected performer and
composer Kohachiro Miyata.
(SHAKUHACHI FACT SHEET continued)

The standard size is called 1.8 (“one point eight”). The name “shakuhachi” is a description of the
length: one shaku and eight sun. There are several other sizes for playing in different keys.
The lowest note on the standard shakuhachi is D next to middle C.
The range is two and a half octaves.

Not all the notes are equal. The scale made by opening one hole at a time is: D F G A C. The
remaining notes are made by half-holing, and may sound weaker. The difference in tone colour
between the notes is one of the points of interest in the traditional music.

Two pentatonic scales used in Japanese music are: D F G A C, and D E flat G A B flat.
Notes are not tongued, but articulated by fingering, as with traditional Irish flute. Phrases tend to
be ornamented in ways that are learned orally from a teacher. The shakuhachi has its own notation
system based on “kana” syllables. Each note is represented by a syllable, something like the
Western doh-re-mi system. Koto and shamisen have different notation systems.

Types of traditional music that include shakuhachi:

1. Honkyoku – traditional solo pieces, associated with Zen Buddhism. Their origins are shrouded
in the mists of antiquity, but they were collected and transcribed in the 19th century.
2. Minyo – folk music. the flute shadows highly ornamented singing.
3. Sankyoku – classical chamber music for shakuhachi, koto (zither) and shamisen (lute). Mainly
from the Edo period (1615-1868), before Japan had contact with the West.

Some thoughts on writing for shakuhachi:

The Western flute is a highly evolved machine, with plenty of keys, designed to enable nimble
movement in any key, and chromatic acrobatics. The shakuhachi has no keys, and different
priorities. Rapid, chromatic movement is very difficult, and not every note has the same timbre or
dynamic strength. However the shakuhachi does some things well that are tricky on the Western
flute: glissandi, including glissando on a tremolo; breath sound, and breathy attacks; development
of timbre and dynamic within one note. The complex virtuosity of some types of contemporary
music, where the extreme difficulty of performance seems to be part of the point, is not necessarily
appropriate on this instrument (though I suppose Frank Denyer and Yoshikazu Iwamoto might
disagree). Finally, one way to make a shakuhachi player struggle and curse is to give him or her
music that would sound far better on a flute.

More information:
Japanese Music And Musical Instruments, book by William Malm, published by Tuttle 1959.
http://www.shakuhachi.com/ Monty Levenson’s site.
http://www.shakuhachisociety.eu/index.html European Shakuhachi Society.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Euroshak/ list started by Kiku Day, UK-oriented.
http://www.mejiro-japan.com/ Japanese website, with English section, based in Mejiro, Tokyo.
Instruments, sheet music, CDs. I bought a shakuhachi at this Tokyo shop in 2003.

CLIVE BELL
clive.bell@tesco.net
www.clivebell.co.uk
See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320729288

Being in Sound Reflections on Recording while

Practising Aikido and Shakuhachi

Chapter · January 2017

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Chapter 1
q
Being in Sound
Reflections on Recording while Practising Aikido and
Shakuhachi
Tamara Kohn and Richard Chenhall

I become in the sensation and something happens through the sensation, one through the
other, one in the other.

—Deleuze, Francis Bacon: The Logic of Sensation

T his chapter examines both a methodological conundrum and an auto-eth-

nographic analysis of how one’s position within and beyond the production
of sound and movement affects one’s experience. We draw from our own sonic
field research in Japan with aikido and shakuhachi practitioners, examining some
of the methodological and theoretical implications of how bodily practice within
both of these different sonic contexts affects sensory awareness. These are com-
pared with a different modality of recorded sound that is captured electronically
and reflected upon by people who were, or were not, involved in the production
of the sound. Finally, we begin to provide a relational framework for understand-
ing how bodily ‘being in sound’ contributes to a multisensory1 and dynamic
process of self-production.
The research that informs this chapter arises from a project that sought
to examine sound production and reception in Japan. Through ethnographic
research, we examined the positions (and in some cases the ‘role’) of sound in
three domains: space and place; physical and artistic practice; health and therapy.
This meant spending time sensorily traversing and, in some cases, engaging with
others in streets, train stations, workplaces and places of leisure and healing. The
everydayness of these locations was important as we planned to document and
analyse sound as part of the experience of everyday life in Japan, including the
uncertainties associated with the position of sonic practice in relation to people’s
28  ■  Tamara Kohn and Richard Chenhall

senses of emotional and physical well-being. The project aimed to answer these
questions:

1. How are people’s daily lives structured by sound in urban Japan and, in
turn, how is human agency manifested in sonic practice?
2. How have people’s understandings of sounds and silences in their daily lives
changed over time, especially given their recognition of sonic environments
as important communicative sources of information?
3. How do sonic practices in Japan affect people’s senses of emotional and
physical well-being?

We contend that the meaning of sound is never to be found solely in

production, transmission and reception. Rather, weaving insight from work in
linguistic anthropology (Bauman and Briggs 1992; Gal 2003; Silverstein 2003)
into work on the senses (Classen 1993; Howes 1991, 2003), we seek to explain
how sound, both produced and received, is positioned within sociality. Meaning
is the product of interaction in social context; we must not presume that the
perceptions of sound are experienced the same way for all people, even those who
share linguistic, cultural or spatial attributes. In fact, it is the differences that arise
between descriptions of experience that can afford the most nuance and depth of
understanding about the social fabrics that bind sonic producers, managers and
listeners together.
One small part of this project has involved the development of a digital
sound repository, called Sonic Japan, to store information on a range of urban
sounds that people encounter and contribute to as they navigate various public
and semi-public environments in their everyday life, moving in and through
train stations, shopping centres, fish markets, restaurants, sports halls, parks and
so forth.2 The sounds recorded and stored there range from the bodily noises of
slurping noodles to electronic noises, and from temple bells and tourist chatter to
directional instructions or political messages projected from loudspeakers.
In this chapter, we reflect on two soundscapes that are produced in the con-
text of bodily training in Japan – one is a dōjō (training place) where the martial
art of aikido is practised and the other is a site for learning to play the shakuhachi,
the Japanese bamboo flute. What joins these two examples together is that the
sets of audio recordings that were made in these spaces were produced while we
were ourselves practising – when we were physically engaged with others in the
activities that produced the sounds. When we returned to Melbourne, weeks
after recording the sounds, we posted clips we selected from the recordings on
our new sound repository along with photos and short descriptions that provided
a modicum of cultural, historical and situational information. As one might
expect, when we created the repository we were struck by the differences between
our corporeal memory of actively being in sound as opposed to passively listening
 Being in Sound: Reflections on Recording while Practising Aikido and Shakuhachi   ■  29

to sound. The recordings, we felt, were ironically both richer and poorer for their
disentanglement from the ‘noise’ of the other bodily senses, thoughts, feelings
and emotions that actively making the sounds involved. We want, however, not
just to observe these differences here, but to figure out a way to account for them,
to begin to identify a vocabulary to interrogate their significances and to be able
to include what we learn in our ethnographic sensory toolkit.
Anthropologists are now very interested in sonic studies (as this volume
demonstrates) but we are still struggling to find ways to capture the nuances,
both in terms of describing different qualities of sound and in terms of recogniz-
ing the very different levels of experience that our own bodies in practice and
those of our informants encounter. Interesting ways of thinking through these
experiential nuances have been developed in other disciplines such as music stud-
ies, art, geography, physiology and philosophy. The relational aspects of being in
sound, for example, whether it is between a body and its instrument or between
a body and other bodies and material surroundings, has been a productive space
to explore in music, dance, art theory and human geography. Terms such as
‘sounding’ (Brown 2006), ‘proprioception’ (Montero 2006), ‘haptic sensation’
(Rebelo 2006) and ‘kinaesonics’ (Wilson-Bokowiec and Bokowiec 2006) have
been adopted and adapted in various cases to help explain this relationship.
Such terms have been embedded within creative projects including soundscapes,
soundwalks and sound art/installations.
Finding a paucity of studies focusing on sound in anthropology, Samuels
and colleagues have argued that anthropology’s ‘entwinement with histories of
technology, aesthetics, and mediation has led it to a critique of representation in
the visual field while largely neglecting issues of sound, recording and listening’
(2010: 339). They go on to suggest that ‘ethnographers could bring aural sensi-
bilities to the worlds inhabited by the people with whom they work and consider
those sounded worlds as more than performance genres to be extracted from their
contexts’ (ibid.).
But ‘aural sensibility’ can refer to many things. It includes what Schafer
named the ‘soundscape’: a total acoustic environment that encompasses audible
sounds as well as a sense of history and cultural context (1977). It also speaks to
what Feld referred to as ‘acoustemology’ – attending to people’s ‘sonic way of
knowing and being in the world’ (see Feld and Brenneis 2004: 462). Additionally,
the aurally sensitive ethnographer needs to develop what Clifford has called ‘the
ethnographic ear’ (1986: 12). But where is the ethnographer’s own experience of
a sonic environment that they too become a part of, placed against the mission to
attend to others’ experiences?
We would suggest that there is a clear sense of purpose to more effectively
share ‘other’ people’s experiences in most sonic/sensory ethnography. Such per-
spectives offer a view that emphasizes the relational aspect of sonic practices. This
takes into account a Bakhtinian view of the dialogical nature of the relationship
30  ■  Tamara Kohn and Richard Chenhall

between different communicative events, where ‘meaning making’ emerges from

the messy interactions between sonic events and human experience (Bakhtin
1982). Feld engages with the dialogic in his approach to auditing and editing
(1987) with his recordings of the sounds of voices and activities in the rainfor-
est amongst the Bosavi (2000) and the Kaluli of Papua New Guinea (see Feld
1990; Feld and Brenneis 2004). Feld played back recorded sounds to participants
in order to elicit their own understanding of how they listened and how they
understood sounds in the forest. This was then elaborated upon through ethno-
graphic texts to build a picture of their sonic environs and experience. In the very
different Western urban context of New York City, Andrew Irving’s sensory eth-
nographic work (2013) has involved gathering sound recordings of participants
walking and talking as they traverse particular urban built environments (e.g.,
sound over bridges, which often seem to evoke associations and emotions). The
work moves beyond the playing of everyday sounds of social and environmental
interaction (as in Feld’s work) into a space of participant verbal reflection in
order to bring the other’s meaningful experiences triggered through contact with
meaningful environments closer to the outside observer/listener (and ethnogra-
pher). Sarah Pink celebrates the way in which ethnographers such as Irving har-
ness movement as a significant source of understanding in sensory work (2015:
134). However, the bodily movement is of the other and the experience of being
in the ­movement is primarily a recorded representation of the other’s experience.
And yet, sounded worlds in the making are potentially perceived not just
through the ears of the ethnographer and not just by considering, after the fact,
what sounds signal or mean to individuals in different social, cultural and histori-
cal contexts. Aural sensibility in ethnography needs to go further to understand
how sounded worlds are perceived through the body as a whole and in relation to
other bodies and objects. It follows that the only way to approach the full bodili-
ness of sound is through awareness of what making sounds entails through one’s
own sonic practice and reflection upon that practice, alongside the aural traces of
the total sonic environment in which such practice occurs. How this ‘embodied
sounding’ is then communicated through discursive text, field recordings and so
on is a further challenge in the communication of knowledge and experience of
being in sound.
Sounded worlds in the making is something musicologists have tried to
understand in terms of the way in which performance has the potential to dissolve
the distinction between the subject and object. ‘In playing music, the object really
is within the control of the subject, because perception and action – held apart for
listeners in concert culture – are in dynamic relation with one another’ (Clarke
2005: 150–51).3 What that dynamism does to the experience of the sound itself
and the implications that this has for thinking about the multiple ways that people
hear (and attribute meaning to) different things within one sounded environment
can only be understood through an embodied and ­reflexive ear.
 Being in Sound: Reflections on Recording while Practising Aikido and Shakuhachi   ■  31

The empirical examples we introduce in the next sections based on our own
participation within aikido and shakuhachi practice environments in Japan will
allow us to think about how a ‘sounded anthropology’ (Samuels et al. 2010)
can consider and compare awarenesses to sounds as they are produced as well
as to the ‘cleaner’, recorded sounds extracted from the messy conditions of their
making. We want to think about what practical methodological issues we need
to be ‘attuned’ to here (no pun intended). We also want to theoretically inter-
rogate the relational aspects of sonic production, to consider how ‘being in’ (the
production of sound) also entails ‘being with’4 (other bodies and objects). The
first example in the next section takes us to a place of disciplined and rigorous
bodily training where vibrations and sounds of movement and interaction are
distinctive (to the trained ear) but not necessarily consciously attended to.
Sounds from an Aikido Mat
Aikido is a Japanese martial art that is practised in a training hall or other space
called a dōjō. A number of different recording clips taken in and around differ-
ent dōjōs in Japan can be found and played at our online repository. The brief
introduction to the history and form of practice that is offered later in this section
makes some reference to one of these clips recorded in Tokyo, entitled ‘Hombu
Aikido Dojo with Doshu’.5 When this recording was played to an Australian
work colleague without any contextualizing hints or explanations, he listened
carefully and said: ‘popcorn noise’. He chose to use the word ‘noise’ rather than
‘sound’ – a description that often serves to separate the unknown from the known
audible worlds (see Attali 1985). For any listener, however, who has experience
with the martial art of aikido, the known, familiar sound of training in the record-
ing may powerfully evoke emotions and memories and practical knowledge, and
attending (as ethnographers) to that evoked and reflective experience shared by
the other could, in itself, be interesting for a study of the sound’s socio-cultural
life. If we added to the disembodied recording a picture or two and a descriptive
text, then anyone (within or outside of the aikido community) could get a closer
understanding of the ‘soundscape’. We would suggest, however, that this may
still not be enough.
We want to consider how sonic ethnography both is and is not served by
attempts to collect, share and represent sonic moments in any kind of recorded
medium (and in this case we are critically referring to our own sonic repository).
Before explaining any limitations, it is important to note that recordings of the
sonic world are extremely useful for more than just producing an archive. We
would not have invested so much time in the development of the sound reposi-
tory if we did not believe this. Recordings (nowadays made digitally) may be of
educational and historical benefit by salvaging contemporary sounds for a future
that might sound quite different. They may be used as objects for cultural illus-
tration; they may be compared to sounds ‘captured’ in other places or recorded
32  ■  Tamara Kohn and Richard Chenhall

at other times. They bring a textual description of a soundscape to sounded life.

But they also, we believe, in providing an object we then label ‘the sound of X’,
presume a representative completeness of sorts that we must, as ethnographers,
be wary of. Not only do different dōjōs (made up of different teachers, styles,
students etc.) sound quite different from one another,6 but also different teachers
within the same dōjō will evoke a different soundscape. But what this chapter is
concerned with is how the soundscape experienced within the movement itself
includes sensory elements that are often indistinguishable from the sound but
obviously absent in the recordings consumed later. It is necessary to provide the
reader with both a contextual narrative and then autoethnographic reflections on
training – on being in sound – to explain this more fully.
Hombu dōjō is the world headquarters of the International Aikido Federation,
located in a residential area in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Aikido was founded by Morihei
Ueshiba (1883–1969), known as ‘Ō Sensei’ (Great Teacher) to his students, and
combined his knowledge of judo, sword and spear work and hard jūjutsu practice
with principles of Shinto and Zen Buddhism. The name aikido can be translated
as the way of harmony of spirit, from ai (harmony), ki (spirit) and dō (way or
path). As a ‘modern manifestation of the Japanese martial arts (budō)’ (Ueshiba
1984: 14), aikido is a defensive practice where students learn to ‘blend’ with and
then deflect or neutralize the energy of an attack. In this practice, emphasis is put
on upon the correct ‘feeling’ of contact in the technique rather than on visual
‘correctness’ of the form (Kohn 2008: 101). This is achieved through a commit-
ment to regular, even daily (for many), practice over many, many years – through
a pattern of observation and mimesis of a teacher’s training and the absorp-
tion through all the senses of form and contact through training with others.
Elsewhere, Kohn has analysed the ways in which notions of ‘discipline’ in the
creation and celebration of the self emerge from the study of such a ‘disciplined
leisure’ craft (see 2007, 2008). Furthermore:

[O]nce embodied, the tacitly ‘known’ physical and ‘unknown’ ‘spiri-

tual’ and/or aesthetic elements in training can be understood as intrinsic
parts of one state of being. This state of being in practice is a state of
working towards what Zukav referred to as a state of enlightenment, or
what Japanese martial artists call mushin or ‘no mind’, or towards what
Bateson (following Huxley and Whitman) called a state of grace. (Idem
2011: 46–47)

Aikido practice is always paired with partners alternating their role as either
tori (the one practising the aikido defensive techniques) or uke (the partner who
receives the throw through rolling and/or breaking their fall). The predominant
‘popcorn’-like sounds audible in the Hombu recordings are the sounds of ukemi
– the sounds uke makes in contact with the mat for falling and rolling safely. To
 Being in Sound: Reflections on Recording while Practising Aikido and Shakuhachi   ■  33

enter Hombu dōjō, remove one’s shoes near the door, don practice clothes7 in a
changing room and then enter the matted space, kneel and bow at its edge and
stretch quietly to get ready before the class begins, is to leave the rest of the world
(of work in the city, commuting, home life) behind and to dedicate one’s body
and mind to the intensity of training.
As such, the dōjō is understood as a special space that feels different. One
senior teacher at Hombu spoke about the special atmosphere – the special quality
of ‘air’ – that a teacher strives to produce on the training mat with students. This
air, he suggested, is invisible but found also in nature: the air you might find in a
church or temple. The sound of training, then, is a product of movement and can
be felt in the air of the dōjō. The senses work together through movement and are
thus often indistinguishable on the mat – ‘feeling’ air, therefore, is understood to
be part and parcel of the sounding of the training space.
In the Hombu recording, the chief instructor, Ueshiba Mitsuteru, the grand-
son of the founder (and known as the Dōshū), is in the midst of teaching his
regular 6.30am class. He begins the class with rituals of bowing; next he leads
students in a series of stretching exercises. Then students rush to the edges of the
mat to watch him demonstrate a basic aikido technique with one of his uchideshi
(live-in students) for a few throws. The students then pair off to practise what they
have absorbed from the demonstration. Shortly after participating in this training
session, Kohn reflected in writing on her sensory memories from that class:

The partner who bowed to me on that morning was a young, fit uchideshi.
His pace felt too fast for my ageing, stiff body at first; I could hear and
feel my heart beating deep in my chest and my breath clutching for suste-
nance in order to get up and go again after each throw. I felt the energy of
contact with my partner; I felt the power of his throw vibrate through my
body. I then heard my own slapping of the mat only as part and parcel of
the repetitive feel of the mat’s sting on my palm and forearm. Frequently
I heard sounds that helped me sense the potentially dangerous proximity
of other bodies whirling and rolling around me in a very limited train-
ing space (due to the large number of practitioners that day). The sound
became one entangled part of my zanshin (martial awareness), honed after
more than twenty years of practising. This awareness is framed in martial
discourse as ‘ten-direction eyes’, but it is just as much about hearing as
it is about seeing. It relies on proprioception – the awareness of one’s
own body in space, as well as a felt awareness of other bodies in one’s
immediate space. It is relationally meaningful. Being in this sound as it is
sounding is about feeling through the eyes, ears and fingers. Being in this
sound as a practitioner is to attend to the sounds that are related to one’s
own and to others’ bodies moving in space. The recording was made by
our research assistant who sat with the audio-recorder just off the mat. To
34  ■  Tamara Kohn and Richard Chenhall

listen later, from a safer, less dynamic space and to hear the recorded per-
cussive, ‘popcorn-like’ sound of mat slapping seemed both totally familiar
but also totally bereft of the feeling and aurality of being in the sound
when training. And yet, despite the disembeddedness, an aikido teacher
who listened to the recording with me also picked up subtle nuances
in the sounds that my ear had ignored in training – the crispness and
urgency of the ukemi sounds spoke to him of an accomplished level of
training – a very different quality to a beginners’ class or to the sound of
ukemi in his dōjō in Australia. As for me, I was genuinely surprised to hear
sounds of chatter and laughter from some of the old, senior men who
train in one corner of the Dōshū’s class every morning. That wasn’t meant
to be there – no students are meant to talk while training in Hombu
senior classes – one learns by seeing and feeling and through years of
repetitive bodily practice. But the recorder didn’t lie – the talking did
take place, but it was not in the sounded space of my training – it didn’t
imprint itself on my aural consciousness – during that class.

What is clear from this excerpt of notes and reflections is that every ‘hearing’
is partial and shaped on the mat by circumstance, by necessity, by the body’s
total sensory awareness of itself in relation to others, as well as by expectation. It
is also clear that thinking about different ways of engaging with sound is poten-
tially fruitful in considering how to add sonic experience(s) to our ethnographic
toolkit. The philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy, in his treatise on listening, draws on
the distinction in the French language between ‘listening’ (écouter) and ‘hear-
ing’ (entendre), suggesting that the latter term encompasses both hearing and
‘understanding’ (2007). He challenges philosophy to rethink the act of listening
(to music) without necessitating a search for understanding. He asks: can senses
merely resound without meaning? If the answer is yes, then perhaps the differ-
ent actors in the above dōjō recording scenario can be considered with some
reference to the different possibilities that being with/near or being in training-
sound affords. To ‘listen’ with all one’s being, according to Nancy, is to bypass
the search for meaning and allow for bodily senses to resound (ibid.). Kohn’s
reflections from the aikido mat suggest that through the contact with a partner
and the sensation of falling and rolling and feeling other bodies’ proximity, she
is listening in this resounding way. To listen fully in that moment is to absorb
a throw and feel the concomitant sensual resonances of movement and contact
with things and other people.
The attention to a recording after the event, however, is where people with
differently educated ears struggle for meaning. Is it popcorn noise? ‘I hear pop-
corn’, says the outsider to the practice, while a teacher, perhaps, who has embod-
ied many years of aikido training and teaching, hears something much closer to
the mark, filtered through many memories of being in that sound. He knows
 Being in Sound: Reflections on Recording while Practising Aikido and Shakuhachi   ■  35

instantly the sounds of ukemi and then listens for meaningful nuances that tell
him something about the intensity and the style and the quality of that training.
It is only the actor within the sound that is truly free from the search for meaning
in those moments because of the complexity of the sensory realm: the relations of
sight, touch/vibration and sound – the as-it-is-ness of their training.
It is relevant here to note that sounds in aikido practice are produced from
the exertions of the body interacting in space and are unremarkable (that is,
not usually worth talking about) until they are remarkable (until they stand out
somehow – e.g., sound wrong, sound inattentive, sound chatty, sound uncon-
nected). The sound is never perceived as a product or object of practice, but a
consequence of it. The mat is slapped to break a fall; the breath is heavy to fuel
the body. The sounds emerge from these activities and a well-trained teacher can
include sound in her sensory understanding of how people are training, but it is
not understood as a product or object in itself and most beginners will not make
note of the sounded nature of training. Some other practices, however, reverse
the order – the body must train itself to produce the right sort of sound. Sound
is one purposeful product (even if it is never a finite product) – it is what people
outside of the training remark on and what the beginner hopes to produce. The
next section introduces the second of our sonic practice environments to offer a
different empirical, reflexive example for this chapter.
Sounds from a Shakuhachi Lesson
The shakuhachi is a Japanese end-blown flute made from bamboo. The shaku-
hachi became popular in Japan during the seventeenth century when it was
associated with a Buddhist sect called the Fuke-shū, although the shakuhachi
has a much longer history in Japan stretching back to the twelfth or thirteenth
century (see Lee 1992; Linder 2012). This sect replaced sutra chanting with sui
zen (blowing zen on the shakuhachi) and the sect went on to attract samurai who
became itinerant preachers known as the komusō (priests of emptiness). Wearing
large baskets over their heads (tengai) to symbolize their detachment from the
world, the aim of the komusō was to obtain enlightenment through a single tone,
ichi on jōbutsu (Deeg 2007: 30). While the komusō have all but disappeared,
what remains of their sonic practice is an ensemble of traditional pieces called
honkyoku (original pieces).
Gaining the right pitch in shakuhachi is very difficult, given that this is deter-
mined by embouchure and the angle of the player’s airstream for which there are
no preset positions. Learning pitch is a matter of remembering the sound of the
correct pitch, which is reinforced by the individual reproducing his or her own
specific bodily positions to achieve the same pitch consistently. The way in which
a player holds and adjusts their body in order to play the shakuhachi is vital to
the production of sounds that are then judged in terms of their sonic quality
by a teacher. Body skills in shakuhachi playing include awareness of breath and
36  ■  Tamara Kohn and Richard Chenhall

diaphragm control, embouchure and inner-mouth position, in addition to more

technical features related to finger and head positions. This all requires frequent
practice so that the body unconsciously remembers all of the different bodily
adjustments that fit together to produce the ‘right’ sound. Drawing on Merleau-
Ponty, various scholars have pointed out the embodied nature of music learning,
with Alerby and Ferm stating that to ‘acquire and incorporate the structures of
music, we have to experience them with our body’ (2005: 181). The embodiment
of shakuhachi sound production is a key concept reinforced through the methods
of teaching. However, among the traditional komusō players of the Fuke-shū
during the Edo era (1603–1867, a period of relative internal peace, political
stability and economic growth in Japan that saw the crystallization of workman-
ship associated with the traditional arts), it was not production of sound that was
necessarily the focus: it was the awareness of the body during its production that
could lead to enlightenment.
In the digital repository is a sound file of Richard Chenhall and his teacher
playing the fundamental note on the shakuhachi, called RO in Japanese notation.8
They are just playing one note repeatedly but in playing that one note he is trying
to learn the teacher’s tone by listening and imitating his teacher’s bodily move-
ments. There are but a few verbal explanations; demonstration is the main form of
communication. In Japan, when learning the shakuhachi there is often very little
verbal communication. A student arrives to a lesson and there are other students
present, all of whom hear each other’s lesson. Some kind of warm-up activity may
be shared by the teacher and students. In this particular shakuhachi school, RO is
played by both teacher and student and this might be followed by some comment
by the teacher. The verbal comment may be a simple statement asking the student
to play ‘more’, implying the teacher wants to hear a louder, fuller-sounding tone,
or if the student is experiencing problems in sound production, the teacher may
offer some technical advice. This is followed by the student playing the piece they
are currently learning. The teacher and student then play the piece together. The
teacher may make some comments but these comments are, again, often general
ones about the overall ‘feeling’ of the piece. Specific technical difficulties may be
addressed; however, the transmission of knowledge is through being attentive not
only to the sound but also how that sound is produced and embodied. Linder
(2012: 259) refers to this as ‘audial instruction’, rather than ‘verbal instruction’, in
his study of shakuhachi tradition and transmission.
Attempts to imitate a teacher’s sound and imagine the total bodily practice
in playing the shakuhachi creates an experience of being both inside and outside
of the production of sound. Shortly after the time of recording, Chenhall recalled
in writing his thoughts and feelings:

I was overly conscious of my teacher’s very loud and proficient sound

that overwhelmed my own; I could feel the vibration from his flute
 Being in Sound: Reflections on Recording while Practising Aikido and Shakuhachi   ■  37

resonating around the room. I can feel my own flute vibrating and incor-
porating the sound of my teacher’s flute. In the recording, this presence
is not captured in the same way that I felt it. We can hear two flutes; one
is louder than the other but the vibrational resonance, as I experienced it,
is lost in the recording. While making the recording, I become conscious
of my own sound when I make a mistake and it jars against the sound
my teacher makes. Other times, I am caught up in the movement and
rhythm of the sound production. At times it feels like I am not con-
nected to the sound production at all and in that moment I lose focus
and make a mistake; I am brought back to the struggles in my own body
about forming the sound. It’s difficult to hear this in the recording, even
for me when listening to this later. I hear some technical mistakes, but
not the internal struggles I was experiencing. A passive listener would be
more likely to focus on the tone and melody rather than the relational
qualities of the two players.

As stated earlier, in Chenhall’s experience of learning the traditional hon-

kyoku repertoire, his teacher would often comment on the ‘feeling’ of the sounds
produced. This feeling is connected to ‘understanding’. However, understanding
a piece does not necessarily mean that a student becomes competent in the tech-
nical aspects of playing a specific honkyoku. In learning the traditional honkyoku
repertoire, Chenhall may learn an individual piece for up to two or three months
and for longer pieces the time required to memorize and perform the piece to
a teacher’s satisfaction may be longer. At each lesson, Chenhall reflected on his
progress and whether he would be allowed to move to a new piece. Similar to the
fieldnote excerpt above, in the following extract Chenhall notes the experience of
being both in and out of the sound he is producing, but here this is connected by
his teacher to a sense of understanding the feeling of the piece:

I am walking to my teacher’s house and whilst walking I am rehearsing

the piece I am to play to him in my mind. Each phrase courses through
my body as I walk, my head moves as if I am playing an invisible shaku-
hachi. I can hear the sounds in my head as my body moves, uncon-
sciously reflecting the internal voicing of the sounds. Have I memorized
the piece correctly? Will my embouchure and embodiment required to
produce the sounds come together correctly in the act of performance?
Have I internalized the piece? At the lesson, I play the piece. I feel that
the ‘I’ that is producing the sound is slightly outside myself, observing
the body that is making the sounds. I am only made aware of myself
when I make a mistake, a note is off pitch, a phrase is rushed, a sound is
lost. My body stumbles, my consciousness refocuses on my body and its
failure to produce the correct sound. In that shifting of awareness I lose
38  ■  Tamara Kohn and Richard Chenhall

some connection to the sound that I held previously. Rather than the
perception of being moved along by the sound I am now struggling to
move it forward. After I have finished, my teacher encouragingly states:
‘Very good, very good but . . . but . . . you have not quite understood the
piece, I did not feel it. One more week, I think’.

The teacher here may well be referring to his student’s ability to either
express or give meaning to the performance of a specific piece. Expression has
been variously defined; for example, Newcomb states that ‘expressiveness results
from the metaphorical resonances or analogies that a viewer-listener-reader finds
between properties that an object possesses and properties of experience outside
the object itself’ (1980: 625). Expression is, then, a result of the intrinsic proper-
ties of music but also of the metaphorical resonances these properties have for the
listener. With titles such as Yamagoe (crossing a mountain) and Daha (pounding
waves), each honkyoku piece carries with it a specific story that has some expres-
sive value. Yamagoe, a composition from the Kyushu region, literally refers to
going over a mountain, but in Japanese this title is interpreted as overcoming dif-
ficult obstacles. This in turn has been related to the discovery of the self-limiting
idea of life and death in Zen Buddhist philosophies, experienced through over-
coming severe obstacles in life (International Shakuhachi Society 2016a). Daha,
often translated as ‘breaking of the waves’, represents self-discipline and the will
to break all ties to terrestrial life to attain enlightenment (idem 2016b). There is
a large body of literature about the expressive aspects of music around the world
(see for example Kivy 1980; Newcomb 1980). Kivy sees music as expressive of
emotional life because it bears structural resemblances to emotional life. Others,
such as Howard (1971), have objected to this ‘isomorphic’ theory of music and
emotion, arguing that just because one thing is identified as similar to another
does not mean that one is a sign of the other. Newcomb summarizes these vari-
ous arguments in his article ‘Sound and Feeling’ and emphasizes that music has
specific expressive resonances founded upon its musical properties, but these
resonances are interpersonal and part of a ‘shared enterprise that is culture, as a
way of transmitting, changing and adding layers’ (1980: 638).
Referring back to the above descriptions of ‘listening’ to the sounds of aikido,
a trained shakuhachi player listens to the music in a different way to a novice,
informed by the layers of understanding embodied through sustained, commit-
ted practice. Listening to a recording of sounds of practice with a well-trained
ear affords nuanced interpretations. However, listening with one’s training/­
playing body in the production of sounded movement and music reaches beyond
interpretation towards a multisensorial as-it-is-ness, as illustrated through both
examples we have offered in this chapter. Chenhall’s recounting of the sensation
of being ‘outside’ of the music demonstrates Nancy’s (2007) mode of ‘listening’
with all one’s being, rather than simply ‘hearing’ the technicalities required in
 Being in Sound: Reflections on Recording while Practising Aikido and Shakuhachi   ■  39

the body to produce the sound. In putting to one side the search for meaning
through hearing music, the act of listening creates the very ‘feeling’ or ‘under-
standing’ that the shakuhachi teacher refers to in his comments to his student.
And the committed practitioner sees how such bodily training contributes to
the development of one’s personhood – one’s growing sense of self and other in
the cosmos more generally. For the shakuhachi player, at least in principle, this
training is directed towards capturing the essence of the original honkyoku pieces
by the Zen Buddhist monks, in order to achieve enlightenment through the one
or eternal sound.
Reflections
So, what is the sound of shakuhachi? Is it the sound captured in a recording? Is it
the vibrational aesthetic felt by the player, or the feelings evoked in the listener?
Is it in our analytic reflections on all of these things? Similarly, we can ask: what is
the sound of aikido training at Hombu dōjō? The popping sound of the mat slap-
ping? The sensations of sound in a training body? The reflections on the various
associations that the sounds may evoke in many who listen to the recording over
the years? Or all of these? If part of our aim (as sonic ethnographers) is to share
the embodied experience of being in sound, what is the best way to represent
this? What are the relations between player and instrument, player and teacher,
player and environment that inform various qualities of sound? How can we
capture and share those multivocal qualities of sound that are holistically embed-
ded in the sensuous, vibrating body in motion? How can we better consider how
auditory knowledge is variously expressed by practitioners and by listeners with a
range of practical knowledge and with different sensitivities?
In posing these questions at the last hurdle, we are not expecting to find (nor
offer) simple answers. Gerschon (2013: 259) argues that ‘representing sounds
sonically’ gives the producers of sound an important voice, allowing the listener
to experience an affective quality of the sound and helping to retain information,
such as tone and tenor, that would be lost when translated to text. However,
what we have found is that we must not be fooled into thinking that our sounded
recorded data is a total reality. Like texts, a recording is one possible represen-
tation, around which an interpretative act is framed. Jonathan Sterne argues
that a sounded ethnography embraces ‘sonic imaginations [that are] necessarily
plural, recursive, reflexive, driven to represent, refigure and redescribe’ (2012: 5,
cited in Gerschon 2013: 259). We extend this to our own work to say that the
multivocality of sounded data is an important addition to the repertoire of our
sounded ethnographic methods. Our two examples highlight how involvement
in the production of sound may be relationally and physically felt and listened
to differently in situ than it is when extracted from a site and heard apart from
the multiple sensations that produced it. Involvement in this production extends
beyond experience and reportage as it embraces the practitioner and affects her
40  ■  Tamara Kohn and Richard Chenhall

sense of being. To be in sound is, as the quote by Deleuze reminded us at the start
(Deleuze 2005 [1981]: 31), to become through the sounded practice.
The two examples of sonic practice in this chapter illustrate how learning to
‘be and become in sound’ is a key tool for ethnographers who are also practitio-
ners – listening through the ears and pores is part of our habitus, as part of our
training, as part of our sense of being in and feeling vibration and movement
in the sounding space. It requires deeply holistic ‘somatic modes of attention’
(Csordas 1993: 138), as well as a fair amount of individual sensory ‘inattention’
to some details in the sonic environment. Because sounds are embodied, both in
their production and in their perception, they allow for the creation of a shared,
collaborative intimacy between humans and places. This intimacy can be force-
ful when the slap of a mat reverberates around the fallen uke or it can be gentle,
seductive even, when the sounds of shakuhachi float through the air – when
teacher and student’s melodies intertwine with ‘vibrational affect’ (see Gerschon
2013). Being in sound affords a bodily awareness to an often-jumbled totality of
sensations. If we can increasingly recognize these nuances in our own practices
then we should at least have a better sense of what is required to interrogate other
people’s bodily and sonic experiences.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the Australian Research Council for funding this
research (Sonic Practice in Japan – DP130102035) and also to thank Carolyn
Stevens (coresearcher and lead investigator for the project) and the volume edi-
tors, Evangelos Chrysagis and Panas Karampampas, for their helpful comments.
In addition, Chenhall would like to thank Kaoru Kakizakai of the International
Shakuhachi Kenshukan, and Kohn extends her grateful appreciation to Dōshū
Moriteru Ueshiba, Dōjō-cho Ueshiba Mitsuteru and other instructors and
administrators of the Aikikai Foundation and Hombu dōjō, and Yoko Okamoto
Shihan of Aikido Kyoto, for their support of our project.

Tamara Kohn is Associate Professor of Anthropology in the School of Social

and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne. Her current research interests
include death studies, digital commemoration and the anthropology of the senses
in communities of practice. Relevant recent publications include: ‘Crafting
Selves on Death Row’, in D. Davies and C. Park (eds), Emotion, Identity and
Death: Mortality across Disciplines, pp. 71–83 (Ashgate, 2012); ‘Appropriating
an Authentic Bodily Practice from Japan: On “Being There”, “Having Been
There” and “Virtually Being There”’, in V. Strang and M. Busse (eds), Ownership
and Appropriation, pp. 65–85 (Berg, 2011); and with C. Graham, M. Arnold
and M.R. Gibbs, ‘Gravesites and Websites: A Comparison of Memorialization’,
Visual Studies 30: 37–53 (2015).
 Being in Sound: Reflections on Recording while Practising Aikido and Shakuhachi   ■  41

Richard Chenhall is Associate Professor in Medical Anthropology in the

Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne.
His recent works include articles related to the study of alcohol and self-help
groups in Japan and books related to the anthropology of sleep, the social deter-
minants of Indigenous health and Indigenous alcohol and drug treatment.
Publications include: coedited with K. Glaskin, Sleep around the World (Palgrave
Macmillan, 2013); coedited with B. Carson, T. Dunbar and R. Bailie, Social
Determinants of Indigenous Health (Allen & Unwin, 2007); and Benelon’s Haven
(Melbourne University Press, 2007).

Notes
1. See also Chapter 10 in this volume on the ‘multisensual’ in Ambonwari emic expressions of
song-dance experience.
2. http://sonicjapan.clab.org.au. Accessed 9 April 2016.
3. Note that all italics within quotes in this chapter appear in the original source.
4. See phenomenological discourse on different states of (social) being, especially Nancy
(2000) on the fundamental state of ‘being with’.
5. https://soundcloud.com/sonicjapan/hombu-aikido-dojo-with-doshu. Accessed 9 April
2016.
6. For example, the recordings made at Hombu dōjō in Tokyo and those made at Iwama
dōjō in Ibaraki Prefecture contain very different sounds representing somewhat different
styles, different instructors and different practice cultures around vocalization (or not). At
Iwama, practitioners vocalize with a sound called a kiai, that comes from their centre/belly
or hara upon contact (e.g., gripping or striking) or when throwing a partner. These usually
begin with a vowel sound as in ‘eeeeup!’ or ‘aiiuuup!’, etc. At Hombu, in contrast, students
attempt to train ‘silently’ even if they are still engaging their centre and extending their ki
(life energy) in the movement.
7. These clothes include the white robe (keiko gi), a white or black belt depending upon rank,
and, for yudansha (students with black belts), hakama (pleated and long skirt-like trousers
in black or dark blue cloth).
8. https://soundcloud.com/sonicjapan/shakuhachi-lesson. Accessed 9 April 2016.

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Wilson-Bokowiec, J., and M.A. Bokowiec. 2006. ‘Kinaesonics: The Intertwining Relationship
of Body and Sound’, Contemporary Music Review 25: 47–57.

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 { 70

An Analysis of Form:
The Concept of kata
in Japanese Traditional Music

Gunnar Jinmei Linder

Abstract: In this article I attempt

a partly new way of analysing the
clusters of sound that constitute
the building blocks – kata – of the
fundamental repertoire of the Japa­
nese bamboo flute shakuhachi.
These kata can be perceived as
structural entities of the music, but
some Japanese scholars regard
them as intangible prescriptive enti­
ties that are implicit in… any of the
traditional art forms that exist (or
have existed) in Japan. I challenge
the notion that these kata should be
seen as motifs, and suggest a new
terminology that I find appropriate
for describing the musical events Keywords: kata, form, phrase, Ja­
that occur in the sound clusters. pa­nese music, shakuhachi, tradition

Comment on Japanese names and words:

Japanese names are given as they are used in
Japan, with family name first. Long vowels are
indicated with a  macron, except in the case of
words for which there exist conventional spellings
in English, for example, Tokyo instead of Tōkyō.
Japanese words are italicized, except for the names
of instruments, for example shakuhachi, shamisen,
and koto.

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Introduction

Background
The shakuhachi (尺八, see Plate 1) is a vertical end-blown bamboo flute, possibly with
roots in the ney, an ancient flute made of reed. The ney is a commonly used instrument
in Central Asia, and it has a  history that goes back to the third millennium BCE.1 The
ney is probably related to the Chinese xiao.2 In Tang dynasty China (618–907) the most
commonly used flute was the chiba, the Chinese reading of the characters 尺八, and the
supposed ancestor of the Japanese shakuhachi.3 The name of the instrument refers to
its standard length: shaku (chi in Chinese) is a mensural unit of length, and hachi (ba in
Chinese) means ‘eight,’ referring to 8 units of length sun, which is a  tenth of a  shaku;
the standard length is thus one shaku and eight (hachi) sun,4 which in today‘s measures
is approximately 54.5 centimetres. This corresponds to a  tuning in D. Even though the
name asserts a length of 1 shaku 8 sun, the shakuhachi is available in various lengths,
from 1 shaku 3 sun up to 3 shaku or longer, each with a different pitch and timbre. The
pitch changes half a  step with each sun, up to approximately 2 shaku 2 sun, but the
actual length for any given pitch may vary also depending on the thickness of the bore
and other aspects.5
The shakuhachi has a long history in Japan; it is historically proven that it came to Japan
in the eighth century by way of the Korean kingdom Paekche.6 Some later sources indicate
that it may have entered the country already in the sixth century, but the chiba seems to
have been revived from an older instrument in the early Tang dynasty China, probably
around the 630s. In Japan the shakuhachi was used at the court, as an instrument in the
court music ensemble for around 150 years, but even after that it seems to having been
played – typically – by male members of the court. In medieval times it may also have
been used by mendicant monks, but this cannot be substantiated until the early sixteenth
century. It was employed in music forms preceding the Nō theatre, but it was not included
in the ensemble of this stage art. In 1512 the shakuhachi is mentioned in a treatise on
court music, some 700 years after it was abolished from the court music ensemble. In

1  Oxford Music Online, at http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/: ney, March 1, 2011.

2  InJapanese shō, xiao (簫), or dōshō, dongxiao (洞簫), not to be confused with the mouth organ shō (笙). It
is believed that the xiāo came from the west to China as a reed flute. NIPPONICA: shō, March 21, 2011.
3  Oxford Music Online, at http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/: xiao, March 1, 2011.
4  Thetext Shichiku shoshin-shū indicates that the hachi could be either sun (寸) or the shorter measure bu
(分), where 1 sun is equivalent to 10 bu. (Nakamura, Shichiku shoshin-shū (1664), 1974, 4).
5  Regarding the making of the shakuhachi, I have consulted a recorded conversation with the shakuhachi
maker Nomura Godō in 1986, and a personal communication with the American shakuhachi maker Monty
Levenson, on September 19, 2011. Please refer to Monty Levenson’s site for further information about the
relation between pitch and length: http://www.shakuhachi.com/Y-ShakuhachiPitchChart.html.
6  A kingdom from 18 BCE to 660 BCE; J: Kudara. (百済).

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this treatise, the author claims that the shakuhachi should not be
regarded as a popular music instrument, but rather as a court music
instrument.7 The shakuhachi is, however, most widely known as
an instrument used by a  certain group of Zen monks, who were
officially acknowledged as such in the late seventeenth century.
The present study examines the repertoire that began to develop by
the hands of these monks – the so-called komusō – and attempts
a new approach to the analysis of phrases in this music.
The music for the shakuhachi can be divided in two major
groups: the true or fundamental repertoire that developed during
the Edo period (1603–1867), so-called honkyoku, and other ‘outer’
styles of music, so-called gaikyoku. The ‘outer’ repertoire comprises
a vast array of music, from the chamber music of the Edo period
(commonly referred to as sankyoku, but a more precise term would
be jiuta-sōkyoku), to modern compositions and ensembles with
instruments from other music cultures. In this article, however, I will
concentrate on the fundamental repertoire, the honkyoku, since it
is a repertoire of mainly solo music for the instrument.8
Today there are a number of lineages or schools of shakuhachi
playing, most of which began to develop as formalized styles during
the late nineteenth century. The oldest extant of these styles is the
Kinko-ryū, where the word ryū, literally meaning ‘stream’ or ‘flow,’
stands for a certain line or lineage. This style developed after the
first Kurosawa Kinko (1710–1771), and its repertoire was canonized
in the early nineteenth century.9

Plate 1:
The shakuhachi
used by the author

7  Toyohara Sumiaki, Taigen-shō 体源抄 (1512), Chapter 5, Shakuhachi. Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no

ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 72.
8  The honkyoku consists of a specific set of pieces, strictly defined within each lineage or even sub-lineage.
In the case of gaikyoku, on the other hand, the definition is broader. Among practitioners of pre-Meiji-period
music it is normally defined as the repertoire of chamber music, originally composed for vocals and the string
instruments koto and shamisen. For practitioners of new or contemporary music it is often defined as ‘that
which is not honkyoku.’ The term sankyoku refers to a performance practice including three instruments
(koto, shamisen, shakuhachi or the bowed instrument kokyū), and the term jiuta-sōkyoku (地歌箏曲) refers to
the lead instrument of the performed pieces: local songs of the Kansai area accompanied by the shamisen
as the lead instrument (jiuta) and pieces where the koto is the lead instrument (sōkyoku).
9  See Linder, Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music, Chapter 8, 2012.

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Aim and Limitations of the Present Study

There are several sub-lineages even within the Kinko-ryū. In the present study I analyse
the style of Yamaguchi Gorō (1933–99), with whom I studied from 1985. The honkyoku
notation that he used is the so-called Miura notation, written in 1928–29 by Miura Kindō
(1875–1940), a  student of Araki Kodō II (1823–1908), the leader of the Kinko-ryū as it
passed over from the feudal society of the Edo period to the ‘modern’ times of the Meiji
period (1868–1912). During this transition the position of the shakuhachi in society changed
from that of religious implement to its (re-)acknowledgement as the musical instrument it
had been at least until the late seventeenth century.
Japanese researchers indicate that the smallest melodic units of honkyoku are musical
motifs, ideally played in one breath. In my PhD thesis I challenged this understanding of
the honkyoku repertoire, at least in the interpretation of Yamaguchi Gorō, and here I further
expound my perception of motifs and phrases in this musical genre.10
In this article I firstly suggest a structural approach in analyses of the constitutive parts
of the sound clusters that are the building blocks of the music, and secondly I suggest
an aesthetic approach when analysing larger sections of the pieces, in contrast to the
musicological analyses of tetrachords and nuclear tones as are perhaps more common
amongst Japanese scholars.

The Notion of Form (kata), and its Relation to Motif and Phrase
Nishiyama Matsunosuke, an important historian of Edo-period culture, expounds in
detail his notion of prescriptive forms as the very basis for traditional arts. He holds that
the Way of Art, geidō, is something that differentiates Japanese traditional art forms from
those in all other countries or cultural areas.
The prescriptive elements of an art form are presumed to be contained in a number
of stylized forms, kata, which are what a student will learn. The kata prescribe the bodily
movements inherent in the art. Nishiyama argues that kata, the prescriptive forms, exist as
intangible forms but not as physical patterns. He argues that kata can be seen in Zeami’s
notions of various levels of mastery of the Nō art: they constitute a  certain principle of
action, which each individual has to find for him- or herself.11 By repeating the kata, one
has to discover one’s own principle of action, in accordance with the kata.12 This would,
of course, imply that one’s own principle of action is not by necessity exactly the action
prescribed by the kata, but rather an action that is to a certain degree in accordance with
the kata, yet at the same time not inconsistent with one’s own natural way of acting out

10  Ibid., Chapters 8 and 9.

11  Nishiyama enumerates the terms an’i (安位), ran’i (闌位), and shigoku no kyō (至極の境), which according
to him are the quintessence of mastery of the Nō art. (Geidō to dentō, 1984, 46).
12  Nishiyama, Geidō to dentō, 1984, 46.

STATI & STUDIE

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the kata. I believe that this idea is crucial for a more open or varied perception of phrases
or motifs in honkyoku. I return to this issue in the analyses below.
To learn the forms of an art is, however, not the only thing that is required. Nishiyama
holds that within the kata there is also kokoro, i.e., ‘heart,’ ‘spirituality’ or ‘mindfulness,’
which makes the kata come alive, in order to become great art: “[T]he kata actually
contains also kokoro at its depth. If one really masters the kata, the kokoro, together with
the kata, will be in one’s own bodily possession.”13 Nishiyama does not specify how and
when the spirituality or artfulness, kokoro, of the art develops, and I assume that it would
be a question of sensitivity and aptitude for the art, and much less of the ability to learn
the patterns that are prescribed. Nishiyama holds that one of the advantages with kata
is that, by learning the intangible patterns, anyone will be able to bring forth a minimum
requirement of a fair reproduction of the piece, play, or whatever art form it is. Nishiyama
discusses the notion of kata in relation to Nō, but he concludes that irrespective of the
Way of Art – the geidō – in question, the principle is exactly the same even if there are
differences in regard to names and ways of doing it.14
The well-known musicologist Kikkawa Eishi holds that the system of kata is a unique
feature of Japanese arts, but his notion of kata differs from Nishiyama’s: Kikkawa views
kata as a structural element, which has kept the form of the music and other kinds of art
intact. Tsukitani Tsuneko, another musicologist and an outstanding scholar of shakuhachi,
also uses the term kata in her analyses of shakuhachi honkyoku, and in Tsukitani’s writing
the term seems to denote structural patterns that coincide with motifs. I  believe there
are strong similarities in the way Kikkawa and Tsukitani employ this term in relation to
the structure of a piece. Kikkawa, however, places emphasis on kata as an unchanging
element, whereas Tsukitani’s conception of kata does not seem to go beyond the factual
existence of patterns in the notated score.
Tsukitani discusses kata on the level of motifs, as well as representative kata for
a complete piece. She holds that the formation of motifs is related to how these phrases
are performed, in terms of rhythm, tempo, and dynamics, i.e., in my understanding on a level
of what we may refer to as ‘sound phrases.’15 The canonization of the repertoire within
the various sub-divisions of schools that began to develop from the 1870s included major
changes in how the pieces were performed. On the other hand, the structural elements
of the pieces, in the way that they were notated, are not prescriptive per se; the structure
indicates identity, but a discrete realization of a piece is part of an enactment of that piece,
and as such, it is dependent on the surrounding context.

13  Ibid.
(その「型」というものは、実はその奥に「心」が封じ込まれている。だから「型」をほんとうに体得すれ
ば「心」は「型」とともに、躬をもって所有することになる。).
14  Ibid., 47.
15  Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 145.

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Kikkawa gives a large number of examples of kata in Japanese music, ranging from
court music and Nō to the popular art forms of the Edo period, for example, the music in
Kabuki and the puppet theatre.16 Since the present study is centred around the instrumental
shakuhachi music, I  omit his discussion of order of performance in Nō, the vocal parts
of recitation in Nō, the order in which music and dancers appear in the court music, and
so on. In direct relation to music, Kikkawa asserts that there are identifiable kata in the
melody lines of the song and the instruments. For example, in the epic genre gidayū-bushi,
there are forty to fifty different kinds of kata. From this limited number the composer would
“select and arrange the kata” so that they blend musically with the instruments and the
vocal lines. The performer should attempt to merge him- or herself with the kata, and
“what should be respected is not the outer form, but the spirit of the kata.”17 Even if this
statement sounds similar to the word kokoro used by Nishiyama (see above), Kikkawa’s
generic discussion of kata relates to the research on shakuhachi music conducted by
Tsukitani Tsuneko.
Tsukitani uses the term onku to denote what she considers to be the smallest melodic
unit. She differentiates between these onku and the larger units gakku. The latter is
a common musical term in Japanese, denoting a musical phrase. A gakku can consist of
one or several onku, where each onku is ideally performed in one breath.18 In her analyses,
Tsukitani at times implicitly uses the notion of ‘form’ or ‘pattern,’ and also at times talks
about kata. For example, she states that:

In Kinko-ryū … the number of different individual sounds and variation of pitches within a mo-
tif is small. Occasionally there are sound patterns that contain a  greater number of individu-
al sounds, but even in these cases the sound patterns are divided in performance into several
[smaller units] (by adding breathing spells), and the whole piece will sound as a succession of
motifs of equally long duration.19

Additionally, she refers to patterns at the end of pieces, in which case she also uses
the word kata.20 It seems as if she envisages units, sound patterns, that are larger than
motifs (onku), but smaller than phrases (gakku), although sometimes it seems that the
terms ‘sound patterns’ and ‘motifs’ are used more or less synonymously.

16  Kikkawa, Nihon ongaku no seikaku, 1980, 155–160.

17  Ibid., 167. (その型の選択と配列／尊重すべきは、型の外形ではなく、型の精神なのである).
18  Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 128. (onku 音句 ／ gakku 楽句).
19  Ibid., 133. Emphasis added. (琴古流では … 音句内の音数も音高の種類も少ない。時たまたくさんの音数
を持つ音型があっても、それらはいくつかに分割して（息継ぎを増やして）演奏されるので、全曲が時間的に平
等な音句の連続と聞こえる。).
20  E.g., Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 135.

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Based on my own learning process and practical performance experience I have come
to believe that it would be musically interesting to define explicitly ‘intermediate size units’
in the music, units that are smaller than Tsukitani’s ‘motifs.’ I  believe that these smaller
units are an important aspect when analysing the transmission of the honkyoku tradition,
and that furthermore they make an important contribution to the understanding of the
music. I also believe that ‘motif’ is a somewhat misleading concept since it has a more
rigid definition in Western (art) music, and I am not convinced that this term is directly
applicable to the honkyoku. What Tsukitani refers to as onku (motifs) are complete sets
of sounds. The word on refers to a ‘sound,’ and ku refers to a ‘phrase’ or a ‘clause,’ and
I would prefer to refer to these onku as ‘sound phrases’ or simply ‘phrases.’ In traditional
music the word fushi is commonly used to refer to a complete set of sounds, and I find
this to be an alternative term.
Tsukitani’s thorough and comprehensive research indicates the existence of a limited
number of ‘sound phrases.’ Analysing thirteen of the thirty-six Kinko-ryū honkyoku, Tsukitani
found a total of 1,078 sound phrases, consisting of 356 different kinds. That means that,
on the average, one in every third phrase was of the same kind. The number is greater
than the forty to fifty kata to which Kikkawa referred as being used in gidayū-bushi, but
the idea of arranging a number of fixed forms in a certain order is the same.21
Kikkawa and Tsukitani seem to regard kata as structural and tangible elements that
constitute the building blocks of an art form, and here I firstly and primarily regard kata
as structures in music. The music is created by arranging a  limited number of kata in
a certain order. The order in which the kata unfold is of course the structure of the music,
giving a certain piece a context-independent existence. However, a certain form should
be performed in the way that the transmitter/teacher prescribes. If we assume that the
word kata has a definable meaning, and if we regard – as does Nishiyama – the kata as
intangible entities that implicitly contain certain prescriptive elements, then the structural
elements – such as onku in Tsukitani’s terminology – are not kata.22
The following section is an attempt to analyse the actual sonic and notation material,
to see if we can reach such a conclusion. Conversely, if Tsukitani’s onku are synonymous
with kata, then there seems to be no room for the prescriptive elements that Nishiyama
perceives as being implicit in the kata.

21  Ibid.,
133–134. Because of the relatively limited number of kinds of sound phrases, it is almost impossible
to ascertain, simply through hearing, what piece, or what part of a given piece, is being performed at any
given moment, something that Tsukitani also concludes. I believe that this is also a reason why the pieces
tend to be long: it takes time to create the right atmosphere of the piece with the relatively limited number of
building blocks.
22  For
a thorough discussion of the process of transmission, see Linder, Deconstructing Tradition in
Japanese Music, Chapter 8, 2012.

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Analysis

About the Study

The main audial materials used in the following analyses of sound clusters are listed
below. The material consists of three different recordings of Yamaguchi Gorō performing
the piece “Hi-fu-mi Hachi-gaeshi no Shirabe,” the first piece in the Miura notation and the
first piece normally taught within the Kinko lineage. As an addition to these three recordings
I have also utilized a recording in which Yamaguchi is singing the notation in the typical style
of shakuhachi solfeggio (shōfu). To illustrate certain points I have also used parts of other
pieces; these cases are explicitly indicated. All recordings are by Yamaguchi Gorō except
for one in which I compare him with his father and teacher Yamaguchi Shirō (Figure 14).
The shakuhachi covers three tonal registers (octaves). On a  standard
shakuhachi (D), one can actually produce a D♭ and a C below that by lowering
the chin. The open hole notes are: D, F, G, A, and C. With half-holing and
by varying the embouchure and chin-position it is possible to create half
tones and microtones. These half tones and microtones become breathier
and have a more rough texture than the open-hole tones. The third register is
not complete: D♭, D, E♭, E, G. With certain techniques it is also possible to create an F.
The quoted parts of the recordings are supported with the Miura notation, and a tran-
scription into Western staff notation. The structural sounds, the notated tones, are indicated
by white notes, and any tone or tonal interval before, after, or between the structural sounds
are indicated by black notes. Duration is important to the understanding of the division of
sound clusters; the staff notation is therefore written graphically, in order to indicate more
accurately the actual time intervals. The latter are measured with the software GarageBand
’08 (4.1.2). The transcriptions of the shakuhachi notation into staff notation were done by
one of my shakuhachi students, composer Kristofer Svensson, using the software Sibelius
6.2. Half-tones ought to be notated as flats, partly due to the quality of the tone and partly
due to the fact that they are notated as ‘lowered’ tones in the shakuhachi notation, but
when there is a glissando (e.g., from D♭ to D), the D♭ is notated as C♯ in order to provide
a better graphical representation of the sound. All measurements and transcriptions were
carried out in June 2013.

Recording 1 Colombia Records, 1975
Recording 2 Undated radio broadcast
Recording 3 Victor Japan, 1992
Recording 4 shakuhachi solfeggio, Victor Japan, 1992.
Shakuhachi played by Takemura Kōmei.

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Phrases, Patterns, and Forms

1. What is a Phrase?
I  will commence this discussion
by giving an example of how the
sound clusters I analyse are built. To
begin with I  will assume that each
‘package’ of sounds can be referred
to as a  ‘phrase,’ such as the one in
Figure 1 (a), as already mentioned
above. For those who are not familiar
with shakuhachi notation I have added
some comments indicating how this
phrase is constructed.23
Figure 1 (a): Kinko-
Firstly, the shakuhachi notation is ryū notation, based
rudimentary; it constitutes a simplified on the Miura notation.
representation of the basic structure Calligraphy by Satō
Ryōko in Linder,
of the piece, for example, the two Kinko-ryū Shakuhachi
syllabic characters pronounced tsu Honkyoku, p. 223.
(E♭) and ro (D) in the example to the
right.24 Secondly, apart from this basic structure, notated with the syllabic characters,
repetitions are marked with auxiliary symbols, for example, a  tone-bending repetition
(nayashi) as in the example (the wave-like symbol). Thirdly, the Miura notation is one of
the more detailed, and some ornaments are notated, such as passing microtonal ornaments
and phrase ending ornaments: here we have a tone-bending ornament between the two
structural tones, and a tone-bending ornament at the end of the phrase. These ornaments
are not always played by Yamaguchi as they are written; at times they may be excluded, or
exchanged for other ornaments. Even if there is no ornamental mark, Yamaguchi would, at
times, add an ornament. Fourthly, the rhythm is notated with dots on the right and left side
of the vertically written notation, and the time elapses from side to side, like a pendulum.
In this example, the phrase begins on the left side, where the tone with the fingering
for a lowered tsu is played. The tone is held, while adding a pitch-altering ornament, until
one reaches the right side. On the right side the tone with the fingering ro is played. Each
right-left or left-right move represents half a beat.

23  For a more complete discussion of various techniques used in shakuhachi playing, see Linder, Notes on
Kinko-ryū Shakuhachi Honkyoku, 2011.
24  This tsu represents an F on a standard-length shakuhachi, but by default this fingering is played ♭♭, which
is referred to as meri (lowered). There is a symbol to indicate a lowered pitch (メ), but this is often omitted as
is the case here.

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The next symbol represents a  type of repetition called nayashi, where the pitch is
lowered half a step on the left side beat mark, and then the pitch is returned in a glissando.
In the example there is no mark on the left side after the second right-side mark, which
is positioned immediately to the right of the nayashi repetition. In such cases a  virtual
left-side mark is imagined, the pendulum swings to the left side and then flows back to
the right side.
The phrase ends on the left side, after the third and last right-side beat mark. A phrase
ending ornament is notated, indicating a bending of the tone: the pitch is dropped and
the tone is cut off.
The first tone is articulated with a finger attack. A breath is taken before the nayashi
repetition, but the phrase obviously continues and ends with a  typical ornament where
the pitch is dropped.
Assuming that each beat has an even time value, the phrase would look something
like this in Western notation:

Figure 1 (b): Western notation, based on the Miura notation.

In actual realizations of this phrase the situation is, however, quite different. Figures 2–4
show three different performance enactments at different stages in the development of
Yamaguchi Gorō’s art, and Figure 5 displays an enactment for transmission purposes.

Left side (tsu) Right side (ro) Breath Repetition begins Phrase ends

Figure 2: Analysis of the example phrase. “Hi-fu-mi Hachi-gaeshi no Shirabe,” Recording 3.

The first half beat, from the left side to the right side, is four and a half seconds long.
The second half beat, from the first right-side beat mark to the unmarked left side (the
virtual left-side beat mark), has a  duration of five and a  half seconds. There he takes
a breath for two and a half seconds, and begins from the unmarked left side to the end

STATI & STUDIE

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of the phrase. The phrase ends on the left side, after the last right-side beat mark. The
whole phrase contains ten half-beat counts, and is twenty-two and a half seconds long.
In an older recording, Recording 1 (Figure 3), the same phrase looks like this:

Left side (tsu) Right side (ro) Breath Repetition begins Phrase ends

Figure 3: Analysis of the example phrase performed. “Hi-fu-mi Hachi-gaeshi no Shirabe,” Recording 1.

As we can see here, the time interval is similar, but the whole phrase is four seconds
shorter. On the other hand, the total time is slightly more than twenty-four seconds in the
radio broadcast, Recording 2 (Figure 4).

Left side (tsu) Right side (ro) Breath Repetition begins Phrase ends

Figure 4: Analysis of the example phrase performed. “Hi-fu-mi Hachi-gaeshi no Shirabe,” Recording 2.

Finally, the recording from the “lesson” where Yamaguchi is singing the notation:

Left side (tsu) Right side (ro) Breath Repetition begins Phrase ends

Figure 5: Analysis of the example phrase taught. “Hi-fu-mi Hachi-gaeshi no Shirabe,” Recording 4.

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The breath is circa one second, which is remarkably short compared to the performance
enactments in Figures 2–4, but the total length is similar to Figure 3. Figures 2 and 4 are
similar, and both are longer (22–24 seconds) compared to Figures 3 and 5 (18–19 seconds).
The phrases that appear in this piece are approximately between eight and up to
thirteen or fourteen seconds long if there is no breath prescribed within the phrase. In
the example we have just seen, and generally in the style of Yamaguchi, there is normally
a  breath before a  nayashi repetition, except in a  few pieces with a  more accentuated
rhythm and faster tempo. Other phrases contain breathing intervals as a formalized pattern.
Phrases that include a breath – or in more rare cases two or more – tend to be around
twenty seconds or longer. The point I wish to make here is that the length of the sound
clusters, the subtle and detailed ornamentations, their marked beginnings and ends, all
make such ‘clusters’ eligible to be called phrases rather than motifs. Before proceeding
to the integral parts of these phrases I will present two more examples in Figures 6 and 7
below, one shorter and one longer phrase.

Figure 6: Example of a short phrase. “Hi-fu-mi Hachi-gaeshi no Shirabe,” Recording 3.

This phrase consists of two structural sounds, as in the first examples (Figures 2–5)
above. The phrase is articulated with a  strong and rather long grace note (B♭) and an
attack before reaching the C.
The grace note comes from below, but the attack adds almost like a grace note above
the C.25 A  portamento-like slide is added, aiming towards D before reaching the A♭.
This final tone is first lowered and then returned to its original pitch. Even if this phrase
is shorter, less than half the length of the above examples, it is complete in itself with
a distinct beginning and an obvious end.
Let us now examine the longer phrase, which measures some thirty seconds. It contains
a series of nayashi-like repetitions, and therefore includes breathing intervals.
25  The attack is generated by quickly opening and closing the rear hole, which creates a very short un-
notated D.

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Figure 7: Example of a long phrase. “Hi-fu-mi Hachi-gaeshi no Shirabe,”

Recording 3.

This whole phrase circles around the C, with a short drop to an

A♭, and then the gradually quicker glissandos between B♭ and C.
Since the phrase is in the low register, following on from two subtle
phrases from E♭ – D, and E♭ – G, the beginning is not strongly
accentuated, and it ends with a long and soft slide up towards a D.
The examples above indicate that the sound clusters that are
building blocks in the music are complete packages of sound –
“phrase-like” of their own accord – and I think it is possible here to
draw a preliminary conclusion that these clusters could be under-
stood as musical phrases. Whether they also may be regarded as
kata – in one way or another – is yet to be investigated.

2. What Makes Up a Phrase?

The similarities that we find in all the recordings relate to how the ornamental techniques
are used. The phrase in Figure 1 begins with an attack. Between the initial tsu (E♭) and
the following ro (D) there is a  meri-komi, consisting of a  sudden drop in the pitch and
a  gradual return before moving to the ro. These aspects of meri-komi, the quick drop
and the slow return, are characteristic elements of this technique, which functions as
a passing-note-ornament. There is an attack when arriving on the ro, and the phrase ends
with an ori-keshi, a quick drop of the pitch, following which the tone is cut off.
This phrase is normally performed in the same way whenever and wherever it appears
in a  piece. Sometimes, however, it may happen that the attack on the initial structural
note is left out. The attack on the second structural note may be stronger or weaker. The
microtonal meri-komi ornament between these two structural notes is always present, but
with subtle variations in pitch, and the ‘return’ to the original pitch may be slightly longer
or shorter.26
26  The terms ‘narrow’ (semai) and ‘wide’ (hiroi) are applied, for example, to the tsu no meri (E♭) to indicate
slightly lower or higher pitch.

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We may now examine a similar phrase, such as the one in Figure 8:

Figure 8: Example from the piece “Taki-otoshi no Kyoku.”

The circled part is the same as in Figure 1, but here the phrase
continues. What should be noted, however, is that the attack on the
initial structural note, the microtonal ornament, and the attack on the
second structural note are the same or very similar. Again, it would
be possible to leave out an attack, but the microtonal meri-komi
ornament between the first two structural notes will not be omitted.
Therefore, I find this ornament to be a recurring pattern, whereas the
attacks are more left to the will of the performer. The timing and the
execution of a pattern may vary to some degree, but the pattern itself
is always there, normally as part of the ornamentation of the phrase. Figure 9 shows an
example of a standard phrase that can be executed in different ways. In Figures 9 (a) – (d)
I give examples of four different patterns used together with the same structural notes, and
I would regard them as four differently patterned executions of one and the same phrase.

Figure 9: Example from “Hi-fu-mi Hachi-gaeshi no Shirabe,” Recording 3.

As an example of how these patterns can be interpreted in different

ways, below I  explain four possible ways of actual performance of the
phrase in Figure 9.

Figure 9 (a)

The tsu (E♭) is held for a longer period. A deep and extended microtonal meri-komi
ornament is added between the tsu (E♭) and the re (G). This pattern creates a  heavy

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atmosphere; there is plenty of time to reflect over the initial E♭, and the intermittent F
may be shorter or longer in order to impart a weaker or stronger sense of anticipation of
the G. The tempo is slower over the whole phrase, and a slightly longer breath is taken
before the nayashi repetition.

Figure 9 (b)

The tsu (E♭) is held for a  shorter period.. A  shallow and swift microtonal meri-komi
ornament is added between the tsu (E♭) and the re (G). This pattern also allows for
reflection on the initial E♭, but it creates a less heavy sensation. The intermittent F is not
sustained for too long, since that would hinder the forwards movement, towards the G.

Figure 9 (c)

The tsu (E♭) is held for a longer period.. There is no microtonal meri-komi ornament
added between the tsu (E♭) and the re (G). This pattern creates a  strong feeling, but
without the meri-komi there is no sense of stopping or reflecting; with a  strong attack
on the intermittent F, it creates a sense of a dynamic forward movement, towards the G.

Figure 9 (d)

The tsu (E♭) is held for a shorter period. There is no microtonal meri-komi ornament
added between the tsu (E♭) and the re (G). This pattern is the lightest of the four. A less
accentuated attack on the intermittent F compared to pattern 9 (c) imparts an energetic
and light, almost cheerful, touch.
Figure 10 is an example of how the different patterns described in Figures 9 (a) – (d)
can be used in combination. This section is from the piece “Kyūshū Reibo.” Personally,
I would here use the patterns 9 (a), 9 (b), and 9 (d) for the tonal interval E♭ – G. The last
phrase is the same as in Figure 1 (apart from the extra repetition after the nayashi), and
has the function of concluding this set of phrases. The transcription is from Yamaguchi

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Gorō (Victor, 1999), and he is using the patterns I suggest, but with a less deep drop of
the E♭ pitch in 9 (a). All in all, a soft and gentle transition is enacted through the first two
phrases, becoming slightly more vivid in the third phrase where the whole passage peaks
on the A♭. The entire section finally reaches its conclusion in the last phrase (E♭ – D).
The duration is almost fifty seconds.

Figure 10: Example from “Kyūshū Reibo.” Yamaguchi Gorō, Victor Japan, 1999.

From this I  believe we can reach a  preliminary conclusion that patterns constitute
a formalized application of ornamental techniques, and as such they are prescriptive in
character. However, patterns are applications of technique, which means that they are not
discrete units. We can analyse a technique, for example meri-komi, and state that meri-
komi means that you abruptly drop the pitch approximately half a step, and then gradually
return the pitch to what it originally was. As a performance technique it is a discrete entity.
However, in actual performance enactments the patterns need something to be applied
to, namely a phrase. A phrase is made up of one or more structural notes, which makes
it a structural entity and as such it has an outer form.

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To recapitulate the notions of kata among the Japanese scholars mentioned in the
introduction: My understanding is that they have quite different definitions of the word kata.
Tsukitani looks at motifs and counts them as they appear in the notation. Kikkawa also
counts kata, but he also admonishes us to respect the spirit of the kata, not their outer
form. At the same time he finds kata to be the unchanging element of Japanese-made
traditional art forms. Finally, Nishiyama views kata as intangible prescriptive entities that
lead us to the correct bodily movements, and as such, it is they that constitute art, and
not the physical objects that are the result of these movements.
If we transfer these ideas to my preliminary discussion above about what phrases and
patterns are, I believe we can reach a more final statement: Patterns are formalized ways
of applying certain performance techniques to existent phrases, which are structures with
an objectively definable outer form, consisting of one or more structural notes. Patterns
therefore constitute kata in Nishiyama’s and maybe also partly Kikkawa’s apprehension,
and phrases constitute kata in the way I believe that Tsukitani uses the word. The notion
of kata seems to dissolve into two essentially disparate meanings.

3. Phrases as Patterns
In rare cases it seems that phrases can appear as patterns within longer phrases. I will
give one example, in Figure 11, the four opening phrases of “Kyūshū Reibo.”

Figure 11: Example from “Kyūshū Reibo.” Yamaguchi Gorō, Victor Japan, 1999.

The first phrase, which consists of the structural notes B♭ and C, is played for eleven
and a  half seconds. The second phrase, which consists of the same notes but with
a slightly varied timing, is played for six and a half seconds. Then the third phrase consists
of the same tonal material, repeated five times with a  gradually increasing tempo and
a ritardando on the final note. Finally the same phrase is played once more, similar to the
first phrase, but this time for approximately ten seconds. I think it is fair to say that the
third phrase consists of a repeated pattern, which in itself appears as phrases 1, 2, and
4, with slightly varied timing and intonation. It is rare that a phrase appears as a pattern
within a larger phrase, but the same thing occurs, for example, in the opening of the piece
“Shizu no Kyoku,” nevertheless with different tonal material: C – A♭ – G.

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4. Phrases and Larger Sections

Tsukitani’s analyses of larger section – phrases (gakku) in her terminology – are based
on the relation between “nuclear tones” located a fourth apart (Figure 12). It is not within
the scope of this article to explain her classification, and I will suggest a different approach
to analyses of larger sections in honkyoku.

Figure 12: The miyako-bushi scale with tetra-chords.

As in many other of the Japanese traditional music genres aspects of intonation,

dynamics, tension, and tone-colour are central to an understanding of the music. Figure
13 is an example from “Hi-fu-mi Hachi-gaeshi no Shirabe.” I use my own understanding
of the word ‘phrase’ in the following discussion. The section consists of four phrases.

Phrase 1   Phrase 2 Phrase 3 Phrase 4

Figure 13: Section from “Hi-fu-mi Hachi-gaeshi no Shirabe.” Recording 3.

The entire section is almost forty-eight seconds long, and it constitutes an excerpt
with an obvious beginning and a soothing end. It comes after a two minute long section
almost entirely in the low register, and with its dynamic opening it signals something new.
The piece “Hi-fu-mi Hachi-gaeshi no Shirabe” is two pieces joined together (“Hi-fu-mi-
chō” and “Hachi-gaeshi”), and this section constitutes the opening of “Hachi-gaeshi.”
The section that follows directly after it consists of one phrase – in my definition of
the word – consisting of E♭ and D in the third octave, and that phrase is followed by
a section that is almost identical to the section in Figure 13, except for the articulation
of the initial C.
Phrase 1 is intonated with a  very powerful attack on the B♭, which then slides up
to a C. Phrase 2 aims higher, and moves from the C up to a D in the third octave after
a  longer trill. The first two phrases thus exhibit a  strong upward movement. The third

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phrase begins the downward movement, going from a dynamic C down to an A♭, which
has a coarser texture than the crisp and clear tones of the two first phrases. This phrase
fades out slowly, but the same pitch is taken up in the next phrase, in which the rough
texture of the tone is kept intact. The A♭ of the final phrase is followed by a  G, which
fades out in a way that is similar to the previous phrase, but with a slightly rising pitch at
the end, as a recollection of the previous tone. The G is here played with a fingering that
requires a lowered chin-position, resulting in a breathier sound (u meri).
Another example of analysis of a larger section is that in Figure 10 above. The section
that precedes the example is played in the low register, and consists of a  number of
phrases with subtle changes in tone colour and texture. Its ending phrase is the same
as that of the example, in the low-keyed voice of the tones E♭ – D. The three phrases
that follow all describe an E♭ – G pattern, which creates a sense of upward and forward
movement. The section proceeds from stronger and slower to lighter and (slightly) faster,
ending with the concluding E♭ – D pattern again. Each of the three E♭ – G phrases
begins with a rougher texture (E♭) and goes to more clarity (G), since the half-holing that
is required for the E♭ – by its very nature – results in a  sound that lacks in clearness,
with a rather rough edge. The G is here played with an open-hole fingering (re), different
from the G (u meri) mentioned above, resulting in a more clear tone. The A♭ is also on
the coarse side, but less so with the fingering used here (chi no meri); there is another
fingering that will give a more subdued sound (u). In the third of the four phrases, a breath
is taken before the final G, which means that the sound of A♭ fades out before a rather
powerful G, played with an F as a grace note. The texture of each phrase in this section
thus moves from rough to more clear, from quiet to loud, and the three-fold repetition of
the E♭ – G pattern enhances a sense of moving or starting up.
The sections described here are what Tsukitani refers to as ‘phrases,’ but to me these
larger sections sound more like statements, or episodes; sections with a beginning and
an end, stories told in approximately 60 seconds.

5. Patterns and Idioms

Finally, yet one more aspect of the phrases needs to be addressed. The examples
shown in Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5 are different (re-)occurrences of the same phrase in the
same piece. The timing is slightly different, the dynamics alter, and the attacks may be
weaker or stronger. All these aspects are what I prefer to call idiomatic expressions or
idiosyncrasies of the individual performer in different iterations of the material. Tsukitani
asserts that anybody who listens can hear the phrases – Tsukitani’s ‘motifs’ – divided
by breathing spells, and anyone can rely on the breathing marks in the notation to divide
the melody, but these breathing marks are not absolute, and this creates problems when
analysing honkyoku.

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She states:

... [D]ifferences between lineages have existed from the past, but you can find differences also
within a lineage, and even the same person may play differently in different concerts, so these
divisions [between phrases] are absolutely nothing that is firmly fixed.27

This possibility of differentiation is what I would include in the idiomatic or idiosyncratic

aspects of patterns, phrases, and episodes. It is also where I believe that changes in the
tradition occur, changes that eventually may be subsumed under the prescriptive elements
of the art form, but these elements of performance on an individual level are not what
a receiver of the tradition necessarily has to, or even is able to, adapt to; however much
I would like to sound exactly as my own teacher, it is virtually impossible to be a perfect
copy. Maybe it is not even something to strive for. A copy will always be a copy, and the
possibility of hearing something that is not always the same is what gives life to the music.28
As an example of how a  change may occur I  will give an example from the piece
“Yūgure no Kyoku” (Figure 14 a-c). The shakuhachi notation of the opening two phrases
of the piece is shown to the right, and Figure 14 (a) shows this phrase “as it is written”
in the Miura notation, including Western rhythm indication.

Figure 14 (a): The first two phrases of “Yūgure no Kyoku.”

Figure 14 (b) is a  transcription of a  performance by Yamaguchi Shirō, the father

and teacher of Yamaguchi Gorō, whose interpretation of the same section is shown in
Figure 14 (c).
Phrase 1 (F) Phrase 1 (E♭) Phrase 2 (E♭) Phrase 2 (G)

Figure 14 (b): The first two phrases of “Yūgure no Kyoku” performed by Yamaguchi Shirō. Unknown date.

27  Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 146.

28  This
opens up for the question of what “the piece” actually is; if a performance is a representation of
an objectively existing entity, or if it is a presentation of something. It is beyond the scope of this article to
discuss that issue further, but I touch upon the problem with the ontological status of pieces in my PhD thesis.

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The main difference between father and son lies in their respective ways of interpreting
the first phrase. Yamaguchi Shirō takes the F up to a G, which is not even notated as an
ornament. Yamaguchi Gorō, on the other hand, uses a rather unusual downward glissando
(suri-sage) when moving from F to E♭.

Phrase 1 (F → E♭)   Phrase 2 (E♭ → G)

Figure 14 (c): The first two phrases of “Yūgure no Kyoku” performed by Yamaguchi Gorō. Victor Japan, 1999.

The difference in the first phrase is remarkable. Here Yamaguchi Gorō extends the
glissando to more than five seconds, with a heavy vibrato added that ceases as he reaches
the E♭. The phrase ends with a prolonged meri-komi that concludes with a portamento-like
slide upwards. The timing of the drop and return of the pitch is also quite different in
these two enactments.
One could argue that the instruments have changed to facilitate the subtle ornaments
and extended tone in the Yamaguchi Gorō recording, but the instrument he was using was
made by Yamaguchi Shirō. It seems likely that Yamaguchi Gorō’s way of playing these two
phrases was more a matter of taste. An older undated recording exhibits the same patterns.
These patterns are the way Yamaguchi Gorō would teach as being correct, and this
is what I learned. He himself must have learned the way his father played, so somewhere
along the line he made the changes that now have become the ‘standard’ way of play-
ing. This is indicative of the presence of something we could call ‘idiosyncrasies.’ An
idiosyncrasy may become the hallmark of a  performer, and from this a  set of idiomatic
expressions develops. The idiomatic expressions then become part of the patterns used
in various phrases, and eventually a new kata appears.

Concluding Discussion
The aim of this article has been to suggest ways of analysing, perceiving, hearing,
thinking about, and talking about the pieces performed in the shakuhachi honkyoku tradi-
tion. I have used only one of many extant lineages, one that is known as a refined, highly
formalized and heavily ornamented style, but which in my opinion is one of the most abstract
and dry interpretations of honkyoku. Regardless of its dryness, as with any musical genre,
an analysis is not merely a matter of structure, and not merely about the content that we

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experience as listeners, but a mixture of the two. I believe, therefore, that a full analysis in
fact requires a deeper understanding of the cultural context, the background of a piece,
the performer of a piece, as well as of the piece’s sonic aspects.
The structural analyses conducted by Tsukitani are extremely thorough, but in my
opinion not fully in accordance with the musical content. This does of course not mean that
Tsukitani did not have the necessary knowledge of the contextual and cultural background.
On the contrary, she was one of the most knowledgeable scholars of shakuhachi.
It is nonetheless my belief (and understanding) that the musical motifs that she regards
as the smallest melodic units can and should be further analysed. Smaller parts of the
same units – what I refer to as patterns and idioms – are also important in a more organic
understanding of the music. They carry musical relevance. Furthermore, in my understand-
ing of the music, each of Tsukitani’s motifs are more complete ‘statements’ than the word
‘motif’ suggests; they are of such length that I find the word ‘phrase’ to be more suitable.
I believe there is a need for a terminology that better reflects the complex structure of
phrases in shakuhachi honkyoku, and by using the Japanese language as the fundament for
the terms required I will suggest a set of words that can be used to indicate the different
elements of the music that I have discussed above.
The Japanese word ku (句) means a ‘phrase,’ a ‘clause,’ or an ‘expression’ consisting
of two words or more. In that respect onku (音句) would translate as ‘sound phrase’
as mentioned above in the Introduction. The word fushi (節) is already commonly used
in traditional music – mainly vocal music – with the meaning ‘melody,’ but it roughly
corresponds in length to the motifs in Tsukitani’s nomenclature, i.e. a part that is sung or
played in one breath, and I find this to be an alternative term in Japanese.
The patterns that I discuss above in the Analysis section describe almost graphically the
outer shapes of the sounds; glissandos up or down, a type of portamento of sliding tones,
sudden drops, and so on, and as such the words for ‘sound’ (oto 音) and ‘form,’ ‘shape,’
or ‘pattern’ (katachi 形) seem most appropriate, thus onkei (音形) for ‘sound patterns.’
The idiomatic expressions are more problematic in Japanese. An interesting term would
be kuse-ne or heki-on (癖音), which directly translates as ‘habitual sound.’ The idiomatic
expressions are so typical for the individual performer that it in many cases is possible
to tell with which teacher a  certain performer is affiliated, thanks to the idioms of the
performance. These idioms constitute “the way” the performer/transmitter ‘speaks’; they
are almost archetypical for a lineage or a sub-lineage, and could therefore be regarded
as a ‘mode of expression’ or kankō hyōgen hōshiki (慣行表現方式).
I  tend to believe that the larger sections of a honkyoku, which I  have referred to as
‘episodes’ above, are more complete musical statements. Sometimes whole sections
are repeated within a piece, and sometimes they appear only once, but they feel akin to
‘themes.’ The Japanese word that comes to my mind is gakusō (楽想), which consists of
the words for ‘music’ (gaku) and ‘thought,’ or ‘idea’ (sō): thus, ‘a musical thought.’

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Finally, we have the performance techniques needed to produce the idioms, patterns,
and phrases, which are something I have not discussed to a great extent in this article.
The term is not a crucial aspect in the analysis of structures, but the common designation
that comes to mind is gikō (技巧), where gi (技) stands for technique, and kō (巧) relates
to the dexterity of applying the techniques. The word gikō translates as ‘art’ or ‘skill,’ but
also ‘technique’ in the execution of art. Such performance techniques contain, of course,
prescriptive elements, and to master them is a requirement in order to be able to express
anything more than individual sounds.

List of suggested nomenclature for structural analyses of shakuhachi honkyoku:

Linder Tsukitani

Smaller Individual Sounds oto Individual Sounds oto

↓
kata Performance Techniques gikō, yubi-zukai, etc.
↓
↓ Idiomatic Expressions kankō hyōgen hōshiki
↓
kata Patterns onkei
↓
kata Phrases onku, fushi Motifs onku, onkei
↓
Larger Episodes gakusō Phrases gakku

As indicated in the left column, both patterns and phrases may be regarded as contain-
ing prescriptive elements. The word kata is ambiguous, as indicated in the above analysis,
and if any similar word should be applied to the non-prescriptive, purely structural elements,
I believe that katachi, another word for ‘form’ denoting an outer shape, is more appropriate.
The ideas presented in this article are, of course, capable of further elaboration and
development. I trust, nevertheless, that they provide a consistent basis for the analysis of
honkyoku, and possibly for other genres of Japanese music as well.

Bibliography
KAMISANGŌ YŪKŌ (上参郷祐康). “Shakuhachi-gaku ryakushi: suizen no tame ni” 尺八楽略史−吹禅のために
(A Short History of Shakuhachi Music: For the Benefit of Blowing Zen). First published in 1974 as “Suizen:
Chikuho-ryū ni miru fuke shakuhachi no keifu” 吹禅−竹保流に見る普化尺八の系譜 (Suizen: The Genealogy
of Fuke Shakuhachi Seen in Chikuho-ryū), Nihon Columbia Records, November 1974. Shichiku-ron josetsu:
Nihon ongaku ronkō jisen-shū 糸竹論序説 — 日本音楽論考自選集 (A Preliminary Discussion on Strings and
Bamboo: The Author’s Selection of Studies on Japanese Music). Tokyo: Private publication, 1995, 67–119.
KIKKAWA EISHI (吉川英史, 1909–2006). Nihon ongaku no seikaku 日本音楽の性格 (The Character of
Japanese Music). 1979. Tokyo: Ongaku no Tomosha, 1980.

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LINDER, GUNNAR. “Kinko-ryū shakuhachi no gaikyoku ni kansuru kenkyū – jiuta gassō ni okeru sōshoku-
sōhō no kōsatsu” 琴古流尺八の外曲に関する研究−地歌合奏に於ける装飾奏法の考察 (Research of Kinko-ryū
Shakuhachi Gaikyoku – A Study of Ornamental Techniques in Jiuta Ensemble Playing). Master thesis, Tokyo
Geijutsu Daigaku, 1997.
———. Notes on Kinko-ryū Shakuhachi Honkyoku: Performance Techniues – Analysis, Classification,
Explanation. Private publication. Lidingö: nipponicom.com, 2011.
———. Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music: A Study of Shakuhachi, Historical Authenticity and
Transmission of Tradition. (PhD diss., Stockholm University, Department of Oriental Languages, March 2012).
Stockholm University, 2012.
NAKAMURA SŌSAN (中村宗三). Shichiku shoshin-shū 糸竹初心集 (Collection for Beginners of Pieces for
Strings and Bamboo). 1664). Shin-Gunshoruijū 6: Kakyoku 新群書類従第六歌曲. (1908). Tokyo: Fukkoku, 1976.
NISHIYAMA MATSUNOSUKE (西山松之助). Geidō to dentō 藝道と伝統 (The Way of the Arts and Tradition),
Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 1984.
TOYOHARA SUMIAKI (豊原統秋, 1450–1524). Taigen-shō 体源抄 (A treatise on gagaku). 1512. National
Diet Library, Call No. 231-38. Chapter 5, Shakuhachi.
TSUKITANI TSUNEKO (月溪恒子, 1944–2010). Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū 尺八古典本曲の研
究 (A Study of Classical (koten) Fundamental Pieces (honkyoku) for Shakuhachi). Tokyo: Shuppan Geijutsu-
sha, 2000.

Musical Notation
Miura Kindō (三浦琴童, 1875–1940). Kinko-ryū shakuhachi honkyoku gakufu: kenkon 琴古流尺八本曲楽譜　
乾坤 (Musical Score for Kinko-ryū Shakuhachi Honkyoku: Volume 1 and 2). 1928–29. Tokyo: Chikumeisha, 1971.

Recorded Music
YAMAGUCHI GORŌ (山口五郎, 1933–99). “Hi-fu-mi Hachi-gaeshi no Shirabe” (一二三鉢返調). Undated
radio broadcast.
———. “Hi-fu-mi Hachi-gaeshi no Shirabe” (一二三鉢返調). In Yamaguchi Gorō, kinko-ryū shakuhachi honkyoku
shinan 山口五郎、琴古流尺八本曲指南 (Yamaguchi Gorō, Manual of Kinko-ryū Shakuhachi Honkyoku), CD set,
Video, and musical notation. Tokyo: Victor, 1991.
———. “Taki-otoshi no Kyoku” (瀧落しの曲), “Kyūshū Reibo” (九州鈴慕), “Yūgure no Kyoku” (夕暮れ之曲), “Shizu
no Kyoku” (志図の曲). In Ningen-kokuhō Yamaguchi Gorō, shakuhachi no shinzui: shakuhachi honkyoku 人
間国宝山口五郎、尺八神髄尺八本曲 (Living National Treasure Yamaguchi Gorō, The Essence of Shakuhachi:
Shakuhachi Honkyoku), CD set. Tokyo: Victor, 1999.
YAMAGUCHI SHIRŌ (山口五郎, 1885–1963). “Yūgure no Kyoku” (夕暮れ之曲). Undated recording.

Lexica
NIPPONICA/OR: Shōgakukan Nihon daihyakka-zensho Nipponica 小学館日本大百科全書 (Encyclopedia).
JapanKnowledge at http://www.jkn21.com.resources.asiaportal.info/.
Oxford Music Online, at http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/.

Gunnar Jinmei Linder (1959) je badatel, hráč na shakuhachi a pedagog. Obdržel titul Ph.D. 
z japanologie na Stockholmské universitě, magisterský diplom oboru hra na shakuhachi
na  Tokijské národní umělecké universitě, a  shihan mistrovskou licenci pro shakuhachi
od Yamaguchi Gorō. V současné době působí jako docent japonských studií na Stock-
holmské universitě.

STATI & STUDIE

黒潮圏科学（Kuroshio Science），２，161−173，2009

総説

The Tin Whistle and the Shakuhachi: a Comparison and Contrast

of Two Flutes from the Opposite Ends of Eurasia

Daniel B. Ribble
Medical Humanities, Kochi Medical School
Kochi University

Abstract
The shakuhachi and the tin whistle are two aerophones which have developed independently in cultures
at the opposite ends of Eurasia but which share certain characteristics such as being end-blown flutes pre-
dominantly associated with the traditional music of their respective countries, have long historical associa-
tions within their cultures, and have both become increasingly popular instruments worldwide in the last
several decades. Both flutes come from musical traditions where they are played solo as well as together
with stringed instruments, and a flute in the key of D is the one most commonly used in both cultures.
Both come from countries where music traditions have often been handed down within particular families
and share similar playing techniques. In recent years longer flutes of both varieties have been increasingly
used. In addition to similarities, differences in areas such as embouchure, flute materials, music genres and
the contexts for traditional music in each culture make for an interesting contrast between the two instru-
ments.

Keywords: hitoyogiri, miyogiri, shakuhachi, tin whistle, penny whistle, flageolet

Introduction rently being made in keys other than the standard one,
with longer flutes of both instruments being made and
The tin whistle and the shakuhachi are two flutes played more frequently in recent years. Both flutes have
that have developed independently of each other at the origins outside of their current cultures, with the shaku-
opposite ends of Eurasia. Today the tin whistle is pre- hachi originally coming from China, and prototypes of
dominantly associated with the music of Ireland and the the tin whistle coming from the European continent and
shakuhachi with that of Japan. Initially one might ask if England. In addition to similarities, there are also sig-
there is any basis for comparison of the two flutes as the nificant differences between the two flutes, the musical
instruments come from societies that are quite distant genres they are used for and the contexts in which they
from each other in terms of culture and geography. At are played as one might expect considering their different
the least one can say that the tin whistle and the shaku- historical and cultural contexts.
hachi are both end-blown aerophones (flutes) strongly
associated with the traditional music of their respective 1. The physical instruments
island cultures and that they have become increasingly
popular instruments worldwide over the last several The name for the Japanese vertical bamboo flute,
decades. “shakuhachi,” refers to an Edo period (1600-1868) unit
Though both instruments are most often identified of measurement called shaku, divisible into 10 sun and
with the traditional music of their respective cultures as the term hachi in Japanese means “eight,” shakuhachi
they are also played in other contexts. Both flutes have a refers to the standard length of the instrument, about 54.5
tradition of being played solo and together with stringed centimeters. In its original form the shakuhachi was a
instruments: the shakuhachi with koto and shamisen, and six hole vertical air reed flute which made its way from
the tin whistle with fiddle and harp. The standard length China to Japan in the 8th century along with other instru-
and most commonly played instrument in both cultures ments which became part of the Japanese court orchestra.
is in the key of D (the note sounded with all the flute According to music scholar William T. Malm, gagaku,
holes covered), but both flutes have been and are cur- the style of music associated with the early shakuhachi in
Japan, was the “earliest significant instrumental form” in
Received 27 February 2009；accepted 5 March 2009. Japanese music (William T. Malm, p. 102, 2000)
Okoh-cho, Nankoku-shi, Kochi 783-8505, Japan
e-mail address : ribbled@gmail.com The shakuhachi has throughout its long history

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 Daniel B. Ribble

largely been a vertically held notched flute constructed of nickel silver, aluminum, wood or plastic (see photo 2).
bamboo though in the Shosoin, the Imperial repository in Like the original shakuhachi, the tin whistle is a verti-
Nara, there are eight 8th century gagaku shakuhachi, three cally held flute with six holes but of a shorter length of
of which are made of jade, stone, and ivory, and which about 30 cm; the tinwhistle is also referred to by other
bear artificial nodes carved where bamboo nodes would names such as penny whistle and feadan (Fig. 2).
normally be found. These flutes, which were gifts from
China, are from about 34-44 centimeters in length and are
straight flutes with three bamboo (or carved) nodes; they
all have six finger holes; five in the front and one at the
back.
The shakuhachi most often played today is referred
to in an academic context as the Fuke shakuhachi, after
the name of the Zen sect that played it in the Edo Period;
it has only five finger holes with the four holes in the
front separated from each other by about a tenth of the
total length of the flute and a thumb hole at the back of Fig. 2. T
 in whistles. The top tin whistle is a conical
the flute at a distance slightly higher up the flute than the flute with a wooden stop (not visible), while the
uppermost front hole. Today’s shakuhachi is made of other two have plastic mouthpieces. The flute
a thicker bamboo and has a larger internal and external in the middle is cylindrical.
diameter than the “archaic” shakuhachi of the 8th century;
it is also characterized by its flared root-end, which is 2. The history of the two flutes
sometimes given a slight upward curve (Fig 1). The Fuke
shakuhachi has three central nodes that correspond to Players of the cuisle or pipe, thought to be a possible
those of the 8th century flutes but also one at the utaguchi progenitor of the modern tin whistle or penny whistle, are
(mouthpiece) and several at the bottom end of the flute mentioned in Irish literature as being present at various
(seven is the aesthetic standard). Today most shakuhachi festivities including events at the King of Ireland’s court.
are hand crafted from bamboo but there are machine pro- The scribes of the late 14th century Yellow Book of Lecan
duced wooden flutes and inexpensive plastic flutes made drew a sketch of the imagined royal banqueting hall of
to look like bamboo. Tara which included cuislinnaigh (pipers) seated next to
schoolteachers, both granted the shin portions of a pig.
In the same sketch, players of the cruit (harp) were given
the shoulder portions of the animal, a sign of higher
status (Ann Buckley, p. 751, 2005). Players of flutes are
portrayed in Irish literature as providers of entertainment
who often played together with string players. Ireland
had an established reputation for instrumental music in
the Middle Ages and several writers claimed that they
were taken from Ireland to Wales for the express purpose
of training Welsh musicians; this appears to be corrobo-
rated by foreign enthusiasts of Irish music such as the
Welsh-Norman visitor Giraldus Cambrensis who noted
Fig. 1. F
 uke shakuhachi with flared root ends. Notice the cultural relationship between the two regions in the
the red or black lacquer interiors of the flutes. 12th century (Buckley, p. 759). At the same time period
in Japan members of noble families as well as wandering
Ireland’s tin whistle’s name comes from the mate- beggar priests were playing instruments that were pro-
rial it was originally made from though that is often a genitors of today’s shakuhachi.
misnomer nowadays as many ‘tin’ whistles are vertical The Irish Gaelic terms “cuisle” and “feadan” refer
flutes made of cylindrical brass tubing with a molded to a “pipe” or “ tube,” and early flutes were created by
plastic mouthpiece. The conical tin sheet metal flute with boring out the stalks of plants such as cane or elder so the
a wooden stop is the second most widely used variant of Irish vertical flute like the shakuhachi may have started
the whistle, with six holes, usually in slightly different out as a flute cut from a plant growing in the wild. There
sizes, all cut through the thin metal at the front of the was also the Gaelic term “cuisach,” for a flute made from
flute. There are also whistles of other material such as reeds or cornstalks (Gray Larsen, 2004, p. 59). Though

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 The Tin Whistle and the Shakuhachi: a Comparison and Contrast of Two Flutes from the Opposite Ends of Eurasia

the cuisle is commonly referred to in Ireland’s early rating war tales accompanied by the biwa, or Japanese
literature there is little solid evidence available to deter- four string lute. At the same time in Ireland bards or
mine whether it was a straight pipe similar in shape to keepers of tradition narrated historical tales accompanied
the tin whistles of today, a kind of bagpipe, or a combi- by a harp, the brass wire strings of which the musicans
nation of those two varieties of flute (Sean Duffy, 2004, played with their long fingernails. Pipers also played at
p. 347) though there are medieval ceremonial crosses festivities, perhaps at many of the same occasions the
which appear to show musicians playing single and triple harpers performed for but it seems that the players of the
pipe instruments. In addition to being the name for a two instruments had a different status in society, with
flute, the Gaelic term feadan was also used to describe harp players being much more venerated.
a whistling sound. Bone whistles made from the wing The Taigen Sho, a musical encyclopedia of the
bones of swans and other large birds have been found early 16th century, written by the musician Toyohara no
in archeological excavation in Ireland, principally from Muneaki (1450-1524) in 1512 notes that shakuhachi of
excavations of 12 th century Norman ruins in Dublin, various lengths were played in the 16th century and con-
pointing perhaps to a Viking origin for some of the early tains the first graphic representation we have of five hole
Irish flutes (Fig. 3). According to Ann Buckley, some of bamboo flutes, instruments pictured as being made from
these flutes were probably duct or fipple flutes, operating pieces of bamboo with a single joint; in later years these
on the same principle as today’s tin whistle (Buckley, p. flutes made from a single bamboo joint would be referred
775). Duct flutes have a mouthpiece with a duct or air to as hitoyogiri, literally “single section cut,” and were
passage that serves to guide one’s breath to the instru- about 1.1 shaku in length (about 34 cm) with smaller
ment’s voicing edge, thus making them far easier to play holes than the shakuhachi of today (Yuko Kamisango, p.
than a notched flute such as the shakuhachi where one 89, 1988). There was also a flute called the miyogiri, for
must direct one’s airstream over a sharp edge. the three nodes (miyo) of bamboo that composed it and
which was perhaps closer in form to that of the modern
shakuhachi. In the mid-16th century, the hitoyogiri and
miyogiri were both played by beggar priests called
komoso (from komo –- “ straw mat,” and so –- “monk”),
named for the straw mats they carried as their bedding,
as well as by various wanderers referred to by names
such as boronji or boroboro (Tsuneko Tsukitani, 2008, p.
151). Komoso in paintings or drawings from this period
are shown with long hair and wearing straw mats around
their waists.
Fig. 3. B one flute from excavation of 12 th century The player of Irish whistles or flutes was also com-
Norman ruins. In The National Museum of monly a member of the more destitute classes of society
Ireland (sketch by Luca Ribble). and with regard to other musicians and entertainers, his
status was low (Duffy, p. 347). A much higher status
Though flutes, pipes, or whistles of various sorts seems to have been reserved for players of the harp until
were played in Ireland in medieval times there is no the 17th century and then for players of the bellows-blown
unbroken tradition of one or more flutes which we can uillean pipes, an Irish form of the bagpipe which took
clearly trace from those times to the present day. In con- their present form in the late 18th century, and were origi-
trast, the shakuhachi is an instrument that can be traced nally known as “union pipes.” One of the various histor-
back to the 8th century when it was part of the gagaku ical names for the tin whistle, the “penny whistle,” seems
orchestra that performed at Japan’s Imperial Court. By to have entered the historical record from the streets of
the mid-tenth century the shakuhachi had vanished from Dublin in the 16th century as an instrument favored by
the gagaku orchestra but it is mentioned in various texts vagabonds and beggars.
as still being played by members of various noble fami-
lies in Japan (Chamber Music for Syakuhati, by Simura 3. The history of names for the instruments
Satosi, p. 701). By the 13th century, however, it had
become an instrument used for genres such as dengaku The name ‘shakuhachi’ can be traced back to its
and sarugaku (early Japanese theatre) and was being ancient Chinese equivalent “chiba,” a Chinese term for
played by other classes in society such as blind beggar the instrument which also refers to its length. The term
priests called mekura hoshi; it is thought that they may “tin whistle” is much more recent, perhaps dating back
have performed solo pieces on the shakuhachi before nar- to the first half of the 19th century but possibly earlier. In

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 Daniel B. Ribble

19th century Ireland, the tinker, or person who worked made are still jiari flutes. It is thought that making flutes
with metal-ware and sold and mended pots, pans, and with ji began sometime around the beginning of the Meiji
kettles, was held in low repute, and the use of the term Period and later became a standard practice; it is not
‘tinker’ was synonymous with “gypsy” (Oxford English exactly clear who began the practice of using ji in shaku-
Dictionary, Volume XI, p. 54, 1970). The tinker may hachi but it seems likely that several members of the
have played a role in disseminating music as he or she Araki lineage of the Kinko school of shakuhachi players
traveled throughout the country and perhaps the name “tin were the first to seriously work with it in shakuhachi con-
whistle” developed out of this context. At certain times struction, in particular the maker and player Araki Kodo
in history both shakuhachi and tin whistle were played by III (1879-1935) (Senryu, 2009) (Fig 4). The “notch” of
classes that were considered to be at the bottom of society the modern shakuhachi is fairly wide and shallow and
with the difference that that some of the Japanese words the thin blowing edges of the instruments have been rein-
for shakuhachi player such as komoso had religious con- forced since the 17th century with the insertion of a thin
notations as well as denoting mendicancy. piece of water buffalo horn or deer antler in one of sev-
In the Edo Period, the shakuhachi underwent further eral shapes into the utaguchi (mouthpiece) of the flute:
modification, becoming a thicker walled instrument with trapezoidal for the Kinko guild and crescent shaped for
a larger diameter and a curved root end that became the Tozan school of shakuhachi playing (Fig. 5). Since
associated with the samurai class, and it is theorized the Meiji Period, the majority of shakuhachi have been
that members of that class may have altered the form of two piece flutes connected by a middle joint piece though
the the flute and changed the term komoso (“straw mat in recent years there has been something of an increase in
monk”) to komuso (“monk of emptiness”) in order to demand for pre-Meiji style one piece flutes referred to as
distance themselves from the earlier komoso, the beggar nobekan. Today’s shakuhachi has a pitch range of about
priests or ‘straw mat” monks. This new shakuhachi, two and a half octaves, with some virtuoso players able
played by the Fuke sect of wandering Zen monks, was to reach the remaining notes in the third octave.
limited to members of the samurai class, and is the instru-
ment most players of shakuhachi perform on today.

4. The further evolution of the flutes Fig. 4. A

 bamboo flute made by Araki Kodo III (used
by permission of Justin Senryu).
From the Meiji Period on, in addition to its being
constructed from the thicker walled bamboo called
madake which had been adopted back in the Edo Period,
the shakuhachi was often given a smooth inside coating
composed of polishing powder and urushi (lacquer), in
order to give it a more accurate pitch and a louder tone
for playing ensemble along with the Japanese stringed
instruments the koto and shamisen. This lacquer mix-
ture, referred to in Japanese as ji, hardens and affects the
vibration of the air column in the flute. Generally red
or black urushi (lacquer) is inserted in several layers to
create a narrower bore midway down the flute which then
widens out further down (Tokumaru Yoshihiko, p. 71, Fig. 5. T
 he shakuhachi on the left has a Tozan school
1994). Shakuhachi constructed without this inner coating crescent shaped utaguchi (mouthpiece) insert
are called ji nashi flutes, which in recent years have again while the one on the right has a Kinko style
become popular for playing the honkyoku -- literally trapezoidal insert.
“original music,” the repertoire of komuso pieces dating
from the Edo Period. The Irish tin whistle as we know it today is either
According to shakuhachi master Yokoyama conical or cylindrical in shape with a plastic fipple
Katsuya, the best shakuhachi for the Japanese clas- mouthpiece (nowadays often detachable) or a wooden or
sical repertoire of honkyoku is a shakuhachi that keeps ceramic stop inserted into the wider end of a conical flute
the bamboo nodes and is “cut out of a larger piece (of to make the mouthpiece, and has a pitch range of two
bamboo) with the mouthpiece just a simple slash across octaves. Fipples were at one time made of lead but are
the bamboo at an angle, and the insides just hollowed now usually plastic.
out” (Yoshihiko, p. 71). Today the majority of flutes The tin whistle appears to have had its most recent

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 The Tin Whistle and the Shakuhachi: a Comparison and Contrast of Two Flutes from the Opposite Ends of Eurasia

origins in the French flageolet, a small vertically held D is an octave above that of the 1.8 length shakuhachi.
wind instrument of the 17th century, having a mouthpiece As the number of holes on the two flutes and the place-
at one end, four holes in front and two on the back; it ment of the holes differs, the pentatonic scale used by the
reached its height of popularity during the Renaissance shakuhachi is D, F, G, A, C, and the other most common
and Baroque periods and later was revived in the late tetrachord used in playing the traditional music of the
1700s and early 1800s, when it was often used for flute is the miyako bushi (scale), consisting of D, E flat,
playing quadrilles, or French dances that were popular G, A, B flat while two pentatonic modes common in Irish
during the reign of Napoleon I (the recorder, an instru- music are the Ionian – D, E, F#, A, B and the Dorian – D,
ment with origins in northern Italy in the 14th century, E, G, A, B. Though the base notes of both flutes are the
gradually took the place of the flageolet as the amateur same, the scales most commonly relied on are quite dif-
musician’s favorite instrument). It is thought that the ferent.
curious arrangement of the holes, with two in back arose In addition to being identified with Irish traditional
in connection with the small size of the flageolet, as six music, the tin whistle is also played in Scottish and
holes in the front would have been too close together to English folk music, folk rock, and is the lead instru-
play comfortably. In France in the 17th century the fla- ment for a jazz inflected South African music genre
geolet was an amateur player’s instrument. called kwela, while the shakuhachi in recent decades has
The first known tunebook for the instrument was been featured in genres such as jazz, rock, “New Age,”
published in England around 1661 and titled Thomas ambient music and a large number of Hollywood sound-
Greeting’s Pleasant Companion for the Flageolet, which tracks. The tin whistle is more of a ubiquitous instrument
gave popular tunes in a tablature of six lines and symbols than the shakuhachi due in part no doubt to its inexpen-
(Denis Arnold, ed., 1983, p.684) The flageolet was made siveness, the Irish diaspora, and the worldwide popularity
of wood turned on a lathe (in the latter quarter of the 20th of Irish music; the intensive craftsmanship necessary to
century many beginning shakuhachi players in Japan produce a shakuhachi and the scarcity of madake bamboo
started out on lathe-turned wooden shakuhachi) and fla- outside of East Asia makes the shakuhachi less readily
geolets ranged in size from about 12.5-35 centimeters. At available, but the Japanese bamboo flute seems to be used
the beginning of the 19th century, William Bainbridge of in a wider variety of musical contexts than the tin whistle
London began making ‘English’ flageolets, different from perhaps due to its lower pitch and difference in embou-
the French flutes in having six holes in front and one in chure, which allows for greater expressivity on the part of
back. Flageolets were also made in Dublin and Limerick the player. The tin whistle seems more well suited how-
by the early 1800s (Grey Larsen, p. 59). ever for the fast paced dance tunes such as jigs or reels
Later in the century, the Clarke whistle, a flute per- featured in Irish music as least with regard to the standard
haps based on a flageolet prototype but with six holes shakuhachi, and in Japan the transverse flute (fue) or shi-
in front and no thumb hole was developed in England nobue is much more commonly used for Japanese dance
in 1843 by Robert Clarke and made of sheet tin rolled and festival music than the shakuhachi.
around a mandrel. It was later exported to Ireland and The primary physical difference between the two
from the middle of the 19th century on, various sorts of tin flutes besides that of material and the number of finger
whistles were manufactured in Ireland. Considering that holes is that the shakuhachi’s blowing edge is cut diago-
the flageolet is an ancestor of the tin whistle, and that it nally outwards and away from the player and to make a
was often used in playing Baroque music, it is interesting sound the player needs to blow across its bevelled edge
that in the latter part of the 20th century a baroque flute whereas the tin whistle makes use of a fipple or plug at
maker (Rod Cameron) and a shakuhachi maker (Monty the mouth of the metal tube, which serves as a conduit for
Levenson, a well known shakuhachi maker outside of the player’s air stream.
Japan), worked together to develop a laser tracker device Today the tin whistle is the most common instru-
which was used in producing precision mandrels for their ment featured in Irish traditional music. Though the koto
shakuhachi and baroque flutes, in order to accurately is the most commonly played traditional instrument in
reproduce the bore dimensions of historical flutes. Japan -- in the 1990s there were over 200,000 registered
koto players in Japan compared with about 40,000 shaku-
5. T
 he music played on the tin whistle and the hachi players, the shakuhachi is by far the most common
shakuhachi traditional Japanese instrument played outside the
country, due in part to the instrument’s ready portability
As was mentioned earlier, in both Irish and Japanese and the growing availability of instruments and shaku-
music traditions today the most commonly used flute is hachi instructors outside of Japan (Elizabeth Falconer,
in the key of D, though the base note of the tin whistle in 1990). As for other reasons for the shakuhachi’s growing

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 Daniel B. Ribble

popularity outside of Japan, musicologist Jay Keister 7. Metal shakuhachi and low whistles
points to the Western identification of the shakuhachi
with Zen Buddhism, noting that the persistence of the There was once a serious attempt to make a shaku-
spiritual identity of the shakuhachi “has contributed to hachi out of metal, though not of tin. In 1920s Japan
the internationalization of the instrument in the 20th cen- inventor Okura Kishichiro (1882-1963) created a metal
tury and its relative independence from the protective vertical flute named the Okuraulo which combined the
and controlling culture of the traditional Japanese music shakuhachi’s mouthpiece with the key mechanisms of
world.” (Jay Keister, p. 100, 2004). Today one can take the modern Boehm silver flute (developed in the mid-19th
shakuhachi lessons with master teachers in various cities century); luckily, perhaps for the future of the traditional
in the United States attend shakuhachi summer schools shakuhachi, this invention did not catch on, in part, per-
in Colorado or in several nations in Europe, and even haps, because of the high cost of the instrument.
complete advanced university degrees in shakuhachi in Interestingly, the Boehm flutes did not made
Australia. headway in Ireland in the early years following their
invention (1847); rather, Irish musicians took up tradi-
6. The increasing popularity of plastic models tional simple system wooden horizontal flutes which had
been developed in France in the late 17 th century at a
Mass production of the tin whistle in the 19th century time when classical musicians on the European continent
made it cheap and readily accessible and while the shaku- were discarding them in favor of the Boehm flute. The
hachi is still largely made by hand in a labor intensive simple system cross-blown flutes used the same finger-
process, there are plastic models such as the yuu flute, an ings and playing techniques as those used in playing the
ABS plastic flute developed by Nagase Kenji which has tin whistle, and both instruments were used in playing the
become popular with beginning players -- and even those Irish traditional music of the late 19th century, though the
more advanced --around the world in the last decade, use of the tin whistle in Irish traditional music is thought
as it has the approximate shape, weight, and sound of a to have begun prior to the adoption of the horizontal
bamboo flute along with a low price-tag. One can also simple system flute. The simple system wood flute is
purchase tin whistles made of ABS plastic; Susato penny often referred to by Gaelic speakers as the fheadog mhor,
whistles are two- piece plastic flutes which are pitch or big whistle; its price range is quite similar to that of
adjustable. Plastic whistles are not only played by begin- shakuhachi, with antique flutes going for over $5000
ners; Irish tin whistle maestro Sean Ryan often plays in (Brad Hurley, 2004, p. 22)
formal and informal contexts on a plastic whistle. While While today the standard tin whistle has six holes
bamboo flutes remain quite expensive, going for $1000 and the shakuhachi has five, in the 1920’s in Japan, there
or more, with high quality flutes usually selling for twice were attempts to vary the number of holes in the Japanese
or three times that amount, the yuu plastic model can be flute; seven and nine holed shakuhachi were experi-
purchased for less than one hundred dollars. mented with and though the nine holed shakuhachi did
Although most shakuhachi are made of bamboo, not survive the test of time, the seven holed vertical flute
there are areas of the world such as Australia where remains popular in some shakuhachi circles and is the
makers use other materials; flute maker David Brown flute of choice for a number of performers who primarily
specializes in hardwood flutes due in part perhaps to the play modern pieces. There are also players who bore an
dryness of the climate and the lack of madake, the type extra small hole near the area of the middle joint of the
of bamboo used to make shakuhachi in Japan. Some of flute and so play a six hole shakuhachi in order to play
the shakuhachi sold by Mr. Brown have a connection modern pieces with more ease.
with the tin whistle as they come with interchangable In regard to the traditionally inexpensive tin whistle,
shakuhachi and tin whistle type mouthpieces. On another there are now makers producing considerably more
Internet site one can buy the yuu ABS plastic shakuha- expensive brass, silver, and wooden whistles. Both
chis with a fipple type attachment so that one can make a shakuhachi and tin whistle are played in various lengths
sound and work on the fingerings before having to worry (standard shakuhachi usually can be found in lengths
with the traditional shakuhachi embouchure, which has ranging from 1.6 to 2.4 shaku) and in recent years longer
a reputation for giving difficulties to beginning players shakuhachi, referred to as ‘chokan’, are being favored,
– who sometimes have difficulty getting a sound out of especially outside of Japan. A new variation of shaku-
the flute -- as opposed to a fipple style mouthpiece where hachi called taimu has been developed by shakuhachi
the player’s airstream is easily guided through a fixed maker Ken LaCosse and, player and collector of Edo
channel to create a sound. Period shakuhachi Brian Ritchie in San Francisco, a
wide bore flute made in lengths from 2.0 –2.8 or longer

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 The Tin Whistle and the Shakuhachi: a Comparison and Contrast of Two Flutes from the Opposite Ends of Eurasia

and advertised as having a “foghorn” sound;” perhaps Irish simple system flute player Matt Malloy said “You
not a description one would have heard in old Edo but have to put your own particular stamp on it,“ a sentiment
the flutes are modeled to a degree on longer Edo Period echoed by some shakuhachi masters when they are dis-
shakuhachi (LaCosse, 2009). cussing honkyoku, or the traditional wandering monks’
The popularity of longer tin whistles is also gaining pieces (Mat Malloy, 1997).
in Irish traditional music; these flutes are usually referred There are shakuhachi masters who emphasize per-
to as low whistles. The use of the low whistle in the forming without notation; reknowned shakuhachi master
modern era dates back to the late 1960s when English Yokoyama Katsuya stresses the importance of memo-
whistle maker Bernard Overton made a 60 centimeter rizing the traditional komuso pieces and playing them
flute for an Irish whistler and flute player named Finbar without notation in order to truly know them. In the
Furey who was in desperate need of a flute to replace one beginning, however, members of Yokoyama Katsuya’s
in need of repair (apparently a bansuri, hence the need shakuhachi school start out reading a modified katakana
for a longer length flute, which leads to speculation on script tablature while learning the pieces. Other shaku-
the use on the bansuri in playing Irish music - outside the hachi schools such as the main branches of the Kinko
scope of this paper except to note that new instruments or ryu (style) and Tozan ryu generally continue to rely on
new traditions of playing may come from such forays). written scores though eventually the script may become
Now over twenty varieties of low whistle are manufac- just an aid to memory. Masters of Japanese honkyoku
tured and they are played in places as far from Ireland as emphasize the importance of making a honkyoku piece
the island of Shikoku, Japan (Phil Brown, 2007). In the one’s own through varying the ornamentation while
last several decades the music of both shakuhachi and keeping to the original spirit of the piece
tin whistle has continued to gain in popularity in coun- The oldest record we have of shakuhachi notation
tries other than the home countries of both flutes and the is hitoyogiri notation for a work called Tanteki Hidenfu
number of players utilizing longer instruments from both (1608) which uses syllabic katakana characters such as
traditions – the chokan (shakuhachi longer than about a ya, ta, ho, and ro to represent fingerings (Tsukitani, p.
2.1) and the low whistles -- has steadily increased. 164) while today’s most common shakuhachi tablatures
(for Tozan and Kinko) utilize a modified katakana script
8. The transmission of the music first devised by komuso Kurosawa Kinko in the 18th cen-
tury with characters for sounds such as ro, tsu, re, chi, hi,
Regarding the music which is played on shaku- and ri (Fig. 5). In shakuhachi music there are techniques
hachi and Irish tin whistle, both instruments come from used which are not expressed in the music notation but
an oral/aural tradition where beginners may find it dif- which have to be learned in person from the shakuhachi
ficult to learn the flute tunes from a book and play them sensei (teacher). Traditional players of Irish music some-
in an authentic manner. The solo honkyoku (literally times make use of simplified notation, in numeric or
‘original music’) pieces played on the shakuhachi today alphabetic script, when first learning pieces but abandon
were passed down orally among wandering Zen monks these when playing in front of an audience.
for hundreds of years while Irish tunes were also passed
down from skilled exponents to aspiring players. Today
in Japan learning shakuhachi often still involves direct
transmission of the music from a teacher to a student,
in many cases where the teacher and a student sit oppo-
site each other while playing. The flute student learns
aspects of flute playing such as proper breathing and
phrasing, articulation, and correct pitch and tone quality
by observing and playing pieces together with the sensei
(teacher). Initially pieces are sung and the rhythm of the
pieces beaten out by hand before they are played on the
flute.
In Irish traditional music once pieces are mastered
whistle players sometimes introduce variation into their Fig. 6. A
 n example of Kinko and Tozan school tabla-
“airs” (vocal melodies encompassing a wide range: ture for a traditional Gaelic tune from The Alder
often Gaelic tunes in AABA form). Sometimes the Bough: Celtic Airs for Shakuhachi ; the Kinko
instrumental pieces are patterned in imitation of the more tablature is on the right (used by permission of
ornate styles of singing. In a 1997 interview well known author Larry Tyrell. Copyright, Moonbridge)

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 Daniel B. Ribble

9. S
 imilarities and differences in playing tech- 10. M
 usic traditions in which the flutes are
niques played

Both Japanese and Irish flute traditions make use Both flutes are used in solo as well as ensemble
of similar techniques such as trills, half holing, glis- music in their respective traditions, with the tin whistle
sando, and a kind of portamento ornamentation, which in and the “big whistle” (the horizontal simple system flute)
shakuhachi playing is referred to as suriage – sliding up being used to play slow, melodic airs originally taken
to the next semitone, or surisage – sliding down to the from songs but now played as instrumentals while the
note below. In Irish whistle playing there are techniques shakuhachi is used for playing the solo honkyoku, liter-
such as tonguing, used occasionally for emphasis, and ally ‘original’ music which are meditative solo pieces,
rolls --where one plays a group of three descending grace often with titles related to the natural world – “The Call
notes, the second of which equals the pitch of the main of the Wild Deer,” Falling Leaves,” “The Nesting of the
note -- which are used in traditional Irish music but which Cranes” - which were played by wandering Zen monks
are used rarely or not at all in Japanese traditional music doing takuhatsu (begging for alms) in Edo Period Japan.
though they are sometimes utilized in more modern styles Irish traditional music contains love songs, lulla-
or pieces, and shakuhachi techniques such as muraiki bies, humorous songs, religious songs, drinking songs,
--expelling the air in an explosive charge through the songs of parting, and ancient laments and heroic lays,
flute, which are not possible on the tin whistle due to the the latter often sung in Gaelic. Larry Tyrrell, a profes-
difference in embouchure. Hurley says about Irish orna- sional shakuhachi player in the state of Oregon, has put
mentation that “ornaments should be played so quickly together a book of Irish airs (vocal melodies) written out
that listeners don’t hear the note, but rather the articula- in the katakana script notation used for shakuhachi, and
tion effect “ (Hurley, p. 23) and one could make a similar refers to the airs as “Irish honkyoku,” Some ornamenta-
statement about shakuhachi ornaments; players generally tion techniques characteristic of Irish tin whistle such as
don’t linger on them. Hurley also notes that many Irish rolls can be readily played on shakuhachi. The ”slow
flutists use glottal stops more frequently than tonguing. airs” were taken from songs and are played mainly for
In playing traditional shakuhachi music tonguing is never listening but the more prevalent dance tunes for song
used but either the tongue or glottis is used in a tremolo forms such as jigs or reels played at fast tempos are not
effect technique called tamane. as readily played on the standard five hole shakuhachi as
One technique which is unique to the playing of the they are on Irish instruments such as the feadan or the
five hole shakuhachi and which is a major part of much fheadog mhor (“big whistle”).
of traditional shakuhachi playing is called meri, and Other traditional Japanese music genres where
involves the lowering of the pitch of the instrument as shakuhachi are played are gaikyoku, also called sankyoku
much as a minor third through a combination of partial (music for three instruments), which is ensemble music
holing and/or lowering of the chin. Notes played in meri for koto, shamisen, and shakuhachi, and minyo, literally
tend to be quieter than the kari notes (natural or sharp ‘folk music.’ The gaikyoku or “outside pieces” were/are
notes; those played without lowering the chin) and the songs originally composed for koto or shamisen, some
differences in tone color resulting from meri or kari and dating back to the Edo Period, where the bamboo flute
other techniques such as using alternate fingerings for plays a melismatic version of the koto or shamisen part
certain pitches forms an important part of the shakuhachi in ensemble with the koto and/or sangen (shamisen) and
aesthetic. In tin whistle playing there is partial holing voice. There are various divisions of gaikyoku from the
but there is little changing of the angle at which the air koten or Edo Period “classical” pieces to the shinkyoku
stream is generated through head movement. pieces of the early 20th century to the gendai hokagu or
The folk styles in Ireland demand an abundance of post World War II pieces which often use techniques
grace notes and vibrato made by shaking fingers over the from Western music.
open holes of the flute and shakuhachi playing also has The shakuhachi is used in minyo, literally “folksong,”
these characteristics though the shakuhachi player usually a term which entered Japanese vocabulary in the late 19th
produces various types of vibrato through chin or head century and which Asano Kenji has defined as “songs
movements, such as yoko yuri – moving the chin from which were originally born naturally within local folk
side to side, tate yuri – moving the head up and down, or communities and, while being transmitted aurally, reflect
mawashi yuri – moving the head in a circular movement. naively the sentiments of daily life (David W. Hughes,
2008, 283).” Minyo usually refers to songs that originated
in rural Japan and were written by anonymous nonprofes-
sional musicians. Types of minyo include work songs

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 The Tin Whistle and the Shakuhachi: a Comparison and Contrast of Two Flutes from the Opposite Ends of Eurasia

-- rice planting songs, logging songs, net-casting songs, in Ireland today largely dates back to the 17th through 19th
packhorsemen’s songs, sake-making songs, and others, centuries, and includes songs both in Irish Gaelic and in
songs associated with religious festivals or celebrations English, with dance forms such as the reel and hornpipe
including dance songs for obon (midsummer festival) having been introduced from England several centuries
and kagura (Shinto shrine related festivities), lullabies, ago. Many instrumental airs played on tin whistle today
and children’s songs. The shakuhachi is not used for all were often originally played on the uillean pipes in the
types of minyo, and is probably played more for standard- early 19th century just as the role of the shakuhachi in the
ized versions of work songs than the other categories, chamber music of the late 19th century had originally been
which are usually accompanied by transverse flutes, if filled by another instrument, the three stringed bowed
accompanied by flutes at all. In minyo the shakuhachi kokyu (a long necked lute) before it was largely replaced
follows the vocal line and also plays interludes and this by the shakuhachi after the demise of the Fuke sect and
form of shakuhachi playing is probably the closest to the consequent secularization of the bamboo flute.
the role of the tin whistle in Irish traditional music as There are pieces in the Japanese tradition, both
the melody the tin whistle plays in traditional contexts honkyoku and ensemble pieces for koto, shamisen, and
is usually the equivalent of or a variation on the tune shakuhach such as Rokudan no Shirabe (“Investigation in
being played by the other instruments in an Irish music Six Sections”) that date back to the 17th century, and most
ensemble. of the honkyoku played today were collected and written
In the majority of Irish traditional music pieces the down in the late 18th century, so the pieces commonly
whistle plays the same melody as instruments such as played in both traditions date from a similar time frame.
harp, horizontal simple-system wood flute, uillean pipes, One key difference between the type of pieces played
fiddle, and concertina, though in recent years harmony in both traditions is that the honkyoku pieces are unique
and percussion have been added with instruments such in being solo instrumental pieces unconnected to a song
as guitars, bodhran (a single-headed frame drum played tradition, whereas the Irish melodies played on the tin
with a short stick), and bouzouki. Additional percus- whistle are pieces which come from Irish and British airs
sion is sometimes played on spoons or bones. There are and dance tunes, some of which have come from songs
minyo tunes played on shakuhachi with taiko (Japanese which were originally sung sean nos (with no instru-
drum) accompaniment in addition to ensemble pieces mental accompaniment). There are Irish flute instrumen-
with shamisen and koto, though taiko are played more tals that originated from solo singing, but no tradition of
often with shinobue or takebue (transverse folk flutes). Irish flute instrumental pieces which developed indepen-
The addition of the bodhran to the Irish musical ensemble dently of song.
is also a relatively new development, with the frame In connection with the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhism,
drum becoming widely used for accompanying other the shakuhachi was once considered to be a hoki, or reli-
Irish instruments from the 1950’s (Stanley Sadie, ed., p. gious instrument, rather than a gakki, or musical instru-
565, 2001). Both shakuhachi and tin whistle are played ment, though that status was largely lost at the end of the
along with traditional folk music in their respective coun- Meiji Period while the tin whistle has always been used
tries, but whereas in Ireland the folk tunes are the main as a purely musical instrument, without any religious con-
repertoire for the tin whistle, in Japan minyo is just one notations, though some Irish traditional music has or has
of several distinct genres where shakuhachi is commonly had religious significance (laments) or supernatural and
used mythic overtones. Both traditions attribute early pieces to
While many of the most popular Japanese minyo legendary origins, with some of the old Irish Gaelic tunes
come from work songs related to themes such as agricul- being attributed to fairies, from whom the Irish musicians
ture or fishing (and the lyrics in sankyoku pieces often allegedly stole tunes. Several of the earliest Japanese
have references to the seasons, birds, flowers, or specific honkyoku pieces, “Mukaiji” (“Flute on the Misty Sea”),
places), Irish traditional music in comparison seems to and “Koku” (“Flute in the Empty Sky”) were said to have
have relatively few work related tunes but often has his- been first heard in a flute player’s dream.
torical references to battles or famous personages and
events (themes perhaps more in common with the nar- 11. Handing down the music in both traditions
rative traditions of the Japanese biwa, or short necked
lute). An air named “Callino” in a lute book from the last Despite the differences in music styles traditional
quarter of the 16th century is the earliest notation we have music in both Ireland and Japan has often been preserved
of an Irish melody (Stanley Sadie, ed., p. 561). Centuries and handed down to succeeding generations through a
old religious laments and Norman dance songs have both kind of guild system that has often been associated with
left traces in Irish music but the traditional music played particular families. In Japan following the banning of

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 Daniel B. Ribble

the Zen Fuke sect in 1871, various schools of shakuhachi Though minyo bars where folk shakuhachi tunes
playing developed which continue to pass down their own may still be heard still exist in certain areas of Japan, in
particular techniques and pieces. In shakuhachi playing the last decade or so the number of minyo players and
and in other traditional arts in Japan the importance of supporters seems to have declined rather precipitously;
lineage is emphasized and in some cases particular fami- there are far more young Japanese devotees of Western
lies have kept the traditions going for centuries. In medi- style folk songs playing guitar or harmonica but infre-
eval Ireland this was also the case; “the professions of the quent mixing of the two “folk” genres, though there
lawyers, musicians and healers were kept within certain is at least one well known minyo musician, Ito Takio,
families and passed from one generation to another” who mixes minyo with Western instruments. Another
states medieval scholar Michael Richter in regard to exception is Kochi prefecture’s Yosakoi festival, where
15th century Ireland (Michael Richter, 1988, p. 185). In the minyo tune yosakoi bushi is appropriated into rock,
medieval Ireland as far back as the 12th century various jazz, samba and various other styles of music during the
families were considered masters of music, and even in dancing days of the annual summer festival, In Japan
regard to more recent times Irish flute Matt Malloy player traditional music performances tend to be very organized,
says of his childhood in the 1950s that families that were with even the minyo groups maintaining a strict standard-
interested in the traditional music “associated with fami- ization of songs; in regard to the Japanese classical music
lies that were of a like mind.” (Matt Molloy, 1997) genres of honkyoku and gaikyoku the various shakuhachi
In the often family run iemoto (“headmaster”) sys- guilds hold annual recitals in prefectures throughout the
tems in Japan today one generally learns the shakuhachi country, and there are now several annual traditional
pieces by imitating one’s teacher as closely as possible music competitions for younger shakuhachi players in
and in Ireland today there is also the idea of letting “the both Kanto and Kyushu.
tradition sing through you rather than originality” and Generally speaking, there have been changes in
the idea of keeping personal emotion to a minimum, Irish traditional music from a focus on unaccompanied
(Terry Eagleton, 1999, p. 125), a sentiment which would singing, informal solo instrumental music, and imperma-
probably be echoed by many Japanese traditional music nent groups of two or three musicians before WWII to
schools. more specialized performances of larger groups of instru-
ment players in venues open to the public; from pubs and
12. Performance and place in both cultures informal sessions to more organized performances and
more competitive music festivals, largely due to the influ-
In both Ireland and Japan today, traditional music is ence of classically trained composer Sean O Riada who
largely the music of non-professionals who often receive orchestrated new traditional instrument combinations and
some of their training from professional players. In Japan musical arrangements in the 1960s.
the iemoto of each school of shakuhachi and often his A considerable difference between the two worlds
top students are professional players who head a pyramid of Irish and Japanese traditional music is that from sev-
style hierarchical organization composed mainly of ama- eral decades ago Irish traditional music became the most
teurs. In Ireland the playing of traditional music has been popular form of entertainment for foreign tourists visiting
more informal in context though since the 1950s compe- the country, with the result that Irish traditional music
titions and a focus on group instrumental playing have is probably more under the sway of commercial forces
been strongly emphasized originally under the sponsor- than traditional music in Japan. Though there may be
ship of the musicians’ organizations such as Comhaltas more conflicts over intellectual property rights in Ireland
Ceoltori Eireann. In the mid-20th century competitions in the relationship between traditional music and corpo-
increased the interest in traditional music among young rate sponsorship there are continuing commitments to
people and players of various traditional instruments tradition as well as to innovation in both countries. In
including the tin whistle began to gather in so-called the 1990s there was a further increase in young peoples’
pub sessions combining music and socializing, a tradi- participation in Irish traditional music activities in music
tion that continues to this day. Concerning the places sessions, summer schools and study programs at high
where traditional music of both cultures is performed, schools and universities ( Gearoid O h’Allmhurain, p.
Irish performers on tin whistle can be often seen playing 182, 2004) Irish traditional music groups such as the
in the context of a pub whereas shakuhachi players in Chieftans, originally affiliated with Sean O Riada, and
Japan are more often seen in a concert or community hall groups with a stronger rock or jazz orientation such as
setting though there are exceptions on both sides -- with Planxty or Clannad have helped place Irish traditional
noted Irish flutist James Galway being known to play tin music in a similar position to other music genres in the
whistle in a formal concert context. world of popular entertainment.

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 The Tin Whistle and the Shakuhachi: a Comparison and Contrast of Two Flutes from the Opposite Ends of Eurasia

Though there has been some new interest in tradi- 14. Summary
tional instruments in Japan with the recent popularity of
artists such as the shamisen playing Yoshida brothers In summary, both tin whistle and shakuhachi are
and the continuing interest in taiko groups such as Kodo end-blown flutes with long, colorful histories in their
(though taiko group drumming is actually quite a new respective cultures, traditions of playing solo and with
tradition in Japan, having started in the 1950s) there has string instruments, and both utilize some similar tech-
not been a comparable revitalization of traditional music niques such as finger slides from one note to the next,
in Japan over the last several decades despite a recent trills, and vibrato. A key difference between the music
change in governmental policy regarding Japanese tra- played on the two instruments is that Irish flute music
ditional music. Beginning in April 2002, a change in comes from a sung tradition as does the shakuhachi
the status of traditional music in the country has been in music of minyo, but the oldest repertoire of the shaku-
effect with an educational policy that has required that all hachi (honkyoku) comes from a strictly instrumental
junior-high school students to spend some time learning tradition associated with a Zen sect of Buddhism that had
a traditional Japanese musical instrument; however, as no connection with song (though some claim an indirect
in many cases there are no qualified instructors avail- influence of shomyo, or Buddhist chant, on honkyoku;
able at the schools and little or no funding to hire outside Sawada Atsuko, 20001, p. 617).
instructors, it is questionable as to whether this “redis- Exponents of Irish traditional music and some mas-
covery” of Japanese music will have a significant effect ters of shakuhachi emphasize the importance of internal-
on the music being played or listened to in Japan. Most izing the pieces by memorizing them though this seems
Japanese associate Japanese traditional music with the to be practiced more consistently by Irish pipers who
new year or special festivity days; familiarity with tradi- along with other Irish musicians do not use written nota-
tional music in everyday life has been lost among many tion when playing in front of an audience. This may be
or most segments of society in contrast to Ireland, though related to the fact that many Irish pieces have a clearly
perhaps it was never as familiar to the average Japanese defined melodic structure, often repeated in an AABB
in comparison to Ireland where traditional music seems pattern while Japanese honkyoku can be more free form
to be much more frequently encountered in daily life. In and quite lengthy (anywhere from five to thirty minutes)
Japanese society traditional music remains largely the and many sankyoku and honkyoku follow the Japanese
province of specialized groups. aesthetic of zyo ha kyu, (introduction, development and
then a faster tempo rush to the end of the piece) in a
13. Different perceptions of the two instruments completely linear structure: sankyoku pieces can also be
quite long, to more than twenty minutes for some pieces,
There are also differences in perceptions of the two and as they put more emphasis on rhythm than melody
instruments, with the shakuhachi having a reputation in they may sound rather unmelodic to an ear accustomed
Japan as quite a difficult instrument to play - a famous to Western music; these factors don’t seem to prevent a
saying associated with this is “kubi furi san nen,” or, “it large number of Japanese koto players from memorizing
takes three years to learn to shake your head” – while the the pieces but shakuhachi players in Japan generally rely
tin whistle, according to Grey Larsen, was until recently on written notation.
viewed as an introductory instrument for pipers just Flute players in both Ireland and Japan have both
beginning to play or a musical instrument more suitable at times been concerned with collecting and preserving
for children until the Irish traditional music revival of their pieces. Traditional musicians have traveled their
the 1960s and 1970s when the musical expressiveness respective countries collecting music pieces from various
and innovative playing of skilled tin whistlers was given regions. In regard to the shakuhachi Kurosawa Kinko is
more recognition (Larsen, p. 60). While the difficulty of perhaps most well known for this; Kinko was an 18th cen-
the shakuhachi has probably been exaggerated, possibly tury komuso who wandered Japan collecting honkyoku
even by shakuhachi players themselves, the tin whistle, from the various Fuke sect temples and rewriting many of
though it may look like a toy, is not something that one the pieces; today his collection of 36 honkyoku form the
just picks up and plays proficiently without the requisite core of the Kinko shakuhachi guild’s honkyoku tradition.
hours of effective practice. Both traditions have a long The oldest existing manuscript collection of Irish tunes
history of playing solo pieces, and though the type of also dates from the latter half of the 18th century.
pieces played by tin whistle and shakuhachi are often Looking at more recent times, in the middle of the
quite different there are pieces such as slow Irish airs and last century one of the most prolific collectors and dis-
Japanese minyo tunes which can be comfortably played persers of Irish music, a master piper named Seamus
on both instruments. Ennis, went all around the west of Ireland by bicycle,

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 Daniel B. Ribble

equipped with only a pen, a bag of music sheets, and a Companion to Japanese Music ed. by Alison
tin whistle to write down tunes, which he was able to McQueen, pp. 281-302, Ashgate.
do on first hearing; he used a tin whistle to verify all his Hurley, Brad 2004 “The Essential Guide to Irish Flute
transcriptions), and after a five year stint under the Irish and Tin Whistle ”Flute Talk 23:22-3, March 2004
Folklore Commission, had collected over 2000 pieces, The International Shakuhachi Society 2009 Website.
more than any predecessors in his field (O h’Allmhurain, http://www.komuso.com
p. 139, 2005). In more recent years in Japan master Johnson, Henry 2004 The Koto: A Traditional Instrument
shakuhachi players such as Akikazu Nakamura have trav- in Contemporary Japan, Hotei Publishing.
eled south to Kyushu and north to Tohoku to collect and Kano, Mari 2001 “Social Groups and Institutions in
learn honkyoku from those areas. Japan” in The Garland Encyclopedia of World
In Japan even rural prefectures such as Kochi have Music, Volume 7 ed. by Robert Provine, pp. 755-
their monthly meeting of players of Irish music at an 761
Irish pub and while the number of shakuhachi players Kamisango, Yuko 1988 “The Shakuhachi – History and
appears to be in stasis in Japan the number of shaku- Development” in The Shakuhachi: A Manual for
hachi players and makers in a number of other countries Learning trans. by Christopher Yohmei Blasdel,
has been increasing due to the increased availability of Ongaku No Tomo Sha Corp.
instruments, teachers, workshops and other educational Keister, Jay 2004 “The Shakuhachi as Spiritual Tool: A
opportunities, and to the development in recent years of Japanese Buddhist Instrument in the West” Asian
Internet forums and other shakuhachi related groups out- Music v. 25 (2): 99-131
side of Japan, such as the European Shakuhachi Society, LaCosse, Kevin 2009 Website. http://www.mujitsu.com/
created in 2006. Let us hope that the traditional music of index.html
both cultures continues to thrive. Larsen, Grey 2003 The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and
TinWhistle MelRay
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Tsukitani, Tsuneko 2008 “The Shakuhachi and its
Music” in The Ashgate Research Companion to
Japanese Music ed. by Alison McQueen, pp. 145-
168, Ashgate.
Tyrrell, Larry 2008 The Alder Bough: Celtic Airs for
Shakuhachi. Moonbridge.
Yoon, Paul. J. 2008 “Asian Masculinities and Parodic
Possibility in Odaiko Solos and Filmic
Representations,” pp. 100-131, Asian Music v. 40
(1)

− 173 −
  

The  Phoenix  AZ  Shakuhachi  Friends  

A  Beginners  Guide  to  the  Shakuhachi

Created  By:  ©  Chuck  Peck,  2012      Version  12.07.28  

 
Contents  
First  Comments  about  learning  the  Shakuhachi  ..........................................................................................  3  
So  what  is  a  Shakuhachi?  .............................................................................................................................  4  
Shakuhachi  Flute  Parts  ................................................................................................................................  4  
What’s  Inside  a  Shakuhachi?  ...................................................................................................................  5  
History  of  flute  .............................................................................................................................................  5  
Shakuhachi  Schools  .....................................................................................................................................  5  
Kinko-­‐Ryu  .................................................................................................................................................  5  
Tozan  .......................................................................................................................................................  6  
Comparison  between  Kinko  and  Tozan  styles  .........................................................................................  6  
Shakuhachi  music  genres  .............................................................................................................................  7  
Blowing  your  first  note!  ...............................................................................................................................  7  
Basic  Notes  and  Reading  the  Notation  ........................................................................................................  9  
Octave  Register  Indications  .........................................................................................................................  9  
Meri-­‐Kari  (A.K.A.  flats  and  sharps)  ...............................................................................................................  9  
MERI  TECHNIQUE  ....................................................................................................................................  9  
KARI  TECHNIQUE  ...................................................................................................................................  10  
Tempo  Notation  ........................................................................................................................................  11  
Fingering  Chart  ..........................................................................................................................................  12  
Beginner  Shakuhachi  Practice  ...................................................................................................................  13  
Basic  mechanics  .....................................................................................................................................  13  
Using  the  fingering  charts  try  to  make  all  of  the  basic  notes.  ...............................................................  13  
Practice  your  basic  notes  in  a  song.  .......................................................................................................  13  
Internet  Resources  ....................................................................................................................................  13  
 

   

Page  2  
 
First  Comments  about  learning  the  Shakuhachi  
 

There  is  a  significant  challenge  to  the  new  shakuhachi  player  especially  if  you  are  teaching  yourself;  
there  are  what  seem  to  be  many  contradicting  bits  of  information.      

• To  start  with  the  flutes  themselves  can  have  different  names  depending  on  their  type.  
• Shakuhachi  notation  read  top  down  from  right  to  left,  the  new  player  has  to  become  
comfortable  with  this.  
• Then  an  even  bigger  one  is  styles  on  notation.  Western  staff  notation  is  very  consistent  whereas  
shakuhachi  notations  can  one  of  several  styles.  
•  Then  even  down  the  individual  characters  for  the  note,  there  can  be  differences.    

And  there  another  very  big  change  from  western  to  shakuhachi  notation;  the  western  notation  
represents  a  specific  pitch,  shakuhachi  notation  represents  a  fingering  pattern.  The  notation  for  all  5  
holes  closed  on  the  flute  is  called  Ro              and  whenever  a  shakuhachi  player  see’s  Ro  they  close  all  five  
holes.  With  this  in  mind,  longer  flutes  will  create  a  different  pitch  note  when  playing  Ro  than  a  smaller  
one.    

All  shakuhachi  notes  have  names  and  a  unique  symbol,  each  representing  a  different  fingering.  I  did  not  
say  “different  pitch”  for  several  reasons;  first  the  long/short  flute  thing,  secondly  different  fingerings  can  
make  the  same  pitch  but  have  a  different  feel  or  tone  color.  Two  notes  that  produce  a  D  pitch  on  a  
standard  1.8  shakuhachi  one  may  be  clear  and  bright  the  other  may  be  breathy  and  rough.  Then  
depending  on  what  teacher  your  teacher  had…  etc…  etc…  they  may  have  chosen  to  finger  the  exact  
same  note  differently.    

If  all  of  this  seems  a  bit  frustrating,  just  wait  till  you  try  and  play  more  and  more  and  these  contradicting  
bits  of  information  keep  popping  up!  

It’s  my  hope  that  The  Phoenix  AZ  Shakuhachi  Friends  can  inspire  and  help  you  start  your  shakuhachi  
journey.  I  highly  recommend  if  you  enjoy  playing  the  shakuhachi  and  want  to  continue  that  you  find  a  
professional  teacher.  Unfortunately  here  is  the  Phoenix  area  are  not  much  on  the  way  of  teachers.  
There  are  some  teachers  that  will  instruct  you  from  across  the  internet.  If  you’d  like  a  recommendation  
on  a  teacher  please  ask  the  group.  

 
   

Page  3  
 
So  what  is  a  Shakuhachi?  
The  name  shakuhachi  means  "1.8  shaku",  referring  to  its  size.  It  is  a  compound  of  two  words:  

• Shaku  (尺)  is  an  archaic  unit  of  measurement    equal  to  30.3  centimeters  (0.994  English  foot)  and  
subdivided  in  ten  subunits.  
• Hhachi  (八)  means  "eight",  here  eight  sun,  or  tenths  of  a  shaku.  

Thus,  "shaku-­‐hachi"  means  "one  shaku  eight  sun"  (almost  55  centimeters  or  about  21.5  inches),  the  
standard  length  of  a  shakuhachi.  Other  shakuhachi  vary  in  length  from  about  1.3  shaku  up  to  3.3  shaku.  
Although  the  sizes  differ,  all  are  still  referred  to  generically  as  "shakuhachi".  

Shakuhachi  Flute  Parts  

   

                                       

Page  4  
 
What’s  Inside  a  Shakuhachi?  
Jiari  -­‐  shakuhachi  that  are  most  often  made  in  two  pieces  having  a  center  joint  and  display  an  inside  that  
is  heavily  altered  with  paste  and  urushi  to  form  a  more  uniform  inner  bore.  Jiari  can  also  describe  any  
shakuhachi  that  has  a  completely  fabricated  inner  bore  that  leaves  little  to  none  of  the  original  bamboo  
bore  uncovered.  Such  flutes  can  use  plastic,  plasters,  and  anything  that  will  adhere  to  the  bamboo  and  
allow  the  maker  to  sculpt  the  interior.  

 Jinashi  -­‐  the  opposite  of  jiari,  jinashi  shakuhachi  range  from  all  natural  to  more  refined,  however,  the  
main  characteristic  of  any  jinashi  is  that  most  of  the  natural  bamboo  bore  geometry  is  left  intact.  A  
jinashi  can  be  tuned  by  making  subtrations  from  the  bamboo  bore  or  by  adding  material  at  key  points  
along  the  bore.  Jinashi  can  also  have  urushi  lacquer  applied  to  the  inner  bore.  
 

History  of  flute  

According  to  one  theory,  origin  of  the  family  of  end  blown  reed  flutes  of  which  shakuhachi  is  a  part,  has  
been  traced  back  as  far  as  ancient  Egypt  and  is  presumed  to  have  migrated  through  India  and  China  
before  entering  Japan  in  the  latter  half  of  the  Seventh  Century.  Its  popularity,  however,  was  short-­‐lived  
and  it  wasn't  until  the  Thirteenth  Century  that  it  was  revived  by  the  Fuke  sect  of  Buddhism  which  sought  
to  replace  sutra  chanting  with  sui  zen  or  "blowing  zen."  Not  until  the  Edo  Period  (1603-­‐1867)  did  this  
instrument  reach  its  final  and  most  decisive  phase  of  development.  During  this  era,  marked  by  the  
disintegration  of  feudal  Japan,  the  shakuhachi  was  favored  by  swelling  numbers  of  uprooted  samurai  
warriors  (ronin)  who  joined  the  ranks  of  itinerant  preachers  known  as  komuso  ("Priests  of  Emptiness  
and  Nothingness").  The  komuso  wore  large  baskets  (tengai)  over  their  heads  to  symbolize  their  
detachment  from  the  world.  Violent  clan  struggles  which  marked  the  late  Sixteenth  Century  forced  
some  of  the  komuso  to  organize  themselves  into  a  society  for  self-­‐
protection.  Members  of  the  Fukeshu  sought  to  deceive  the  shogun  -­‐-­‐  
Japan's  supreme  warlord  -­‐-­‐  with  forged  documents  giving  them  exclusive  
rights  to  play  the  shakuhachi  and  to  solicit  alms  with  it.  In  return  for  this  
privilege  they  agreed  to  spy  on  the  activities  of  other  ronin.  Legend  has  it  
that  these  komuso,  forbidden  to  carry  their  revered  swords,  redesigned  
the  shakuhachi  from  the  root  of  the  bamboo  making  it  longer  and  stouter  
for  use  as  a  club  as  well  as  an  instrument  for  spiritual  attainment.  

Shakuhachi  Schools  
TWO  SCHOOLS  OF  SHAKUHACHI:  KINKO  and  TOZAN  

Kinko-­‐Ryu  
Kurosawa  Kinko  (1710-­‐1771)  ,  founder  of  the  Kinko  style  of  shakuhachi,  
was  a  komuso  monk  born  into  a  samurai  family.  He  was  responsible  for  
taking  the  honkyoku  of  the  past,  which  was  concerned  mainly  with  

Page  5  
 
meditation,  and  adding  a  higher  degree  of  musicality  to  it.  He  travelled  all  over  Japan  and  collected  33  
honkyoku  pieces,  which  now  make  up  the  core  of  the  Kinko  style  of  shakuhachi.  He  also  improved  the  
instrument,  perhaps  improving  the  bore  structure  to  access  certain  tones  easier.  It  wasn't  until  the  
second  generation  of  the  Kinko  family  that  the  delineation  of  a  Kinko  style  was  recognized  since  there  
were  no  styles  of  shakuhachi  during  his  time.  

During  the  Meiji  restoration  (1871)  the  sect  of  shakuhachi  monks  (Fuke-­‐shu)  was  banned  by  the  
government.  It's  use  as  a  ritual  tool  was  outlawed,  but  musically,  it  was  enjoying  great  popularity  among  
the  secular  classes,  being  used  in  ensemble  with  koto  and  shamisen  (sankyoku).  However,  the  
shakuhachi  was  in  serious  threat  of  becoming  obsolete,  so  the  two  men  responsible  for  taking  
shakuhachi  into  the  modern  world  were,  Yoshida  Itcho  and  Araki  Kodo  of  the  Kinko  style.  They  
persuaded  the  government  to  let  anyone  play  shakuhachi  as  a  musical  instrument,  thus  making  it  
accessible  to  everyone.  It  was  through  their  efforts  that  the  musical  popularity  of  the  shakuhachi  spread  
after  it  was  outlawed  as  a  religious  tool.  One  of  Araki  Kodo's  most  significant  accomplishments  was  the  
development  of  a  system  of  notation  for  the  music  of  the  shakuhachi  utilizing  the  katagana  script,  which  
is  read  vetically  (up  to  down,  and  right  to  left).  Also,  a  system  of  dots  and  lines  was  created  to  indicate  
rhythm  and  tempo  when  gaikyoku  (outside  pieces)  were  played.  Three  generations  later,  the  disciple  of  
Kodo  II,  Junsuke  Kawase  I  (1870-­‐1957)  improved  on  the  the  notation  even  more  making  it  easier  to  read  
and  more  accessible  to  the  public.  He  organized  the  Chikuyu  Sha  shakuhahchi  organization  which  
became  the  largest  organization  within  the  Kinko  style  and  has  membership  throughout  the  country  and  
the  world.  It  is  his  music  which  became  the  standard  for  all  Kinko  players.  

Tozan  
Nakao  Tozan  (1876-­‐1956),  founder  of  the  Tozan  style  of  shakuhachi,  was  born  in  Osaka.  He  came  from  a  
musical  family,  his  mother  being  a  daughter  of  a  famous  shamisen  master,  Terauchi  Daikengyo  of  Kyoto.  
He  learned  how  to  play  shamisen  as  a  child  and  learned  how  to  play  shakuhachi  on  his  own.  When  he  
was  in  his  late  teens  he  joined  the  Myoan  Society  of  shakuhachi  monks  and  developed  technique  with  
them.  In  his  early  20's  he  opened  up  his  first  shakuhachi  studio  in  Osaka.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  
Tozan  style.  In  1904  he  began  composing  pieces  for  the  shakuhachi  which  later  became  the  honkyoku  of  
the  Tozan  style.  He  was  very  knowlegeable  about  western  music,  creating  new  performance  and  
teaching  methods,  and  revising  the  music  for  shakuhachi.  Consequently,  he  was  very  successful  at  
popularizing  the  shakuhachi,  attracting  a  large  following,  especially  among  the  youth  of  Kansai.  He  
moved  the  Tokyo  in  1922  and  collaborated  with  the  famous  koto  composer,  Miyagi  Michiyo;  but  Kansai  
still  remains  the  center  of  the  Tozan  school.    

Comparison  between  Kinko  and  Tozan  styles  

Unlike  the  Tozan  School,  the  Kinko  style  has  no  central  organization.  This  has  allowed  the  Kinko  style  to  
enjoy  more  diversification  and  freedom  of  expression.  Students  of  the  Kinko  style  who  were  proficient  
enough  usually  broke  off  and  formed  their  own  sects  and  created  their  own  gaikyoku  and  notation  styles  
(but  was  usually  based  on  the  original  script  of  Araki  Kodo  I).  Both  styles  however  emphasize  musicality  
rather  than  suizen  (blowing  meditation).  Both  place  high  emphasis  on  gaikyoku  training,  especially  

Page  6  
 
playing  with  an  ensemble  of  jiuta  shamisen  and  Ikuta  style  koto.  Furthermore,  both  styles  have  always  
had  a  positive  attitude  towards  new  music  and  are  active  in  the  contemporary  music  scene.  

Shakuhachi  music  genres  

It  is  important  to  realize  that  all  types  of  shakuhachi  music  have  influenced  one  another.  The  shakuhachi  
is  tuned  to  the  minor  pentatonic  scale  or  "blues"  scale  which  the  Japanese  call  "Yosempo".  They  
consider  the  minor  pentatonic  scale  to  be  more  "upbeat",  however,  most  shakuhachi  music  is  played  
with  deep  note  bending/flattening  called  "meri"  to  achieve  the  "Insempo"  scale  which  is  considered  
dramatic  or  mysterious.  

• Modern  AKA  gendai-­‐kyoku  and  shin-­‐kyoku  -­‐  (gendai=modern  shin=new  and  kyoku=music)  
gendai-­‐kyoku  includes  playing  with  non-­‐Japanese  instruments,  "Western"  scales,  and  doing  
cover  songs.  Shin-­‐kyoku  is  playing  new  music  in  an  old  way.  
• Honkyoku  -­‐(Hon="original/self")  fairly  free  rhythm  having  pauses  where  no  sound  is  made  
except  that  of  inhalation  and  often  having  natural  or  spiritual  themes.  Honkyoku  are  often  
played  in  the  darker  Insempo  scale  making  use  of  deep  meri  notes  by  lowering  the  head  and  or  
shading  finger  holes.  
• Ensemble  Sankyoku  -­‐(San="three(3)")  shakuhachi,  koto  and  shamisen  with  strict  rhythm.  Most  
always  Insempo  or  dark  with  melancholy  or  dramatic  themes.  
• Folk  Minyo  -­‐(minyo,  uta,  bushi,  buri,  all="song",  "folk  song",  "country  songs",  "songs  of  the  
common  working  class  people")  can  be  played  solo  or  with  any  combination  of  vocals,  
shamisen,  and  drums.  Almost  strictly  Yosempo  scale  or  "happy"  upbeat  music.  

Blowing  your  first  note!  

To  blow  your  first  note;  stand  in  front  of  a  mirror  so  you  can  see  exactly  what  your  embrasure  looks  like.      

You  bottom  lips  need  to  seal  up  most  of  the  
mouthpiece.  If  air  can  escape  at  around  the  
mouthpiece  you’ll  really  have  a  problem  trying  to  get  a  
note.  

With  your  head  basically  in  an  upright  normal  position;  

the  backside  of  the  mouthpiece  should  be  resting  on  
your  chin.    The  angle  of  the  flute  in  relationship  to  a  
centerline  down  through  your  body  is  very  roughly  45  
degrees.  

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The  opening  between  your  lips  should  be  no  more  then  the  size  of  
an  almond  sliver.    The  opening  should  be  centered  on  the  cut  
beveled  edge  of  the  mouthpiece  (utaguchi).  

Make  a  'puh'  sound  as  air  gently  escapes  between  your  puckered  
lips.    Your  lower  lips  should  be  basically  soft  and  your  upper  lip  will  
have  a  tension  in  it  as  it  holds  the  shape  of  your  embouchure.  

Your  stream  of  air  should  be  shaped  like  you  were  trying  to  gently  
blow  out  a  candle  or  trying  to  make  a  sound  plowing  across  a  beer  
bottle.    Only  about  half  of  your  air  will  be  going  into  the  bore  of  the  flute.  The  rest  of  your  air  will  be  
going  over  the  outside  (over  top  of)  of  the  utaguchi.  

It  can  take  a  good  amount  of  time  just  to  get  your  first  tones.  Concentrate  on  the  feel  and  look  of  your  
embouchure.  You  may  get  light  headed  at  first  while  trying  to  blow  the  shakuhachi.  This  is  often  because  
you  embouchure  is  too  big.    You’re  expending  a  lot  of  air  that  is  not  being  used  to  make  sound.  

Here’s  are  a  couple  examples  or  what  an  embouchure  should  look  like.  

     

Page  8  
 
  

 
Basic  Notes  and  Reading  the  Notation  
The Basic Notes: RO TSU , RE , CHI , RI .

The finger holes are numbered on the fingering chart in Japanese from one to five, starting from
the bottom (root end) of the shakuhachi.

Octave  Register  Indications  

Ryo  is  the  lower  register  and  looks  like  a  Z  and  Kan  is  the  upper  octave  looking  like  a  stick  with  a  crossed  
box  on  top.  

Meri-­‐Kari  (A.K.A.  flats  and  sharps)  

Meri  and  Kari  are  traditional  blowing  techniques  used  to  manipulate  the  pitches  to  play  shakuhachi  
music.  We  also  use  it  to  get  notes  into  proper  pitch  while  playing.  All  shakuhachi  need  embouchure  
adjustments  to  some  degree  to  be  able  to  play  in  very  good  tuning.  They  do  not  play  in  tune  
automatically  like  a  recorder,  but  some  better  than  others.  Getting  a  handle  on  these  two  very  
important  blowing  techniques  early  on  will  enable  the  beginner  to  learn  shakuhachi  music  quicker  since  
the  traditional  music  incorporates  lots  of  “in-­‐between”  notes  that  Western  ears  are  not  used  to.  

MERI  TECHNIQUE  
Much  of  the  shakuhachi’s  Japanese  feel  is  done  with  deep  note  bending/flattening  called  "meri".    

Meri  notes  are  the  lowered  pitches  achieved  in  several  ways:  by  slightly  dropping  the  chin  inwards  
towards  your  neck,  so  your  air-­‐stream  changes  direction,  and/or  by  partially  covering  a  lower  hole.  The  
flute  stays  at  the  same  position  and  angle.  Try  blowing  an  even  tone  then  slowly  tilt  your  chin  inwards.  
The  pitch  will  slide  down.  Some  notes  (tsu  meri)  require  blowing  quite  softly  to  get  the  correct  meri  
pitch.  Generally  speaking,  meri  notes  are  played  softly.  However,  with  experience,  players  can  develop  
their  meri  technique  to  play  either  softly  or  relatively  loudly  depending  upon  the  musical  application.  

There  is  a  certain  tonal  color  or  timbre  associated  with  these  meri  notes  that  forms  a  significant  part  of  
the  sound  picture  of  the  shakuhachi.  The  variations  arising  from  playing  notes  in  a  meri  position  lend  
character  to  the  aural  palette.    

Tsu  meri  is  well  worth  spending  time  exploring.  It  is  pitched  between  E  flat  and  D  (in  most  shakuhachi  
traditions,  and  on  a  1.8  length),  and  requires  careful  fingering  on  the  lowest  hole  (1).  Most  of  that  hole  
will  be  covered.  Blow  softly  to  get  the  correct  pitch.  The  chin  will  have  to  be  pulled  inwards  quite  
significantly.  It  is  useful  to  be  able  to  'roll'  your  finger  over  hole  one  to  adjust  the  tsu-­‐meri  pitch.  If  you  
move  the  finger  rather  than  roll  it,  you  are  less  likely  to  nail  the  correct  pitch  consistently.  Pitch  accuracy  

Page  9  
 
in  the  meri  notes  comes  from  a  combination  of  aural  experience  and  tactile  memory  of  how  the  fingers  
are  covering  the  holes.  'Softly'  means  different  things  to  different  people.  Blow  tsu  meri  as  though  you  
are  faintly  ruffling  the  wings  of  a  butterfly.  Over  time  you'll  discover  that  tsu  meri,  like  any  note  on  the  
flute,  has  a  surprising  range  of  tonal  possibilities,  including  being  able  to  go  quite  loud!    

KARI  TECHNIQUE  
The  opposite  of  meri,  kari  technique  intends  to  raise  pitch.  Either  push  your  chin  out  (thus  opening  up  
the  mouthpiece  and  changing  the  direction  of  airflow)  or  rock  your  head  sideways,  blowing  to  the  side  
of  the  sharp  edge  of  the  utaguchi:  achieves  the  same  result.  

   

Page  10  
 
Tempo  Notation  
 

←  This  shows  RO  through  RI  as  whole  notes.    

Here’s  a  mix  of  the  tempo  marks  out  together  →  

←  This  show  each  note  played  as  ½  beat.  

←Each  of  the  notes  is  played  as  ¼  beat.  

Page  11  
 
Fingering  Chart  
 

   

Page  12  
 
Beginner  Shakuhachi  Practice  
Your  shakuhachi  practice  should  be  based  on  a  progressive  learning  approach.    

Basic  mechanics  
a. Posture  
b. Holding  the  shakuhachi  
c. Simple  note  production  
i. Check  list  for  making  your  first  sounds  
1. Tongue  flat  and  the  tip  toughing  around  the  top  of  the  lower  teeth.  
2. Make  the  opening  of  your  mouth  small.  The  opening  should  be  about  
the  width  of  the  flute’s  utaguchi  (the  beveled  blowing  edge)  or  smaller.  
3. Do  not  blow  too  hard,  softer;  relax  your  arms,  back,  neck,  throat,  jaw,  
chin,  cheeks  and  lips.  
4. Use  a  mirror  to  check  the  shape  of  your  mouth  and  the  mouthpiece  
position.  
5. Check  your  lips;  they  should  be  lightly  wet.  
6. Before  you  blow,  take  a  deep  breath  and  hold  it  for  a  moment  to  check  
items  1  through  5.    Then  blow  and  repeat.  For  your  very  first  note  try  

blowing  RE .  This  note  seems  to  be  easier  for  most  people  in  the  
beginning.  

Using  the  fingering  charts  try  to  make  all  of  the  basic  notes.  
d. Reminder  the  basic  notes  are:  RO    TSU ,  RE ,  CHI ,  RI .  
e. In  the  beginning  as  you’re  trying  to  make  the  notes  from  time  to  time  go  back  to  the  
check  list  above  and  re-­‐ground  yourself.  
f. As  you  find  you’ve  got  a  note  that’s  not  coming  out  right,  give  that  note  some  extra  
focus.  

Practice  your  basic  notes  in  a  song.  

g. A  good  basic  song  for  this  is  HINOMARU  or  The  Flag  Song.  
 
h.  

Figure  1  HINOMARU  or  The  Flag  Song  

Internet  Resources  
Phoenix  AZ  Shakuhachi  Friends  Blog   http://phoenixazshakuhachi.blogspot.com/    
European  Shakuhachi  Society  Forum   http://www.shakuhachiforum.eu/index.php    
Monty  H.  Levenson  Shakuhachi  Maker   http://www.shakuhachi.com/    
The  Shakuhachi  Yuu  Flute   http://www.shakuhachiyuu.com/    
   

Page  13  
 
  

        HINOMARO  (The  Flag  Song)  

Page  14  
 
Some good initial info on this page including finger charts: http://www.japanshakuhachi.com/gettingstarted.html

Also, from http://www.kotodama.net/shakuhachi/tips.html

On Breathing

In order to breathe out into the shakuhachi, you first have to take a breath in. How you breathe in affects how you breathe
out. We often hear that abdominal breathing is good, but it is more complicated than that. [Translator's note: Abdominal
breathing is when you breathe such that your abdomen/stomach area expands on the in-breath, whereas chest breathing is
where your lungs/chest expand on the in-breath. Try placing a hand on your tummy to see which you are doing. If your
hand bulges outward when you breathe in, you are breathing abdominally; if it draws in closer to your body on the in-
breath, you are chest breathing. Abdominal breathing elicits a relaxation response too, by the way.] The difference between
abdominal or chest breathing is in how your lungs expand and contract. In abdominal breathing, your lungs expand
vertically as your diaphragm draws them downward. In chest breathing, your lungs expand in/out--they open up like French
doors when you breathe in.

The crucial difference here is how much control you have during out-breaths. The fact is that you have much more control
over out-breaths in abdominal breathing because you have more muscles in that area to control the action. This means that
abdominal breathing gives more control for long, soft notes, or sudden loud ones.

So, the question becomes: How do you get better at abdominal breathing? I mentioned above that more muscles are
involved in abdominal breathing. That means that making it slightly more difficult to take an in-breath encourages
abdominal breathing. For example, try breathing in with your mouth wide open, then through your nose. You are likely to
find that you naturally do chest
breathing in the first instance and abdominal breathing in the second.

There are many reasons why you should not breathe in through your mouth playing shakuhachi: losing your optimal angle
or drying out your mouth are just two of these. Now we can add making it more likely to chest breathe to the list. This is
why you should breathe through your nose. However, sometimes breathing in through your nose can take too much time.
So, one technique I use is to begin breathing in through my nose (abdominally), then continue and finish the breath through
my mouth. It is an interesting phenomenon that even if you switch mid-breath from your nose to your mouth, it will stay an
abdominal breath. Try it yourself, such as in your daily Ro practice. It won't come immediately, but eventually you will
find yourself breathing both abdominally and quickly if you start the in-breathe from your nose and then continue it through
your mouth.

On Breathing, Pt. II

In last month's tip, I talked about abdominal breathing and the benefits of starting breaths through the nose and continuing
through the mouth. However, I received many emails opposing this advice, saying that "you should breathe in through the
mouth" or that "breathing through the nose takes too much time". So, I decided to do some research on the Internet.

Practically everybody for every instrument advises abdominal breathing. However, there is much less consensus on exactly
where to breath in from. I found people advising such diverse things as "breathe through your mouth, except in special
circumstances", "breathe through your mouth as far as you can, then even more through your nose", "breathe through your
nose as though you were smelling a flower", etc., etc. There were so many disparate opinions, it seems the only thing that is
agreed upon is that it's hard to breathe through your nose if it's completely stuffed up!

However, it seems that most people use their noses for in-breaths. Even those who say they breathe in through their mouths
talk about difficulty when their nose is stuffed, which to me indicates that they are actually using their nose.

However, what is important is that you be able to breathe in quickly, quietly, and in large volumes. Any method that enables
this is fine. Try different ways of abdominal breathing through your nose until you hit upon the way that's most natural and
efficient for you.

-----------------------------------------

A Breath "Nozzle"
I have long suggested that people blow ten minutes of Otsu-no-Ro per day to develop good sound and good tone. I have also
suggested that increasing the volume of the inside of your mouth can help you gain a smoother sound. Everybody possesses
different images of what they are doing when they blow on the shakuhachi, so I have used many such images to describe
suggestions of what to do. Here is one that I think works particularly well. Obviously, your breath must pass through your
lips to get to the flute. However, you might have difficulties if you think of your lips as the place where the breath leaves
your body. Instead, try thinking of the breath leaving your body from a place much further back in your mouth. Try
imagining the "nozzle" where your breath leaves your body as lying somewhere farther back in your mouth. If you think
this way, the extra tension you may be holding in your lips will disappear, and your tone will become smoother. Thus, my
advice is to blow from further back from a "nozzle" inside
your mouth rather from your lips. Try it and see how it works.

Breath Control

In my 2/99 column, I talked about playing very quite notes, and how there was great musical value in playing very small,
quiet notes. This time, I would like to talk about something related from the point of view of breath control. I often ask
beginners to play quiet notes for me. One thing that is very interesting is that the length of the notes they play is the same
for small notes as for louder notes (and, since they are beginners, there is not much difference in volume between their loud
and soft notes). This is because they don't have very good control of how their breath leaves their lips, and, like air leaving a
balloon, it all goes out at once.

What is required is breath control. The most basic form of breath control is not letting out any breath at all. For instance,
when blowing long tones of Ro, people often start blowing out immediately after they have taken an in-breath. This is one
chance for exercising breath control they are wasting. Here is my advice. After you take your in-breath, pause very briefly
before letting it out. And, when you do begin to breath out, begin the out-breath very slowly and gradually. Practice making
the beginning of the out-breath ever more slow and ever more gradual. This will help you make great strides in controlling
your breathing. Large, short bursts of breath and sound are very important, but so are long, subtle pianissimo's that seem to
vanish into nothing.

Blowing High Ro

I hear from lots of players that they don't have a lot of success with blowing Ro. The fact is, it's hard to get the sound you
want. I'd say there is no one at all who could get a sound they'd be satisfied with 100 times out of 100 tries. Indeed, if there
were someone who did, that would simply mean that they aren't trying to improve. At any level you play at, you should
always be striving to improve. This means it's natural not to be satisfied with your sound. How, then, do you get this better
sound? If you can't get a good Ro until you are fully warmed up, then that's possibly a sign that you have too much tension
in and around your mouth. In other words, you are using so much muscle to blow at full power that the muscles around your
mouth need to warm up before they are up to the task. This way of blowing tires you out quickly.

Try to relax as much as possible, so that you will be able to play for longer stretches. To do this, increase the inner volume
of your mouth. Some images you can try for this are blowing with your mouth shaped like you are taking an inbreath, or
like you are trying to suppress a yawn.

Something similar can be said for those who have trouble with the higher octave. One way to produce a high octave note is
to increase the speed of the air coming out of your mouth. If you do this by tightening up the muscles around your mouth to
decrease the size of your lip opening (particularly the vertical space between your lips), you will end up with a lot of white
noise in your sound. To get a smoother sound, try using the image of "blowing lots of air farther, just like trying to blow out
a candle beyond arm's reach. It's also effective to try blowing notes as softly as you can in the high octave. One important
part of the practice of blowing Ro is learning how to relax your mouth.

------------------------------

Blow Through The Note

The way a note ends can determine the impact of the whole note. If the note should end with a nice long, clean taper, but at
the end volume, pitch, or color drops off or changes abruptly, then it can ruin the whole thing. Ending notes smoothly
without ruining their beauty is one of the most important aspects of playing shakuhachi, and unquestionably one of the
hardest. I once heard a karate expert talk about how he broke wooden bats on his shin. The secret, he said, was to imagine
that the bat was farther away than it actually was. The reason is that it's a fundamental human instinct to slow down right
before reaching the bat, and you can only break the bat by keeping maximum speed and kicking through the bat.
Professionals in sports like tennis and golf say the exact same thing: hit through the ball.

Therefore, when playing, imagine or pretend that the end of the note is beyond where you actually need it to be. This will
dramatically increase the stability and effect of the end of your notes. In other words: blow through the note.

More on Blowing Ro

It has now been one year since I began this Shakuhachi Tips column. I hope it is helpful to at least some people. For this
month's tip, I would like to return to the basics and talk about blowing Ro again. Is there anybody out there who has blown
Ro every day for 10 minutes for this past year? It sounds easy, but is very hard in practice to accomplish over time, which is
why Watazumi said that "Whoever blows Ro 10 minutes a day can become a master." I think many people find it difficult
to continue this practice because they see it as merely practicing Ro, which would indeed be boring. Instead, how fruitful it
will be depends on how honestly you can observe yourself and how inventive and creative you can be in your investigation
of your own playing.

Here are some things to question yourself about:

* Where is your mouth too tense?

* How is the breath stream hitting the blowing edge?
* Why don't your notes start out the way they should?
* Why don't your notes end the way they should?
* Why can't you play with enough volume?
* What happens when you shift the flute just slightly off kilter on purpose?
* How long can you play one extended note (softly OK)?
* Can you use up all your breath in 3 seconds? How about 2?
* Looking at the mirror, do your arms or hands have excess tension in them?
* How is your posture?
* How does your individual flute's pitch change as it gets warmed up?
* How does this differ in summer and winter?
* How can you get the tone color of Katsuya Yokoyama? How about Goro Yamaguchi?
* It's easy to get a good Ro when you're warmed up, but how do you get one first time you blow through the flute?

There's way too much to do in a mere 10 minutes! By investigating your own playing relentlessly, and by using creativity
and ingenuity, you can become your own best teacher. I heard that a world-famous baseball team in Cuba is forbidden from
practicing when the coach isn't there, because repeating bad habits will cause them to become ingrained and incurable.
Shakuhahci is the same way, but it is impossible to have someone looking over our shoulder all the time. Instead, we must
become our own most stern teacher. Are we always playing our best? How can we play better? It is this attitude that
blowing Ro cultivates. Never think of it as just practicing a single note.

Mouth Shape

How much thought have you given to the space between your lips when you blow, the part where the air stream comes out?
Do you experience any of the following?

1. Otsu turns to kan (higher octave) in the middle of playing.

2. You still have breath, but the note dies suddenly.
3. You have a difficult time with meris.
4. You have a difficult time making good yuri (vibrato).
5. Your tone color is "hard" with no expansiveness in your tone.

The cause for these problems can be with the shape of the space between your lips, which can cause the point of sound
production to be small. It's important to make this point as large as possible. When the point of sound production is too
small, even a slight variation in your blowing can cause you to miss it. This can cause 1-2 above. You change the angle of
blowing when playing meri or yuri, which can cause you to slide off the sound producing point if it's
too small. This can cause 3-4 above. Also, overtones (notes above a perfect fifth higher than the note you're playing, or
overtones of the higher octaves) can become "hard" (5 above).
Some absolute beginners are told to pull their lips strongly to the side to get a note. This can indeed help focus the air to get
a note, but it results in a very small point of sound production, causing the five problems above. Remember, it's important to
make the "sweet spot" of sound production as large as possible to get a good, robust sound.

This kind of instruction is always included at Shakuhachi Kenshu-Kan master classes. Since everybody blows a different
way, I can't describe concrete ways to get a larger sweet spot here without leading to misunderstanding. This needs to be
done by a qualified teacher.

MISC STUFF FROM THE SHAK LIST:

Embouchure tips:
1) Jaw drops down and a bit forward till teeth are in line. This changes the inner shape and helps open mouth cavity and
throat.

2) Open mouth and throat cavity equally all around: top of mouth, bottom pocket behind lower teeth and back of throat.
Keep the pressure equal from your lips to your diaphram. Don't focus on one part more than the others. Think
WAAAAAAH. Or AAAAH to fully open inside like when the doctor says "say AAAAAH". Tongue is also pulled down
and back. Mouth cavity expands like a Tiger claw opening. Keep trying to open inside even more than you think possible.
Feels like blowing from deep inside throat, not from lips.

3) Don't stretch lips too wide to the sides. Mainly let the inside shape determine how lips will form. Think of embouchure as
the expanded shape of the inside not shape of lips. Many students spend years playing just from the lips and don't get a full
rich sound. Play from deep inside yourself.

4) Use a very open and relaxed embouchure for note beginnings, with softer playing; use more pressure and smaller opening
for power. Can also reverse this process. If embouchure is big "Blow Slow" so don't run out of air.

5) Try to get full ringing sound esp. on RO without blowing hard, but by opening fully and adjusting to get that ring, willing
it to ring.

6. Firm diaphragm esp. important for strong low RO.

Blowing tips:

1) Always sing internally what you are playing, whether scales, runs or melodies.

2) Hear the sound you want and will it into being.

*This is what I'm into. If you have been experimenting along the same, or different lines let me know. Like to hear what
others are doing. I feel if you don't have a good sound, what's the point. If you can't make one note sound good, why play a
hundred.

--------------------------------------

http://www.h3.dion.ne.jp/~take23/eindex.htm

(Pasted in from the above site)

It is said that all things are made up of five elements:

Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Space.

The shakuhachi too has five holes, and each hole has a sound, making up five
sounds. The sounds that the shakuhachi makes are ephemeral and hardly remain in
one's memory. In order to visualize the five sounds, compare them to the five elements respectively, that is,

Earth --- (RO)

Water --- (TSU)?
Fire --- (RE)
Wind --- (DHI)
Space --- (RI) or (HA)

Though each person may have different ideas and concepts about these five
elements, try to relate them to the sounds. Then come the control of breath and the tranquility of mind. Ask yourself,

Does (RO) have the sublimity of earth?

Does (TSU) have the flow of water?
Does (RE) have the warmth of fire?
Does (CHI) have the freshness of wind?
Does (RI) have the infinity of space?

Seek the sound which is evoked from within ... improved, polished and
developed inside yourself. The shakuhachi demands of you your candid self~thus, put your whole being into the
shakuhachi. Exhale once and expire. There is no second chance in life. Each exhalation must be pure.
------------------------------------------

Breathing: When approaching shakuhachi, one good way is to visualize a balloon expanding within the diaphragm. You
should rarely blow outward to release the air. Rather, consider the lips/embouchure as a valve restricting the flow as you let
the balloon deflate... the air will naturally release, and that is a type of stream the blowing edge prefers. There are
exceptions, of course, but that's a good rule.

For many shakuhachi notes, "meri's" especially, visualize the air coming from the back of the throat, not the lips. That
smoothes things out.

Never grip the shakuhachi tightly, with the flat part of the thumb up. Let it rest on the side of your thumb, which helps in a
more gentile, relaxed resting of the bamboo in the hands. It should also just be comfortably and lightly touching the chin.
You'll get to know where each flute likes to sit, vertically... i.e., how far up or down, relative to the lips. The tone and
response will dictate that.

The mouth cavity should be like you are saying "Haaaaa" (and "Ho" on some notes) when releasing the air. The tounge will
mostly need to be depressed to created the most hollow cavity possible. For certain breathy effects, the back of the tounge
is lifted slightly.

For many lower octave (otsu) notes, and most 2nd octave (kan) notes, you will find that targeting the blowing edge a
fraction to the right (or left) of center produces better response, but this is not a hard rule. Each instrument will dictate the
"sweet spot" for each note.
From an article on Shakuhachi Breathing :

Breathing is the process of moving air into and out of the lungs.
Thinking of the chest cavity as a cylinder, one can increase its
volume by one of three means:

1. Extending the diaphragmatic floor of the cylinder downward

2. Expanding the walls outward
3. Moving the top of the cylinder upward.

These three types of breathing are termed:

•Diaphragmatic
•Thoracic
•Clavicular

In the first your belly expands, the second your chest expands and
the third raises your shoulders. Infants and small children use their
diaphragms exclusively for breathing. Chest breathing cannot
occur until considerably after birth, not until the bony chest
matures. Diaphragmatic breathing fills the lower part of the lungs.
Chest breathing fills the middle and upper portions. During normal
activity clavicular breathing only comes into play when the body’s
oxygen demands are very great or one is agitated.

Once the lungs are filled to their capacity, how are they emptied?
What results in exhalation? Relaxation! Everyone has had the
experience of sighing, or letting a deep breath out in a completely
relaxed passive motion. In normal breathing no muscles
contract to push the air out. It is as if the lungs themselves are
pulling the diaphragm up and chest wall in. This is in fact, what
happens. The lungs are elastic, and they shrink back to their
original size once the forces which expanded them are released--
much as a balloon shrinks back to its normal size once the end is
untied. In forced exhalation, the stomach muscles contract to force
the diaphragm upward as it relaxes.

To get this breathing thing down, think of an imaginary ball about

the size of a coconut in your midsection. All you're doing when
breathing diaphragmatically is moving this ball. If you need, place
your hand on your stomach, pretending you have the ball in your
hand, then press it in and up--then let it come down and out.
Congratulations! You've just mastered a year of Prana yoga.

Usually when someone is asked to take a deep breath they will

raise their shoulders slightly, indicating clavicular breathing
which, paradoxically, is the shallowest form. To experience this
take a deep breath now. If your shoulders don't rise slightly then
take several breaths in very rapid secession and you'll notice your
shoulders moving.

The three zones of breathing:

•Upper
•Middle
•Lower.

And there are natural sounds which coincide with these zones.
Correctly pronounced the mantra Om moves through the zones--
that's it's purpose. AAAAUUUUMMMM. Another way to learn
and appreciate this is by using distinct sounds. For our purposes
we'll use the sounds of four different exclamations.

Ee as in free --When one is very thrilled or frightened.

Ah or Aw --When one is surprised or startled.
Oo as in broom --When one is suitably impressed.
Oh --When one is engaged in acceptance.

The sound Ee is the highest (Clavicular breathing), Ah or Aw--

mid-range (Thoracic breathing) and Oo and Oh --the bottom
(Diaphragmatic breathing). With these three it is possible to make
up a breathing-language which can have startling physiological
effects. There is a direct link between vowel sounds, breathing
and physiological states--thus the whole subject of mantas.

For example:

•Oo Aw (Homa) Moves from Lower to Mid breathing.

•Oo Ah Ee (Huame) Moves from Lower to Mid to Upper
breathing.
•Ee Oh Ah (Eoma) Moves from Upper to Mid to Lower breathing.

These and any number of other breathing-language words

(mantras) can be created and used to direct and modify breathing,
thus physiological states. Adding a consonant (H, for example) to
the beginning of words makes them smoother to remember and
pronounce. As does the Mm or Nn sound at the end. The core of
many mantra systems, for example, is Oo and Ah. However,
pronouncing OoAh is a little clumsy and disjointed. Making it Hh
Oo Nn Ah creates a flow and a memorable word--Huna. It could
be Buna, Cuna, Buma, Cuma, etc. Saying (and/or thinking) the
word HUNA moves one's physiology from lower to mid
breathing. Chanting Om (Ah Oo Mm) is to repeatedly invoke
the sound equivalent of shifting from mid to lower breathing.
The warrior mantra (who-ahh, as heard in the Marines for
example) shifts from lower to mid breathing.
Exercise 1:
Practice each breathing zone until you have them well
differentiated. Use of the seed sounds will speed up this process.
Since the lungs are under both involuntary and voluntary
control you have a way to consciously teach the non-conscious.
Get a good kinesthetic, auditory and visual sense of each type of
breathing and your resultant physiology. Which zone someone
uses while breathing (and/or the vowels they tend to emphasize)
tells you what their emotional (physiological) state is.

Exercise 2:
Develop a set of breathing-language words for your own use.
They will serve as meta-anchors--directing your physiology in the
direction you desire. When used quietly or sub-vocally your
'breath' words can automatically shift your breathing hence your
physiology hence your mood and resoucefulness. You can now
create your very own 'power' words!

Now let's directly explore the subject of breathing with the

intention of playing woodwinds. First off, most people's voluntary
and involuntary breathing focusses on the abdominal muscles--
that's the thing we've got to change. Most people's breathing
focusses on the OUT breath instead of the IN breath. As noted
earlier, by and large, the OUT breath takes care of itself. For the
flute player, the whole trick to proper breathing centers entirely on
the IN breath. It's all about the diaphragm (which is a muscle). So
breathing is muscular--flute breathing is about switching from
abdominal to diaphragm. Forget the abdominal muscles, they
should remained relaxed during flute play. When people get tense
one of the first muscle groups to tighten is the abdominal. Relax
the belly!

So what's the deal with the diaphragm? As seen in the graphic

below, diaphragmatic breathing is just about contracting and
relaxing this single muscle. It's a muscle sheet which lies beneath
and supports the lungs. In its relaxed state the diaphragm arches
upward forming a semi-dome. Remember again, the OUT breath
takes care of itself, naturally. It's the IN breath which requires
attention. This is when the diaphragm constricts. It's length
shortens and as a consequence the lungs fill. When the diaphragm
constricts the volume of the lungs increases. It's counter-intuitive,
but that's the way it works. In the schematic below, blue signifies
lung cavity and red is intestinal cavity.

There are a couple of good ways to get in touch with your

diaphragm and strengthen it. The first, is to lift weights.
Remember that set of weights you got for your New Year's
resolution, the one in the garage? Well, round up some of the flat
weights (or something like them), lie flat on your back and pile up
a stack on your belly. Now push them upward, as far as you can,
full extension. A-one and a-two .... Now notice something and go
over it until it sticks in your brain. You pushed the weights upward
by taking an IN breath. You pushed the weights upward by
contracting your diaphragm. There's no other way to do it. An
IN breath pushed the weights upward. Even if you think you know
how breathing works actually do this exercise, actually lie down
and pump some iron on your belly. Doing this single exercise for
less than a minute will clear up any misconception you have about
breathing. If you want to strengthen your diaphragm then pump
some belly iron on a daily basis. Keep increasing the load.

Let's be doubly clear. You lifted the weights by contracting your

diaphragm and that muscle alone. Constricting your abdominals
will interfer with lifting the weights. Go over it until it's really
clear--the learning part of this exercise is kind of like learning to
ride a bike, do it until you 'get' it.

The second exercise is a little stranger. Go to the hardware store

and get 5-6 feet of clear, flexible tubing, somewhere around 1/4"
ID. Place a bowl of water on the floor. With an IN breath draw
water up the tubing as far as you can. You should be able to do at
least 3 feet, call it a meter. Practice until you can draw water at
least 4 feet (1.22m). This exercise is a very good way to measure
the strength of your diaphragm. A standing column of water
generates about 1/2 psi per foot, so 4 feet is equivilant to about 2
psi. Your diaphragm should have a rating of 2 psi (or higher) to
handle the shakuhachi with ease. The strength training? Draw a
column of water 4 feet or more, maybe 50 times a day. In a certain
sense this is the perferred exercise: less equipment and measurable
feetback.

Let's do a little math. 2 psi, that's two pounds per square inch. So a
square of about 7.07 inches on your belly would be around 50
square inches, at 2 pounds each means you should be able to belly
press 100 pounds without much difficulty. Or to make it simple,
place a thick book on the floor, lie on it belly down and press
yourself --same difference.
To play a shakahachi well you'll need to be able to breathe well. If
you'll give as much attention to your breath as you do to your
shak, things will improve rapidly. So, if you want to be a power
breather you'll need to focus only on the IN breath and give your
diaphragm some strength training. The diaphragm is a muscle like
any other and will respond to resistance training.

The other part of flute breathing? Relax the belly--it'll do its thing
naturally.
 Todos los derechos de este documento son propiedad de Horacio Curti

Shakuhachi, its cultural context and traditional music

Conference

The Shakuhachi is a Japanese bamboo vertical flute with only 5 holes. A simple structure instrument,
that posses a very rich variety of tone colors, sound qualities, and timbres.

It is commonly accepted that it entered Japan from China as part of the Gagaku music orchestra
around the VII century. It was later excluded from this form of music and no register is kept until
around the XIII century, when it was adopted by a group of Zen Buddhist monks, as part of their
religious meditation practice. In this context the instrument was not a musical one but a religious tool.
With time this meditations were recovered as musical pieces and formed the group of music now
known as Koten Honkyoku.

Besides Honkyoku, the instrument takes part on different traditional Japanese repertoires such as
Sankyoku or Minyo.

Characteristics of the conference

The duration may vary depending on the possibilities. In no case should be less than 90 minutes, with
a ideal time of 120 minutes.

The structure is based on three different elements oriented to generate a clear and interesting event:
music, words and images. The explanations intend to be clear and simple, more as way of giving a
context to the hearing experience than to illustrate academically, not explaining music but giving
elements to get closer to it. The images helps to imagine and make closer unknown instruments and
situations. The recorded and live examples work as the central part of the experience.

Origin of the proposal

The present proposal is based on the conferences given on the subject musicas tradicionales del
mundo I (traditional world music’s I) at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (Superior
Catalonian Music School), Barcelona, Spain, on May and October 2002. The subject is common to all
the students of the Institution and is a general introduction to the theme. This conference was
conceived as a very brief introduction to the subject and the elements related to the instrument and
the music with which is associated in the Japanese traditional culture. Special emphasis was put on
the way this music is perceived and valuated on the traditional Japanese environment.

The duration of the class was of 90 minutes. On each occasion the themes discussed were directly
related to the interests expressed by the students present that day. These conferences –
collaborations, originated a posterior extracurrricular curse of 10 hours dedicated to a practical –
theoretical introduction to the instrument, that was successfully realized on four different 150 minutes
sessions on November 2002, at the same institution.

Elements considered on the presentation

– This list works only as a guide of what Can but not necessarily Will be discussed -
Historic context

• The Instrument
• Buddhism / Zen and relations to art
• Other Japanese instruments
• The Honkyoku Music
• Other Japanese musical forms
• Trasmition of the music
• My experience as a western student in Japan
• Notation. Characteristics and functions.
• References

Elements required
• Audio equipment with CD player
• Computer with CD-ROM
• Projector for the CD-ROM images

Horacio Curti
Shakuhachi player & teacher
Shakuhachi and Live Electronics - workshops

Two levels of participation in the workshops are possible:

1) Listener.
Listener-participants are welcome to sit in on all sessions, without any special requirements. This
level is a kind of gathering of ideas, without putting them into practice directly in the workshops.

2) Performer.
Performer-participants will actively take part in exercises and music-making with shakuhachi and
live electronics (computer-based). To do this, any level of shakuhachi playing beyond "just starting"
is acceptable, but there are certain requirements concerning the technology.
a) The workshops will be based around the (free and totally legal) programme Pure Data (PD).
Active participants will need their own laptops, ideally with PD installed and checked before the
workshops.
b) PD can be found here:
http://msp.ucsd.edu/software.html
We will be using the "vanilla" distribution - the simplest form, without operating system-specific
extras. The version at the time of writing is 0.46.7. This or any later version is acceptable. Please
download PD "vanilla"; I do _not_ recommend downloading PD-extended, as this has compatibility
issues with some computers, and is no longer actively supported.

c) PD exists in builds for Windows, MacOSX, and Linux. I will bring installer USB sticks with me for
all systems, but (I reiterate) it will be better to have PD installed and working on your computer
before the workshops start. Although I have had no problems, some users report that PD can be
tricky to get operating on some computers, so please don't leave installing it until the day before
the workshop.
d) To make use of PD with the shakuhachi, the laptop will need a way of connecting a microphone,
and getting an audio signal out to a set of loudspeakers or mixing console. The minimum
requirement would be an external microphone input (often present as a small socket on the front or
side of a laptop), and a headphone output. If these are working (e.g. with a sound recording
programme), then it should be possible to work with PD.
A better level of sound quality can be achieved with an external audio interface (USB, FireWire
etc.), so if you have some kind of small external interface, please bring it as well.
e) The minimum requirement for a microphone is that it can be connected to the computer or
interface (i.e. it has the right connectors - minijack in the minimal system using the computer's
built-in connectors), and that it can be attached to the shakuhachi. For professional microphones,
the sky is the limit. (If you're feeling like spending a lot of money, a good choice is the series of
miniature microphones by danish pro audio - dpa.) If your budget is tight, a workable microphone is
a small, lapel-style microphone available cheaply from most electronics stores, or a small stereo
microphone such as often used to be supplied with portable cassette recorders. These can also
often be found in electronics shops. If you are buying a microphone, be careful about its power
requirements. Many small microphones need power from the device into which they are being
plugged, and your computer must supply this. (Many laptops can do this, but often the option must
be turned on in a control panel somewhere.) Also, be aware that a cheap microphone is adequate
for learning about PD and experimenting. For serious performing, something better is needed.
f) I will provide velcro strips for attaching simple, small microphones to the shakuhachi.
g) Once you have PD installed and a microphone connected, there is a test routine in PD (in the
"Media" menu in the MacOSX version) which will tell you if you really are getting something from
the microphone, and which gives you a test tone to check whether it can output an audio signal
correctly.
h) For you to practice and experiment without your electronics disturbing other people, a set of
headphones (or bud-style earphones) is recommended. Cheap ones will be adequate, but more
expensive ones give better sound quality.
i) Teaching material (.pdf- or PD-files) will be provided in Prague from USB stick as required.
PD is a very powerful yet inexpensive (= free) way of working with live electronics as a
performance tool. I look forward to exploring it with you.

================================

Additional information: shakuhachi and live electronics using iPad

If sufficient participants are interested, the final session of Jim Franklin's classes on shakuhachi
and live electronics will be devoted to using the shakuhachi with the iPad instead of laptop. While
there are numerous apps available which can be used to apply specific forms of processing to the
shakuhachi, it is also possible to programme on the iPad similar forms of processing to those using
PD (Pure Data) on the laptop, as explored in the previous sessions. This will be examined in the
final class.

Participants wishing to learn about using the iPad like this must be familiar with the concepts
underlying PD; participation in the entire course is thus required.

To use the iPad in this way, participants require the following apps:
- Audulus (audio processing environment for iPad)
- Audiobus (inter-application audio routing system for iPad)
Unfortunately, these are not free, unlike PD. For simple usage, however, one only requires the
inexpensive basic versions; no in-app purchases are required. Participants who wish to work with
an iPad in the final class should purchase and install the apps from the AppStore prior to the class.

Participants intending to use the iPad will also require an iPad-compatible microphone and/or
audio interface, such as those made by iRig, Focusrite and various other companies.

=================================

Jim Franklin
Nyokai-An Dojo
Shakuhachi fingering chart (Kinko notation)

This document is intended to satisfy two basic needs.

First, the BASIC NOTES section offers beginners a simple, clear guide to the common
non-meri notes without any extraneous information.

Then, the more thorough charts that follow present a full range of common fingerings and
notations with some additional explanations, starting from the lowest note and extending
up into the third octave.

What I have left out:

I have restricted myself to common Kinko notations – I have not incorporated any
specially modified characters used in particular schools. I have also left out the often
confusing “slash” notation for meris and chu meris.

I do not include any of the notations used in special techniques such as “ka ra” or “ko-ro-
ko-ro.”

I do not differentiate, graphically, among different amounts of partial hole covering on

meri notes. This will vary from flute to flute and school to school, so I have opted to use
one symbol – a hole half covered – for all situations.

Shakuhachi is a microtonal instrument, meaning that the traditional music often calls for
pitches that fall in between those we commonly use in Western music. I have left out
explanations of the actual sounded pitches, choosing simply to indicate the rough
approximations in Western “ABC” notation. A more precise chart would require
explanations such as “Tsu meri is often played at least 20 cents flatter than a Western E-
flat” etc. etc. As actual pitches vary hugely from school to school and player to player, I
have only occasionally used a minus sign (-) to indicate a usually flatter-than-Western
pitch.

For more instructional material, or to take shakuhachi lessons, please see

http://nyokai.com
 (More complete chart starts on the next page.)

2
General note on meri notation:
In some scores, a meri is indicated by a small slash mark crossing the basic character. Often this slash is
used to indicate a full meri, whereas at other times it is used to indicate a chu meri as distinguished from a
full meri. Because this form of notation is inherently unclear, I have chosen to avoid it in the following
charts.

I have used down arrows to indicate the approximate degree of lowering using the head, with three arrows
indicating the most meri position and one arrow indicating the least.

A minus sign (-) after a Western pitch equivalent indicates that the note is usually played slightly flatter.

I. Lowest octave

NOTES:
1. Some schools consider C# a ro meri and C a ro dai meri (
).
2. In many schools, ro often repeats using the second hole (from the bottom of the
flute); in some schools it repeats more customarily using the bottom hole.

NOTES:
1. Tsu chu meri may also be played with both the bottom hole shaded a bit and the
head lowered.
2. All tsu customarily repeat with the second hole.

3
NOTES:
1. Rarely, some schools consider re meri to be F# rather than F.
2. Partially covering the bottom hole on a re meri makes it easy to descend to tsu chu
meri, a common pattern.
3. Re notes may repeat with hole 4, 3, 2, or even 1 depending on the context. If no
hole is indicated, 3 is most common in honkyoku.

NOTES:
1. Occasionally a chi meri may occur in the lower octave (instead of u). This would
simply be played like the third listed fingering for u.
2. On some flutes, especially antiques, it may be possible and even desirable to play
chi dai kari (A#) simply by fingering a regular chi and lifting the head up from
neutral kari position.
3. U and chi customarily repeat with hole 4.

4
NOTES:
1. Some schools of honkyoku, while using essentially Kinko-based notation, follow
the Tozan usage of ha (
) instead of ri (). This is very common!
2. Ri notes generally repeat with hole 5.

NOTES:
1. Though this is technically a low octave note, the hi character is often used in this
context.
2. Some notation uses i meri, instead of I chu meri, for an approximate C# pitch.
3. These notes are usually repeated with the thumb, by quickly hitting the hole.

Before moving on to the second octave, there are a few low octave straggler fingerings to
cover:

5
This is usually seen as a grace note played before a second-octave
ro, as in the common pattern known as “ha ro.” In a few honkyoku
it appears on its own.

Repeats with third hole.

This appears on its own in some honkyoku and gaikyoku, notably

followed by a ri meri.

Generally repeats with fourth hole or third hole.

This substitute for second octave ro has a much airier sound.

6
II. Second octave

NOTES:
1. Some schools consider C# a ro meri and C a ro dai meri ().
2. In many schools, ro often repeats using the second hole (from the bottom of the
flute); in some schools it repeats more customarily using the bottom hole.

NOTES:
1. Tsu chu meri may also be played with both the bottom hole shaded a bit and the
head lowered.
2. In many schools, tsu meri is lower than a Western D#.
3. A D# / Eb pitch may also be played as a ro kari (
) with only holes 4 and 5
open and head raised high. This results in a fuller louder sound than tsu meri.
4. All tsu customarily repeat with the second hole.

7
NOTES:
4. Rarely, some schools consider re meri to be F# rather than F.
5. Partially covering the bottom hole on a re meri makes it easy to descend to tsu chu
meri, a common pattern.
6. Re notes may repeat with hole 4, 3, 2, or even 1 depending on the context. If no
hole is indicated, 3 is most common in honkyoku.

NOTES:
1. In some schools, an ichi san no u is called a ru (
). This should not be confused
with the use of ru in Kinko notation to mean “hit the first hole.”
2. On some flutes, especially antiques, it may be possible and even desirable to play
chi dai kari (A#) simply by fingering a regular chi and lifting the head up from
neutral kari position.
3. Chi customarily repeats with hole 4.

8
NOTES:
1. Hi in all its forms generally repeats with the thumb.

NOTES:
1. Some schools use i meri rather than i chu meri for an approximate C#.
2. Regular non-meri go no hi (i) generally repeats with the thumb; meri uses the
thumb if it is not partially covered. If the thumb hole is partially covered, in some
pieces go no hi meri and go no hi chu meri may repeat with a push of the breath.

9
III. Third octave

NOTES:
1. Head position (degree of meri) varies quite a bit from flute to flute.
2. Both notes often repeat with the third hole.

NOTES:
3. Head position (degree of meri) varies quite a bit from flute to flute.
4. Both Eb notes often repeat with the third hole; san no ha sometimes repeats with
the second or fourth; yon no ha often repeats with the fourth.

10
And now, the rest of the most common dai kan notes.

NOTES:
1. The dai kan characters sometimes appear to the right of the note.
2. Fingerings may vary considerably from flute to flute.
3. Note that on the alternate fingering for re, the fourth hole is partially uncovered
from the top rather than the bottom.
4. Tsu repeats with the second hole and re repeats with the fourth, third, second, or
even first. If unmarked in honkyoku, use third hole for re repeat.
5. No standard repeat fingerings on highest few notes.

11
See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266676332

Acoustics of cross fingerings in the shakuhachi

Conference Paper · September 2014

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.2118.0168

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Shigeru Yoshikawa
Kyushu University
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 Acoustics of cross fingerings in the shakuhachi

Shigeru Yoshikawa and Kazue Kajiwara

Graduate School of Design, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Summary
The Japanese longitudinal bamboo flute, shakuhachi, has only five tone holes. Cross fingerings are
thus very important to play it. Conventionally, cross fingerings are considered to yield pitch
flattening because tone hole(s) below the top open tone hole are closed and the resulting pressure
recovery, which gives a longer end correction, is brought about. Conversely, cross fingerings in
the shakuhachi produce pitch sharpening in many cases, particularly in the second register. This
pitch sharpening by cross fingerings is called intonation anomaly, whose phenomena are measured
and analyzed. In general, cross fingerings yield inharmonic spectra of the input admittance.
However, the input admittance spectra on cross fingerings are significantly affected by the lower
bore below the top open tone hole. Therefore, it is essential to identify and discriminate the
spectra between the upper and lower bores. This bore-mode spectrum identification is effectively
carried out by measuring or calculating the pressure standing-wave patterns along the whole bore.
A spectrum switching between the upper and lower bores is a clue to cause the intonation anomaly.
This is illustrated by considering stepwise shifts of tone holes while keeping the hole-to-hole
distance and by comparing the resulting changes in input admittance spectra. When the spectrum
switching occurs, a docking of the upper and lower bores makes up a higher resonance mode
throughout the whole bore and then leads the intonation anomaly.
PACS no. 43.75.Qr, 43.75.Ef, 43.20.Ks

1. Introduction1 are successively opened from the bottom, the

shakuhachi of one shaku and eight sun (about 54
Cross fingerings in woodwind instruments are very cm) long gives D – F – G – A – C – D. Cross
significant in musical expressions created by fingerings are used for Ab, Bb, etc.
instrument players [1]. Tonal pitch, volume, and
By the way, a Japanese physicist Torahiko Terada
timbre are appreciably changed by cross (or fork)
(1878–1935) first carried out an accurate measure-
fingerings from those given by normal fingerings
ment of the intonation of the shakuhachi [6]. He
made of a lattice of open tone holes. However, as
carefully measured pitch frequencies in the first
modern Western instruments have many tone holes
and second registers for 32 fingerings, and paid his
(the number of tone holes in modern clarinet, oboe,
attention to the octave balance. If his intonation
and flute is about 24, 23, and 13, respectively), the
table is extensively examined, it is known that
attraction of cross fingerings seems to be getting
there are many cases where cross fingerings cause
lost. As the result, good opportunities to explore
pitch sharpening instead of pitch flattening. The
the acoustics of cross fingerings in woodwind
pitch sharpening due to cross fingerings is the
instruments have almost missed out unfortunately.
reverse of our conventional understanding. There-
Our conventional understandings on the acoustics
fore, it may be called intonation anomaly in the
of cross fingerings are based on Benade’s and
present paper.
Nederveen’s textbooks [2, 3], and developed by
Wolfe and Smith [4]. This intonation anomaly is found in the recorder
and the baroque flute, too. A familiar example in
On the other hand, Japanese longitudinal bamboo
the alto recorder is D#6, which is played with the
flute, shakuhachi has only five tone holes (four on
cross fingering (∅●●○●●●○) in the third register
the front and one on the rear). This means the
(symbol ∅ indicates the thumb hole that is slightly
decisive importance of cross fingerings in playing
opened). An example in the baroque flute is for the
the shakuhachi. See Ref. [5] for a concise
A#5 with the fingering (●●○●●●) in the second
explanation of this instrument. When tone holes
register, in which three holes are closed below the
1 one opened for sounding the A5.
(c) European Acoustics Association
The aim of this paper is to explore the mechanism
how the intonation anomaly occurs or does not
occur by cross fingering in the shakuhachi. The
situation where the intonation anomaly occurs is
first described by measuring the blown frequencies.
Although the internal standing-wave patterns when
the shakuhachi was externally driven by a loud-
speaker and an exponential horn were measured by
using a long probe tube [7], the result is not
reported here for page limitation. Instead,
numerical calculations of the input admittance and
the standing-wave patterns are performed to
confirm the measurement results. Moreover, the
dependence of the intonation anomaly on the tone-
hole position is discussed. The associated spectrum Figure 1. Fingerings A to G of the shakuhachi.
(or mode) switching on the cross fingering is
generalized as the non-adiabatic transition (the Table 1. Playing frequencies of fingerings A to G. The
Landau-Zener effect) in physics and chemistry. underlined frequencies denote the intonation anomaly.
Fingering Resonance mode (Register)
2. Intonation anomalies in play Name 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
A (Chi) 444 Hz 898 Hz 1322 Hz 1903 Hz
In this paper fingerings A, B, and C where the top (A4) (A5) (E6) (A#6)
open hole is the third and fingerings D, E, F, and G B (Wu13) 433 Hz 853 Hz 1475 Hz 1856 Hz
where the top open hole is the fifth are considered (Ab4) (Ab5) (Gb6) (A#6)
(see Fig. 1). Fingerings A, B, and C are called Chi, C (Wu) 426 Hz 920 Hz 1273 Hz 1834 Hz
Wu13, and Wu3 in Japanese notation, respectively. (Ab4) (A#5) (Eb6) (A#6)
Also, fingerings D, E, F, and G are called Ha, Ha4, 1472 Hz
(Gb6)
Ha245, and Ha5, respectively. It should be noted
D (Ha) 587 Hz 1170 Hz ― ―
that the third and fifth tone holes are almost in
(D5) (D6) (A6)
symmetrical position about the bore middle: The E (Ha4) 569 Hz 1318 Hz 1928 Hz ―
length from the embouchure to the fifth hole is (Db5) (E6) (B6)
mostly the same as that from the bore bottom to F (Ha245) 591 Hz 1244 Hz 1852 Hz ―
the third hole (about 22 cm when the total bore (D5) (D#6) (A#6)
length is about 54 cm). Therefore, the upper bore G (Ha5) 600 Hz 1207 Hz 1828 Hz ―
(from the embouchure to the third hole) in (D5) (D6) (A#6)
fingering C has the same length (about 32 cm) as
the lower bore (from the bore bottom to the fifth
The intonation anomaly was observed in the third
hole) in fingering G. Also, fingerings B and F are
register as well as in the second register when
opposite each other in relation of tone-hole
cross fingering C was used. However, at the same
opening and closing.
time fingering C gave a flat third register tone
Long tones of a note were played (without (Eb6) and the intonation anomaly yielded Gb6
changing the angle between the player’s head and instead of E#6. Intonation anomaly A#5 in the
the instrument) about 10 times and recorded with a second register on fingering C may be the same
linear PCM recorder (Sony PCM-D50). Stable type as an example in the baroque flute. Cross
waveforms were analyzed with FFT software, and fingering B gave the intonation anomaly in the
the most frequently appeared frequency was third register, while it gave normal pitch-lowering
selected as the playing frequency. Table 1 in the second register. The result on the first
summarizes the measurement result of the playing register of fingerings A, B, and C well reflected
frequencies when the fingerings shown in Fig. 1 conventional understanding of cross fingerings. In
were used. The underlined frequencies denote the the fourth register, normal fingering A gave A#6
intonation anomaly due to cross fingerings. and cross fingerings B and C gave same A#6 with
lower frequencies.
On fingerings D to G more anomalies were Table 2. Shakuhachi bore and tone-hole geometries.
observed. The intonation anomaly occurred even
in the first register, although it was very weak and Position x 2a Bore/Tone hole (inner dia., length)
gave tones of D5. The second register brought 0 mm 17.8 mm 1st element (divergent conical)
intonation anomaly to all cross fingerings E, F, and 60 15.6 2nd element (cylindrical)
G with difference in degree. It was difficult to play 119 15.6 1st tone hole (10 mm, 7.7 mm)
the third register on fingering D. However, it may 119 16.2 3rd element (cylindrical)
be assumed that the third register on normal 171 16.2 2nd tone hole (10 mm, 7.2 mm)
fingering D produces A6 of about 1760 Hz (this is 171 16.2 4th element (convergent conical)
the case as shown in Ref. [7]). Therefore, A#6 in 200 17.0 5th element (cylindrical)
the third register on cross fingerings F and G may 220 17.0 3rd tone hole (9.8 mm, 7.4 mm)
220 17.0 6th element (cylindrical)
be considered as the intonation anomaly (tone B6
284 17.0 4th tone hole (10 mm, 7.0 mm)
on fingering E is related with another third mode
284 17.0 7th element (cylindrical)
around 1950 Hz on fingering D, and the B6 is not
320 17.0 5th tone hole (10 mm, 9.4 mm)
an anomaly. See Ref. [7]). Interestingly enough,
320 17.6 8th element (cylindrical)
the frequency (1852 Hz) of this A#6 in the third 350 17.6
register on fingering F was very close to that (1856 350 18.4 9th element (cylindrical)
Hz) in the fourth register on fingering B, and the 390 18.4
same relation held between fingerings G (1828 Hz) 390 18.8 10th element (cylindrical)
and C (1834 Hz). Such an interrelation mainly 430 18.8 11th element (divergent conical)
comes from the specific positions of the third and 460 18.0 12th element (cylindrical)
fifth tone holes as explained in Sec. 1. 490 18.0 13th element (convergent conical)
540 20.3 14th element (cylindrical)
3. Numerical calculations of input admit- 540+∆E 20.3 (end correction at the embouchure)
tances and standing-wave patterns
given by the standing-wave measurement. Also,
The external drive of the instrument tends to bring the tone-hole central positions and geometries are
the modes which violate the resonance conditions. indicated in Table 2.
Numerical calculation of the input admittance can
help discriminate such violating modes from the The transmission matrix (TM) method has been
not-violating (satisfying) modes. Moreover, inter- applied to woodwind instrument bores with tone
nal pressure distributions (standing-wave patterns) holes for calculating the input impedance or
along the bore are essential to discriminate the admittance. A tone-hole matrix is inserted between
modes of the upper bore from those of the lower the transmission matrices relating the acoustic
bore. This discrimination (mode identification) is pressures and the acoustic volume velocities above
almost impossible only by the limited information and below the tone hole [8-10]. Moreover, if the
of the input admittances. radiated pressure is adequately assumed, the
relative distribution of the internal acoustic
3.1. Bore model and calculation method pressure can be calculated by taking the
The inner bore of the shakuhachi used for the calculation step as short as about 5 mm [11, 12].
standing-wave measurement is modeled as a tube 3.2. Results on input admittances
consisting of ten cylindrical elements, two diver-
gent conical elements, and two convergent conical The absolute magnitude of the input admittance
elements (see Table 2) based on the image from |YIN| on fingerings D, E, F, and G are shown in Fig.
the CT scan. The calculation starts with the length 2. In general, cross fingerings change the input
correction ∆B due to the acoustic radiation at the admittance spectra (almost harmonic) of normal
open end (radius a0) of the bore and works up the fingerings to inharmonic. This is due to acoustic
air column toward the embouchure. The end characteristics below the top open tone hole.
correction ∆E at the embouchure hole is incorpo-
rated in the 14th cylindrical element with bore Even in normal fingering D, two resonant modes
diameter 2a = 20.3 mm. The length ∆E of this 14th of the lower bore f’2 (1084 Hz) and f’2++ (1354 Hz)
element is determined as the first mode frequency appear in the input admittance spectra as shown in
f1 given by numerical calculation is matched to that Fig. 2 (a). In addition, a small peak f3+ (1884 Hz)
appears above the third mode of the upper bore. (c), and (d) on cross fingerings E, F, and G.
Such identification is carried out by comparing Interestingly, spectra of the lower and upper bores
with the standing-wave patterns measured or appear one after the other (f’1, f1, f’2, f2, f’3, and f3)
calculated. This situation is the same in Figs. 2 (b), in Fig. 2 (d) on cross fingering G.

Figure 2. Calculated input admittances (fingerings D-G). Figure 3. Standing-wave patterns (fingerings A-C).
3.3 Results on standing-wave patterns
The calculation results on internal standing-wave
patterns show a very good agreement with the
measurement results on fingerings A to G [7, 12].
In this subsection, results on fingerings A to C are
just displayed in Fig. 3.
As shown in Fig. 3 (a) on the first mode, the pres-
sure recovery along the lower bore below the open
third tone hole becomes stronger as the second and
first tone holes are closed in succession on
fingerings B and C. Also, a weak discontinuity of
the pressure magnitude is seen at the closed tone
hole. On the other hand, fingering C produces a
very deep trough near the closed second tone hole
as shown in Fig. 3 (b) on the second mode. At this
time the third mode is formed along the whole bore
and the intonation anomaly is caused. It may be
then understood that the lower bore is strongly
docking with the upper bore instead of being
separated at the top open tone hole.
Figure 4. Dependence of intonation anomaly on overall
Although the third modes form the fourth modes tone-hole shift in the shakuhachi. (a): 2nd mode fre-
along the whole bore as shown in Fig. 3 (c), into- quencies on fingerings D, F, and G. (b): changes in input
nation anomaly does not occur. In this case all admittance spectra on fingering G. Spectrum switches
patterns indicate the appreciable discontinuity are indicated by arrows.
(phase change) at the top open tone hole. However, change in the resonance frequency is followed by
cross fingerings B and C easily yields the higher the switching between the modes of the upper and
third mode f3++ as shown in Fig. 3 (d) (cf. Table 1). lower bores. For example, on fingering G the locus
This mode forms fifth mode along the whole bore of f2 switches to f’2 at x = 255 mm and to f’3 at x =
and the intonation anomaly occurs. Both patterns 190 mm. This mode switching is confirmed by
display the continuity (no phase change) at the top checking the internal standing-wave patterns
open tone hole. The docking between the upper and involved (not shown here). The mode switching
lower bores is then much stronger than that in the observed in Fig. 4 (a) is seen as the spectrum
second mode on fingering C. This is probably switching in the input admittance spectra shown in
because the open third tone hole does not function Fig. 4 (b). This spectrum switching on fingering G
as an open tone hole when the resonance frequency occurs in the first and third modes as well as in the
is higher than a kind of cutoff frequency [2, 4, 5] second mode. The spectrum order in the original
defined by a lattice of open tone holes. tone-hole configuration (x = 220 mm) is f’1, f1, f’2,
f2, f’3, and f3. However, when all tone holes are
4. Dependence of intonation anomaly on shifted by 50 mm toward the bore end (x = 270
tone-hole positioni mm), this order is switched to f1, f’1, f2, f’2, f3, and
f’3. At this configuration the second mode on cross
4.1 Overall tone-hole shift fingering G does not bring about the intonation
The correlation between the tone-hole position and anomaly as known from Fig. 4 (a).
the resulting intonation anomaly is discussed by
4.2 Non-adiabatic transition in physics
considering effects of overall tone-hole shift (while
keeping the hole-to-hole distances unchanged). Very interestingly, the spectrum switching demon-
Figure 4 (a) displays the frequency change of the strated in Fig. 4 seems to be an example of the non-
second mode when fingerings D, F, and G are used. adiabatic transition at the crossing of the energy
Positions of all tone holes are shifted upward and level in quantum mechanical systems [13]. A con-
downward in steps of 5 mm. The original position ceptual sketch is depicted in Fig. 5. The abscissa x
of the fifth tone hole is indicated by the dashed line. denotes the parameter controlling an interaction
between two energy states, e. g. molecular configu
It should be noted that a large (discontinuous)
 cross fingerings. The spectrum switching due to
cross fingering in the shakuhachi is a good
example of the diabatic transition widely observed
in quantum and classical physics and theorized as
the Landau-Zener-Stueckelberg formula in 1932.

Acknowledgement
This research has been supported by the Grants-in-
Aid for Science Research of the Japan Society for
the Promotion of Science (subj. no. 25560008).
Figure 5. A sketch of the diabatic transition [13-15].
ration in chemical reactions. The ordinate denotes References
the energy of the two-level system. The dashed lines [1] A. Baines, Woodwind Instruments and Their History
(Faber and Faber Ltd., London, 1957).
indicate the unperturbed energies ω1 and ω2 in
frequency units, while the solid lines indicate the [2] A. H. Benade, Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics
(Oxford University Press, New York, 1976) Chapter 21.
perturbed energies ωA and ωB, where the de-
[3] C. J. Nederveen, Acoustical Aspects of Woodwind
generacy at the crossing is broken by an interaction Instruments (Northern Illinois University Press, DeKalb,
which couples the levels. Illinois, 1998, second edition) pp. 50-53, 132-133.
The avoided crossing region is passed by staying [4] J. Wolfe and J. Smith, “Cutoff frequencies and cross
fingerings in baroque, classical, and modern flutes,” J.
on the same branch when an adiabatic transition Acoust. Soc. Am. 114, 2263-2272 (2003).
takes place. However, a non-adiabatic (diabatic) [5] N. H. Fletcher and T. D. Rossing, The Physics of
transition yields the jump to another branch across Musical Instruments (Springer-Verlag, New York, 2nd
the avoided crossing as shown by the arrow in Fig. ed., 1998) Sections 16.9, 15.3, and 8.2.
5. The transition probability is given by the famous [6] T. Terada, “Acoustical investigation of the Japanese
Landau-Zener formula in quantum mechanics. Fig. bamboo pipe, syakuhati,” J. College of Sci., Tokyo 21,
1-34 (1907).
4 (a) (e. g. the green line of fingering G) clearly
demonstrates the jump on the diabatic transition. [7] S. Yoshikawa, “Cross fingerings and associated
intonation anomaly in the shakuhachi,” Tech. Rep.
The embouchure-to-fifth tone hole distance x is Musical Acoust. Res. 32, MA2013-40 (2013). (in
now interpreted as the parameter controlling the Japanese).
interaction between the upper and lower bores. [8] D. H. Keefe, “Theory of the single woodwind tone hole,”
The spectrum switching on the cross fingering J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 72, 676-687 (1982).
revealed in Fig. 4 reflects the diabatic transition. [9] Y. Ando, “Input admittance of shakuhachis and their
resonance characteristics in the playing state,” J. Acoust.
Soc. Jpn. (E) 7, 99-111 (1986).
5. Conclusions
[10] A. Lefebvre and G. P. Scavone, “Characterization of
woodwind instrument toneholes with the finite element
The acoustics of cross fingerings has been ex- method,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 131, 3153-3163 (2012).
plored in the shakuhachi. A particular interest is [11] T. Ebihara and S. Yoshikawa, “Nonlinear effects
focused on the intonation anomaly in the second contributing to hand-stopping tones in a horn,” J. Acoust.
and third registers. The switching of the input Soc. Am. 133, 3094-3106 (2013).
admittance spectra between an upper-bore mode [12] K. Kajiwara and S. Yoshikawa, “Discussion on the
internal sound pressure distributions when cross
and a lower-bore mode is observed when the fingerings are used in the shakuhachi,” Proc. Autumn
associated tone hole positions are varied while Meeting, Acoust. Soc. Jpn. 903-906 (2013). (in
keeping the hole-to-hole distances unchanged. Japanese).
[13] H. Nakamura, “New development of non-adiabatic
This spectrum switching causes the intonation transition theory,” J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 51, 829-834
anomaly by cross fingerings as shown in Fig. 4. (1996). (in Japanese).
Also, when the intonation anomaly occurs, a [14] J. R. Rubbmark, M. M. Kash, M. G. Littman, and D.
docking between the upper and lower bores is Kleppner, “Dynamical effects at avoided level
established as if the top open tone hole does not crossing: A study of the Landau-Zener effect using
Rydberg atoms,” Phys. Rev. A 23, 3107-3117 (1981).
exist. As the result, a higher mode is formed along
[15] L. Novotny, “Strong coupling, energy splitting, and
the whole bore as illustrated in Fig. 3. Such a level crossings: A classical perspective,” Am. J. Phys.
strong bore docking is never expected for usual 78, 1199-1202 (2010).

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Cross fingerings and associated intonation anomaly in the shakuhachi

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PAPER

Cross fingerings and associated intonation anomaly in the shakuhachi

Shigeru Yoshikawa and Kazue Kajiwara

Graduate School of Design, Kyushu University,
4–9–1 Shiobaru, Minami-ku, Fukuoka, 815–8540 Japan
(Received 13 March 2014, Accepted for publication 10 February 2015)

Abstract: Acoustical differences between normal and cross fingerings of the shakuhachi with five
tone holes are investigated on the basis of the pressure standing wave along the bore and the input
admittance. Cross fingerings in the shakuhachi often yield pitch sharpening in the second register,
which is contrary to our conventional understanding of pitch flattening by cross fingerings and is called
intonation anomaly. It is essential to identify and discriminate the input admittance spectra between
the upper and lower bores on the basis of the standing-wave patterns. Spectrum (or mode) switching
between both types of bores is a clue to the cause of the intonation anomaly. This is illustrated by
considering stepwise shifts of tone holes while keeping the hole-to-hole distances fixed and by
comparing the resulting switches in input admittance spectra. When spectrum switching occurs,
docking of the upper and lower bores makes up a higher resonance mode throughout the whole bore
and then leads to the intonation anomaly. This spectrum switching on the cross fingering is generalized
as the diabatic transition (the Landau–Zener effect) in physics.

Keywords: Cross fingering, Intonation anomaly, Spectrum switching, Diabatic transition

PACS number: 43.75.Qr, 43.75.Ef, 43.20.Ks [doi:10.1250/ast.36.314]

and eight sun (about 54 cm) long. Cross fingerings are used
1. INTRODUCTION for Ab , Bb , etc.
Cross fingerings in woodwind instruments are very A Japanese physicist, Torahiko Terada (1878–1935),
significant in musical expressions created by instrument first carried out an accurate measurement of the intonation
players [1]. Tonal pitch, volume, and timbre are appreci- of the shakuhachi [6]. He carefully measured pitch
ably changed by cross (or fork) fingerings from those given frequencies in the first and second registers for 32
by normal fingerings made of a lattice of open tone holes. fingerings, and directed attention to the octave balance. If
However, as modern Western instruments have many tone his intonation table is extensively examined, it is known
holes (whose numbers in the modern clarinet, oboe, and that there are many cases where cross fingerings cause
flute are 24, 23, and 13, respectively), the attraction of pitch sharpening instead of pitch flattening. Unfortunately,
cross fingerings is beginning to be lost. As a result, good his shakuhachi research ended with the measurement. The
opportunities to explore the acoustics of cross fingerings pitch sharpening due to cross fingerings is the reverse of
in woodwind instruments have unfortunately almost been our conventional understanding above [2–4]. Therefore, it
missed. Our conventional understanding of the acoustics of may be called an intonation anomaly in the present paper.
cross fingerings is based on Benade’s and Nederveen’s Nederveen [3] briefly considered this pitch sharpening
textbooks [2,3] and on the work of Wolfe and Smith [4]. due to cross fingering in the second register on an old-
On the other hand, the Japanese longitudinal bamboo model flute for A# 5 with the fingering (), in which
flute, shakuhachi, has only five tone holes (four on the front three holes were closed below the one opened for sounding
and one on the back). This means a decisive importance of the A5 . He also mentioned that a similar phenomenon
cross fingerings in the playing of the shakuhachi. See could be observed on a modern Boehm flute. However,
Ref. [5] for a concise explanation of this instrument. When such a phenomenon in modern flutes has never been treated
tone holes are successively opened from the bottom, D–F– in scientific publications [5]. He explained this intonation
G–A–C–D tones are emitted from a shakuhachi one shaku anomaly by calculating the input admittance of a model
tube (see Fig. A6.3 in Ref. [3]). Another familiar example

e-mail: shig@design.kyushu-u.ac.jp of the intonation anomaly is D# 6 on an alto recorder, which

314
 S. YOSHIKAWA and K. KAJIWARA: SHAKUHACHI CROSS FINGERINGS AND INTONATION

Table 1 Playing frequencies of fingerings A to G. The

underlined frequencies denote intonation anomalies.

Fingering Resonance mode (Register)

name 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
A (Chi) 444 Hz 898 Hz 1,322 Hz 1,903 Hz
(A4 ) (A5 ) (E6 ) (A# 6 )
B (Wu13) 433 Hz 853 Hz 1,475 Hz 1,856 Hz
(Ab 4 ) (Ab 5 ) (Gb 6 ) (A# 6 )
C (Wu3) 426 Hz 920 Hz 1,273 Hz 1,834 Hz
(Ab 4 ) (A# 5 ) (Eb 6 ) (A# 6 )
1,472 Hz
(Gb 6 )
D (Ha) 587 Hz 1,170 Hz — —
(D5 ) (D6 ) (A6 )
Fig. 1 Fingerings A to G of the shakuhachi treated in E (Ha4) 569 Hz 1,318 Hz 1,928 Hz —
this paper. (Db 5 ) (E6 ) (B6 )
F (Ha245) 591 Hz 1,244 Hz 1,852 Hz —
(D5 ) (D# 6 ) (A# 6 )
is played with the cross fingering (ø) in the second G (Ha5) 600 Hz 1,207 Hz 1,828 Hz —
register (symbol ø indicates the thumb hole that is slightly (D5 ) (D6 ) (A# 6 )
opened).
The aim of this study is to explore the mechanism of
how the intonation anomaly occurs or does not occur upon The shakuhachi used for measurement in a Japanese-
cross fingering in the shakuhachi. An experimental ap- style room (at about 23 C) was manufactured by one of the
proach of measuring the internal standing-wave patterns master makers, Ranpo Yokoyama (1911–1988), and was
along the bore is introduced. However, prior to that played by the first author. The tonal pitch is usually
measurement, the situations where the intonation anomaly adjusted by changing the angle between the player’s head
occurs should be first described by measuring the blown and the instrument. However, such pitch adjustment was
frequencies, as presented in Sect. 2. Our measurement of not used and normal angle was kept in our measurement.
the pressure standing waves is described in Sect. 3. Next, Long tones of a note were played about 10 times and
numerical calculations of the input admittance and the recorded with a linear PCM recorder (Sony PCM-D50).
standing-wave patterns are given in Sect. 4 to confirm the Stable waveforms with a duration of about 1 s were
experimental results. Moreover, the dependence of the analyzed with FFT software, and the most frequently
intonation anomaly on the tone-hole position is briefly appearing frequency was selected as the playing frequency.
discussed in Sect. 5. Finally, the conclusions are given in Table 1 summarizes the measured playing frequencies
Sect. 6. when the fingerings shown in Fig. 1 were used. The
underlined frequencies denote the intonation anomaly due
2. INTONATION ANOMALIES APPEARING to cross fingerings.
AT FREQUENCIES PLAYED The intonation anomaly was observed in the third
Fingerings A, B, and C, where the top open hole is the register as well as in the second register when cross
third, and fingerings D, E, F, and G, where the top open fingering C was used. However, at the same time, fingering
hole is the fifth, are considered (see Fig. 1). Fingerings A, C gave a flat third register tone (Eb 6 ) and the intonation
B, and C are called Chi, Wu13, and Wu3 in Japanese anomaly yielded Gb 6 instead of E# 6 . Cross fingering B gave
notation, respectively. Also, fingerings D, E, F, and G are the intonation anomaly in the third register, while it gave
called Ha, Ha4, Ha245, and Ha5, respectively. Note that normal pitch lowering in the second register. The result
the third and fifth tone holes are almost in symmetrical on the first register of fingerings A, B, and C well reflected
positions about the bore middle. The length from the the conventional understanding of cross fingerings. In the
embouchure to the fifth hole is mostly the same as that fourth register, normal fingering A gave A# 6 and cross
from the bore bottom to the third hole (about 22 cm when fingerings B and C gave the same A# 6 with lower
the total bore length is about 54 cm). Therefore, the upper frequencies. On fingerings D to G, more anomalies were
bore (from the embouchure to the third hole) in fingering C observed. The intonation anomaly occurred even in the first
has the same length (about 32 cm) as the lower bore (from register, although it was very weak and gave tones of D5 .
the bore bottom to the fifth hole) in fingering G. Also, The second register brought various degrees of intonation
fingerings B and F are opposite each other in terms of open anomaly to all cross fingerings E, F, and G. It was difficult
and closed tone holes. to play the third register on fingering D. However, it may

315
 Acoust. Sci. & Tech. 36, 4 (2015)

the measurement. The embouchure hole was almost

stopped by inserting a urethane board (10 mm thick),
leaving a small opening near the embouchure edge to
mimic the actual playing situation. A tiny hole was opened
at the center of this board and the probe tube was
introduced into the bore. The acoustic pressure of the
Fig. 2 Block diagram for measuring the pressure stand- standing wave was measured in steps of 10 mm from the
ing waves along the air column of the shakuhachi. embouchure end (x ¼ 0 cm) to the position (x ¼ 55 cm)
10 mm from the bore bottom (x ¼ 54 cm). When closing
a tone hole, a sheet of rubber with appropriate hardness
be assumed that the third register on normal fingering D and thickness covered the hole and then it was secured
produces A6 of about 1,760 Hz (this is the case shown in by winding vinyl plastic tape around the instrument outer
Ref. [7]). Therefore, A# 6 in the third register on cross surface.
fingerings F and G may be considered as the intonation A brief check of the receiving level of our long probe
anomaly (tone B6 on fingering E is related with another tube was carried out at x ¼ 3 cm in the bore by comparing
third mode at around 1950 Hz on fingering D, and the B6 is with the level of a normal B&K probe tube of 50 mm. The
not an anomaly) (see Ref. [7] and Sect. 3.2). Interestingly, receiving level was decreased by about 2, 4, 6, and 8 dB at
the frequency (1,852 Hz) of this A# 6 in the third register 400, 1,000, 1,400, and 2,000 Hz, respectively. The addi-
on fingering F was very close to that (1,856 Hz) in the tional attenuation when using our probe tube was not so
fourth register on fingering B, and the same relation held strong, and then this probe tube was successfully applied
between fingerings G (1,828 Hz) and C (1,834 Hz). Such an to measure the standing-wave patterns at room temperature
interrelation mainly comes from the specific positions of of 26.7–27.0 C. The room for the measurement was treated
the third and fifth tone holes as explained in Sect. 2. to reduce reverberation and noise.

3. MEASUREMENT OF INTERNAL 3.2. Results for Fingerings D, E, F, and G

STANDING-WAVE PATTERNS Let us first consider (and define) the resonances
3.1. Setup produced by a bore with a single open tone hole (cf.
A system for measuring the pressure standing waves in fingerings C and G in Fig. 1) before describing the results.
the same shakuhachi as used in the playing frequency The open tone hole partly divides the bore into two, the
measurement is sketched in Fig. 2. The shakuhachi was upper and lower bores, each of which has an open end and
resonated by an external driver consisting of a loudspeaker an open tone hole. These bores may be regarded as passive
and an exponential horn that was designed to have its resonance systems, and may produce the upper-bore and
cutoff frequency at about 200 Hz. The horn output end lower-bore resonance modes, respectively. Moreover, as
with an inner diameter of 16 mm and an outer diameter of the frequency is greatly increased (above the cutoff
22 mm was placed in front of the instrument bore bottom frequency defined in Sect. 3.4), the internal acoustic
(17.8 mm in inner diameter) with a clearance of over twice pressure cannot move the mass at the open tone hole [4].
the end correction. A sinusoidal signal with a resonance In this situation, the tone hole virtually operates as a closed
frequency was produced by a function generator (NF one, and whole-bore resonances are produced. Hence,
Electronic Instruments 1930 Wide Function Synthesizer) three kinds of resonances can be produced by a bore with
and amplified by an audio amplifier (Sansui AU- a single open tone hole. Each of these resonances can form
507MRV). Resonance frequencies of a fingering were the pressure nodes (or minima) near both open ends, just
measured prior to the standing-wave measurement. The as seen in a simple open pipe [2–5]. It should also be noted
acoustic pressure in the bore was detected by a probe that the driving mechanism controls which resonances
microphone (Brüel & Kjær type 4182) connected to an are actually produced. Table 1 gives the upper-bore and
amplifier (B&K type 2609). The probe tube had a length of whole-bore resonances when the shakuhachi is blown at the
570 mm. It was made of a commercial SUS304 seamless top end. In the context of intonation anomaly, the three
tube (Kuroiwa Stainless Co., G-16; inner diameter of types of resonances above will be discussed below.
1.25 mm and outer diameter of 1.61 mm). This long tube Measurement results are shown in Fig. 3 on fingerings
was fitted to a B&K probe tube with a length of 50 mm and D, E, F, and G. The left and right columns indicate the
an outer diameter of 1.24 mm. upper-bore and lower-bore resonance modes, respectively.
Although the shakuhachi bore is usually bent below the The whole-bore modes are drawn in panels of the upper-
first tone hole, that of this instrument is almost straight. bore modes. The influence of the external drive used in our
Therefore, the long probe tube above was easily applied to measurement should be considered, as explained below.

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S. YOSHIKAWA and K. KAJIWARA: SHAKUHACHI CROSS FINGERINGS AND INTONATION

Fig. 3 Standing-wave patterns on fingerings D to G. The measured acoustic pressure pðxÞ is normalized by the acoustic
pressure p0 at the fifth tone-hole position. Left and right columns represent the upper-bore and lower-bore resonance
modes, respectively. The solid and dashed lines represent the modes numerically calculated and not numerically
calculated, respectively.

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 Acoust. Sci. & Tech. 36, 4 (2015)

The upper-bore modes (and their frequencies) are denoted a local pressure maximum was measured near the bore
as f1 ; f2 ; . . . , and the lower-bore modes (and their frequen- bottom.
cies) are denoted as f10 ; f20 ; . . . by using the prime (it is Cross fingering F makes reasonable standing-wave
assumed that fn  n f1 and fn0  n f10 for n ¼ 1, 2, and 3). patterns of modes f1 (602 Hz), f2 (1,259 Hz), and f3
Also, subscripts such as ‘‘+,’’ ‘‘++,’’ and ‘‘12’’ are used to (1,860 Hz) along the upper bore, as shown in Fig. 3(e),
discriminate multiple modes in the same mode, such as f3 with some distortions near the closed 3rd and open 2nd
and f3þ ( f3þ > f3 ), and to classify the intermediate mode, tone holes. These modes give intonation anomalies (cf.
0
such as f12 , as briefly explained below. Moreover, solid Table 1). Also, these modes seem to form the 2nd, 4th, and
and dashed lines indicate the modes that are numerically 6th modes along the whole bore. Although the modes of
calculated and are not numerically calculated, respectively the lower bore were measured at f10 (552 Hz), f12 0
(826 Hz),
0 0 0
(cf. Sect. 4). f2 (1,100 Hz), and f3 (1,714 Hz), the f1 (552 Hz) mode
Modes f1 , f2 , f3 , and f3þ are shown in Fig. 3(a) on cannot be calculated because it violates the resonance
normal fingering D. Modes f1 (591 Hz) and f2 (1,185 Hz) condition at the open 5th tone hole [see Figs. 3(f) and 4(c)].
do not show their nodes below the open 5th tone hole due Cross fingering G yields beautiful patterns of modes f1
to the external drive near the bore bottom but show (615 Hz), f2 (1,234 Hz), and f3 (1,846 Hz) along the upper
decreasing amplitudes there. Therefore, the resonance bore, as shown in Fig. 3(g). These three modes give
condition is considered to be satisfied there. Modes f3 intonation anomalies (cf. Table 1) and form the 2nd, 4th,
(1,759 Hz) and f3þ (1,947 Hz) indicate larger amplitudes in and 6th modes along the whole bore. However, mode f3þ
the lower bore and mode f3 shows an antinode below the (1,955 Hz), which is slightly higher than f3þ (1,951 Hz) on
open 5th tone hole. However, these modes tend to form the cross fingering E, violates the resonance condition at the
nodes near the bore top and bottom. Therefore, modes f3 bore end. Also, the lower bore yields beautiful patterns of
and f3þ are regarded as the whole-bore resonance modes. modes f10 (454 Hz), f20 (887 Hz), and f30 (1,505 Hz) along the
On the other hand, f10 , f12 0 0
, f2þþ , and f30 are shown in lower bore, as shown in Fig. 3(h), and these three modes
Fig. 3(b). These modes have higher amplitudes in the form the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th modes along the whole bore.
lower bore. However, f10 (536 Hz) and f12 0
(888 Hz) show However, mode f12 0
(543 Hz) violates the resonance
increasing amplitudes (toward the upper bore) at the open conditions at the open 5th hole and bore bottom.
5th hole, and violate the resonance condition there (mode As explained above, our measurement result in Fig. 3
0
f12 shows the standing-wave pattern and the frequency is consistent with the results in Table 1 obtained from
value intermediate between f10 and f20 ). Mode f30 (1,598 Hz) playing the shakuhachi very well, in terms of the intonation
shows the pressure maximum near the bore bottom, and anomaly. In addition, we may sum up the results as
0
violates the resonance condition there as well. Only f2þþ follows:
(1,416 Hz), which is much higher than f20 (not measured) (1) The intonation anomaly by cross fingerings occurs if
and sufficiently lower than f30 , satisfies the resonance the nth mode of the upper bore forms the (n þ n)th
conditions at the open 5th hole and at bore bottom. mode of the whole bore (the whole-bore modes are
Since cross fingering E closes the 4th tone hole, the produced even below the cutoff frequency) and if
internal pressure takes the maximum near this tone hole, as normal fingering consisting of an open-tone-hole
shown in Figs. 3(c) and 3(d). As a result, the nodes or local lattice forms the [n þ ðn  1Þ]st mode of the whole
minima (kinks) are formed near the open 5th tone hole, and bore. This is exemplified by n ¼ 2 on cross fingering
the resonance condition is satisfied there for all modes E and n ¼ 1, 2, and 3 on cross fingerings F and G.
drawn in Figs. 3(c) and 3(d). Additionally, the upper-bore (2) The intonation anomaly at higher frequencies prob-
modes satisfy the resonance condition at the embouchure ably occurs above the cutoff frequency (around
end, and the lower-bore modes satisfy it at the bore bottom. 1,300 Hz) of the open-tone-hole lattice (cf. Sect. 3.4).
Therefore, all modes measured on fingering E are calcu- This is exemplified by n ¼ 3 ( f3 on fingerings F
lated as input admittance peaks [see Fig. 4(b)]. Note that and G).
cross fingering E cannot produce the 3rd mode ( f3  3 f1 )
of the upper bore. This is because, in the 3rd mode, the 3.3. Results for Fingerings A, B, and C
pressure must be made minimum near the 4th tone hole, Unfortunately, page limitation does not allow us to
as shown in Figs. 3(e) and 3(g). Cross fingering E then explain the results for fingerings A, B, and C in detail. See
gives f3þ (1,951 Hz), which is considerably higher than Ref. [7] for a more detailed explanation. The following
f3 of cross fingerings F and G at 1,860 and 1,846 Hz, may be stated by summing up the results:
respectively. The upper-bore 2nd mode f2 (1,316 Hz) gives (1) The intonation anomaly due to cross fingerings occurs
the intonation anomaly (cf. Table 1). Although mode f3þ if the nth mode of the upper bore forms the [n þ
(1,951 Hz) may be considered as a whole-bore mode, ðn  1Þ]st mode of the whole bore. This is exemplified

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 S. YOSHIKAWA and K. KAJIWARA: SHAKUHACHI CROSS FINGERINGS AND INTONATION

by n ¼ 2 and 3 on cross fingering B [see f2þ up the air column toward the embouchure according to the
(1,038 Hz) and f3þþ (1,485 Hz) in Ref. [7]] and n ¼ transmission matrix (TM) method [8–13]. The 13th con-
2 on cross fingerings C [see f2 (928 Hz) in Ref. [7]]. vergent conical element from the embouchure end (x ¼
(2) However, the intonation anomaly does not occur 540 mm) to the position x ¼ 490 mm is commonly seen
even if the nth mode of the upper bore forms the in classical shakuhachis, although its length and conicity
[n þ ðn  2Þ]nd mode of the whole bore. This is differ individually [14].
exemplified by n ¼ 3 and 4 on cross fingering B [see The end correction E at the embouchure hole is
f3 (1,301 Hz) and f4 (1,880 Hz) in Ref. [7]] and n ¼ 3 incorporated in the 14th cylindrical element with bore
on cross fingering C [see f3 (1,293 Hz) in Ref. [7]]. diameter 2a ¼ 20:3 mm. The length E is determined
so that the first-mode frequency f1 given by numerical
3.4. Cutoff Frequency of an Open-Tone-Hole Lattice calculation matches that given by the standing-wave
The cutoff frequency fc of an open-tone-hole lattice is measurement in the previous section. Also, the tone-hole
defined as central positions and geometries are indicated in Table 2.
The estimated values of E were 37.1, 43.1, 33.9, 44.7,
fc ¼ 0:11cðb=aÞð1=slÞ1=2 ; ð1Þ
48.4, 35.5, and 41.6 mm on fingerings A to G, respectively.
where a denotes the bore radius, b the tone-hole radius, These E values appear reasonable in comparison with
c the speed of sound in the bore, s half the hole-to-hole E ¼ 42 mm used for the design of the modern flute by
distance, and l the acoustical length of a tone hole [2,4,5]. T. Boehm, though these E values tend to lower higher
If averaged values are used to these quantities of our modes [5].
shakuhachi [a ¼ 8:5 mm, b ¼ 5 mm, c ¼ 346:5 m/s at
room temperature, s ¼ 20 mm, and l ¼ 15:5 mm including 4.2. Calculation Method Applied to Tone-Hole System
open-end corrections at both ends (1:5b)], fc is given as The transmission matrix (TM) method, which has been
1,270 Hz. developed and applied to various engineering problems
However, it should be noted that fc of Eq. (1) is such as acoustical filters and mufflers [15,16], is considered
calculated under the assumption of an infinite bore length to be sufficiently established to apply to woodwind
and equally spaced open tone holes [4]. Therefore, Eq. (1) instrument bores with tone holes for calculating the input
may not be applied to cross fingerings. Nevertheless, fc of impedance or admittance [8–13,16]. Keefe’s method
about 1,300 Hz serves to discriminate the modes reflected [5,8,9] defines a tone hole as a T-section network
near the top open hole (mostly yielded below 1,300 Hz) consisting of a series impedance Za and a shunt impedance
from the modes penetrating it [cf. f3 (1,759 Hz) in Zs . The TM method can estimate both the input admittance
Fig. 3(a), f3 (1,846 Hz) in Fig. 3(g), etc.]. and the standing-wave pattern starting from the radiation
impedance and moving up to the embouchure (by multi-
4. NUMERICAL CALCULATIONS plying the matrices corresponding to acoustical elements
The external drive of the instrument tends to cause the such as the bore and tone hole) [8–13]. For the detailed
modes that violate the resonance conditions, as indicated mathematical expressions in the TM method, readers are
in Fig. 3 by the dashed line. Numerical calculation of the directed to Refs. [8–13,16] for the sake of page saving,
input admittance can help discriminate such violating except the following brief comments on related matters.
modes from the not-violating modes. Moreover, internal If the bore bottom corresponds to the radiation end and
pressure distributions (standing-wave patterns) along the there is no tone hole, p1 at the input side of the first
bore are essential to discriminate the modes of the upper cylindrical element with length L1 is given as [17,18]
bore from those of the lower bore. This discrimination
p1 ¼ ½coshðL1 Þ þ ðZc =Zrad Þ sinhðL1 Þprad ; ð2Þ
(mode identification) is almost impossible using only the
limited information of input admittances. where prad denotes the pressure at the radiation end and
Zrad the radiation impedance. The  (¼  þ i!=c) is the
4.1. Bore Model complex propagation wave number, where the attenuation
The inner bore of the shakuhachi used for the standing- constant  includes the effects of visco-thermal losses at
wave measurement is modeled as a tube consisting of ten the bore boundary layer and is approximated as  ¼
cylindrical elements, two divergent conical elements, and 3  105 f 1=2 =a (m1 ) [5] (! denotes the angular frequen-
two convergent conical elements (see Table 2), based on cy), and Zc is the characteristic impedance. For the
the image from the CT scan. The slight bend near the bore calculation of Za and Zs , newly improved equations given
bottom is neglected. Note that the position x along the bore in Ref. [10] are used instead of conventional ones [5,8,9].
axis is taken from the bore bottom to start with acoustic Equation (2) is the starting point of our calculation.
radiation at the open end (radius a0 ) of the bore and work Although Fletcher and Rossing [5] consider that the

319
 Acoust. Sci. & Tech. 36, 4 (2015)

Table 2 Bore and tone-hole geometries of the shakuhachi. standing-wave patterns given by the measurement describ-
Position x Diameter 2a Bore/Tone hole (inner dia., length) ed in the previous section or by the calculation.
Even in normal fingering D, two small resonant modes
0 (bottom) 17.8 mm 1st element (divergent conical)
60 mm 15.6 2nd element (cylindrical) of the lower bore f20 (1,084 Hz) and f2þþ
0
(1,354 Hz) appear
119 15.6 1st tone hole (10 mm, 7.7 mm) in the input admittance spectra, as shown in Fig. 4(a). In
119 16.2 3rd element (cylindrical) addition, a small peak f3þ (1,884 Hz) appears above f3
171 16.2 2nd tone hole (10 mm, 7.2 mm) (1,679 Hz) of the upper bore. Such identification is carried
171 16.2 4th element (convergent conical)
200 17.0 5th element (cylindrical)
out through comparison with standing-wave patterns
220 17.0 3rd tone hole (9.8 mm, 7.4 mm) shown in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b). The situation is the same in
220 17.0 6th element (cylindrical) Figs. 4(b), 4(c), and 4(d) for cross fingerings E, F, and G,
284 17.0 4th tone hole (10 mm, 7.0 mm) respectively. Interestingly, spectra of the upper and lower
284 17.0 7th element (cylindrical)
bores appear one after the other in Fig. 4(d) for cross
320 17.0 5th tone hole (10 mm, 9.4 mm)
320 17.6 8th element (cylindrical) fingering G.
350 17.6 Since we do not have enough page space to show the
350 18.4 9th element (cylindrical) results for fingerings A, B, and C, see Refs. [13] and [18]
390 18.4 for their input admittance spectra.
390 18.8 10th element (cylindrical)
430 18.8 11th element (divergent conical)
460 18.0 12th element (cylindrical) 4.4. Results of Internal Standing-Wave Patterns
490 18.0 13th element (convergent conical) The calculation results on internal standing-wave
540 20.3 14th element (cylindrical) patterns show very good agreement with the measurement
540 þ E 20.3 (end correction at the embouchure)
results for fingerings A to G [18]. Of course, it is
impossible to calculate the measured modes violating the
resonance condition near the bore bottom (cf. the modes
shown by the dashed line in Fig. 3). In this subsection,
presence of the baffle has a relatively small effect (except results for fingerings A to C (note that the embouchure end
ka0 1) on Zrad , the fundamental frequency of musical correction E was adjusted to yield the same resonance
instruments is usually in the range of ka0 1. Lefebvre frequency as the measured frequency) are displayed for the
and Scavone [10] proposed the radiation impedance of an respective mode to show the intonation anomaly from a
unflanged tone hole at low frequencies. Their Eq. (10) is different viewpoint.
adapted to our case as follows: Figure 5(a) is on the first mode, where the pressure
along the lower bore below the open 3rd tone hole becomes
Zrad ¼ Zc ½0:25ðka0 Þ2 þ ikð0:7a0 Þ; ð3Þ
higher as the 2nd and 1st tone holes are closed in
where their tone-hole end correction 0:61b is replaced by succession in fingerings B and C. Also, a weak kink of
0:7a0 assuming that the shakuhachi’s bore end made of the the pressure magnitude is seen at the open tone hole. These
bamboo root operates as an intermediate baffle. patterns well illustrate the typical effect of cross fingerings.
Therefore, if prad is adequately assumed, the relative On the other hand, fingering C produces a very deep
distribution of the internal pressure can be calculated from trough near the closed 2nd tone hole, as shown in Fig. 5(b)
Eq. (2). Similarly, the input admittance is calculated by for the 2nd mode. At this time, the 3rd mode is formed
multiplying the bore transmission matrices and the tone- along the whole bore and the intonation anomaly is
hole matrices from the bottom to the embouchure end induced. It may then be understood that the lower bore is
correction E [5,8–13,16,17]. Room temperature is as- almost completely coupled (docked) with the upper bore
sumed to be the average (26.9 C) in the measurement. instead of being separated at the top open tone hole,
because the pattern only indicates a negligible kink (phase
4.3. Results of Input Admittances change) there. The whole-bore mode is thus formed.
The absolute magnitudes of the input admittances jYIN j Although the 3rd modes form the 4th modes along the
on fingerings D, E, F, and G are shown in Fig. 4. In whole bore, as shown in Fig. 5(c), the intonation anomaly
general, cross fingerings change the input admittance does not occur, as noted in the measurement result [cf.
spectra (almost harmonic) of normal fingerings to inhar- (2) in Sect. 3.3]. In this case, all patterns indicate an
monic. This is due to the acoustic characteristics below the appreciable kink (phase change) at the top open tone hole.
top open tone hole. As a result, the upper-bore modes are The bore docking mentioned above does not occur.
mixed with the lower-bore modes, and spectrum identi- However, cross fingerings B and C easily yield the
fication is required. Note that this spectrum identification higher 3rd mode f3þþ , as shown in Fig. 5(d) (cf. Table 1).
is almost impossible without the knowledge of internal This mode forms the 5th mode along the whole bore and

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S. YOSHIKAWA and K. KAJIWARA: SHAKUHACHI CROSS FINGERINGS AND INTONATION

Fig. 4 Calculated input admittances of fingerings D to G. Fig. 5 Standing-wave patterns for fingerings A, B, and C.

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 Acoust. Sci. & Tech. 36, 4 (2015)

compound tube consists of a left-hand tube with a length of

379 mm, an open hole with a radius of 9.5 mm and an
acoustical length of 22 mm, and a right-hand tube whose
length LR is increased stepwise, starting with 100 mm
(curve A) with steps of 25 mm (curves B, C, D) to the final
length of 200 mm (curve E). This final configuration that
gives curve E is close to that of our fingering C. The plots
are shifted vertically for better visibility.
Considering only jYIN j, Nederveen insisted that the
third peak would finally yield the second mode resonance
as the second peak moves to lower frequencies and
diminishes in height, as displayed in Fig. 6(a). However,
actually, the first mode f10 of the right-hand tube cuts in
between the first mode f1 and the second mode f2 of the
left-hand tube, as shown by curves D and E in Fig. 6(a).
This f10 mode appears between the third mode f3 and the
fourth mode f4 in admittance curve A, and it moves down
to lower frequencies, as indicated by arrows. It is
impossible to judge this f10 as an upper-bore (second)
mode because the resonance condition for the upper-bore
mode is violated at the open hole, as clearly shown in
Fig. 6(b). In Figs. 6(b), 6(c), and 6(d), the standing-wave
patterns respectively obtained from the admittance spectra
of curves C, D, and E are plotted. The acoustic pressure
pðxÞ along the tube is normalized by that at the open tone
hole p0 .
The f10 mode has a frequency higher than that of the f2
mode, as known from the shorter wavelength in Fig. 6(b).
Fig. 6 Intonation anomaly appearing in a baroque flute However, the f10 mode has a frequency lower than that of
model. (a) Input admittance spectra obtained when the the f2 mode, as known from the longer wavelengths in
right-hand tube length was varied stepwise. (b), (c), Figs. 6(c) and 6(d). Therefore, the small second peak on
and (d) Standing-wave patterns for tube configurations curve E indicates not the second mode of the left-hand
C, D, and E, respectively.
tube but the first mode of the right-hand tube. Similarly,
the third peak on the curves does not always mean the
the intonation anomaly occurs. Both patterns display the third mode of the left-hand tube and is the third mode only
continuity (no phase change) at the top open tone hole on curve A. It changes to the first mode f10 of the right-
as well as the violence of the resonance condition (the hand tube on curves B and C, and further changes to the
pressure minimum) there. The docking between the upper second mode f2 on curves D and E. The final third peak
and lower bores is then much stronger than that in the never corresponds to the third mode of the left-hand tube.
2nd mode on fingering C. This is probably because the Also, the second mode f20 of the right-hand tube cuts in
open 3rd tone hole does not function as an open tone hole between f3 and f4 of the left-hand tube, as shown in curves
above fc or other mechanisms are involved. D and E of Fig. 6(a), and it is understood from Figs. 6(c)
and 6(d). Note that the frequency of f20 is almost twice
5. DEPENDENCE OF INTONATION that of f10 on curve E and the two modes have smaller
ANOMALY ON TONE-HOLE POSITION amplitudes.
5.1. Baroque Flute It should be correctly regarded that docking between
Our calculation method of the internal standing waves the left-hand and right-hand tubes is established without
can be applied to Nederveen’s example of pitch sharpening any appreciable phase change as if the open tone hole does
by cross fingering [3] mentioned in Sect. 1. The result is not exist [compare smooth changes in f2 at the tone hole in
illustrated in Fig. 6, where the absolute magnitude of the Figs. 6(c) and 6(d) with the kink there in Fig. 6(b)]. As a
input admittance jYIN j is calculated and plotted in Fig. 6(a). result, the 3rd mode is formed along the whole tube and the
This jYIN j is almost the same as that in his Fig. A6.3 [3] intonation anomaly occurs. It should be recognized that our
[we used 0:61a0 here instead of 0:7a0 in Eq. (3)]. His correct identification of admittance peak spectra cannot be

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 S. YOSHIKAWA and K. KAJIWARA: SHAKUHACHI CROSS FINGERINGS AND INTONATION

Fig. 8 Conceptual sketch of the non-adiabatic transition

[20–22].

The mode switching observed in Fig. 7(a) is seen as the

spectrum switching in the input admittance spectra shown
in Fig. 7(b). This spectrum switching on fingering G occurs
in the first and third modes as well as in the second mode.
The spectrum order in the original tone-hole configuration
(x ¼ 220 mm) is f10 , f1 , f20 , f2 , f30 , and f3 . However, when all
Fig. 7 Dependence of the intonation anomaly on overall
tone holes are shifted by 50 mm to the bore end (x ¼ 270
tone-hole shift in the shakuhachi. (a) 2nd mode
frequencies on fingerings D (blue line), F (red line), mm), this order is switched to f1 , f10 , f2 , f20 , f3 , and f30 . In
and G (green line). (b) Changes in input admittance this configuration, the 2nd mode on cross fingering G does
spectra on fingering G. Spectrum switches are indi- not bring about the intonation anomaly, as known from
cated by arrows. Fig. 7(a).
Cross fingerings F and G maintain the intonation
anomaly given at the original tone-hole configuration in the
accomplished without the knowledge of standing-wave range of about x ¼ 220
20 mm in a stable fashion, as
patterns [19]. shown in Fig. 7(a). Also, cross fingerings B and C maintain
the intonation anomaly given at the original tone-hole
5.2. Overall Tone-Hole Shift in the Shakuhachi configuration in a much wider range centered at x ¼ 320
The correlation between the tone-hole position and the mm [19]. Such a stable frequency characteristic of the
resulting intonation anomaly was previously briefly dis- intonation anomaly by cross fingering seems to be a merit
cussed [7]. In this subsection, the effect of overall tone-hole of the tone-hole system of the shakuhachi because the
shift (while keeping the hole-to-hole distances unchanged) intonation anomaly is inevitably necessary for actual
is considered [19]. Figure 7(a) displays the frequency playing of the shakuhachi.
change of the 2nd mode when fingerings D, F, and G are
used. The TM method is applied to the calculation. The 5.3. Non-Adiabatic Transition Phenomena in Physics
positions of all tone holes are shifted upward and down- Very interestingly, the spectrum (or mode) switching
ward in steps of 5 mm. The original position of the 5th demonstrated in Figs. 6 and 7 seems to be an example of
tone hole is indicated by the dashed line at x ¼ 220 mm. the non-adiabatic transition at the crossing of the energy
The intonation anomaly observed at the original position is level in quantum mechanical systems (see Fig. 8) [20].
kept between x ¼ 200 and 230 mm. This non-adiabatic transition is one of the fundamental
Note that a large (almost discontinuous) change in mechanisms of the state or phase changes and is observed
resonance frequency is followed by switching between the in various fields of physics and chemistry [20–22].
modes of the upper and lower bores. For example, on A conceptual sketch is depicted in Fig. 8. The abscissa
fingering D, the locus of f2 switches to f20 at x ¼ 230 mm x denotes the parameter controlling an interaction between
0
and to f2þþ at x ¼ 200 mm. On fingering G, the locus of f2 two energy states, e.g., the molecular configuration in
switches to f20 at x ¼ 255 mm and to f30 at x ¼ 190 mm. chemical reactions. The ordinate denotes the energy of the
These mode switches between the upper and lower bores two-level system. The dashed lines indicate the unpertur-
are confirmed by checking the internal standing-wave bed energies !1 and !2 in frequency units, while the solid
patterns involved (not shown here), as inferred from Fig. 6. lines indicate the perturbed energies !A and !B , where the

323
 Acoust. Sci. & Tech. 36, 4 (2015)

degeneracy at the crossing is broken by an interaction that open tone hole, it was essential to discriminate the upper-
couples the levels. bore resonances from the lower-bore resonances. Switching
The avoided crossing region is passed by remaining on of the input admittance spectra between an upper-bore
the same branch when an adiabatic transition takes place. mode and a lower-bore mode was observed when the
However, a non-adiabatic (diabatic) transition yields a associated tone hole positions were varied while keeping
jump to another branch across the avoided crossing, as the hole-to-hole distances fixed.
shown by the arrow in Fig. 8. The probability of this The spectrum switching caused the intonation anomaly
transition is given by the famous Landau–Zener formula upon cross fingerings, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Also,
[23,24] in quantum mechanics. when the intonation anomaly occurred, docking between
Figure 7(a) (e.g., the green line of fingering G) clearly the upper and lower bores was established as if the top
demonstrates the jump in the diabatic transition. The open tone hole did not exist. As a result, a higher mode was
embouchure-to-fifth tone hole distance x is now interpreted formed along the whole bore, as illustrated in Figs. 3, 5,
as the parameter controlling the interaction between the and 6. Such strong bore docking is never expected for usual
upper and lower bores. The spectrum switching on the cross fingerings. The spectrum switching is a good example
cross fingering revealed in Figs. 6 and 7 well reflects the of the diabatic transition widely seen in physics.
diabatic transition. It is surprising that the cross fingering Cross fingering yielded very complicated spectra of the
and the associated intonation anomaly in the shakuhachi, input admittance, and it was difficult to correctly identify
which are minor topics in musical acoustics, are charac- the upper-bore and lower-bore spectra without the knowl-
terized by the fundamental diabatic transition in quantum edge of internal standing-wave patterns, the importance
and classical physics. of which has not been fully discussed up to now in the
Very recently, Adachi [25] has proposed a simplified framework of woodwind acoustics.
model to explain the mechanism of the intonation anomaly Also, the cutoff frequency of the open-tone-hole lattice
by considering Nederveen’s example discussed in Sect. 5.1. seemed to play a significant role in producing the intonation
However, his model is restricted to the conventional anomaly upon cross fingering, though it was difficult to
adiabatic transition, such as that seen in two strings coupled exactly define the cutoff frequency of cross fingerings.
with a bridge [5], and cannot be applied to the diabatic Below the assumed cutoff frequency, the intonation
transition characterized by the jump from one branch to anomaly was caused by the resonance in the lower bore,
another. Also, as pointed out in Sect. 5.1, his f2þ mode which produced a higher whole-bore resonance mode.
(higher than the f3 mode at first) cannot be recognized as a Above the cutoff frequency, the top open tone hole did
second mode of the left-hand bore and this mode should be not function as an open tone hole, and the resonating
defined as f10 , as illustrated in Fig. 6(b). A more relevant pressure wave in the upper bore penetrated into the lower
model should incorporate mode switches such as that bore without significant reflection at the open tone hole.
observed between f2 and f10 (Fig. 6) and mode jumps such However, since this pressure wave was reflected at the bore
as those observed between f2 and f20 and between f2 and f30 bottom, a standing-wave pattern of a much higher whole-
(Fig. 7). The mode identification, which has been carried bore resonance mode was produced, as shown in Figs. 3
out very carefully in this paper, is essential for creating a and 5. Such a standing-wave pattern causes the intonation
theoretical model applicable to cross fingerings and the anomaly above the assumed cutoff frequency.
associated intonation anomaly in the near future. It seems that the acoustics of cross fingerings has
just come into new phase with the associated intonation
6. CONCLUSIONS anomaly in the shakuhachi. Relevant physical modeling of
The acoustics of cross fingerings was explored in the the spectral (or mode) switching that causes the intonation
shakuhachi through the measurement and calculation of anomaly is expected in the near future.
pressure standing waves and the calculation of input
admittances. Standing waves and input admittances were
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
calculated by the transmission matrix method with the This research was supported by Grants-in-Aid for
tone-hole matrix formulation. A particular interest was Science Research (subject numbers: 22652018 and
focused on the intonation anomaly due to cross fingerings 25560008) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of
in the second and third registers. The results of the Science. This paper is dedicated to the late Professor
measurement and calculation displayed good agreement Yoshinori Ando (1928–2013) in memory of his great
concerning the acoustical characteristics of cross fingerings contributions to shakuhachi acoustics. Also, the authors are
and their associated intonation anomalies. grateful for the comment on the diabatic transition made
Since the cross fingering tends to divide the instrument by Professor Kin’ya Takahashi of the Kyushu Institute of
bore (air column) into the upper and lower bores at the top Technology.

324
 S. YOSHIKAWA and K. KAJIWARA: SHAKUHACHI CROSS FINGERINGS AND INTONATION

(in Japanese).
REFERENCES
[14] Y. Ando, Acoustics of Musical Instruments, 2nd ed. (Ongaku-
[1] A. Baines, Woodwind Instruments and Their History (Faber No-Tomo-Sha, Tokyo, 1996), pp. 79–85 (in Japanese).
and Faber Ltd., London, 1957). [15] F. Fahy, Foundations of Engineering Acoustics (Academic
[2] A. H. Benade, Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics (Oxford Press, New York, 2001), pp. 206–211.
University Press, New York, 1976), Chap. 21. [16] D. Mapes-Riordan, ‘‘Horn modeling with conical and cylin-
[3] C. J. Nederveen, Acoustical Aspects of Woodwind Instruments, drical transmission-line elements,’’ J. Audio Eng. Soc., 41,
2nd ed. (Northern Illinois University Press, DeKalb, Illinois, 471–483 (1993).
1998) pp. 50–53, 132–133. [17] T. Ebihara and S. Yoshikawa, ‘‘Nonlinear effects contributing
[4] J. Wolfe and J. Smith, ‘‘Cutoff frequencies and cross fingerings to hand-stopping tones in a horn,’’ J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 133,
in baroque, classical, and modern flutes,’’ J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 3094–3106 (2013).
114, 2263–2272 (2003). [18] K. Kajiwara and S. Yoshikawa, ‘‘Discussion on the internal
[5] N. H. Fletcher and T. D. Rossing, The Physics of Musical sound pressure distributions when cross fingerings are used
Instruments, 2nd ed. (Springer-Verlag, New York, 1998), in the shakuhachi,’’ Proc. Autumn Meet. Acoust. Soc. Jpn.,
Sects. 16.9, 15.3, 8.2, 4.10. pp. 903–906 (2013) (in Japanese).
[6] T. Terada, ‘‘Acoustical investigation of the Japanese bamboo [19] S. Yoshikawa and K. Kajiwara, ‘‘Cross fingerings and
pipe, syakuhati,’’ J. Coll. Sci. Tokyo, 21, 1–34 (1907). associated intonation anomaly in the shakuhachi: A compar-
[7] S. Yoshikawa, ‘‘Cross fingerings and associated intonation ison with the baroque flute,’’ Tech. Rep. Musical Acoust. Res.,
anomaly in the shakuhachi,’’ Tech. Rep. Musical Acoust. Res., 32, MA2013-67 (2014) (in Japanese).
32, MA2013-40 (2013) (in Japanese). [20] H. Nakamura, ‘‘New development of non-adiabatic transition
[8] D. H. Keefe, ‘‘Theory of the single woodwind tone hole,’’ J. theory,’’ J. Phys. Soc. Jpn., 51, 829–834 (1996) (in Japanese).
Acoust. Soc. Am., 72, 676–687 (1982). [21] J. R. Rubbmark, M. M. Kash, M. G. Littman and D. Kleppner,
[9] D. H. Keefe, ‘‘Experiments on the single woodwind tone hole,’’ ‘‘Dynamical effects at avoided level crossing: A study of the
J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 72, 688–699 (1982). Landau-Zener effect using Rydberg atoms,’’ Phys. Rev. A, 23,
[10] A. Lefebvre and G. P. Scavone, ‘‘Characterization of wood- 3107–3117 (1981).
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Acoust. Soc. Am., 131, 3153–3163 (2012). crossings: A classical perspective,’’ Am. J. Phys., 78, 1199–
[11] Y. Ando, ‘‘Input admittance of shakuhachis and their reso- 1202 (2010).
nance characteristics in the playing state,’’ J. Acoust. Soc. Jpn. [23] L. Laudau, ‘‘Zur Theorie der Energieübertragung bei Stössen
(E), 7, 99–111 (1986). II,’’ Phys. Z. Sowjetunion, 2, 46–51 (1932).
[12] Y. Ando and Y. Ohyagi, ‘‘Measuring and calculating methods [24] C. Zener, ‘‘Non-adiabatic crossing of energy levels,’’ Proc. R.
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89–101 (1985). [25] S. Adachi, ‘‘Resonance modes and a model of a flute with
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 The Shakuhachi

History and Development

by

Yûkô Kamisangô

Translated and adepted by

Christopher Yomei Blasdel

1. Types of Shakuhachi found in Japan

It is not an understatement to say that the shakuhachi was transplanted into Japan. Like
many a transplant, it flourished, withered, and then revived itself in an adapted form to
become Japans' most representativeand, in some respects, most expressive flute. In order
to survive, the shakuhachi underwent several transformations and applications – from use
as a delicate, ethereal instrument in the gagaku orchestra to a heavy bamboo instrument
carried by characters (rogues) more interested in its blunted nature than its musical
heritage. Recent years have seen another important transformation as the shakuhachi
slowloy works its way into Western musical conciousness and provides new musical
stimuli.
Generally speaking, changes in Japan's political or cultural historical periods brought
about a new art of music from which would have been previously impossiible. The
shakuhachi and ist music also changed according to the times and can be classified into
five types, each corresponding to a certain Japanese cultural period or locale.

a) Gagaku Shakuhachi – the first schakuhachi to arrive in japan, it had six holes and was a
slender, highly refined forerunner of the later five-holed shakuhachi. This instrument was
used in the early gagaku court orchestra. Several of these shakuhachi are preserved in
excellent condition at the Shôsô-In imperial repository in Nara.

b) Tempuku – although not called „shakuhachi“ as such and having an entirely differently
shaped mouthpiede, the tempuku is close enough in shape and hole configuration to be
classified as a shakuhachi. Made from a thin, light piece of bamboo, the tempuku has five
holes and flourished in the Satsuma area (present day Kagoshima Prefecture) around
Japan's Middle Ages (12th - 15th centuries). At present there are only a few players in the
Kagoshima area who maintain the tradition.

c)Hitoyogiri Shakuhachi – also frequently referred to simply as the „hitoyogiri“. The name
apparentlyderives from the fact that the flute is constructed from a single node section (hito
– one, yo – node, giri – cut) of the bamboo. Having five holes, there were hitoyogiri of
varying length and pitch in use during the Muromachi period (1392 – 1568), but from the
end of the 16th until the beginning of the 17th century, the hitoyogiri pitched at ôshiki
(around present day A4) was most prevalent. Midway into the 17th century, the hitoyogiri
started to die out and, although an attempt at revival was made in the early 19th century,
the hitoyogiri shakuhachi soon became extinct for all practical purposes.

d)Fuke Shakuhachi – the immediate precursor of the present-day shakuhachi. During most
of the Edo period, this shakuhachi remained the exclusive domain of the celebrated
komusô monks of the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhism and is often reffered to as the „Komusô
Shakuhachi“. It was from this time that the heavy root end of the shakuhachi was utilized in
making the instrument. Like the tempuku and hitoyogiri, the Fuke shakuhachi also had five
holes. All shakuhachi types mentioned above except the gagaku shakuhachi are
considered variants of the same basic prototype.

e) Experimental 20th Century Shakuhachi – shakuhachi produced as a result of

experimentation in the early Shôwa Period (1925 – present). These include a seven- and
nine-holed shakuhachi along with an invention called the Ôkaraulo, which was an attempt
to combine the shakuhachi and the Western flute inoto one instrument. The extra holes or
keys were added in order to faciliate playing chromatic half-tones.

2. Ancient Shakuhachi
Origin of the Shakuhachi in the Tang Dynasty
The instrument known as the shakuhachi originated in China, around the beginning of the
Tang period (early 7th century, AD). One of the earliest references to the shakuhachi is a
passage from the Lü Cái Chuan (Chronical of Lü Cái) found in the Tang Shû (Tang
Documents: „Lü Cái (in Japanese rosai) made 12 typs of shakuhachi, all differing in length
and pitched to the 12 pitches“. Lü C,'ai was a figure, who helped plan and participated in
an major renovation of the Tang period music system in China between the years 627 and
649. Prior to this renovation, China's vertical blown flutes were classified into two types, a
„long“ and a „short“ flute. The „long“ flute was prevalent and was made in 12 different sizes
– one to match each tone of the traditional 12-tone key system used in ancient China. The
„short“ flute, however, was available only in a limited number of pitches. According to the
Tang Documents, Lü Cái improved upon the „short“ flute by creating a full set of 12. The
flute pitched to the huángzhông (Japanese: kôsho) key ( although there is a disagreement
among scholars, most concur that huángzhông was approximately equal to the modern
day pitch of D4) was one shaku and eight sun (shaku was the official unit of length used in
ancient China and later in Japan – there were 10 sun in each shaku), or one shaku, hachi
(eight) sun, therefore called „shakuhachi“.
The pipes used in ancient China to determine the pitches, called lü, were closed at the
end, lika pan pipes. The pipe for the huángzhông pitch was nine sun in length. Since
vertical blown flutes lite the shakuhachi are open at both ends, it must be twice the length
of the lü pitch pipe – one shaku eight sun (18 sun) – in order to sound the same pitch.
Although the shaku was the official Chinese unit of measurement, the lenth of the shaku
varied from each dynasty; therefore the shaku employed during the Tang dynasty, known
as the ritsu-shaku, is not the same length of the shaku length used in Japan since the Edo
period, called the kane-jaku. Of the eight shakuhachi preserved in the Shôsô-In, the
longest one is 43,7 cm, almost exactely the length of the Tang period shaku.

The Gagaku Shakuhachi

Japan was heavily influenced by the music, arts, religion, and language of the highly
developed, international Tang culture. Gagaku was imported to Japan around the end of
the 7th century and flourished. The Tang shakuhachi was one of the instruments in the
gagaku ensemble, along with the ryûteki traverse flute, the double-reed hichiriki, the shô
hand-held bamboo mouth-organ, the biwa lute, koto zither, and various percussion
instruments. After entering Japan, however, the shakuhachi slowly died out in China, while
other vertical blown flutes took its place. During the Sung period (10th - 13th century),
several vertical blown unrelated to the shakuhachi could be found, and the dòng xiâo, still
in use today, dates from the Yüan period /13th - 14th centruies). But from th 10th century on,
the instrument called „shakuhachi“ could only be found in Japan.
Several references to the gagku shakuhachi appear in important Japanese chronicles and
documents dating from the 8th century. The Saidai-ji Shiryô Zai (Saidai-ji Catalogue of
Treasures), compiled in 780, lists eight shakuhachi – one of them made from bamboo –
belonging to a set of Tang instruments. A directive issued in 804 from the Heian Council
of State contains a provision („Gagakuryô Gakushi no Jô“) that there be a „shakuhachi
teacher“ among the 12 official Tôgaku (gagaku) musicians. In another directive dated from
848, there is a clause stating that the number of shakuhachi musicians should be returned
from three to two. These references clearly indicate that the shakuhachi was employed in
the gagku ensemble, at least until the mid-9th century.
The Shôsô-In, a great repository built to house the treasures accumulated by Nara's
influetial temple Tôdai-ji, was constructed around 756. Among the many priceless artifacts
preserved in the Shôsô-In are eight shakuhachi. Furthermore, five of these shakuhachi are
mentioned in a document called Tôdai-ji Kenmotsu Chô (Inventory of Donations: Tôdai-ji –
a listing of articles which the Empress Komyô donated to Tôdai-ji after the death of her
husband, Emperor Shômu). Of these five shakuhachi, four of them are noted to have been
received from King Ui-Cha-Wang of the Paekche Dynasty (Korean peninsula, mid-7th
century). The Shôsô-In shakuhachi, preserved in excellent condition, are instruments
which were playable and prbably actually used in gagaku at the time. Considering the fact
that the shakuhachi died out in China, these specimes are indeed valuable.
Of the eight shakuhachi, not all are bamboo. There are ones made from jade, stone, and
ivory – although they all have bamboo nodes carved on them, suggesting that they were
modeled after bamboo flutes. There are four lengths, pitched a half tone apart, and each
has six holes which are similarly placed.
Besides the eight Shôsô-In shakuhachi, there is a shakuhachi from the same era owned
by Hôryû-ji Temple (the instrument is now on permanent display at the Tokyo National
Museum). Legend has ist that this instrument was owned and played by Prince Shôtoku
(Shôtoku Taishi; 574-622 – a revered historical figure in Japan who was instrumental in
the instignation of Buddhism as a state religion), but there is no empiricla proof to
substantiate this. Likewise, the passage from the Kyôku Shô (see below) which states that
Prince Shôtoku performed the gagaku piece „Somakusha“ on the shakuhachi for a
heavenly maiden who appeared and danced is questionable.
Even though shakuhachi dating from the 7th and 8th century are preserved today, very little
is known about the music actually performed on them. There are no extant manuscripts
nor music which explains playing techniques. During the reign of Emperor Nimmyô (mid-
9th century), the Imperial Court music system underwent an extensive renovation. The
imported music from China and the Korean peninsula was consolidated, scaled-down, and
otherwise edjusted to conform to Japanese tastes and musical inclinations of the Imperial
Court. As a result, various gagaku instruments, from China (for example the u, a large
version of the shô, and the ôhichiriki, a bass hichiriki) fell into disuse. The shakuhachi is
considered to have shared the same fate and seems to have disappeared around this
time.
Even though the shakuhachi was not active in gagaku from the 9th century until the end of
the Heian period (12th century), there are a number of documents containing references to
the instrument.
The Kojidan (Discussion of Ancient Matters, 1215) and the Taigen Shô (a treatise on
gagaku, 1215) both state that the priest Ennin (794-864) (who studied Buddhism in Tang
China from 838 until 847 and was a responisble for introducing Tendai shômyô sutra
chanting into Japan) played the shakuhachi in accompniment to the Amida Kyô sutra
chanting because the singing wasn't loud enough. It is difficult to verify this or to ascertain
whether shakuhachi accompaniment in sutra chanting at this time was the normal course
of events or an isolated example. If this passage is to be believed, it indicates that the
shakuhachi was used in Buddhist ritual by a prestigious figure from a very early time.
The Ryûmei Shô (an extensive treatise on the gagaku ryûteki flute and its music, 1133)
mentions that a famous gagaku musician, Prince Sadayasu (son of Emperor Seiwa who
reigned from 858 until 876), reconstructed the gagaku piece „Oshôkun“ using shakuhachi
notations as a guide.
Another important reference to shakuhachi of this period can be found in The Tale of the
Genji. Whereas the above references are factual and objective records of events or
catalouges, The Tale of the Genji (compiled around the beginning of the 11th century) is
literature, and therefore provides us with a more subjective view of the shakuhachi and
other gagaku instruments of the time. In chapter 6, „The Safflower“, there is mention of the
„shakuhachi flute“. The instruments of gagku; ryuteki, hichiriki, biwa, koto and various
percussion instruments create an important musical imagery throughout The Tale of the
Genji. Inclusion of the „shakuhachi“ indicates that in some way or other the shakuhachi
could still be heard in the Imperial Court by the mid-10th century.
At the end of the Heian period, the Emperor Go-Shirakawa held a new year's banquet at
the Imperial Court (1158). The Imakagami (historical stories, 1170) states that at this
banquet, the emperor ordered an attempt at reviving the shakuhachi, which hd been long
in disuse. The Taigen Shô and Zoku Kyôkun Shô also mention this incident. Also, the
Shinzei Kogakuzu scroll painting, said to be drawn ba Fujiwara Michinori (?-1159), depicts
lively scenes of musicians, including a shakuhachi player in a gagaku costume. This also
indicates that the gagaku shakuhachi was in use up until the 12th century, but these are
the last clear references to the shakuhachi being played as a gagaku instrument.
(...)

3. The Shakuhachi of the Middle Ages

Origins of the Shakuhachi as seen in the Taigen Shô

In contrast to the shakuhachi used in gagaku, the shakuhachi of the Middle Ages was five-
holed. As mentioned previousley, the tempuku, hitoyogiri, and the Fuke shakuhachi all
descended from the five-holed shakuhachi which was a product of the Middle Ages. Only
later did each instrument develop, through different circumstances and applications, into
entirely different shakuhachi.
Taking a look at writings dating back as far as the Kamakura Period (1185-1333), there is
a reference in the Kyôkun Shô ( a general, comprehensive gagaku treatise, 1233) which
states that the shakuhachi was used by blind monks and srugaku actors (performers of
popular drama which later developed into the noh theater). The 1385 Yoshino Shûi
(Gleanings of Yoshino – a compilation of events relating to the Imperial Court which was
briefly established in the Yoshino mountains by the Emperor Go-Daigo) mentions that
Emperor Go-Daigo's son, Imperial Prince Kanenaga, was an accomplished shakuhachi
player, and the Yamashina no Noritoki Kyô Nikki (The Diary of Lord Ymashina no
Noritoko) has an entry dated March 24, 1408 which says that the author heard the
Emperor Go-Komatsu play the shakuhachi in accompaniment to sôga (a kind of
song/dance, usually with drum accompaniment, which was popular in the Imperial Court
during the Middle Ages). The author of this diry writes about his experiences with the
events and people surrounding him, therefore providing us with a honest account of life in
the 15th century. Neither of these references, however, eplain what kind of shakuhachi was
used.
There is a chapter in the Taigen Shô, an important work of the Middle Ages, which hints at
what kind of shakuhachi might have been used during this time. The Taigen Shô is an
extensive musical treatise written 1512 by a leading musician of the time, Toyohara no
Muneaki (1450-1524), and in the chapter entitled „Shakuhachi“, there are diagrams of five
shakuhachi pitched to hyôjô (E4), sôjô (G4), ôshiki (A4), and banshiki (B4). The
explanations which accompany these drawings read: „In the house of Toyohara, Kazuaki
(the author's great-grandfather) excelled in the shakuhachi. He was a student of Toyohara
no Atsuaki of the collateral family line, as was Zoami (15th century) the dengaku performer.
Now, Now, there is no truth behind what dengaku players say when speaking of the
shakuhachi being their own instrument...“ According to this passage, we can ascertain that
the shakuhachi was played and enjoyed by gagaku musicians and dengaku performers
around the 15th century, even to the extent of disputing whose instrument it was!
Since the particular type of shakuhachi was made from a single bamboo joint and had five
holes, it was a hitoyogiri in the broad sense of the word. However, at this time, the term
„hitoyogiri“ was not yet in use. Furthermore, there were at least five pitches of flutes in use
at the time (the lowest being pitched at hyôjô, E4), therefore these flutes are not to be
confused with the hityogiri shakuhachi (always pitched at A4) often found in literature and
references of later periods. Although the shakuhachi played by blind priests and beggars
mentioned as early as the Kyôun Shô (1233) might have differed, we can ascertain at least
that the shakuhachi mentioned above in the diary of Yamashina no Noritoku was veriy
similar to the five-holed shakuhachi found in the Taigen Shô.
One of the most important and colorful Middle Ages references to the shakuhachi can be
found in the writings of the priest Ikkyû. The time when Ikkyû lived (1394-1482) was a
period when Zen, having been introduced from China, flourished in the capital of Kyoto,
and culture and power in the capital centered arround five major Zen temples (this period
is also known as the Gozan Bunka). For all the religious good and purity of Zen, there is
no doubt that it was accompanied by much political intrigue and power plays.
Ikkyû, on the other hand, spent much of his energytrying to awaken people from the
delusion of worldly power and material goods and was often going against the grain of
authority. His major legacy and teachings are a book of poems written in Chinese style,
called the Kyôun Shû (Crazy Cloud Collection). Within this collection of poetry, there are
several which mention or center around the shakuhachi. From this and other sources, it is
certain that Ikkyû carried and played the instrument during his travels and teachings.
There is even a piece played by Edo-period Fuke monks said to be handed down from
Ikkyû, but there is no positive proof for this.
Accounts dealing with Ikkyû's shakuhachi appear in several early Edo-period works (Ikkyû
was somewhat of a folk hero by then). Although there are discrepamcies, basically these
works relate two legends. The first relates that Ikkyû and a fellow monk, Ichirosô, lived
away from the world in a hut in Uji, cut bamboo to make shakuhachi, and always played
the instrument. The other legend says that a foreign monk named Rôan lived in a hut
called „Kyûean“ and had a close relationship with Ikkyû. Having a fondness for the
shakuhachi, called himself „Fûketsu Dô Sha“ („A Searcher in the Way of Wind and Holes“),
and was the first komusô. Both legends seem to be variations on a theme, and quite
possibly Ichirosô and Rôan are the same person, but for this, too, there is no positive
proof.
The figure of Rôan has also played a large part in legends concerning the origins of the
hitoyogiri and the komusô temples. One common legend says that the foreign monk Rôan
brought the hitoyogiri from overseas, and another legend has that Kyochiku Zenji (the
founder of the temple Myôan-ji) was actually Rôan. Both of these legends, however, date
from a relative recent date and were prbably created for convenience rather than for
historical accuracy ( acommon occurence in the Edo period legends relating to the
shakuhachi). The legend of Rôan bringing the hitoyogiri to Japan from overseas was the
basis for an attempt at a hitoyogiri revival in the early 19th century by an Edo physician,
Kamiya Juntei (see below). Unfortunately it seems that kamiya, hoping to make his revival
efforts credible, put together several legends and stories to create the Rôan legend. There
is no real basis for its accemtance as fact for several reasons. First of all, although it is
certain that both Rôan and Ikkyû were shakuhachi players, the instrument they played was
not limited to the hitoyogiri shakuhachi length pitched at A4 which was so prevalent after
the 16th century. Secondly, if a figure like Rôan brought a new kind of flute from overseas,
there would certainly be cross references to it appearing in literature or other records, but
there is nothing at all. Since there had been a shakuhachi in Japan since the early ages,
there is no plausible reason to believe that it was introduced anew by Rôan.
What was the relationship between Ikkyû of the 15th century and the Fuke sect of the 18th
century? The shakuhachi which was used by Ikkyû was probably the same type found in
the Taigen Shô, and, although differing from the later hitoyogiri of Edo period Fuke
shakuhachi, can be considered a kind of shakuhachi archetyp. It is entirely possible that
Ikkyû had close relations with an associate named Ichirosô or Rôan, spending time
together during meditations, pilgrimages, and while playing the shakuhachi. Furthermore,
Ikkyû was a member of the Rinzai sect, and the later Fuke sect was also affiliated with
Rinzai.
Rather than trying to establish any direct, verifiable connection between Ikkyû and the
Fuke sect, however, it is more meaningful to examine the purpose and message in Ikkyû's
shakuhachi and his philosophy of sound as a tool in the process of enlightenment and then
compare his attitudes with the Fuke sect philosophy set forth in their official annals, the
Kyotaku Denki Kokuji Kai (described below). Music and sound images pervade the Kyoû
Shû poetry, showing that Ikkyû placed much importance on the role of sound in Zen. The
Fuke monks also viewed shakuhachi playing as a discipline and the flute's tones as a
medium for helping attain enlightenment.
A shakuhachi preserved at Hôshun-In, a small tmeple within the compounds of the great
Kyoto temple Daitoku-ji, is said to be the one used by Ikkyû, but judging from its shape,
wrappings, and pitch (A4), it is probably an example of the hitoyogiri popular art a later
period.
Around the time of the Taigen Shô, another important work appeared. The Kangin Shû
(1518) is a collection of poetry consisting of kouta: songs from the performing arts of the
Middle Ages. The shakuhachi plays an important part in the imagery of these poems as
well. In the preface, the editor says „The shakuhachi is my friend...“ The shakuhachi of the
Kangin Shû does not have the religious connotations of Ikkyû's shakuhachi, but it does
give us a rare glimps into the poet's emotional lives:

Dengaku
I take out the shakuhachi from beneath my sleeve,
to blow it while waiting and
The wind through the pine -
scatters flowers as though a dream
How much longer will I have to play
until my heart is quiet again?

Kouta
My shakuhachi is blameless yet
I toss it at the pillow.
It makes a sound katari as it hits the wood rim,
Yet even the sound does not make it less lonely nor less sad
to sleep alone.

Kouta
I blow you while I wait
I blow you later in my disappointment too -
Worthless Shakuhachi!

The Rise of Mendicant Shakuhachi Players – the Komosô

From around the beginning of the 17th century, the chakuhachi came into the possession
of beggar monks, called komusô. Their name derives from komo, a simple, woven straw
mat which these beggars wore on their backs to keep out rain and cold. These monks
were also reffered to as boro, boroboro, boronji, bonji, and kanji, all words which have
religious overtones yet convey the feelings of mendicancy and poverty. These beggar
priests are mentioned as early as the 14th-century Tsurezure Gusa (Essays in Idleness),
yet by the 15th century the name komosô was not common nor were the monks associated
with playing the shakuhachi. However, by the mid-16th century, the association between
the shakuhachi and the komosô monks seems certain. In a collection of Waka poetry
(Sanjûniban Shokunin Uta Awase – poetry contests which were regularly held among
professional poets), there is an entry titled „Komosô“.

Amidst spring flowers who should care that the wind blows?
It is not the wind, but the shakuhachi of the komo.

The commentary which accompanies this poem explains that „the komosô is absorbed in
visiting the houses of both rich and poor, begging and playing shakuhachi – that is all they
can do.“

Although originally the Chinese characters for komosô were written with komo (straw mat)
and sô (monk) which, as mentioned, conveys a feeling of mendicancy and shabbiness, the
title for the above poem is written with characters ko (emptiness), mo (illusion) and sô
(monk), which conveys a more serious, religious feeling. Also, the use of the word
„absorbed“ (Japanese sammai, Sanskrit samadhi) in the commentary indicates that by this
name the monks were not just Japanese Middle Ages' equivalents to wandering hippies,
but were actually involved in Buddhist disciplines. Much more is this the case with the
komusô of the later Edo period, who were organized into a Buddhist Zen sect and had a
network of temples across the country. The characters for komusô are written
appropriately with ko (emptiness), mu (nothingness) and sô (monk).
Although the Edo-period komusô used the root end Fuke shakuhachi, it is hard to
determine exactly what kind of instrument the komosô used. Judging from the fact that
they were primarily individual wnadering beggars who played alone, their flutes were
probably entirely handmade and non-standard, wiht little regards to length, pitch or shape.
According to the Boro-no-Techô (Handbook of Boro Monks, 1618), their shakuhachi was
five-holed and included three nodes of bamboo. In the Kanden Kôhitsu written by Ban
Kôkei (1733-1806), there is a passage which reeds: „Nowadays we call those who carry
shakuhachi and beg for rice komusô“, but in the Kanjinshô Uta Awase (poetry contest
collection), they are termed komosô, and in paintings they are depicted with long hair,
wearing straw mats tied to teir waists.

As can be seen in the above drawing, the shakuhachi played by this komosô is certainly
not a thin, hitoyogiri type of instrument. It seems that basically the hitoyogiri komosô and
komusô are all related. From this variety of shakuhachi, the komusô of the Fuke sect
chose the heavier, longer shakuhachi as their instrument.

The Tempuku – Fossil of the Ancient Shakuhachi

Mention was made above about the tempuku, an ancient type of shakuhachi which still
can be vound in the Satsuma (Kagoshima) area of Japan. There are no records or legends
which clarify the origins of the tempuku of give any indications as th the name ten
(heaven), puku or fuku (to blow), but examinations of its construction and shape indicates
a close relationship with the prototype shakuhachi of the Middle Ages.
The instrument is made from a thin, rather flat piece of hotei chiku bamboo with three
nodes,measuring about 26 cm in lenght. The tempuku is almost always made by the
player himself, but interestingly the measurements don't follow any acoustical or
determined finger widths, which means there is substantial variation amond individual
instruments. The mouthpiece is cut inward, opposite to the shakuhachi but the same as
the dông xiâo Chinese vertical bamboo flute. Like the hitoyogiri, the tempuku is shorter
than the Fuke shakuhachi and therefore produces a higher overall pitch, and the relative
pitches of the tempuku holes differ from the Fuke shakuhachi, The position of the holes is
also not determined by any acoustical consideration; rather, the circumference of the
bamboo and node position determine hole placement. Although the placement of the holes
and nodes is visually well balanced, not always is the flute tuned very well.
The facts that the tempuku resembles the hitoyogiri and early shakuhachi, is made by the
player himself, and doesn't follow any rational or acoustical designs indicates a very old
origin. The five-holed shakuhachi of the early Middle Ages probably found its way into the
conservative and insulated Satsuma region of Kyûshû where it remained unchanged until
the present day as a kind of shakuhachi fossil.
The tempuku in Satsuma was played mostly by samurai, and is said to have enjoyed its
peak of popularity in the last half of the 16th century. In Satsuma, there is a popular legend
that tells of the retainer Kitahara Bizen no Kami who was captured by the Tokugawa
generals during the great battle of Sekigahara (1600 – the battle which gave Tokugawa
absolute rule over Japan and ushered in the Edo period). Before Kitahara was to be
executed, he played the tempuku, mourning his life so beautiful on the flute that the
Tokugawa generals were moved into sparing his life.
The tempuku continued to be played into the Edo period and after the Meiji Restoration,
but presently only a few people in Kagoshima maintain the tradition.

Hitoyogiri – Shakuhachi Prototype of the Middle Ages

There is a modicum of confusion surrounding the term „hitoyogiri“. Various length of
shakuhachi(as elaborated in the Taigen Shô) existed up until the end of the 16th century.
At that time, the flute pitched at A4 (ôshiki) became the standard length for shakuhachi
players. It was also at that time that the term „hitoyogiri“ became prevalent. IN Japan, the
term „hitoyogiri“ is often used to refer to all the shakuhachi flutes of the Middle Ages,
regardless of pitch. Strictly speaking, however, „hitoyogi“ indicates only the A4 shakuhachi
of the mid-16th century on.
Nonetheless, it is difficult to determine when the term „hitoyogiri“ was first used and to
what it actually referred. Although „hitoyogiri“ doesn't appear in the Taigen Shô (1215),
Ikkyû cleverly makes a word play in one of his poems using „hito-yo“ to indicate both the
„hitoyogiri“ and „one night“:

Although I thought the shakuhachi a friend just for one night,

It has stayed my friend many nights until old age.

A similar word play can be found in the Ryûtatsu's collection of kouta:

The tones of the shakuhachi „hitoyogiri“ may satisfy for one night,
But sleeping with you just one night is not enough.

Although theses references indicate that hitoyogiri was a common term from the 15th and
early 16th century, most pre-Edo references use only the term „shakuhachi“, and the term
„hitoyogiri shakuhachi“ became popular only from the 17th century – probably because of
the need to distinguish it from the Fuke shakuhachi. Afterwards, the A4-pitched hitoyogiri of
the Edo was often referred to only as the „shakuhachi“ - a term which seemed to include
both the Fuke shakuhachi and the hitoyogiri.
From the mid-16th century, there was quite a lot of interest in the hitoyogiri as a musical
instrument, as evidenced by the large number of instruction and music books published at
that time. A person called Sôsa was the primary instigator in creating artistic interest in the
hitoyogiri, and such Edo-period publications as the Shichiku Shoshin-shû (beginning
Pieces for Strings and Bamboo), Dôshô-Kyoku (Pieces for the Vertical Flute), and
Ikanobori (another collection of hitoyogiri pieces) all attribute Sôsa as the source of their
pieces and the founder of the hitoyogiri playing. However, there is nothig that tells us about
Sôsa as a person or when he lived. Although there are some minor discrepancies between
these three works, they contain numerous mention of monks and warriors, hinting that
Sôsa was a recluse or a hermit.
The personal history of Sôsa may be unclear, but Omori Sôkun (1570-1625, five
generations down from Sôsa) comes across as a very clear, important figure in these
works. Sôkun was a descendant of Ohmori Hikoshichi – a retainer of the famous first
Ashikaga Shôgun Takauji (1305-1358) – and Sôkun himself had served as retainer to the
great general Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582). After Nobunaga's death, Sôkun became a
recluse and devoted himself to study of the hitoyogiri, gaining fame both as a player and
the second founder of hitoyogiri music (Sôsa being the first).
Tanteki Hidenfu (Secret Pieces for the Short Vertical Flute) was written in 1608 by Sôkun
and is probably the oldest extant collection of pieces for the hitoyogiri. The collection
contains about 79 different very short solo instrumental pieces (called te, as opposed to
kyoku which is the usual modern term for „piece“) with such titles as „Netori“, „Shôte“,
„Honte“ „Kochigo“, etc. The notation is written in the Japanese katakana syllabary.
Although it is difficult to reconstruct in their entirety all fo these pieces, they seem to have a
musical relationship with the later Fuke shakuhachi solo pieces.
The efforts of Sôkun, who was also the author of the Shakuachi Tekazu Mokuroku (1624),
took the hitoyogiri out of the world of wandering beggar-priests and recluses into the
general society where it was treated like a musical instrument. The number of musical
works and treatises still extant from that period indicates that the hitoyogiri reached a fairly
high level of popularity.
Interestingly, the word „hitoyogiri“ never appears in the Tanteki Hidenfu. Except for the title
„tanteki“- which literally means „short flute“ - the hitoygiri is referred to only as the
„shakuhachi“, the fingering charts given in this book are for the hitoyogiri pitched at A4
(ôshiki), but references for fingerings on flutes of differing lengths (G4, B4, D5 and E5) are
also provided. In comparison, the fingerings for the hitoyogiri contained in Shichiku
Shôshin-shû and Ikanobori, published 50 years later, are only for the A4 ôshiki flute. This
indicates that although the A4 hityogiri was prominent during Sôkuns' time, there were still
other lenghts of hitoyogiri being played, but half a century later all hitoyogiri music and
references were limited to the instrument pitched at A4.
In addition to the Sôkun school of hitoyogiri playing, there was a rival style called Seijitsu.
This style, however, was overwhelmed by the Sôkun style and soon disappeared.
Fostered by the relative artistic freedom of the early Edo period, the hitoyogiri flourished.
Publicatgions containing music, musical instruction, songs, and fingerings such as the
Dhichiku Shôshin-shû (Beginning Pieces for Strings and Bamboo – 1664), Dôshô Kyoku
(Pieces for the Vertical Flute – 1669), and Ikanobori (collection of hitoyogiri pieces – first
published in 1687 then later published in a larger work, Shichiku Taizen in 1699) were
available to the general public. Some of these works included folk and dance songs, and
much of the music consisted of ensemble pieces for koto, shamisen and hitoyogiri. At this
time, there was already a differentiation made between hitoyogiri pieces played alone,
called te (now called honkyoku) and pieces played in ensemble, rankyoku (now known as
gaikyoku). There were also players who specialized in only te or only rankyoku.
In spite of the hitoyogiri's widespread popularity in the early Edo period, by the middle of
the 18th century interest in the instrument quickly waned, and by the early 19th century the
hitoyogiri tradition had all but died out. An Edo physician, Kamiya Juntei, attempted a
hitoyogiri revival in the second and third decades of the 19th century. Kamiya seemed
extremely commited to his revival. He changed the name of the hitoyogiri to kotake („little
bamboo“) and, adding classical pieces together with about 30 of his own compositions,
published Shichiku Kokin-shû and numerous other musical scores. Nonetheless, except
for a handful of enthusiasts, his efforts failed in reviving the instrument, and by the end of
the 19th century the hitoyogiri was finally extinct.
The lenght of the A4-pitched hitoyogiri was 33,6 cm, or one shaku, one sun one bu (1
shaku = 10 sun, 1 sun = 10 bu). Some people, like Kamiya, arbitrarily set the length at one
shaku eight bu to try to maie it similar (at least numerically) to the shakuhachi's length of
one shaku eight sun, but this was meaningless.
The hitoyogiti's fingering resemble that of the Fuke and present-day shakuhachi, except
the upper octave pitches on the hitoyogiri tend to become sharp. Fingering also tends to
be haphazard and confusing, oftentimes with the same fingering syllabe signifying more
than one pitch. The lower notes can be fingered the same as the lower notes of the
present-day shakuhachi, but the fingering for the higher notes is quite different. The upper
octave is also limited, the total range being only one actave and a fourth, compared with
the 2.5 octaves of the modern shakuhachi. Half-holing – an indispensable technique on
the modern shakuhachi – apparently was never used in the hitoyogiri pieces. Instead,
cross-fingering techniques were used to play half tones and tones between the holes.
Because of the hitoyogiri's small holes, however, half-holing is almost impossible.
Furthermore, changing pitch through alteration of jaw angle, meri and kari is also difficult
due to the small blowing hole.
The hitoyogiri pitched at A4 is most suited to play the Ritsu scale; D, E, G, A, B, which is
probably one of the reasons it remained after the other lengths of hitoyogiri were no longer
used. On the other hand, the Miyako Bushi flatted seconds scale, which was so important
throughout the Edo period, was extremely difficult to play on the hitoyogiri. One of the
reasons for the hitoyogiri's demise is precisely due to the fact that it couldn't handle the
narrow half tones of the Miyako Bushi scale. General history books in Japan classify the
hitoyogiri as an instrument of the early Edo period, but considering the fact that the
hitoyogiri – through its musical limitation – wasn't suited to the Miyako Bushi scale, it
should be more properly classified as the shakuhachi of the Middle Ages.

4. The Edo Period Shakuhachi

The 16th Century and its Impact on the Development of Japanese Music
Looking at the 100 years between the mid-16th to the mid-17th centuries, we see that it is
the age in which the Fuke shakuhachi was just beginning to emerge. It was also an
important formative period for the various genres of performing arts which were to flourish
in the Edo period up to the end of the 19th century.
For example, the most important development in that perios was the importation of the
three-stringed shamisen from the Ryûkyû Islands (Okinawa) around 1560. The shamisen
quickly gained popularity, being widely used as the accompanying instrument for the jôruri
narrative singing and story telling. Jôruri tied up with puppetry to create the bunraku
tradition (1595), and again the shamisen played an important role. The shamisen also
found its way into the kabuki dances which were begun by a female performer, Okuni of
the Izumo area (early 16th century). The koto was also undergoing significant changes.
The Tsukushi style of koto playing took the gagaku koto and began its popularization in the
1580s. The composer Yatsuhashi Kengyô (1614-1685) further popularized the koto
through such masterpieces as „Rokudan no Shirabe“ and „Midare“, and it was at that time
that the koto geban to be played in ensemble with the shamisen. Even a cursory look at
the musical developments during tese hundred years showas the dramatic changes and
experimentations which were taking place, setting the stage for the musical culture of the
Edo period.
This was the environment which fostered the development of the Fuke shakuhachi, but
this was also the period in which the Miyako Bushi scale began to permeate all aspects of
popular music – a fact of far-reaching consequences. Yatsuhashi Kengyô changed the
Ritsu scale of the Tsukushi koto, which was a scale similar to the scale used in gagaku, to
the Miyako Bushi scale which was better able to capture the popular sentiments of the
time. All of the musical developmednts of the Edo period are colored by the emotional
impact of the Miyako Bushi scale. The instruments most suited to this scale were the koto,
the shamisen, and the Fuke shakuhachi but not the hitoyogiri.
The differences between the Miyako Bushi and the Ritsu scale are shown in the following
chart. Each scale consists of a set of two tetrachords (Miyako Bushi scale: D, E, G, A, B,
D; Ritsu scale: D, E flat, G, A B flat, D) in which the outer notes are equivalent in relative
pitch. The tonic note and the fourth interval of each tetrachord remains constant. What
changes between the two scales and gives them their colorations is the interval between
the first and second, and the fourth and fifth tone of the scales. The Miyako Bushi interval
is a minor second (usually played even flatter), and the interval in the Ritsu scale is a
major second.

The Development of the Root-End Shakuhachi

At this time, not only did the shakuhachi become larger in order to accomodate the Miyako
Bushi scale, but the root end of the bamboo came to be used as the shakuhachi bell. Apart
from whatever acoustical advantages there may have been for using the heavy root end,
there was certainly the advantage of having an instrument which doubled as a bludgeon,
at least for certain Edo period rouges and samurai who were not allowed to carry swords.
The story of Karigane Bunshichi (taken from Katabisashi – 1853) exemplifies this colorful
episode in the shakuhachi's history.
Karigane Bunshichi was a rogue from Osaka who, excelling at the shakuhachi, taught all
his gang how to play. Later, he left aside playing the shakuhachi and started to use it as a
sword, changing the length to one shaku eight sun and adding several nodes and the root
end of the bamboo. Records state that karigane was executed in 1703, so he must have
been active around the end of the 17th century. It's difficult to believe that Karigane was the
originator of the one shaku eight sun length shakuhachi, as the story suggests, but the fact
that Karigane was able to use the instrument as a weapon indicates that it must have
already been substantially heavier than the hitoyogiri.
Stories of Edo period dandies and rouges playing the shakuhachi appear frequently in
plays and novels. There was even a word fashioned for their kind of shakuhachi – kenka
shakuhachi – which referred to the frequent quarrels in which these people engaged,
without doubt using the shakuhachi to their tactical advantage. Considering the fact that
the early Fuke shakuhachi had only three nodes and didn't utilize the root end (cf. the
shakuhachi in the Boro-no Techo, and the shakuhachi depicted in the statue of Kyochiku
Zenji, the founder of Kyoto's Myôan-ji Temple), it is entirely possible that tese rogues and
dandies were responsible for creating the trademark of the present shakuhachi – it's
blunted root bell.
According to the Tsurezure Gusa, the Boro komosô monks were debauched, merciless
fighters, not caring whether they lived or died. Perhaps the Edo period rogues so given
over the fighting with their instruments took hints from the earlier komosô who had similar
natures.

Development of the Shakuhachi as a Meditational/Religious Instrument

Colorful episodes and stories not withstanding, during most of the Edo period the
shakuhachi wasn't regarded as a musical instrument. The Katabisashi states: „The
shakuhachi is used in fights wasn't a musical instrument, it is now used by monks as a
religious tool...“ This appears to reflect the popular thinking of that time, that the
shakuhachi was a monk's tool, or, in other words, a religious tool of the Fuke sect.
The Fuke sect itself was quite an unusual religious group, and even today, its existence is
still somewhat of a riddle. It is claimed that the sect's founder was the Zen master Fuke (in
chinese, Pû Huà) of China's Tang period, but Fuke didn't actually found this sect, and
there is no trace of such a sect extisting in presently China. The Fuke sect was entirely a
Japanese product. There is also the obvious inconsistenca of historical periods. Fuke lived
in the 9th century – the Fuke sect was formally established in the 18th century. Even
disregarding the historical inconsistencies, the lifestyle of the Fuke monks was also quite
out of the ordinary. Fuke monks – in other words, komusô monks – made a part of their
discipline to beg while playing the shakuhachi on pilgrimages. Shakuhachi playing,
however, was not just a way to beg for alms. The komusô ardently played the shakuhachi
as a way toward enlightenment – in a style called suizen or „blowing“ meditation – instead
of zazen meditation, sutra chanting, or activities in which most Zen monks engaged. This
was the reason why the shakuhachi was reffered to as a religious tool rather than as an
instrument, and why the pieces they played weren't „music“ but „meditations“.
One very unusual aspect about the Fuke sect is that they were granted a number of
special privileges by the autocratic Edo central government, developing into a kind of
extralegal sect. The Fuke sect was a place, free from interference from the authorities,
where rônin masterless samurai could temporarily hide themselves and where warriors
who had no recourse to the traditional schools could pursue their training. Because
komusô were allowed to freely embark on pilgrimages, they had free acess to all highways
and checkpoints (in the Edo period, all central roads had frequent checkpoints which
required official permission to pass), as well as free passage on the boats that plied the
many rivers crossing highways. Furthermore, they wore a deep, woven reed hat (tengai)
which assured their anonimity. Wherever they went, they were free from insults or
interference by any person or local laws, and it was obligatory to offer alms to the
komusô's begging. The shakuhachi itself was the exclusive property of the komusô – no
others were allowed to play it. Although these numerous special privileges didn't apply
throughout the entire history of the Fuke sect, they are representative of how the Fuke sect
fitted into the Edo society in general. The historical inconsistencies and problems of the
sect are treated in detail in the following pages.

Origins of the Fuke Sect – Fact and Fantasy

The origins of the Fuke sect are set forth in its official document, the Kyotaku Denki, which
is outlined below.
In China, there was a monk of high learning called Fuke. He always walked around the city
with a bell (taku) in his hand, ringing it while announcing „Myô tô rai, myô tô da, an tô rai,
an tô da, Shi hô hachi men rai, sen pô da, Kô kû rai, ren ga da“ („If attacked from the light,
I will strike back in the light. If attacked from the dark, I will strike back in the dark. If
attacked from all four quarters, I will strike back as a whirlwind. If attacked from emptiness,
I will lash out like a flail“). A mand named Chôhaku (Zhang Bô) heard this and yearned to
be his disciple, but was turned away. As Chôhaku had a knack with flutes, he quickly
fashioned a flute from a piece of bamboo and created a piece which imitated the sound of
Fuke's bell ringing. Thereafter he played only this piece on the flute, and because the
flute's sound imitated the ringing of a bell, he titled the piece „Kyotaku“ („The Bell which
isn't“) and handed it down to his descendants. This flute came to be known as the
shakuhachi in later times.
Sixteen generations removed from Chôhaku there was a man, Chôsan (Zhân Cân), who
had already mastered this tradition while in his youth. Chôsan went to study Zen Buddhism
at the temple Gôkoku-ji (Hûguôsi) in the prefecture of Yôshû (Shû Zhôu). At the same time
a Japanese priest called Gakushin was also studying at the same temple. They soon
becam friends, and Gakushin – captivated by the wondrous sounds of Ch^san's kyotaku
flute song – requested that Chôsan teach him the tradition. Gakushin returned to Japan in
1254 where he went to Yura on the Kii peninsula (south of present-day Wakayama City)
and founded the temple Shihô-ji (later to be known as Kôkoku-ji Temple). There, Gakushin
came to be known as a highly learned and respected priest, given the posthumous
Buddhist name Hottô-kokushi („Light of Dharma onto the Country“).
Within Gakushin's many disciples, there was one particularly devoted one, Kichiku
(afterwards known as Kyochiku), to whom Gakushin handed down the kyotaku tradition.
Besides Kichiku, there were four others (Kokusaku, Risei, Hôfu and Sôjô – known as the
„four devoted men“) who also were proficient on the flute. Kichiku, desiring to embark on a
pilgrimage, set off for the province of Ise, arriving at the shrine of Kokuzu-dô on the top of
Mount Asamagatake (in present-day Mie prefecture). Drifting in and out of sleep while
saying his prayers, he heard supremely wondrous sounds coming to him. Awakening, he
tried to imitate these sounds on his flute, making two pieces, „Mukaiji“ („Flute ond the
Foggy Sea“) and „Kokû“ („Flute in the Empty Sky“). Kichiku later changed his name to
Kyochiku and called himself Rôan, living in Uji (near Kyoto). After his death Kyochiku's
disciple Meifû built the Kyoto temple Myôan-ji with Kyochiku as the founder.
On the other hand, Hôfu lived a while at Uji and propagated Fuke Zen. Later, he took three
of his disciples (Kinsen, Kassô, and Hôgi) on a pilgrimage on gthe eastern regions. Hôfu
died while they were in Kogane of Shimos Province (present-day Chiba prefecture), adn
Kinsen built a temple there in his honour, called Ryûsan Ichigetsu-ji. Another disciple,
Kassô, built the temple Reihô-ji in Musashino province (now the western edge of Tokyo).
Several generations down from Kyochiku is a descendant called Kyofû. At that time there
was a general known as Kusunoki no Masakatsu, who was grandson to the minister of the
southern court, Kusunoki no Masahige. Masakatsu fought valiantly for the southern court's
cause (during Japan's age of two Imperial Courts, 1330's), but after the north and the
south were united, he had no place to go. Leaving home, Masakatsu met Kyofû, who
taught him the komusô traditions. Changing his name to kyomu, Masakatsu wandered the
countryside with shakuhachi, tengai basket hat, robes, footwear, and other paraphenalia of
a komusô monk. If asked, during his wanderings, what his name was, all he would answer
was „The monk (sô) Kyomu“. From this, people started to camm the Fuke monks „komusô“
(kyomu-sô“).
The Kyotaku Denki Kokuji Kai was published in 1795 by Masayu Shôbei of a Kyoto
publishing house. Included in this document are histories of the temple Myôan-ji, Ichigetsu-
ji, and Reihô-ji. The details of these histories are somewhat inconsistent with each other,
but generally follow the story outlined above.
However, there are a few glaring inconsistencies throughout the entire document.
Although the next section will go into a detailed analysis of these incosistencies, a few
facts concerning these temples and pieces should be clarified.
First, the pieces „Mukaiji“ and „Kokû“ along with „Kyorei“ are known as the „Three
Classics“, and even today are considered the basic reprtory of classic shakuhachi playing
in the Myôan and Kinko styles. Secondly, Myôan-ji, Ichigetsu-ji, and Reihô-ji were temples
of the Fuke sect (komusô dera). Myôan-ji was the headquarter temple for the „33 western
provinces“, while Ichigetsu-ji and Reihô-ji (both in Edo, however, Reihô-ji was moved to
Ôme city west of Edo in the early 17th century) were the headquarter temples for the whole
country, acting as the general representatives of the fuke sect to the Edo governing
authorities. Although Kôkoku-ji Temple was founded by Hottô-kokushi, it did not belong to
the fuke sect, but was a temple of the Myôshin-ji faction of the Rinzai sect of Zen
Buddhism. Nonetheless, Myôan-ji was considered a subsidiary temple of Kôkoku-ji.

The Kyotaku Denki disproved; Nakatsuka Chikuzen's Historical View of the Kinko
Shakuhachi
Lack of any concrete proof substantiating the above-cited legends concerning the origins
of the Fuke sect and komusô, plus many other inconsistencies, make the Kyotaku Denki
difficult to accept as truth.
Would it be possible for the shakuhachi to be transmitted 16 generations after Chôhaku
and introducedto a foreign guest without there being mention somewhere? There is no
written record of this in China. Even if Hottô-kokushi did bring the shakuhachi back to
Japan and his disciples wandered around the countryside playing it, it is very likely that
some kind of record would remain, but nothing in the Kamakura Period documents
(corresponding to this time) mentions this incident. True, the tempuku flourished in an
obscure corner of Kyushu, but it is highly unlikely that someone playing the shakuhachi
around the vidinity of the capital city Kyoto would go unnoticed. Furthermore, if indeed
Kusonoki no Masakatsu was the original komusô, then it means that the komusô costume
and paraphenalia – tengai basket hat, sashes, handwear, and footwear – would have been
in use by the late 14th century, but there is nothing to substantiate that, either. In short,
these legends cannot be verified through cross references.
The Kyotaku Denki Kokuji Kai is the only published resource material on the origins of the
fuke sect, and it is generally considered to be specious.The document consists of a
manuscript (Kyotaku Denki) in Chines kanbun style by a priest called Tonwa, followed by a
translation and commentary in Japanese (Kokuji Kai). However, nothing is really known
about Tonwa except that he was a Zen priest during the Kan'ei Period (1624-1644). The
original manuscript was said to have been in the possession of the Ano family, but there is
no substantiating proof for this, either.
In a picture scroll relating the origins of the temple Myôan-ji there is also mention of the
Kyotaku Denki, but the date and origin of this scroll are unknown. Interestingly, the Kokuji
Kai Japanese commentary was edited and published in 1795, a period when the Fuke sect
was starting to experience difficulties and began losing some of the special porivileges
granted to it by the Tokugawa government. This fact, plus the high degree of fantasy found
within the legend itself, suggests, in all probability, that the Japanese commentary to the
original legend was published at thes particular time with a definite purpose in mind – to
dress up the old legend and provide the failing sect with a sense of legitimacy.
Nonetheless, the prototype of this legend seems quite old. The famous shibboleth of the
Chinese Zen master Fuke, „Myô to rai, myô to da...“ (originally from the 9th-century Rinzai
Roku – The Teachings of Rinzai) can also be found in the aforementioned Boro-no Techô
(1628), along with a passage which states „Master Fuke was the founder of the komosô“.
Likewise, the Shichiku Shoshin-shû (1664) makes mention of this legend: „Certainly, the
origins of the Fuke shakuhachi are unclear, but although it is sait that Hottô (Hottô-kokushi
or Gakushin) of Yura was the founder of this Way, we find it hard to accept...“ The fact that
this legend appears in these sources indicate that the kyotaku Denki was not entirely
made up by Edo period Fuke monks. At least from around the end of the 16th century,
when komosô were prevalent, Fuke was regarded by some as the founder of the fuke
sect. Of course, the members of the Fuke sect took this legend for truth. Even today, many
shakuhachi players involved in transmitting the Fuke shakuhachi pieces still strongly
believe the Kyotaku Denki, and throughout the end of the Edo period and into the 20th
century, this legend was taken as undisputable fact concerning the origins of the Fuke
shakuhachi.
Little research concerning the legend's objectivity and accuracy was undertaken until
Nakatsuka Chikuzen, an avid shakuhachi player and scholar, undertook an extensive
study of its origins. His findings were published between 1936 and 1939 under the title
Kinko Ryû Shakuhachi Shikan (A Historical View of the Kinko Shakuhachi) in Sankyoku (a
magazine, published from 1921 to 1944, devoted to the traditional music of shamisen, koto
and shakuhachi). His original intent, stated in the preface, was to research with the
assumption that the legend contained in the Kyotaku Denki was true, but in the process of
his investigation, he had the opporunity to examine all of the archieves at myôan-ji, plus
the material remaining at Kôkoku-ji which related to this legend. Slowly, doubts built up
within him concerning its veracity.
Briefly stated, Nakatsuka discovered, while persuing the Myôan-ji archieves, that records
and events supposedly reaching far back – for example the temples' histories. Lineage of
the priests, and posthulous teachings of various masters- were in fact fabricated at a later
date. At Kôkoku-ji (Myôan-ji's mother temple), Nakatsuka delved into the dairies kept by
Hottô-kokushi (Gakushin) during his studies in China and after he returned home, the
correspondance which took place between the temples Kôkoku-ji and Myôan-ji, and many
other important documents. Nowhere in the diaries was there mention that Hottô-kokushi
came into contact with te shakuhachi while in China or brought one back to Japan. The
name „Kichiku“ appears nowhere, and the four disciples who supposedly returned to
Japan with Hottô-kokushi were no more than mere men-servants. Because nothing could
be found relating to the shakuhachi, Nakatsuka could not substantiate even le least part of
the legend contained within the Kyotaku Denki. Putting together the various legends and
stories found at Myôan-ji, Nakatsuka surmised that it only became a bonafide temple at
the beginning of the Edo period (early 17th century). Before that it was no more than a
stopping-off place for wandering komosô monks – hardly in the same class as a temple.
Furthermore, Nakatsuka discovered through letters remainig at Kôkoku-ji that Myôan-ji, by
altering documents, had contrieved its relationship with Kôkoku-ji at a later date. During
the course of his research, Nakatsuka changed his beliefs about the Kyotaku Denki and
sat that it was based upon flimsy and specious legends, purposely falsified. From here,
Nakatuska directed his attention to the reasons for this falsification and began research on
the rise and fall of the Fuke sect during the Edo period.
Before introducing the results of this research, however, it is necessary to examine the
Fuke sect and its relationship with the Edo government, including the special privileges
which the government granted this sect.

Political Intrigue – The Fuke Sect and the Tokugawa Government

The fact that a religious sect bases itself upon myth is in itself not such a major problem.
But there were aspects of the Fuke sect which set it apart from the average religious sect.
These were the various special privileges granted to the komusô monks who belonged to
the Fuke sect. Official recognition and authorization of these privileges are clearly set out
in a series of articles contained within a document, supposedly issued by the government,
known as the Keichô Okite Gaki (Governmental Decree of the Keichô Years, 1596-1615).
The Keichô Okite Gaki was dated the first month, 1614. Bearing the signature of Honda
Uenosuke, Itakura Iganomori, and Honda Sadanomori, the decree was issued to the
komusô temples. Being the earliest decree issued by the Tokugawa government to the
Fuke sect, it is said (at least by members of the Fuke sect) to have been written by the
great Shôgun Tokugawa Ieyasu himself.
The legitimacy of this decree came into question as early as the end of the 17th century,
when Arai Hakuseki (1657-1725) first expressed doubt. Afterwards, several officials of the
Temple & Shrine Magistrate's Office began to hold similar misgivings. More recently,
Kurihara Kôta in Shakuhachi Shikô (1918, the first comprehensive shakuhachi history
book), and Mikami Sanji both presented detailed research concluding that the Keichô
Okite Gaki was not written in 1614, but was a falsified decree actually written around 1680.
Of the many spurious aspects of this document, only a few of the more abvious ones will
be given here. First of all, no record found within the Tokugawa government mentions
anything about the issuance of this decree. On the contrary, it seems that the Fuke sect
provided the Tokugawa government with a copy of the original decree that had been
issued to them. When asked about the original decree (which would have borne the official
government seal), the fuke sect answered that it had been lost in a temple fire.
Furthermore, numerous copies are axtant, and each one is at slight variance with the
other. Not only do they differ in obvious ways (they were all handwritten), but the number
of provisions within the decree itself varies – there are copies with as few as eight
provisions and copies vontaining as many 21 provisions. This fact in itself is enough to
make someone doubt the veracity of the decree, but Nakatsuka, in Kinko Ryû Shakuhachi
Shikan, undertook more detailed research based upon the assumptions of Kurihara and
Mikami.
Nakatsuka classified the various copies of the Keichô Okite Gaki into two types: ones
containing comparatively few provisions and ones with numerous provisions. As each
article enunciates a certain privilege to the Fuke sect, it stands to reason that the copies
with a few number of provisions benefitted the Tokugawa government, while a greater
number of provisions benefited the sect. The former contained provisions which
designated the Fuke sect as an organization for the accomodation of masterless samurai,
provided for limitations and policing of the komusô, and stipulated that the komusô must
act as spies fo the government, and other provisions which clearly gave the government
the advantage. There wasn't even a stipulation that forbade non-komusô from playing the
shakuhachi. On the other hand, copies of the decree containing many provisions clearly
favored the Fuke sect: the shakuhachi was exclusive property of the komusô, komusô
could wear deep basket hats (tengai) to hide their identity, komusô could not only travel
freely throughout the country, but they were to be given free passage on boats and free
admission to plays, they were not bound by local law, they could leave the sect at any
time, etc. As provisions favoring the Fuke sect grew, the stipulations requiring komusô to
act as special government police disappeared. In other words, the fact that there were two
types of decrees indicates a power struggle took place between the Fuke sect and the
Tokugawa government. These decrees were not the result of cooperative afforts by the
Fuke sect and the Tokugawa government; rather, the sect would devise a decree and
submit it to the government who would give its tacit approval, each time adding
instructions in a separate decree which limited the privileges of the sect. It doesn't
necessarily follow that decrees containing numerous provisions were issued at a time
when the sect was powerful and vice versa. Decrees containing a large number of
favorable provisions were more likely a form of protest by the Fuke sect during periods of
crackdowns by the Tokugawa government.
Spurious as these decrees may have been, there is no doubt that the government gave its
tacit approval to many of the Fuke sect's activities, and that in itself was effective for
cinvincing society at large. The average person's image of the komusô and belief in the
Fuke sect were based upon these decrees, and these perceptions have endured until
recent times.

Nakatsuka's Theories on the Rise of the Fuke Sect

How then, did the Fuke sect actually come into being and develop? Again, we have no rely
on the researchof Nakatsuka. Unfortunately, Nakatsuka became ill and died before he
could finish the research begun in Kinko Ryu Shakuhachi Shikan, so it remains without
general conclusions. However, by compiling the various bits of information found in each
chapter and section, it is possible to ascertain the conclusion he was aiming for, although
there are places lacking in coherency. Below is a general outline of Nakatsuka's theories
on the Fuke sect.
During the Middle Ages, there were figures like Ikkyû and Rôan who devoted themselves
to the Zen meditative aspects of the shakuhachi and its sound along with furyû, Bohemian
figures and eccentric hermits who also involved themselves with the shakuhachi. But after
the perios of intense civil wars (15th-16th century), rônin or masterless samurai began to
swell the ranks of komusô. Tokugawa Ieyasu's victory at Sekigahara and his subsequent
defeat of the Osaka-based Shôgun Toyotomi Hideyori (1615) ushered in the Edo period
but also created a surplus of rônin, who were a liability to the newly established
government. The Tokugawa government tightened control and watched over these rônin,
but they joined in with a major rebellion leb underground Christians at Shimabara Island
(1637) and other rebellions, creating a major nuisance for the government. Tokugawa
thightened vigilance over these rônin while at the same time clamping down on the
Christians and extending authority through the Buddhist institutions. As a result of the
threat to their existence, the komosô banded together and formed a sect, which would
provide somewhat of a haven.
As previously mentioned, by the late Middle Ages there had already been an association
of the Chinese Tang period Zen master Pu Huâ (Fuke) with the shakuhachi, but it seems
that the name „komosô“ changed to „komusô“ around the Keichô period (1596-1615). It is
highly likely that the 14th-century Zen priest Ikkyû made the original connection between
the shakuhachi and Fuke (he was fond of both, and they are the subject of several of his
poems). Rôan was probably the first monk to make pilgrimages around the land while
begging and playing the shakuhachi. Amond the wandering, homeless komosô monks
who went from place to place, there grew up a system of simple lodges along with a
feeling of comradeship which likely grew into a kind of factionalism. The later rônin who
joined the rands of the komosô skillfully used these existing conditions to create the Fuke
sect.
Changing their name form the ignominous „komosô“ („straw mat monks“) to „komusô“
(„monks of emptiness and nothingness“) which had a definite air of Zen mysticism, playing
the shakuhachi as a type of Zen meditation, changing instruments from the light hitoyogiri
to the heavy root-end shakuhachi (for purpose of self protection as well), etc. were all
innovations which seemed widespread and contributed to the establishment and
development of the Fuke sect. The new sect, however, did not develop out of a religious of
musical necessity, but out of political need. Because of this, the problem of structural
organization was important. In order to be able to call itself a bonafide religous sect, it was
necessary to have a temple which acted as a centrad headquarters. The leaders chose
the komosô lodge at shirakawa in Kyoto, calling it Myôan-ji. But there was another
problem. Due to the uprisings by Christians and other problems, the Tokugawa
government forbade the establishment of any new temples. It was necessary, therefore,
for Myôan-ji to create an association with an older, well established temple. After much
contriving and plotting, they succeeded in makin Myôan-ji a subsidiary temple of Kôkoku-ji,
and somehow or another won recognition by the government. In order to confer „historical
accuracy“ to this relationship and general respectability to the Fuke sect, the Kyotaku
Denki legend was cleverly put forth as a raison d'être.
Furthermore, the Keichô Okite Gaki decree was written to firm up the sect's political
position and act as a shield, which it utilized to defend itself with the long list of special
privileges. Written, as it supposedly was, by the almighty Tokugawa Ieyasu himself, the
government could hardly question it. Problems like what to do when asked to show the
original could be solved by saying it was destroyed in a temple fire. Of course the
government questioned the legacy of this decree, but they also recognized a chance to
turn the situation to its advatage. If it didn't recognize this legion of rônin (who were
possibly powerful enemies), it would be increasingly difficult to gauge where and in what
form they might turn up again. Therefore the government decided to recognize the Fuke
sect and use it for its own purposes. The first Keichô Okite Gaki decree was a product of
this give and take between the government and the Fuke sect. Thes decree was not
completely in the sect's favor, but the fact that the government didn't counter it with a more
strict decree and appeared to accept all the sect's demands for special privileges shows
cunning on its part.
Leaving aside the question of special privileges, the bovernment requested that the Fuke
sect move its headquarters from Kyoto's Myôan-ji to Edo, where it would be easier to keep
watch on the rônin and employ them as secret police. As a result, the temples Ichigetsu-ji
of the Shimôsa Kogane area (present day Chiba Prefecture) and Reihô-ji in Western Edo
were chosen as headquarters and both temples set up offices in cetral Edo. It is not clear
why there were two headquarter temples, but it was probably due to the existence of
different factions within the komosô themselves.
From then on the government, by issuing directives and inquiries to these two temples,
could maintain control over all the komusô. The first such issuance occured in 1677, which
is seen as the final proof that the Edo government recognized the existence of the Fuke
sect. In other words, the fuke sect officialy started as a sect with special privileges
probably sometime before this directive was issued.

Komusô Sects and Komusô Temples

At Kôkoku-ji, Nakatsuka examined the document called Boro-no-Techô. The author (name
unknown) was a boro (another name for komosô) who wrote in a question-and-answer
style explaining the ways of the komosô. Dated 1628, it ends with the phrase: „Master
Fuke was the founder of the komusô of which there are 16 sects“, and it lists the sects as
the Yôtaku sect, Gibun sect, Shirin sect, Impa sect, Yûnan sect, Nogi sect, Chigo sect,
Kogiku sect, Kinsen sect, Kassô sect, Umeji sect, Kichiku sect, Nezasa sect, Fuchi sect,
Tanjaku sect and the Sôwa sect. When the Fuke sect was established there were also 16
sub-sects, therefore it is likely that they came from these komosô sects. There were also
supposedly over 120 Fuke Temples in the beginning, but there is no record of their
individual names. The early Fuke Temples were basically no more than lodges for the
wandering monks, numerous and scattgered around the country. After the Fuke sect was
officially established, the total number of temples decreased. This was because the sect's
strenght diminished, but merely because some of these „temple-lodges“ naturally fell into
oblivion or were re-organized. Previously, the komosô ranks were made up of wandering
beggars, itinerant musicians, and general riff-raff, but as a result of the establishment of
the Fuke sect and a strict standard of disiples, memership became exclusive and was
limited to those with samurai ranking. Those who didn't match the standards were weeded
out.
The Kyotaku Denki Kokuji Kai, although containing many mistakes and omissions, lists six
sects and 55 temples. A scroll possessed by Myôan-ji (dated 1763) lists 11 sects and 72
temples, while the Kinko Techô of Kurosawa Kinko (1710-1770) lists 64 temples.
Nakatsuka Chikuzen compiled all the information regarding komusô temples and came up
with a lost of 77, which he sorted out according to the sects which were listened in the
Myôan-ji scroll. This list includes all the temples which ever existed, not necessarila
simultaneously. A partial listing of the temples, their sect affiliation, and location are as
follows:

Kinsen sect – 10 temples

Kinryûzan Ichigetsu-ji – Kogane, Shimôsa-no-Kuni (Chiba Prefecture)
Seibokuzan Saikô-ji – Kanagawa, Musahi-no-Kuni (Kanagawa Prefecture)
Reitakuzan Fudai-ji – Hamamatsu, Tôtômi-no Kuni (Shizuoka Prefecture)
Daigenzan Kôgetsu-ji – Yanagawa, Dhikugo-no-Kuni (Kyushu)

Kinsen sect (affiliated with Saikô-ji) – 6 temples

Hôkeizan Kannen-ji – Shimôsa-no-Kuni (Chiba Prefecture)
Ryûkeizan Tôshô-ji – Meguro, Musashino-no-Kuni (Tokyo)

Kassô sect – 8 temples

Kakureizan Reihô-ji – Ôme, Musashino-no-Kuni (Tokyo) Taikôzan
Anraku-ji – Meguro, Musashino-no-Kuni (Tokyo) Reizan
Myôan-ji – Kai-no-Kuni (Yamanashi Prefecture)

Kassô sect (affiliated with anraku-ji) – three temples

Kudokuzan Ryûgen-ji – Oihira, Izu-no-Kuni (Shizuoka Prefecture)

Kyochiku sect – 4 temples

Kyoreizan Myôan-ji – Yamashiro-no-Kuni (Kyoto) Itchôken – Hakata, Chikuzen-no-Kuni
(Kyushu)

Kichiku sect – 4 temples

Shûhôzan Myôan-ji – Nakanohara, Echigo-no-Kuni (Niigata Prefecture)

Kogiku sect – 6 temples

Shingetsu-ji – Hitachi-no-Kuni (Ibaraki Prefecture)

Kozasa sect – 1 temple

Rikôzan Reihô-ji – Kôzuke-no-Kuni (Gumma Prefecture)

Umeji sect – 14 temples

Kongôzan Jijô-ji – Takazaki, Kôzuke-no-Kuni (Gumma Prefecture)

Jôshû Mito – 8 temples

Kôyasan Eirin-ji – Hitachi-no-Kuni (Ibaraki Prefecture)

Ôshu Dewa – 11 temples

Futaiken – Masuda, Mutsu-no-Kuni (Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture)
Chikurinzan Shôganken – Hanamaki, Mutsu-no-Kuni (Iwate Prefecture)
Kogikuzan Renpôken – Fukushima, Mutsu-no-Kuni (Fukushima Preffecture)
Garyôken – Yamagata, Dewa-no-Kuni (Yamagata prefecture)

The Fuke Sect's Suizen – Lifestyle ans Music of the Komusô Monks
After the Fuke sect was established, it developed a set of intrasect rules based on the
government's directives. The first directive, issued in 1677, specified three points: the
method of choosing the head priest for the main and subsidiary temples, the method for
choosing applicants (checking the credentials of those who wished to become komusô),
and how to deal with crime and rule-breaking within the sect. These three points became
the basis for all the sect's rules and regulations.
The entrance requirements became quite stringent. Komusô applicants had to be samurai,
requiring impeccable references and undergoing a thorough check. Then, after paying the
required fee, the applicant had to swear his faithfullness at the grave of the founder before
he was given the komusô's three tools and three seals. Those tools consisted of a
shakuhachi, a tengai basket hat, and a kesa sash worn over the kimono. The three seals
were identification papers which included a honsoku, a kai'in, and a tsûin. The honsoku
was the komusô's licence, and therefore his most important document. Permission to enter
the wect was called „Conferment of the Honsoku“. The kai'in were personal identification
papers, and the tsûin enabled the komusô to travel freely about the country.
The hierarchy of the temples consisted of the head priest, deputy to the head priest, office
manager, monitor (who kept discipline among the ranks), master of ceremonies and his
assistant, and the komusô monks themselves. Daily activity centered around playing the
shakuhachi. In the morning, the managing priest would play „Kakuseirei“, an awakening
piece which started the day. The monks would gather in front of the altar and perform the
piece „Chôka“ to gebin their daily sevices, followed by a Zen session. During the day the
monks practiced shakuhachi, underwent training in the martial arts, and went begging. In
the evening, they played the ritual piece „Banka“ before sitting Zen again. Esoteric
practices at night included playing the pieces „Shin'ya“ and „Reibo“. In addition, each
monk was required to go begging three days a month. During their medicant wandering,
they played pieces such as „Tôri“ („Passing“), „Kadozuke“ („Street Corners“) and
„Hashigaeshi“ („Returning the Begging-bowl“). When two komusô met while begging, it
was customary to play the pieces „Yobi Take“ („Call of the Shakuhachi“) or „Uke Take“
(„Answer of the Shakuhachi“). When on the road and wishing to stay in a komusô temple,
they played „Hirakimon“ od „Monbiraki“ („Open the Gate“) to gain entrance. Practice and
etiquette differed from temple to temple but remained basically the same.
Ritual pieces, and even the pieces which seemed like entertainment for the monks were
part of Zen training called suizen. The word zazen, familiar in the West, refers to Zen
meditation whie sitting („za“). „Sui“ means to play or create a sound on a wind instrument.
Therefore, it was a „blowing Zen“. Actually, suizen of the komusô didn't remain all that
aloof from the world of secular music. There was considereable contact between the two
worlds which resulted in shakuhachi pieces being influenced by secular music. When this
happened, komusô usually rationalized it by renaming the piece with a Zen-sounding
name or adding some Zen pilosophy to the playing instrudtions.
As an instrument, the shakuhachi is well suited to Zen training. The long continuous tones
require an unbroken concentration of mind and breath. The instrument is neither too loud
no too soft – perfect for those wishing to walk the path of moderation. The soft tones are
very rich, quieting, and can be minutely altered. Each player produces a different sound,
which reflects the subtle variations between each individual. The simple instrument gives
birth to tones which are rich and mystic. All these aspects of the shakuhachi lend itself to
introspection, meditation, and spiritual discipline. It is not surprising indeed that siuzen was
born aout of the shakuhachi. Even though the Edo period Fuke sect untertook
questionable practices and contained its fair amount rogues, their practices and lifestyle
was based on an honest and sincere disire for spiritual enlightenment. If the suizen idea
was in its infancy during the times of the komosô, it reached refinement and idealization
with the establishment of the Fuke sect.
The pieces which the komusô played, called honkyoku, were all born from this Zen spirit,
and the musical characteristics of these pieces have their origins in suizen. As honkyoku
are essentially solo pieces, the rhythm, phrasing, and musical arrangement are freely
structured. Understanding the differences between indiviuals or schools deepens with
practice of suizen. Even today, performers who play honkyoku maintain that these pieces
should be freely interpreted by each individual. Although sometimes this is an excuse for
sloppy playing, it also exhibits a Zen way of thought.
Along with the change in organizational structur and daily life of the komusô, their morals
and characters also changed, and the dubious image of the komosô monks faded away. In
the Kiyûshôran (1830), the following can be found commenting on this change: „There's
been a change in the attire of the komusô, and now it's very different from before. Around
the Jôô and Meireki periods (1650s), they had yarô cuts ( a style with the top of the head
shaven) with dishveled hair and wore the usual woven basket hat with a simple kimono. At
the beginning of the Genroku period (1688-1703), they started to wear kesa sashes and
the basket that was more open underneath. In the Kan'en period (1748-50), their kimono
started to look like they do today (1830), with round stitched brocaded waist bands. The
bottom of the basket hat was wide and had a small window. From the Meiwa period (1764-
71), they began to carry a brocaded flute case at their hips, wear narrower basket hats,
and look like dandies.“ The deep tengai basket hat which completely covers the head and
hides the identitiy of the player actually wasn't used until much later.

The Shakuhachi and Early Ensemble Playing by Laymen

In spite of the Fuke sect's monopoly on the instrument, laymen played the shakuhachi and
participated in ensemble music with the koto and the shamisen throughout the Edo period.
Although officially against their rules, the fuke sect allowed this practice to continue to
some extent.
In the 1694 Honsoku Deshihe Môshi Watashi Jô (Decree to Bonafide Disciples) issued by
the temple Myôan-ji, one can already see a distinction between „direct disciples of Myôan-
ji“ and „disciples residing in town“, indicating that there were instruction centers in the town
that were involved in issuing playing licenses. This decree also expressly forbade the
playing of „disorderly pieces“ (meaning popular or common piedes) and ensemble playing
with koto and shamisen. Inclusion of this admonishment indicates that the practice was
probably widespread.
In the stipulation forbidding the issuance of licenses to townspeople and farmers found in
Myôan-ji's Thirty-one Precepts“, there is also a stipulation that reads:“For the time being –
as long as it is not done from greed – it is meaningful to create a link between farners,
townspeople, and this temple.“ This passage is significant in that it indicates the komusô
temples were willing to teach shakuhachi to laymen – for a fee, of course.
Proof of the institutionalization of the practice of teaching laymen can be seen in the
issuance of suichiku shakuhachi playing licenses bo Edo's Reihô-ji. Because bonafide
komusô licenses couldn't be given to laymen, it was decided to provide them, out of
convenience, with suichiku-me or professional names. In essence, they were like the
komusô honsoku license, but they provided a source of income for the temple, just as
today the system of confering professional names to players of traditional Japanese music
is a major source of income for the iemoto guild system.
 Suichiku License

In 1759, the Edo government ordered an investigation into Reihô-ji's practice of conferring
professional names on laymen, but the temple countered with the argument that, like
names used by haiku poets, they were to be taken extremely lightly. But only Reihô-ji
conferred these names; the other Edo komusô temple, Ichigetsu-ji, did not. Jumping on
this inconsistency, the government issued a very severe directive. It is not known if this
cirective was taken seriously or not, but the increasing amount of shakhachi teaching to
laymen laid the ground work for the later fuki awase sho public shakuhachi studios.
The Gayû Manroku (1755) notes the following concerning ensemble playing during this
time, although not in a very complimentary light: „Nowadays there's something long and
thick called the shakuhachi. It's used with the sangen (shamisen), and it can also play low
sounds. As for the tone, it's vulgar.“ the painting known as Utakeizu (1782) depicts a koto,
shamisen, and shakuhachi in ensemble on stage.

Ensemble Players on Stage, Koto Shamisen, Shakuhachi (Utakeizu)

In 1792, Reihô-ji and Ichigetsu-ji answered an inquiry sent by the government. Aooarently
the government asked „Do you think it all right that you teach the shamisen and kokyû
(bowed lute)?“ Couching their answer carefully, they replied that „it really shouldn't be
done, but it seems some who don't understand this are teaching privately, but as long as
we don't hear directly about these activities, there's nothing we can do.“ In another inquiry
sent by the government in 1847, asking if teaching popular shakuhachi and shamisen
didn't hamper their activities as a religious sect, they answered, „We are sincerely
grievious for the trouble we are causing...“

Public Shakuhachi Studios and the Beginning of the Kinko Style

Among the komusô monks there were several who were skilled on the shakuhachi and to
them fell the task of traning the younger disciples. This training was called fuki awase
(„playing together“) and involved many of the elder monks. At first, teaching occured only
within the confines of the temple, but as the Fuke sect's restrictions relaxed and the
number of shakuhachi-playing laymen increased, public studios (fuki awase sho) sprang
up in the cities and towns. Again, a look at the response given by the Fuke sect to a
gvernment inquiry (1792) indicates how widespread this practice was. Listed were 19
names of persons „living in Edo town houses and teaching the shakuhachi“, including
Kurosawa Kôhachi (son of Kurosawa Kinko, founder of the Kinko style – see below) who
taught in his home and two other places, and Kôhachi's son, Masajûro (third-generation
Kinko), who had his own studio.
The situation in the Osaka/Kyoto area was similar. In 1852, Myôan-ji sent a notice to its
representative (kenbun yaku) stationed in the provinces whose job it was to keep order
within the komusô ranks. The content of this notice shows that these kenbun yaku were
also involved in teaching the shakuhachi at fuki awase sho studios. The notice
admonished „to keep in mind that the fuki awase sho studio is an extension of the temple.
Disorderly pieces other than the correct pieces for transmission are not to be taught. It (the
fuki awase sho studio) should not be called shinanjo or keikoba (terms to indicate public
koto or shamisen studios.“
The flourishing of the fuki awase sho studios, the conferment of professional names to
laymen, and the increased amount of ensemble playing with koto and shamisen indicates
that although officially the shakuhachi was exclusive property of the fuke sect, it was
increasingly being developed as a musical instrument. Naturally, this development had an
influence on the Fuke shakuhachi music itself.
One of the first komusô monks who worked to inspire the Fuke pieces with higher dgree of
musicality was Kurosawa Kinko (1710-1770). Born into a samurai family in Kuroda,
Kyushu, Kinko joined the fuke sect and was given the responibility to teach shakuhachi at
both Edo fuke temples. He immersed himself into study of the shakuhachi while collecting
and organizing Fuke pieces from temples around the country. He notated and arranged
about 30 of these pieces and, adding the „Three Traditional Pieces“, ended up with a
collection of 33 honkyoku. Although some sources suggest that it was Kurosawa's son
who added the extra three, these 33 pieces from the basic repertory of the modern Kinko-
style cooection of 36 honkyoku (three more pieces were added later). Kurosawa was also
said to have improved on the instrument itself, the result of which is the modern
shakuhachi. The use of tghe Kinko name in ascribing a style of shakuhachi playing didn't
come into use until the second generation. During Kurosawa's time there was no need for
such a delineation because there were no other styles, but during the time of Kinko II, one
of Kurosawa's top disciples, Miyaji Ikkan, began his own style, calling it the Ikkan Style. To
clarify the differences in these two styles, the temr „Kinko Style“ geban to be used. The
Kinko style was spassed down from father to son until the third generation, who, as
mentioned, both had their own fuki awase sho teaching studios.

The Demise of the Fuke Sect – Misuse and Forfeiture of its Special Privileges
The various special privileges of the Fuke sect were not granted from the beginning, but
came slowly about as a fait accompli. From the very beginning the Fuke sect provided the
government with a means to keep check on loose rônin (masterless samurai) and use
these rônin as spies. Therefore, the government lent its tacit approval to the sect's
demands for privileges. In order to assure continued protection and patronage by the
government, it was imperative that hte Fuke sect keep its onw house in order. For this
reason, during the first 80 years of the sect's existence, (up to the mid-18th century), the
Fuke sect and its komusô were woll ordered and probably caused a few problems with
society at large. Nonetheless, there was always the danger of misuse of the sect's
privileges. The case of conferring professional names to laymen is a good example of how
discipline within the sect gradually became lax. However, that this name-selling was
institutionalized and controlled still indicates a semblance of order and discipline. The rule
excluding anyone except bonafide samurai from joining the Fuke sect slowly crumbled,
and anyone – townsmen, farmers, etc. - who paid the right amount of money could join the
ranks. This led to a further deterioration of rules and order within the sect. Soon there were
„monks“ who had joined the sect only to enjoy its special privileges and beg for cash. As
previoulsy explained, there were kenbun yaku or special komusô whose job was to keep
order within the ranks, but even they could not keep up with the increasing amounts of
fakery and misuse of the privileges.
In one sense, however, the deterioration of the Fuke sect was inevitable in this particular
age. Within the sentiments of the general poplace at this time there brewed an atmosphere
of laxness and disregard for rules. Over 100 years of peaceful, albeit ttotalitarian, rule by
the Tokugawa clan created a sense of stagnation and the vigor and energy which
premeated the mood of early Edo waned, in its place crept a corruptive idleness. The
change in komusô costume described earlier (for example, the use of a brocade flute bag
and other „dandy“ attributes), reflects this change in popular attitudes.
Furthermore, in an age of peace and stability the komusô were no longer valuable as spies
and „secret police“ for the government. This increase in the number of directives and
inquiries sent to the Fuke sect by the government around the end of the 18th century
indicates that the government was not willing to tolearte the sect's special privileges. With
the general laxation of rules within the socielty, certainly the government considered the
thorough decadence of the Fuke sect quite troublesome. A directive issued in 1774 notes
that komusô were extorting an threatening villagers, and it indicated that from hereon
komusô who engaged in illegal acts must be arrested.
It is at this time that an attempt to resurrect the Fuke sect can be seen in the form of the
Kyotaku Denki Kokuji Kai (1795). The appearance of the Deichô Okite Gaki, which lists so
many special privileges, also dates from around this time. Much later, in a 1841 report
submitted to the governmental Council of Temples and Shrines, the Fuke sect assiduously
defends the true nature of the Fuke sect, but by this time it was too late to stop the sect's
demise.
At last, in 1847, a governmental announcement was circulated which categorically denied
the Fuke sect's special privileges. Outwardly, the announcement only prohibited extortion
(by means of „begging“) which was prevalent among komusô. The announcement stated
that since the Fuke sect was supposedly a branch of the Rinzai Zen sect, its members
should uphold the high ideal of Zen, which didn't include providing rônin samurai with
hiding places. In addition, it was stressed that their begging practice should be conducted
in the same humility as in other religious sects, etc. This announcement effectively
negated all the special privileges contained in the Keichô Okite Gaki, and as a result, the
influence and prestige of the sect quickly declined.
The shock effect of the government's announcement to the Fuke sect cannot be
underestimated. Within the Myôan-ji Temple's scroll can be seen a memo distributed to
the komusô which demanded self control on the part of its members – advice no doubt
strongly colored by the government's announcement. In spite of this attempt at self control
and revival, the Fuke sect never did regain strength but limped along until the Meiji
Resoration, when both the Edo government and the Fuke sect met their final demise.

Shakuhachi in the Late Edo Period – The Rise of Individual Schools

Although the fuke group as a privileged sect was on its deathbed, the shakuhachi as a
musical instrument was enjoying increasing popularity. Accomplished players were
emerging from the komusô temples and new styles of shakuhachi playing were springing
up around the country, the most notable one being the Kinko style.
As previoulsly described, the Kinko family teaching tradition continued from father to son
until the third generation. Kinko III (1772-1816) had no son, so after his death his younger
brother became the head of the line. However, the younger brother – being unskilled and
unfit as a headmaster – gave up the shakuhachi, breaking the Kinko family line. Hisamatsu
Fûyô, a disciple of Kinko III, became the actual iemoto headmaster and conducted the
teaching. Hisamatsu, a samurai in direct service to the government, wrote a revealing work
concerning the shakuhachi called Hitori Mondô (Solitary Dialogue). Hitori Mondô continues
to stress the Zen aspects of self discipline in shakuhachi playing, but rather than insisting –
unlike the Fuke sect – that the shakuhachi is a ritual instrument (hôki), he begins to stress
that the shakuhachi is a musical instrument (gakki). The astistic direction of the Kinko style
after the Meiji Restoration had its beginning in Hisamatsu's philosophy. After Hisamatsu's
death, the Kinko style came under the guidance of Yoshida Itchô (1812-1881) and Araki
Kodô (1832-1908). These two men wirnessed the Meiji Restoration with its subsequent
outlawing of the Fuke sect and the growth of the Kinko style.
The Ikkan style began with Miyagi Ikkan, a disciple of Kurosawa Kinko I. Ikkan's
successorts were Ikeda Isshi, Yokota Goryû, Yamada Nyodô, and Toyoda Kodô, who was
said to excel in the instrument. Araki Kodô was also of this lineage and learned sankyoku
ensemble pieces from Yokota nad honkyoku from Toyoda. After Toyoda's death, Araki
took the Kodô name form his teacher. Later, Araki studied under Hisamatsu. As a result,
the Kinko style and Ikkan style merged together again, although many adherents to the
Ikkan style remained into the Meiji Period.
The Kinko and Ikkan styles constituted the two major styles of the late Edo period.
However, most of the players were not professional komusô but high ranking samurai and
servants who also practiced komusô style disciplines. Players from both schools played
ensemble pieces, which consisted chiefly of Edo period nagauta pieces. It wasn't until
Araki's time that the shakuhachi was used extensively with the koto and shamisen in
sankyoku pieces.
In the Kansai (Osaka/Kyoto) area, Myôan-ji remained the center of shakuhachi activities.
Unlike Edo, the Kansai area was slower to develop definite musical styles, and except for
the time immediately preceding the Meiji Restoration, little is known about the activities of
shakuhachi players in that area. Nonetheless, apart from players who concentrated on
honkyoku within the temple, there were probably many who were playing ensemble pieces
with shamisen and koto.
Kyoto was the center for professional blind musicians who specialized in the jiuta style of
singing with shamisen accompaniment. As jiuta developed, the shamisen accompaniment
became more musically complex, with koto and kokyû (thress-stringed bowed lute)
counterparts added later. It was a fertile area and time for interaction between shakuhachi
and the stringed instruments. The Utakeizu relates that a well known jiuta piece, „Yashio
Jishi“ was „originally a shakuhachi piece Masajima Kengyô (?-1780) arranged for kokyû
and which became popular after Fujinaga Kengyô (Masajima's teacher) arranged it for
shamisen.“ There are other pieces for the stringed instruments having similar names as
shakuhachi pieces, including „Tsuru no Sugomori“, „Sakae Jishi“, etc., which suggests a
close relationship between the two genres. Within this atmosphere, the Sôetsu style of
shakuhachi developed.
Thefounder, Kondô Sôetsu (1820-1860), was born in nagasaki. Very found of music as a
child, he excelled in the charamela street vendor's flute and was nicknamed „Charamela
Sôetsu“. Soon he took the shakuhachi, becoming very proficient. As an adult, he moved to
kyoto and went to Myôan-ji where he studied under the Supervisor Priest Ozaki Shinryû.
Sôetsu later rose to the position of Supervisor Priest and afterwards based himself in
Osaka. He supposedly learned jiuta and koto pieces, but he was adopted into the family of
the jiuta master Furukawa Kengyô and notated jiuta and koto pieces in order to create
shakuhachi parts for them. From this time on, the number of his students grew. Before
Sôetsu, there was an Osaka shakuhachi player named Kachiku, who also had several
students. When Sôetsu arrived on the scene, however, most of Kachiku's students
decided they wanted to study with Sôetsu. Kachiku himself finally went to learn from
Sôetsu, who by now had become an undisputed master of the instrument. His style,
officially called „Myôan Sôetsu Style“, included such persons as Majima Kakuô, Tsukahara
Gyokudô, and Kida Kakushû who became the pillars of the post-Meiji Restoration
shakuhachi world in Osaka. The Sôetsu style doesn't exist toda, but many of the Kansai
shakuhachi players were strongly influenced by the Sôetsu style.
Sôetsu's teacher, Ozaki Shinryû (1817- 1889) was a master player at Myôan Temple
before the Meiji Restoration. The style of shakuhachi playing shich concentrated on the
Myôan-ji honkyoku was called Myôan Shimpô style. Because Sôetsu, star pupil of this
style, put his efforts into learning sankyoku ensemble pieces, the Shimpô style was
continued by Katsuura Seizan (1856-1942). Seizan, who later became the Kyoto head of
the Myôan Society (the post-Fuke sect organization) and lived well into the 20th century,
has been called „the last komusô“ and was the authority on the correct transmission of the
Myôan Temple's honkyoku. His influence on present-day shakuhachi players of the Fuke
style honkyoku is quite extensive.
Although unrelated to Ozaki Shinryû, Katsuno Shinryû I (?-1861) also studied at Myôan-ji
and maintained an extremely close relationship with Sôetsu. Active in Kyoto, Katsuno
developed the Shinryû style which has continued within one family until present times.
The last priest of the komusô temple Fudai-ken in Hamamatsu (Shizuoka Prefecture),
Umeyama Tamadô, also became quite famous. His disciple, Kanetomo Seien (1818-
1895), studied under Tsukahara Gyokudô of the Sôetsu style. Later moving to Nagoya,
Weien began the Seien style. His diciple, Suzuki Kôdô, was the originator of the Myôan
Taizan style of shakuhachi playing.
Other parts of Japan also had their characteristic styles of shakuhachi playing. Hirosaki, in
Japan's northern Tsuruga district, was home for a unique style known as Nezasa sect
Kimpû style. Nezasa was one of the original 16 sub-sects of the Fuke sect whose founder,
Hôgi, was said to be a disciple of Hôfu, who had been one of the original four disciples of
Gakushin. Hôgi was a student of Kinpo (founder of the ichigetsu-ji Temple) and Kassô
(founder of the Reihô-ji Temple). The Nezasa sect temples were based in the Nagano
aera and extended up to the northeastern provinces, but in later times theses temples
came under the jurisdiction of Edo's Reihô-ji and the name „Nezasa“ was lost. In the early
19th century, Kurihara Kinpô from the temple Enhô-ji of the nagano aera taught the Nezasa
style playing to Yoshizaki Hachiyakôdô (?-1835). Yoshizaki transmitted this style to
Hirosaki, his hometown. The nezasa style of playing is unique in that it utilizes a breath
technique called komi – short bursts of breath which act as a kind of rough vibrato. This
style has almost died out, but teachers can still be found in the Tokyo aera.

5. The Modern Shakuhachi

The Banning of the Fuke Sect and the Shakuhachi's Transition from a Ritual
Instrument to a Musical Instrument
In October of the fourth year after the Meiji Restoration (1871), the government officially
banned the Fuke sect. Komusô temples were shut down and the komusô priests
themselves were laicized. The following year begging was outlawed, and the performance
of the shakuhachi as a hôki ritual tool – in other words the handing down of the Fuke
pieces – neared extinction. Musically, however, the shakuhachi itself was enjoyeing
increasing popularity. There were roaming shakuhachi players and musicians who
accompanied folk songs, and many former komusô were scattered around the country,
actively involved in playing. It was unimaginable that the shakuhachi would die out.
Nonetheless, the ban on begging with the shakuhachi undoubtedly presented a serious
problem to the komusô monks who had made that their living. The only road which
remained for them was playing the shakuhachi as a musical instrument.
The persons most successful at thie were Yoshida Itchô and Araki Kodô (mentioned
previously) of the Kinko style. Defending the shakuhachi against suspicions and inquiries,
Yoshida and Araki persuaded the government to allow the shakuhachi to be played as an
instrument, thus making it available to anyone who wanted to play.
This marked the beginning of the modern shakuhachi and its music. Presently there are
two general streams of shakuhachi music. One stream, generally called the Myôan style,
consists of those who concentrate on the honkyoku handed down from the Fuke sect and
play the shakuhachi in the spirit of suizen meditation. The other stream, for example the
Kinko and Tozan styles, concentrates on the musical aspects of the shakuhachi.

Various Schools of Myôan Shakuhachi and their Development

Shakuhachi players associated with the temples Ichigetsu-ji and Reihô-ji in Tokyo
continued the Kinko styles after the meiji Restoration, developing the musical possibilities
of the instrument. Those who wanted to emphasize the suizen meditation tradition found
themselves drawn to kyoto's Myôan-ji. The temple, like all komusô temples, was
disbanded, and the chief priest, Jisho Sakuhi (34th line) returned to secular life, calling
himself Akekura Kakuhi and taking another profession. His departure from the temple left
the suizen advocates nowhere to turn.
When the Fuke sect was disbanded, Sakuhi presented some Myôan-ji artifacts to a
sympathetic associate, Jikeirin Wa Shô, head priest of Zenkei-ji, a sub-temple within the
compounds of Kyoto^s temple Tôfuku-ji. The artifacts included the statue of Kyochiku
(founder of the Fuke sect) and memorial stone tablets of the head and supervisor priests.
Naturally, those who felt drawn to the suizen tradition followed these artifacts and gathered
at Zenkei-in.
In 1881, thanks to the combined efforts of several Buddhist sects, begging was once more
allowed after a 10-year hiatus, and hopes rose in the kyoto area to reactivate the komusô
tradition. At the same time, there was a fire at Tôfuku-ji shich resulted in a widespread
movement to rebuild the temple and its grounds. The komusô, thinking to take part in this
movement by collecting funds through begging, applied to the government for permission.
Permission was granted in 1883, and the Myôan Society was established at Zenkei-in,
with Lord Kyûjo Michitaka (who was in charge of rebuilding Tôfuku-ji) as its chairman and
Katsuura Seizan as the head of the Kyoto branch. The present day Myôan-ji grew out of
the Myôan Society.
Following the establishment of the Myôan Society, Kôkoku-ji established the Fuke Society
in 1888. Later, the temple Kokutai-ji established the Myô On Society, and the temple
Myôkô-ji the Hottô Society. Several other former komusô temples around the country in
some form or another were also preserving and rekindling the komusô tradition of suizen.
These societies together acted as a cooperative association and decided upon rules for
dress, distributed licenses and identification papers (like the three seals of the Fuke sect),
and established rules and time schedules for begging. Unlike the Fuke sect, however,
anyone could pay a set fee and receive a license. As a result, there grew a tendency
among members to become „professional“ komusô beggars. Transmission of the music
and development of an artistic style became secondary.
Higuchi Taizan (1856-1914) of the Myôan Society reformed this situation. Taizan, born in
Nagoya with the name Suzuki Kôdô, first studied the Seien style and in 1890 came to
Kyoto where he joined the Myôan Society, becoming an instructor. He spent his efforts
collecting and organizing pieces from the Myôan tradition and many other styles. His
outstanding abilities as a player and his work in expanding the artistic width of the myôan
Society revitalized the tradition, and he became the 35th successor in the mineage which
had been broken when Kakuhi returned to secular life. He developed a style of shakuhachi
playing called the Taizan sect of Myôan Temple Lineage. His successorts were Kobayashi
Shizan (36th), Tanikita Muchiku (37th), Koizumi Shizan (38th), and the recent Fukumoto
Kyoan (39th).
In march, 1950, the Myôan Society was given permission to construct a temple, called the
„Fuke Sei Su Myôan-ji“ which was to be built in the compounds of Zenkei'in in Tôfuku-ji. In
1952, various shakuhachi sects collaborated in creating a group to honos Kyochiku Zenji,
the „Kyochiku Zenji Hôsan Kai“, which met twice yearly, in the spring and fall, to offer
honkyoku to the spirit of Kyochiku. Shakuhachi players from around the country continue
to come every year, regardless of their affiliation, to participate in this ceremony. In 1966, a
stone memorial commemorating the spirit of suizen was erected, and in 1969, the temple's
main hall was completed, creating a new Myôan-ji which acts as a spiritual „homeland“ for
all shakuhachi players, regardless of sect or style affiliation.
Although Taizan revitalized the myôna Society, his efforts resulted in the introduction of
many pieces from other styles into the Myôan style. Therefore, the pieces in today's
Myôan repertory are not necessarily the same ones which had been handed down at the
end of the Edo period. After Taizan, the nature of the Myôan style changed. Katsuura
Seizan, who inherited the Myôan Shinpô style from Ozaki Shinryû, was at one time the
head of the Kyoto branch of the Myôan Society, but he left soon after Taizan's appearance
on the scene.
It was inevitable that shakuhachi plyers wishing to follow the suizen tradition had differing
opinions and formed various styles. The end of the 19th century until present times saw the
arrival af a number of such players, many of whom were centered around Tokyo. A partial
listing of the more prominent players is as follows:
nagano
‒ Hasegawa Tôgaku, Konashi Reisui and his students Uramoto Setchô, all of whom were
responsible for transmitting the pieces centered at Fudaiken Temple in Sendai.
‒ Jimbô Masanosuke of Renkôken Temple in Fukushima.
‒ Nyui Kenzô, Nagano Kyokû and Orito Jôgetsu of Hirosaki's Nezasa Sect, and Nagano's
student Jin Nyôdô.
‒ Miyagawa Nyôzan and Itchô Fumon (later known as Watazumi Dô, the founder of the
Watazumi style) of Ttchôken Temple in hakata, and Nyôzen's students Tani Kyôchiku
and Takahashi Kûzan.
‒ Kiyomizu Seizan from Itchôken Temple and Tsunoda Rogetsu from Kumamoto. Both
studied under Taizan, and Seizan started the Kyûshû Myôan sect, and Rogetsu the
Myôan Rogetsu sect.
One major problem in trying to trace the styles and lineages of the Myôan-style
shakuhachi players lies in the fact that each one learned from a number of teachers and
was influenced by several styles. An obvious example of this is Takahashi Kûzan, a player
active until his death in the late 1980s. Kûzan not only studied under Miyagawa Nyôzan,
but also with Takase sukeharu, Kobayashi Haô, Kojitomo Tarô, Kobayashi shizan, Ozaki
Meidô, and Katsuura Seizan. Kûzan also studied the classical pieces of the Kinpû style
and other styles, mastering over 150 pieces in all. Jin Nyôdô of the Kinpû style tried to
learn all the extant pieces for the shakuhachi. He took the effort to travel around the
country collecting music handed down from the various komusô temples. He learnde the
Myôan Shimpô style, the Taizan style, the Seien style, as well as the Kinko style, and he
also composed and studied ensemble pieces, learning the koto and shamisen.
Kûzan and Nyôdô are representative of the Myôan players, therefore it is difficult to draw a
distinct chart showing the relationship and lineages of the teachers and their students. The
problem is compounded by the fact that oftentimes players who have learned several of
the traditional pieces from various sources created a new style or sect. One could go so
far to say that each individual player becomes a sect himself, and that the number of sects
in Japan equals the number of players. This condition has come about due to the
openness of the shakuhachi world since the Meiji Restoration. Unlike the elitist Fuke sect,
there were no secreat or special societies and no ironclad rules to prevent a student from
studying other styles or discovering his own musical expression. The Zen philosophy
which allowed performers to interpret each honkyoku as they saw fit fostered individuality
and kept students from being bound strictly to one style.
Nonetheless, the players of the various Myôan styles, except for a few exceptions, played
only the classical suizen-honkyoku pieces and had little interest in the other genres of
shakuhachi music – a situation which tended toward musical stagnation. To them, the
honkyoku was not a type of music to be played in public concerts. Although this
supposedly kept their music „pure“, it did little to provide public exposure and support.
After World War II, however, these classical honkyoku were „rediscovered“, and gained
attention from mocern composers, musicians, and musicologists, both from Japan and
abroad. The influence of theses classical pieces on the modern shakuhachi world is quite
extensive, with players from all styles absorbing and integrating these suizen honkyoku
into their own performances. The Myôan-style players have been quietly learning and
transmitting their pieces, providing a base from which the post-war shakuhachi world has
received a tremendous inspiration. For this reason, these guardians of the suizen-
honkyoku shakuhachi pieces have played a valuable role.

The Kinko Style and its Emphasis on Musicality

Yoshida Itchô and Araki Kodô succeeded in revitailzing the shakuhachi as a musical
instrument after it was outlawd as a ritual tool of the Fuke sect. Through their efforts,
interes in shakuhachi music spread. Today, the Kinko style places the utmost omportance
on theri honkyoku, but instead of maintaining a body of several hundred, amorphous
pieces like the Myôan style, the Kinko style limits itself to only 36 well organized honkyoku.
The Kinko gaikyoku (any shakuhachi piece which is not honkyoku, in this case, ensemble
pieces) well outnumber the honkyoku, and students of the Kinko style usually master the
gaikyoku before they continue into the honkyoku.
After Yoshida retired, Araki took charge of the Kinko style. He directed his efforts inot
notating the shamisen pieces and adding shakuhachi parts. Ar first, he notated mainly
pieces from the nagauta repertory, later switching to the jiuta style of shamisen. Today's
Kinko gaikyoku consist entirely of pieces from the jiuta shamisen tradition and the Ikuta
and Yamada styles of koto playing. Araki's teacher, Toyoda Kodô, was very close to
Kondô Sôetsu and the Sôetsu-style of ensemble playing, which probably explains Araki's
interest in this type of music. Araki was responsibel for the increased interes in sanykoku
(shamisen, kot, & shakuhachi) ensemble playing in Tokyo.
One of Araki's main accomplishments was an improvement in shakuhachi notation. In the
classic honkyoku there was no need to indicate rhythms and tempos, but ensemble
playing reiquired precision and clarity regarding time and speed. Together with the
musicologist Uehara Rokushirô (author of „Studies on Folk Scales“), Araki developed a
system of notation consisting of a vertical script (katakana syllabary) which indicates the
pitch and a system of dots and lines which indicate rhythm.
After Araki retired in 1894, he was given honorifiv name „Chikuhô“, and his son,
Shinnosuke (1879-1935), took the name Kodô III (Toyoda Kodô was considered Kodô I).
Kodô III became the invigorating force of the Kinko style into the 20th century.
Unlike the Tozan style, discussed below, the Kinko style had no difite, centralized
organization, and even though Kodô III was the prominent Kinko figure, he was not an
iemoto guild headmaster or founder. Able students of Kodô II (Chikuô) broke off and
formed their own sects and created gaikyoku music in their own notation styles (although
basically differing very little from Kodô's notation), each group operating realtively
independently and freely. Among all of Kodô II's disciples, kawase Junsuke I (1870-1957)
was most successful in revising and popularizing the shakuhachi notation. Kodô II's
shakuhachi notation was written in a very peculiar calligraphic style, somewhat difficult to
read. Kodô II's disciples, Miura Kindô, Mizuno Rodô, and Kawamoto Itsudô continued this
way of writing. Kawase, however, with the help of Kodô III, rewrote the notation into easy-
to-read, block-lettering style. At first, they cooperated in publishing this music, mut later
Kodô III developed his own shakuhachi parts to the ensemble music and began publishing
on his own. Under Kawase's exceptional organizational abilities, the number of his
students grew, forming the Chikuyû Sha shakuhachi organization within the Kinko style.
The music which he published also became the standard notation for the majority of Kinko
shakuhachi players. Although the Kinko style is fragmented into several organizations,
there is very little exclusionism and sectarianism. All Kinko players feel an affinity and
identification with the Kinko style as a whole.
The Kinko style is centered in Tokyo, but because its origins are so old the style is spread
throughout the country. In Kinko honkyoku, musicality rather than the suizen aspect is
stressed, and the pieces have become highly refined and technically demanding. The
shakuhachi parts in the gaikyoku ensemble pieces generally follow the main melody
played by the shamisen of koto. Although this means the shakuhachi plays mostly unisono
with the string instruments, the shakuhachi is able to add expansiveness and depth to the
melody through expressive nuances and dynamic changes.
Lack of a central shakuhachi organization has lead to much diversification and freedom in
expression. From around the 1920s a movement of „New Japanese Music“ emerged with
the koto composer/performer Miyagi Michio and Kinko shakuhachi player Yoshida Seifû
leading the way. Many recent players, for example Fukuda Randô, developed very unique
styles of playing as well. Contemporary Kinko shakuhachi musicians are actively
preserving the tradtition while exploring new styles of music.

The Tozan Style and Ensemble Playing in the Kansai Area

While the Kinko style was developing gaikyoku ensemble pieces in Tokyo, the Tozan style
was starting up in the Osaka area. Western Japan, especially Osaka, had been the center
of the Sôetsu style which concentrated on gaikyoku. After the meiji Restoration, the Sôetsu
style gave birth to several new styles. Tozan was one of these styles.
The founder of the Tozan style, Nakao Tozan (1876-1956), was born in Osaka's Hirakata
district. His mother, Mitsuko, was the daughter of a famous jiuta shamisen master of
Kyoto, Terauchi Daikengyô. Terauchi was close to Kondô Sôetsu and often had his
daughter Mitsuko play in ensemble with him. As a child, Tozan received instruction from
his mother and learned the shakuhachi on his own. At 19, he joined the Myôan Society
and developed technique while undertaking pilgrimages of begging as a komusô, and in
1896, at the age of 21, he opened up a shakuhachi teaching studio in Osaka's Temma
district. The studio's opening is considered the beginning of the Tozan style.
Tozan increased his repertory by notating and adding shakuhachi parts to the jiuta he
learned, and he began composing his own music in 1904; compositions which became the
„honkyoku“ of the Tozan style. Later, Tozan established an iemoto guild system, reviewing
and accepting into his honkyoku repertory pieces from other composers. Tozan,
knowledgable about Western music as well, revised shakuhachi music, teaching, and
performing methods. In addition to solo works, his compositions included duets, trios,
quartets and ensemble pieces with various other instruments. Tozan vigorously introduced
new innovations in all aspects of shakuhachi playing.
A word about the Tozan's iemoto guild system needs to be added here. His modern
iemoto system was developed at the beginning of the 20th century and differed from earlier
systems. The new system established licensing procedures, professional rankings, and
testing procedures. In order to prevent the guild from becoming an personal extension of
the headmaster, the guild formed itself into a privat foundation operated by board
members and other officials. It was the headmaster's duty to oversee the entire operation.
In spite of this, the guild came somewhat to resemble an authoritarian society, and the
Tozan-style guild was oftentimes commonly reffered to as the „Kingdom of Tozan“.
Nonetheless, many other guilds of traditional Japanese music modeled themselves after
the iemoto guild system of the Tozan style.
The innovativeness of Tozan and his effort at popularizing the shakuhachi was very
successful and attracted a large following, especially among the youth in the knasai
district. In 1922, Tozan moved to Tokyo and joined forces with Miyagi Michio, an upcoming
star in the koto world. By now the Tozan style had spread throughout the country and just
within the span of one generation rivaled the Kinko style in size and influence. Because of
Tozan's ties with Kyoto and Osaka, however, the Kansai area has remained the center of
the Tozan style.
The Tozan repertory consists of the „honkyoku“ which Tozan and others composed, but,
like the Kinko style, a major amphasis is placed on the gaikyoku, especially ensemble
playing with jiuta shamisen and Ikuta-style koto (the Yamada-style koto was based in
Tokyo, therefore having little connection with the Kansai-based Tozan style). Players of
the tozan style have always had a positive attitude toward new music and are active in the
field of contemporary music. The Tozan guild publishes all types of shakuhachi music, and
as a rule, their members may only play these published pieces. Tozan was a member of
the Myôan Society and studied their classical honkyoku, but the tozan honkyoku are
completely dissimilar to the classical Fuke pieces and are obviously composed from a
musical standpoint.
Two sects brolke away from the Tozan style – the Ueda style and the Yoshizan style. The
Ueda is the larger, having begun under Ueda Hôdô (born 1892). Born in osaka, Ueda
studied under Tozan and was given the name kazan and progressed to the highest
professional rank. He performed his own compositions at Tozan-sanctioned recitals for
which he was heavily criticized by the guild. In spite of his earnest attempts to explain his
position, he was expelled from the guild in 1917, whence he changed his nam to Hôdô and
together with his brother, Chikudô, founded the Ueda style. Based in kansai, it resembles
the Tozan style in structure and musicality.
Presently, the Tozan style no longer maintains a single iemoto but has split into factions
who maintain organizational differences but whose musical differences are very slight.
Although not in the scope of this text, post-war developments in the shakuhachi world
have been impressive, generally paralleling the development and internationalization of
Japanese culture. How the shakuhachi has grown from an ethnic to a world instrument
could easily be the subject of extensive research. It has truly entered an international
arena and has been applied successfully to jazz, fusion, electronic music, rock and „new
age“ music. Shakuhachi is taught in a few American universities and is eagerly received in
Europe and Eastern-bloc countries. The las few decades have seen an increase in the
number of foreigners successfully studying the shakuhachi in Japan, some of whom have
become highly regarded professional players. Whereas the shakuhachi came eastward to
Japan during the 8th and 9th centuries when international cultures were flurishing along the
Slik Road, now the shakuhachi has continued further eastward; to America and Europe.
The possibilities inherent in the instrument will coninue to expand and adapt as it is played
by musicians form varying cultures.
The history of the shakuhachi in Japan has been a tale of elegance, ribaldry, myths,
intrigue, and spiritual searching. The lofty aspects of the shakuhachi – its suizen tradition –
have been marred by political rivalry and the power plays of the Fuke sect, and rising
popularity of the instrument has been countered by edicts banning its use. Despite its
variegated history, the shakuhachi requires concentration, stillness, and sensitivity for both
those who play and those who listen. This is the essence of suizen, and it remains the
same even for today's most successful shakuhachi musicians. Perhaps in an age of ever
indreasing electronic complication and gadgetry in music, this is what people from both
Japan and the West find so appealing.
Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music –

A Study of Shakuhachi, Historical Authenticity

and Transmission of Tradition
Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music
A Study of Shakuhachi, Historical Authenticity and Transmission of Tradition

Gunnar Jinmei Linder

© Gunnar Jinmei Linder, Stockholm 2012. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-91-7447-427-5

Printed in Sweden by Universitetsservice US-AB, Stockholm 2012.

Distributor: Department of Oriental Languages, Stockholm University.

All images and other plates are used by special permission by the proprietors.
The name of the proprietor is listed in each case within the caption to the image or plate.
No reproduction or other usage of images in this book is allowed without prior consent by
the proprietors.

Cover photos:
Yamaguchi Shirō and Yamaguchi Gorō. Used by courtesy of Yamaguchi Tomoko.
Three Meiji-period komusō. From the Ida Trotzig Collection. Used by courtesy of the
Etnografiska museet, Stockholm. The image has been cropped slightly on the left side; no
significant detail has been omitted.
 To

RVRSF
Acknowledgements

First of all I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Gunilla Lindberg-Wada, for all
her efforts and support. The discussions I have had with her, both at seminars and in private
meetings, have always been fruitful and stimulating. Her comments and questions have
given rise to new and important aspects of the material, without which I would have had
difficulty in continuing my research. This thesis probably would not have been what it is
without Professor Lindberg-Wada’s critical readings, and her fantastic ability to put the
finger on the problematic spots.
My old friend and colleague from the time I studied at the Tokyo University of the Arts
(formerly: Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music), Associate Professor Saitō
Mitsuru, has given important input to the content of the text, and he was also kind enough to
provide me with some material that was only available in Japan. He was a discussion
partner and proofreader when I wrote my Master Thesis, and he has followed my theoretical
framework since the mid-1990s.
I would also like to thank my colleagues at the Department of Japanese Studies,
especially Staffan Lindström and Mitsuyo Kuwano-Lidén, for their critical readings and
comments during our internal seminars. Mr Lindström has also been very helpful in reading
the kanbun (literary Chinese) texts, and we have had many stimulating discussions about
Buddhism in general, and Ikkyū Sōjun in particular. Ms Kuwano-Lidén has always
provided critical viewpoints on the text, which I might not have noticed otherwise.
Ms Ulla Wagner has given important comments from her perspective as an
anthropologist, which have had a very stimulating effect on my work. Professor Staffan
Carlshamre, my philosophy teacher in the early 1980s, had the kindness to attend the final
theory seminar. I am also grateful to the other participants in the final seminars, Docent
Christina Nygren, Assistant Professor Akihiro Ogawa, and Dr Bengt Pettersson, who
provided important perspectives from their respective fields.
My student and longtime friend, Ms Margareta van Gilpen, a musican and musical
therapist, has participated in most of my seminars, providing her outsider perspective and
raising important questions. My childhood friend, Mr Anders Lindeberg, read the final
manuscript from his perspective as an interested but nevertheless total outsider to the
material. He provided also important comments about readability and line of thought, which
I might not have noticed otherwise. Dr Jim Franklin, a composer, scholar, and shakuhachi
musician, gave his input on language aspects, as well as comments on the content; for this I
am very grateful.
 I would also like to thank the museums and university libraries that gave me permission
to use images from their respective collections (in alphabetic order): The Etnografiska
Museum and the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm, the Kyoto University
Library, the National Diet Library, the National Museum of Japanese History, the Suntory
Museum of Art, the Tohoku University Library, the Tokyo University of the Arts, the
Yonezawa City Library and the Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum. Thank you for letting me
use these valuable images. I would also like to extend a special thanks to Yamaguchi
Tomoko, who let me use a precious photograph of her father and grandfather for the cover
of this thesis. I am also grateful to Ms Natalie Schneider, who provided some of her photos
of instruments, and to Mr Monty Levenson for his input on the making of shakuhachi.
There are several other people at the Stockholm University, Department of Oriental
Languages, that I would like to thank: my fellow PhD students, especially Eva Aggeklint,
who has helped with Chinese language issues and stimulating discussions; the staff at the
Asian Library, Nobuko Kuramasu and Olivier Höhn, who have helped me locate material
that I have had problems finding; the administration staff, Annika Lundström and Viveca
Hellström, who have always been supportive and helpful in administrative and practical
matters.
I began studying shakuhachi under the guidance of the shakuhachi master Yamaguchi
Gorō (1933–99) in 1985. I would not have been where I am now without his constant
support. He took me under his wing when I received a scholarship from the Japanese
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 1993, enabling me to
study and conduct research on shakuhachi and performance practices for four years at
Tokyo University of the Arts. At the end of his life, in the summer of 1998, knowing that he
was dying of cancer, Yamaguchi Gorō bestowed on me a shihan master licence and made
the effort of selecting a professional name for me.
I would like to extend a sincere Thank You to all the people involved. Without your
support it would not have been the same. This said, any faulty interpretations or points of
discussion, typing error or strange usage of the English language that may remain in the
present study are all products of my own writing, and I am solely responsible for the text.
Finally, I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to my family, my wife Ryōko
and my children Viktor, Rikard, and Sofie, for their longtime support. I have been away
many long days and nights, and I hope that I can make up for this in the future. This extends
also to our still unborn baby, Frida, who is expected to enter this world any day now.

Stockholm, February 2012

The Author
 List of Contents

List of Figures and Plates ............................................................................................................... xii

要約 (Abstract in Japanese) .......................................................................................................... xiv
Notes on Romanization, Spelling, and Translations ...................................................................... xv
Notes on Names.............................................................................................................................. xv
Notes on Quotations and the Use of Italics .................................................................................... xv
Notes on Verses, Lines, and Stanzas ............................................................................................. xvi
Notes on Lexica ............................................................................................................................. xvi
Period Names and Years ............................................................................................................. xviii

Chapter 1 – Introduction .............................................................................................. 20

1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................... 20
1.2 Disposition ..................................................................................................................................... 24
1.3 Introductory Discussion: The Field of Study ................................................................................ 25
1.3.1 Traditional Music .................................................................................................................. 25
1.3.1.1 The Notion of Tradition in Performing Arts and Music .................................................. 25
1.3.1.2 The Japanese Word for Music ......................................................................................... 27
1.3.2 Tradition: Definition and Etymology .................................................................................... 30
1.3.3 Tradition as a Concept in Related Western Disciplines ........................................................ 35
1.3.3.1 The Concept Tradition in Socio-historical Studies ......................................................... 36
1.3.3.2 Creativity and Tradition ................................................................................................... 40
1.3.3.3 The Concept Tradition in Folklore Studies ..................................................................... 42
1.3.3.4 Shakuhachi Music as Folklore ......................................................................................... 45
1.3.4 Traditional Shakuhachi Music .............................................................................................. 49
1.4 Defining the Questions at Issue ..................................................................................................... 52
1.4.1 Historical Authenticity .......................................................................................................... 52
1.4.2 Prescriptive Forms ................................................................................................................. 53
1.5 Aim, Limitations, and Position of the Study ................................................................................. 56
1.5.1 Aim ........................................................................................................................................ 56
1.5.2 Limitations............................................................................................................................. 58
1.5.3 Position .................................................................................................................................. 59
1.6 Analytical Model and Methodology .............................................................................................. 60
1.6.1 The Position of the Researcher .............................................................................................. 61
1.6.2 Nattiez’s Analytical Model and its Employability ................................................................ 62
1.6.3 Semiology in the Analysis of Music ..................................................................................... 63
1.6.4 The Tripartitional Approach .................................................................................................. 65
1.6.4.1 The Tripartional Approach as a Theory of Transition ..................................................... 67
1.6.5 Analytical Situation ............................................................................................................... 68
1.6.6 Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 70

Chapter 2 – Sources: Primary and Secondary Texts ................................................. 72

2.1 Appearances of Shakuhachi in Historical Texts ............................................................................ 72
2.2 Twentieth-century Japanese Studies of the Historical Texts ......................................................... 75
 2.3 Studies and Other Texts in English ............................................................................................... 78
2.4 Visual and Other Physically Existing Material ............................................................................. 80

Chapter 3 – The Shakuhachi: Instrument and Implement ....................................... 82

3.1 Construction of Modern Shakuhachi ............................................................................................. 83
3.2 Different Types of Instruments Related to Shakuhachi ................................................................ 85
3.2.1 The gagaku Shakuhachi ........................................................................................................ 87
3.2.2 The tenpuku ........................................................................................................................... 90
3.2.3 The hito-yo-giri Shakuhachi .................................................................................................. 91
3.2.4 The komusō Shakuhachi or fuke Shakuhachi ........................................................................ 92
3.3 Shakuhachi: Appearances as Instrument and Implement .............................................................. 96
3.3.1 Appearances Relating to the Court: An Instrument .............................................................. 96
3.3.2 Relation to Buddhism: An Implement................................................................................... 98
3.3.3 Instrument and Implement..................................................................................................... 99

Chapter 4 – Constructing Tradition: The Shakuhachi in the Edo Period ............. 102
4.1 The Legendary Origin of the komusō and the Fuke Sect ............................................................ 103
4.1.1 The Legend According to “Kyotaku denki”........................................................................ 104
4.1.2 A Discussion of “Kyotaku denki” ....................................................................................... 106
4.2 The Invention of a Tradition........................................................................................................ 111
4.2.1 The 1677 Memorandum ...................................................................................................... 111
4.2.2 The “Keichō okite-gaki” ..................................................................................................... 113
4.2.2.1 The Different Copies of “Keichō okite-gaki” ................................................................ 115
4.2.2.2 The Content of “Keichō okite-gaki” .............................................................................. 116
4.2.2.3 Mikami Sanji’s Rejection of the Authenticity of “Keichō okite-gaki” ......................... 122
4.3 Shakuhachi in the Edo-period Society ........................................................................................ 124
4.3.1 Shakuhachi Lineages in the Edo Period .............................................................................. 124
4.3.2 Social Aspects of Tradition: The Shakuhachi in the Edo-period Society ........................... 126
4.4 The Concept of Dynamic Hearsay .............................................................................................. 131
4.4.1 Dynamic Hearsay and Invented Tradition .......................................................................... 131
4.5 The Construction of an Origin ..................................................................................................... 135
4.5.1 Fifteenth Century: Ikkyū Sōjun ........................................................................................... 136
4.5.2 Sixteenth Century: Taigen-shō and Popular Songs ............................................................. 142
4.5.2.1 Taigen-shō ..................................................................................................................... 142
4.5.2.2 Popular Songs ................................................................................................................ 144
4.5.3 Seventeenth Century: Hayashi Razan and Early komusō Documents ................................ 146
4.5.3.1 Hayashi Razan and Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi ................................................................. 146
4.5.3.2 Early komusō Documents and Early Historical References .......................................... 148
4.5.4 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 150

Chapter 5 – Constructing Tradition: The boro and Shakuhachi ........................... 154

5.1 The boro in Shokunin uta-awase ................................................................................................. 156
5.1.1 About shokunin uta-awase .................................................................................................. 157
5.1.2 Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase: boro (Number Forty-six) ....................................... 158
5.1.3 Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase: boro in Historical Studies of Shakuhachi .............. 160
5.1.4 Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase: Analysis of Pair Number Forty-six........................ 162
5.1.4.1 The First Set of Poems ................................................................................................... 164
5.1.4.2 The Second Set of Poems .............................................................................................. 165
5.1.5 Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase: Concluding Discussion .......................................... 168
 5.2 Boro-boro no sōshi: The boro ..................................................................................................... 169
5.2.1 Boro-boro no sōshi: Its Content in Secondary Literature ................................................... 171
5.2.2 Boro-boro no sōshi: Its Content Explicated ........................................................................ 173
5.2.2.1 Takeda ............................................................................................................................ 173
5.2.2.2 Ueno ............................................................................................................................... 175
5.3 Shaseki-shū: The boro ................................................................................................................. 177
5.3.1 Shaseki-shū in Twentieth-century Writings ........................................................................ 178
5.3.2 Shaseki-shū: Old and Popular Editions ............................................................................... 179
5.3.3 A Possible Misinterpretation ............................................................................................... 183
5.4 Concluding Remarks on the boro-boro ....................................................................................... 184

Chapter 6 – Constructing Tradition: The komosō and Shakuhachi ...................... 186

6.1 Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase ................................................................................................ 188
6.1.1 Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase: The komosō................................................................... 189
6.1.2 Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase: Analysis of Pair Number Six ........................................ 189
6.1.2.1 Analysis of Poems Number Six, hana ........................................................................... 190
6.1.2.2 The hanja’s Commentary to the First Set of Poems, Number Six ................................ 192
6.1.2.3 Analysis of Poems Number Twenty-two, jukkai ........................................................... 195
6.1.2.4 Analysis of the Commentary to the Second Set of Poems, Number Twenty-two ......... 197
6.1.3 Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase: Pair Number Six in Historical Studies of Shakuhachi . 198
6.1.3.1 A Discussion on the Use of Chinese Characters for komo ............................................ 199
6.1.3.2 Concerning Poem Twenty-two ...................................................................................... 203
6.1.3.3 The komosō: Beggars or Monks .................................................................................... 203
6.2 The komosō in Other Visual Material ......................................................................................... 205
6.3 Concluding Remarks on the komosō ........................................................................................... 207

Chapter 7 – (Re-)Constructing Tradition: Discussion and Conclusions................ 210

7.1 Re-creating Tradition: boro, komosō, and komusō ...................................................................... 211
7.1.1 The Neutral Dimension ....................................................................................................... 211
7.1.2 The Esthesic Dimension ...................................................................................................... 212
7.1.3 The Poietic Dimension ........................................................................................................ 215
7.2 Creating Tradition: Ikkyū, Zen, and Shōtoku Taishi ................................................................... 219
7.2.1 Shakuhachi, Ikkyū, and Zen ................................................................................................ 219
7.2.1.1 Shakuhachi and the Zen of Ikkyū: The Neutral Dimension .......................................... 219
7.2.1.2 Shakuhachi and the Zen of Ikkyū: The Esthesic Dimension ......................................... 222
7.2.1.3 Shakuhachi and the Zen of Ikkyū: Poietic Dimension .................................................. 223
7.2.2 An Indigenous Origin: Shōtoku Taishi and Shakuhachi ..................................................... 225
7.2.2.1 Shōtoku Taishi and Shakuhachi: The Neutral Dimension ............................................. 225
7.2.2.2 Shōtoku Taishi and Shakuhachi: The Esthesic Dimension ........................................... 227
7.2.2.3 Shōtoku Taishi and Shakuhachi: The Poietic Dimension .............................................. 228
7.3 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 230

Chapter 8 – Transmission of Tradition ..................................................................... 232

8.1 Lineages and Notation ................................................................................................................. 233
8.1.1 The Development of Lineages ............................................................................................ 233
8.1.2 Shakuhachi: From Implement to Instrument ....................................................................... 237
8.1.3 Transmission: Literacy and Orality ..................................................................................... 242
8.1.3.1 Shakuhachi honkyoku as Oral Tradition ........................................................................ 242
8.1.3.2 The Canonization of Kinko-ryū ..................................................................................... 244
 8.1.3.3 Subsequent Canonization ............................................................................................... 244
8.1.3.4 A Comment on Transmission and Diffusion ................................................................. 245
8.1.3.5 Concluding Remarks ..................................................................................................... 247
8.2 Kata: Means of Transmission ...................................................................................................... 248
8.2.1 The Notion of kata as a Structural Element ........................................................................ 249
8.2.2 Nishiyama’s Notion of kata and its Relation to Transmission ............................................ 251
8.2.3 Nishiyama’s Notion of the Function of kata ....................................................................... 252
8.2.4 Concluding Discussion of kata............................................................................................ 254
8.3 The Act of Transmission ............................................................................................................. 255
8.3.1 General Discussion of Notated Aspects of Transmission ................................................... 256
8.3.2 General Discussion of Non-notated Aspects of Transmission ............................................ 259
8.3.2.1 Non-verbal Elements of Oral Transmission .................................................................. 260
8.3.3 Discussion of Notated and Non-notated Elements in Enactments ...................................... 260
8.3.4 The Transmission-type of Enactment.................................................................................. 263
8.3.4.1 Enactment of Transmission ........................................................................................... 264
8.3.4.2 Internal Context ............................................................................................................. 265
8.3.4.3 External Context ............................................................................................................ 268
8.3.5 Concluding Discussion of Transmission-type of Enactments ............................................. 270
8.3.6 A Suggested Definition of Phrases, Patterns, and Idioms ................................................... 271
8.4 Concluding Discussion on Transmission of Tradition ................................................................ 273

Chapter 9 – Summary & Implications ...................................................................... 278

9.1 Summary of Findings .................................................................................................................. 278
9.2 Implications of the Findings ........................................................................................................ 279
9.2.1 Tradition .............................................................................................................................. 279
9.2.2 Transmission ....................................................................................................................... 281
9.2.3 Understanding ..................................................................................................................... 282
9.3 Possibilities of Further Research ................................................................................................. 285

Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 288

Index ............................................................................................................................. 307

List of Figures and Plates

Figures:
Figure 1: Molino’s concept of ‘total social fact’ and ‘total musical fact.’ ................................................................... 65
Figure 2: Encoding and decoding in a linear communication theory........................................................................... 67
Figure 3: The concept of the tripartition. ..................................................................................................................... 68
Figure 4: Nattiez’s “Pyramid of stylistic relevance” (p. 136). ..................................................................................... 69
Figure 5: Nattiez’s “Pyramid of stylistic relevance” revised, as applied to the present study. .................................... 70
Figure 6: Analysis of example phrase. “Hi-fu-mi Hachi-gaeshi no Shirabe” (Yamaguchi Gorō. Victor, 1999). ..... 258
Figure 7: The tripartitional flow. Example 1, the relation between Composer – Performer – Audience. ................. 261
Figure 8: The tripartitional flow. Example 2, the relation between Cultural Context – Performer – Audience. ....... 262
Figure 9: The tripartitional flow. Example 3, the relation between Oral Tradition – Transmitter – Learner. ........... 263
Figure 10: Relation between internal and external contexts. ..................................................................................... 270
Figure 11: Definition of terms denoting structural elements. .................................................................................... 272
Figure 12: Comparison between language, music, and myth..................................................................................... 283
Figure 13: Terminology introduced on the level of morphemes. ............................................................................... 283
Figure 14: Terminology for functionality of the analyzed entities. ........................................................................... 284

Plates:
Plate 1: A shakuhachi. .................................................................................................................................................. 20
Plate 2: Two komusō walking the streets. (Etnografiska museet, Stockholm)............................................................. 22
Plate 3: Nakatsuka Chikuzen. (National Diet Library) ................................................................................................ 76
Plate 4: Shakuhachi played by the author. ................................................................................................................... 83
Plate 5: The author's shakuhachi in the standard length of 1 shaku 8 sun. .................................................................. 84
Plate 6: Various kinds of similar instruments. (Photo: Natalie Schneider) .................................................................. 86
Plate 7: Close-up of mouth-pieces (uta-guchi). (Photo: Natalie Schneider) ................................................................ 86
Plate 8: Illustration in Taigen-shō. (National Diet Library) ......................................................................................... 91
Plate 9: A hitoyogiri belonging to the temple Hosshin-ji. ............................................................................................ 92
Plate 10: A komosō playing shakuhachi. Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase (Suntory Museum of Art). ..................... 93
Plate 11: A komosō playing shakuhachi in Kanden Kōhitsu. (National Diet Library) ................................................ 95
Plate 12: Shinzei nyūdō kogaku-zu. Shakuhachi performer in gagaku outfit. (Tokyo University of the Arts) ............ 97
Plate 13: A komusō with tengai, Suzuki Harunobu. (Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm). .................. 119
Plate 14: Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase, Number 46. (Tohoku University Library) ..................................... 159
Plate 15: Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase, hōka in Number 49. (Tohoku University Library). ....................... 160
Plate 16: Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase, biwa-hōshi in Number 23. (Tohoku University Library) .............. 167
Plate 17: Shaseki-shū, Chōkyō-bon. (Kyoto University Library) .............................................................................. 180
Plate 18: Shaseki-shū, Yonezawa-bon. (Yonezawa City Library) ............................................................................. 182
Plate 19: The Kōsetsu-bon of Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase, Pair Number 6. (Suntory Museum of Art) ........... 187
Plate 20: Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase, Pair Number 6. (Tohoku University Library) ...................................... 189
Plate 21: Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase, Poem Number 6. (Tohoku University Library) .................................... 190
Plate 22: Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase, Poem Number 22. (Tohoku University Library) .................................. 195

xii
(Plates, cont'd)

Plate 23: Rakuchū-rakugai-zu byōbu, Machida-bon. (National Museum of Japanese History) ................................ 205
Plate 24: Rakuchū-rakugai-zu byōbu, detail of Plate 23. (National Museum of Japanese History) .......................... 206
Plate 25: Rakuchū-rakugai-zu byōbu, Uesugi-bon. (Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum)............................................ 206
Plate 26: Somakusha in Shinzei nyūdō kogaku-zu. (Tokyo University of the Arts) .................................................. 226
Plate 27: From “Shizu no Kyoku” in the Miura Kindō notation (1): “Not in Kinko-ryū, but in Ikkan-ryū” ............ 234
Plate 28: From “San’ya Sugagaki” in the Miura Kindō notation (2): “Ikkan-ryū” left, and “Kinko-ryū” right ........ 234
Plate 29: The string instruments koto and shamisen in ensemble. (Etnografiska museet, Stockholm) ..................... 238
Plate 30: Kinko-ryū notation. Based on the Kindō notation. (Calligraphy by Satō Ryōko in Linder, 2011) ............ 257

xiii
要約 (Abstract in Japanese)
日本音楽における「伝統」の脱構築
尺八の研究 ― 歴史的真正性と伝統の伝承
リンデル 儘盟 グンナル

要約

本研究は、日本における尺八の歴史とその音楽の伝承についての研究である。本論文のも
っとも中心となる課題は、「伝統」という概念について考察し、「伝統」が必ずしも真正
の起源を基礎とするものとは限らないということを、尺八を例として明らかにすることで
ある。
尺八には日本固有の起源があり、それにともなった伝統があるという説は、現在広く
受け入れられているが、これはおそらく社会政治的な (socio-political) 理由のもとに、
1900 年代に行われた尺八の歴史に関する研究の中で作り出されたものであると筆者は論
じる。
尺八に関連した研究はそのほとんどが歴史的な考察であり、そこでは尺八の起源、楽
器としての尺八、そして尺八音楽について議論がなされてきた。江戸時代において尺八は、
こ む そ う
普化宗の僧すなわち虚無僧によって宗教的な道具（法器）として使用されており、彼らは
尺八の起源を 9 世紀の中国の禅僧 Puhua（普化）にさかのぼるものと主張していた。それ
に対し、1900 年代の初頭に行われた尺八に関する初期の研究では、そのような尺八の伝
説的な起源について反証が行われている。それらの研究の中で日本の研究者たちは、江戸
ぼ ろ こもそう
時代以前にさかのぼる尺八の日本固有の起源論を提示し、また、それが暮露および薦僧と
いう別の仏教僧集団につながるものであると述べている。
筆者は、まず、そのような尺八の伝説的な起源について紹介し、また、暮露、薦僧、
虚無僧が江戸時代の早い時期には同様のものとして見なされるようになった経緯について
考察する。さらに、日本人研究者の研究が提示し、現在広く受け入れられている尺八の日
本固有の起源論とその発展の過程を分析し、それに対して反論を試みる。そこでは、日本
人研究者のほとんどの研究が参照している、暮露と薦僧に直接につながる資料の詳細な分
析を行う。
本論文中では、「伝統」の概念に関してもう一つの観点を取り上げる。それは、伝統芸
能において伝承されるものは何かという観点である。日本における研究では、「型」 、つ
まり、その芸能特有の特質が含まれる固定化されたフォームが、日本の伝統芸能の特筆す
べきものとして論じられており、それが伝承されると述べられている。筆者はその「型」
の伝承が、尺八を例としたときにどのように行われているかを調べて考察し、教える者か
ら学ぶ者へ伝承される要素の中には必ず「伝統」の本質が含まれる、という考えに対して
反論を行う。そして、この本質主義的な観点とは対照的に筆者が主張するのは、伝統芸能
の一例としての尺八において伝承されるのはそのような意味での「型」ではなく、それは
むしろ個々の伝承者のレベルでの、より緩やかな「音楽の持ち味」あるいは「表現方法」
であり、「型」はそういう意味にとらえ直されるべきだということである。本論文では、
アスペクト
尺八の伝承における諸要素について論じ、また、この伝承における「伝統的」な 様 相 を構
成しているものが 、もしあるとすれば 何であるかを追究する。

xiv
Notes on Romanization, Spelling, and Translations
All translations from Japanese or other languages are my own, unless otherwise specified.
All romanizations (transliterations) are based on the modified Hepburn system. A macron is
used to indicate long wovels, except for words with a common and generally accepted
spelling in English, e.g., ‘Tokyo’ rather than ‘Tōkyō.’ A hyphen is used to (1) indicate
honorific prefixes (e.g., o-, mi-, go-), but also to separate words in compound, e.g., modern,
kindai, and modernization, kindai-ka. When required for the proper reading, an apostrophe
is used as a marker between morae (see Section 5.1.4 for an explanation of this term). For
example, the word sanya is written as san’ya to differentiate this from sa’nya. In the
romanization of classical Japanese, I use the modern reading while keeping the old writing
in the Japanese original: おきゐる becomes okiiru, and いとふ is transliterated as itou.
Names and words in Chinese are transliterated according to the pinyin system. For
Korean names I use the McCune-Reischauer system.
Japanese, Chinese and Korean words and names are given with Chinese characters in
cases where I find it to be of interest or where it would facilitate further studies or research
on behalf of the reader. Common words, names of people who are well known, and names
and words of less interest, are only given in transliteration.

Notes on Names
Japanese personal names are given with family name first, followed by the personal name,
e.g., Nakatsuka Chikuzen. In some cases the name is followed by a title, e.g., Hottō Kokushi,
the National Teacher Hottō, or Shōtoku Taishi, the Crown Prince Shōtoku. In a few cases,
for example, Arisawa and Morinaga, I have kept their names in Western order since they
have conducted their research and are active in a Western academic environment.
For personal names and names of texts or geographical locations outside of Japan I use
(the transliteration from) the original language, if applicable with Chinese characters and the
Japanese reading in footnotes or within brackets in the text, e.g., Lu Cai (呂才, J. Rosai). In a
few cases where the reading of a foreign name is more commonly known with the Japanese
reading in the English speaking community, I use the Japanese reading with the readings in
the original language given in footnotes or within brackets in the text, e.g., Rinzai (臨済, C.
Linji), Fuke (普化, C. Puhua), and so on.

Notes on Quotations and the Use of Italics

For run-in quotations I use double quotation marks (“ ”) at the beginning and end of the
quotation, and single quotation marks (‘ ’) inside the quote. For block quotations I do not
use quotation marks at the beginning and end of the quote, and double quotation marks
inside the quote. For my own additions inside quotes, such as explications, translation of
terms, capital letter at the beginning of a sentence, etc., I use square brackets ([ ]). In
Japanese quotes I use the 【 】brackets. To indicate an omitted part within direct quotes I
use three periods, without brackets, but preceded and succeeded by one space ( … ).

xv
 Vertical two-character repetition marks in Japanese quotes, , are substituted with two
horizontal single-character repetition marks: 々々. Vertical single-character repetitions ゝ are
also replaced with 々.
For Japanese words and concepts I use italics, and single quotation marks for the English
equivalent or translation. I also use single quotation marks for concepts, like ‘tradition,’
except for when it appears in a title or headline. In those cases the word is italicised. I do not
use italics for Japanese words in translated quotes unless someone other than myself has
made the translation and he or she uses italics in the text.
For quotes from Japanese and Chinese sources, the original is given in a footnote, except
for cases where I find it suitable to keep the original in the text. I also give the Chinese
character in a footnote for words and terms that are discussed, except for places were I find
it appropriate and necessary to keep it in the text.

Notes on Verses, Lines, and Stanzas

I count each line in the poems in literary Chinese, so-called kanshi, as one stanza. In the
Japanese tanka poems, I refer to each section or part containing 5–7–5–7–7 morae each as a
stanza.
The words ‘line’ or ‘verse’ seem to be widely used as well with the same meaning. ‘Line’
seems to be commonly accepted as denoting a line in a poem. However, both ‘verse’ and
‘stanza’ could refer to one verse in a longer poem, as well as to one ‘line’ in one poem. The
Japanese tanka poems are normally not written in lines, wherefore the word ‘line’ seems out
of place. Personally I tend to think of a poem when I hear the word ‘verse,’ and therefore I
have decided to use the word stanza for a section of a poem. Even if the literary Chinese
kanshi poems are normally written in four lines, I have decided to use the same word, not to
cause any confusion. A stanza is therefore here regarded as one of four lines in the kanshi,
and one of five sections (lines) in the tanka.

Notes on Lexica
I use the following abbreviations for common and often quoted lexica. In the text I give the
volume number (where applicable), the word, and the page number for the paper media
lexica, and the word when referring to online resources.
st
BKJ Nakamura Hajime, ed., Shin Bukkyō-jiten, (1 ed. 1962), Tokyo: Seishin Shobō, 1987.
DAIJIRIN Sanseidō Daijirin, 1988
HHJ Kikkawa Eishi, ed., Hōgaku Hyakka-jiten, Tokyo: Ongaku no Tomosha, 1984.
st
KOGO Ōno Susumu, et.al., ed., Iwanami Kogo-jiten, (1 ed. 1974) Tokyo: Iwanami, 1992.
nd
KOKUGO Shōgakukan Nihon kokugo daijiten, 22 volumes published 1973–1975, 2 print. 1976.
st
Morohashi Morohashi Tetsuji, ed., Taishūkan Shoten Daikanwa-jiten (1 ed. 1957), 1986 (rev. 1984)
MW Merriam-Webster
NELSON Andrew N. Nelson, The Original Modern Reader’s Japanese-English Character Dictionary,
(1st ed. 1962), Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing Co., Classic Edition 1995.
NOD Hirano Kenji, Kamisangō Yūkō, Gamo Satoaki, ed., Nihon ongaku dai-jiten, Tokyo:
Heibonsha, 1988.

xvi
ONLINE RESOURCES
MW/OR Merriam-Webster, at http://www.merriam-webster.com/
OED/OR Oxford English Dictionary, at
OMO/OR Oxford Music Online, at http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/
EB/OR Encyclopaedia Britannica, at http://www.britannica.com/
YHJ Yahoo Hyakka-jiten, Online Encyclopedia available at http://100.yahoo.co.jp/.

Japan Knowledge: A database at http://www.jkn21.com.resources.asiaportal.info/

KOKUGO/OR Shōgakukan Nihon kokugo daijiten Online Resource.
NIPPONICA Shōgakukan Nihon daihyakka-zensho Nipponica Online Resource.
ENCYCLOP Japan Encyclopedia, English Language Resource.

xvii
Period Names and Years
On the next page I include a table of names of historical periods. The periodization is my
own, but I have consulted the following Japanese and English language sources:

• Shōgakukan Nihon kokugo daijiten.

• Shōgakukan Nihon daihyakka-zensho Nipponica.
• Encyclopedia of Japan (at Japan Knowledge).
• G.B. Sansom, Japan: A Short Cultural History, 1985 (1931).

Several periods overlap, and there are of course several points that can be discussed,
especially in the division of older and contemporary history. However, I find the division
I have made here suitable for the present study. The period names and years are used for
pragmatic reasons, to facilitate the historical position of events; I do not intend any
revision of historical periods, if such should be implied by the divisions made.
I use the word ‘period’ both for the longer historical blocks, normally covering more
than one political period, and for the names of the socio-political period designations
commonly used in historical studies. For the longer blocks I capitalize the word ‘Period,’
e.g., Medieval Period, but use lower case for the shorter, e.g., Kamakura period.
I use the word ‘era’ for the further division of periods into shorter time spans,
coinciding with but not equivalent to the reign of a certain emperor or empress: an
emperor or empress would reign during one or more eras. The eras are called nengō (年
号) in Japanese, and the practice of naming eras began in year 645 with the Taika era, in
which Emperor Kōtoku, the 36th emperor according to the received history writing,
reigned. To make the text easier to read, I do not use era names except where needed for
clarification. When era names are employed, the years of the era are given explicitly.

xviii
Era Names and Years

Prehistoric Period senshi jidai 先史時代

縄文 Jōmon –300 BCE

弥生 Yayoi 300 BCE–300 CE

Protohistoric Period genshi jidai 原史時代

古墳 Kofun 250–late 7 C. th

Tombs were being erected from mid 3rd C., until late 7th C. Yamato Period (大和), 300–710

Ancient Period (593 (Suiko r. 593–628) to 1185 (end of Heian)) kodai 古代

飛鳥 Asuka 593–710
Some sources put Asuka in the Protohistoric Period.

奈良 Nara 710–784
(784–794 the capital was located in Nagaoka)

平安 Heian 794–1185
(Taira no Kiyomori in control 1158; the Genpei War 1180–1185).

Medieval Period (late 12th to mid 16th centuries) chūsei jidai 中世時代

鎌倉 Kamakura 1185–1333

南北朝 Nanboku-chō 1333–1392

(The South Court surrendered 1392)

室町 Muromachi 1368–1573
(Ashikaga Yoshimitsu acceded to office in 1368. The two courts unified in 1392).

Early Modern Period (17th to late 19th centuries) kinsei jidai 近世時代

安土桃山 Azuchi-Momoyama 1568–1598

(In 1568 Oda Nobunaga defeated Ashikaga, and entered Kyoto)

江戸 Edo 1603–1867
(In 1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu won the battle at Sekigahara)

Modern Period (from 1868 to 1945) kindai 近代

明治 Meiji 1868–1912

大正 Taishō 1912–1926

昭和 Early Shōwa 1926–1945

(The Sh ō wa period stretches from Mondern to Contemporary times, 1926 – 1989. The period can be divided in
early Shōwa 1926–1945, and late Shōwa 1946–1989)

Contemporary Period (from 1946 to present) gendai 現代

昭和 Late Shōwa 1946–1989

(The Sh ō wa period stretches from Mondern to Contemporary times, 1926 – 1989. The period can be divided in
early Shōwa 1926–1945, and late Shōwa 1946–1989)

平成 Heisei 1989–present

xix
 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

Chapter  1  –  Introduction  

Plate 1: A shakuhachi.

1.1 Background
The shakuhachi ( 尺八 , Plate 1) is a vertical end-blown bamboo flute,
possibly with roots in the ney, an ancient flute made of reed. The ney is a
commonly used instrument in Central Asia, and it has a history that goes
back to the third millennium BCE.1 The ney is probably related to the
Chinese xiao.2 In the Tang dynasty China (618–907) the most commonly
used flute was chiba, the Chinese reading of the characters 尺八, and the
supposed ancestor of the Japanese shakuhachi.3 The name of the instrument
refers to its standard length: shaku (chi in Chinese) is a unit of length
measurement, and hachi (ba in Chinese) means ‘eight,’ referring to 8 of the
length unit sun, which is a tenth of a shaku; the standard length is thus one
shaku and eight (hachi) sun,4 which in today's measures is approximately
54.5 centimetres. It should also be noted here that in the course of history,
the unit shaku has differed in actual length.5
The shakuhachi has a long history in Japan; it is historically proven that
it came to Japan in the eighth century by way of the Korean kingdom Paekche.6 Some later
sources indicate that it may have entered the country already in the sixth century (cf.
Section 7.2.2), but the chiba seems to have been revived from an older instrument in the
early Tang dynasty China, probably around the 630s (cf. Chapter 3). In Japan the

1
OMO/OR: ney, March 1, 2011.
2
In Japanese shō, xiao (簫), or dōshō, dongxiao (洞簫), not to be confused with the mouth organ shō (笙). It is
believed that the xiāo came from the west to China as a reed flute. NIPPONICA: shō, March 21, 2011.
3
OMO/OR: xiao, March 1, 2011.
4
For example the text Shichiku shoshin-shū (Collection of Pieces for Beginners of Strings and Bamboo) from 1664
(see Chapter 2), indicates that the hachi could be either sun (寸) or the shorter measure bu (分), where 1 sun is
equivalent to 10 bu.
5
At the time of the Taihō-rei (701) the Tang measures were still in use. There were shō-shaku 小尺 and dai-shaku 大
尺, first with the character for koma 高麗 added, referring to the Korean peninsula, but in 713 this name was
forbidden. The measures were called tō shō-shaku 唐小尺 and tō dai-shaku 唐大尺, meaning ‘Tang small shaku’ and
‘Tang large shaku’ respectively. The tō dai-shaku soon turned into kane-jaku (曲尺), which became the prevailing
length measure. The measures used were shaku, sun, bu, rin (尺寸分厘), where each measure is a tenth of the
previous. In 1891 (Meiji 24), kane-jaku (曲尺) was made the official length measure, defined as as one third of a
meter. It continued to be so until 1955 (Shōwa 33). (DAIJIRIN, shaku: p. 1111).
6
A kingdom from 18 BCE to 660 BCE; J: Kudara. (百済).

20
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

shakuhachi was used at the court, as an instrument in the court music ensemble for around
150 years, but even after that it seems to having been played – typically – by male members
of the court. In medieval times it may also have been used by mendicant monks, but this can
not be substantiated until the early sixteenth century. It was employed in music forms
preceding the Nō theatre, but it was not included in the ensemble of this stage art. In 1512
the shakuhachi is mentioned in a treatise on court music, some 700 years after it was
abolished from the court music ensemble. In this treatise, the author claims that the
shakuhachi should not be regarded as a popular music instrument, but rather as a court
music instrument. The shakuhachi is, however, most widely known as an instrument used
by a certain group of Zen monks (discussed at depth in Chapters 4–7), who were officially
acknowledged as such in the late seventeenth century. The present study examines the
tradition surrounding these monks – the so-called komusō – how they created a (fictive)
origin in order to invent a tradition (cf. Chapter 4), and also how the tradition of the
shakuhachi has been re-created in twentieth-century writings on the shakuhachi. I believe
that the twentieth-century writings have established a ‘tradition’ that runs parallel to the
tradition created by the komusō (cf. Chapters 5–7), in which a connection is forged between
the shakuhachi and older kinds of monks. I regard this as a possible attempt to invent an
indigenous tradition (cf. Chapter 7).
The repertoire we know today was created by the komusō, and it is through their
activities that the repertoire has survived. This music, which developed during the Edo
period (1603–1867), is in several ways the raison d’être for the present research, as was
also the case in my previous research.
My Master’s thesis at Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku (Tokyo University of the Arts) in 1997
dealt with the problems in defining and classifying ornamental techniques used in the
ensemble music performed as chamber music in the Edo-period Japan. Within the practice
of shakuhachi playing this genre is referred to as gaikyoku or ‘outer’ pieces, as contrasted to
honkyoku, the ‘fundamental’ pieces with roots in the activities among the komusō monks,
who belonged to the Fuke sect, a certain Rinzai Zen Buddhist sect.7 At the time when I was
writing my Master’s thesis, I was preoccupied with the vast array of ornamental techniques
employed in actual performances, and also very surprised by the lack of coherence in
nomenclature as well as the execution of the named techniques.
I undertook a survey of ornamental techniques used in the ‘outer’ repertoire, and
conducted a study of their function as well as prescriptive elements in regard to when and
how the ornaments are supposed to be employed. I found that within the genre of
pre-modern ensemble playing, the Edo-period chamber music jiuta-sōkyoku,8 the notation
itself gives only indirect instructions or directions. I asserted that what a performer is doing

7
Even though the komusō, i.e., the monks themselves, received official recognition in 1677 the sect was never
officially established; the name of the sect was introduced by the monks, relating to a Chan Buddhist monk in the
Tang dynasty China: Fuke (C. Puhua). See further Chapter 4.
8
The thesis was limited to jiuta, a genre of songs with the shamisen as the main accompaniment. These pieces are
often performed in ensembles with koto, and sometimes also either with the bowed instrument kokyū or shakuhachi.
The combined term jiuta-sōkyoku was coined by the Japanese musicologist Hirano Kenji, denoting music for
shamisen (jiuta), and koto (sōkyoku) The musicians who brought the koto, originally a court music instrument, to the
profane music scene were blind monks playing the lute biwa, often referred to as mōsō biwa players. These monks
were also instrumental in introducing shamisen from Okinawa to Japan in the latter half of the sixteenth century.
The term gaikyoku is only used within the shakuhachi tradition to denote the ‘outer’ repertoire, i.e., profane music.

21
 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

in an actual performance constitutes “a poietic process that consists of being stimulated by

[the learned] patterns and applying them in the piece.” 9 The performer is not merely
repeating a pattern that has been incorporated in his or her range of techniques; what the
performer does is actually to create a new version at each performance, i.e., going through
the poietic processes of creating and re-creating the piece. Implicit in this is that the
student/performer has to analyse the content of the music.
The analysis of a piece of music includes an interpretation of the piece, both the structure
of the phrases, and elements of aesthetic considerations, such as: “How is this phrase
supposed to be played?” (structural elements), and “How should I express this phrase?”
(aesthetic elements). The result of this analytical process leads to a re-creation of the phrase,
and in the end of the whole piece.
The analytical process constitutes itself in a series of what will be referred to as
Esthesical Processes,10 but we can call it an interpretation for the time being. At the time of
my previous research, these processes were not at the center of my study. Eventually I came
to realise that the interpretation is an interpretation of what in normal usage of the language
is referred to as a ‘tradition’ of the art. A question that has been implicity present in my
mind for quite a long time is how close my interpretation and re-creation is to the tradition,
which in turn has led me to consider what elements constitute a tradition: what aspect of the
tradition prescribes the correct way of conducting the studied and learned techniques?
Plate 2: Two komusō walking the streets. The
The prescriptive aspects seemed to be part of
begging boxes are inscribed “Myōan Kyōkai.” the way in which these techniques have been
From the Ida Trotzig Collection. Meiji period.
delivered from the past to our time. My
Used by courtesy of the Etnografiska museet,
Stockholm.
teacher’s way of playing, which of course is
based on the way he learned from his teacher,
seemed to be in need of verification. All the
various lineages of playing, the different styles
or schools, all have a past.
Some lineages of shakuhachi are only
concerned with the fundamental honkyoku, and
some perform both honkyoku and the profane
gaikyoku. Both genres have their roots in the
Edo period (1603–1867), and they have been
transmitted as semi-oral traditions. Playing the
honkyoku was the main activity of the monks
belonging to the Fuke sect, but when the sect
was abolished in 1871, in the very beginning of
the Meiji period (1868–1912), some of its
former monks and followers of their ideals
established a religiously affiliated society in
1883, the Myōan Kyōkai. 11 The Meiji period

9
Gunnar Linder, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi no gaikyoku ni kansuru kenkyū, 1997, 66.
10
See Section 1.6 for an explanation of this term.
11
Tomimori Kyozan, Myōan shakuhachi tsūkai, 1980, 18. (明暗教会). Myōan Kyōkai was established after the ban
on begging for Buddhist monks had been lifted in 1881, following a ten-year hiatus. Begging was once more
allowed as a result of a request to this effect. The request was made by a number of monks, who wanted to fund the

22
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

was the end of the Edo-period feudal system, and the beginning of the Modern Period.
During the Edo period Japan had only been trading with the Dutch, who had been secluded
to an island outside of Nagasaki, and with the Chinese and Koreans. In the Meiji period
Japan opened up further to the rest of the world, and incorporated in a vast fashion Western
ideas and ideals into the new modern society.
The Myōan Kyōkai became the gathering point for practitioners who were only
concerned with playing the fundamental repertoire, honkyoku, as part of their religious
activities. The practitioners would be dressed in typical komusō attire, as shown in Plate 2:
kimono, a tengai basket hat that covers the whole face, a begging box, and a Buddhist
vestment – kesa. They are commonly referred to as belonging to the Myōan-ryū, a lineage
consisting of several sub-lineages that developed after the establishment of the Myōan
Kyōkai.
Most of the monks who had been centred around the main temples in Edo, however,
belonged to the oldest of the still existing lineages, the Kinko-ryū, which was established in
the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. In Edo, as in Kyoto, many monks of the
Fuke sect had been involved in both playing profane music, and teaching shakuhachi to
ordinary people, activities that were prohibited for the monks by law. However, because of
these unlawful activities, the players who belonged to Kinko-ryū could more easily adapt
themselves to the new society, with the support they had from their organisation, which was
already established in that society.
In the Meiji period, new styles of playing were also established, mainly concerned with
ensemble playing, but also creating new music for the shakuhachi, for example the
Tozan-ryū, Ueda-ryū, and Chikuhō-ryū. The Myōan players, the Kinko players, and the
newly born styles all claim some connection to older ways of playing. What, then, makes
one lineage closer to the origin, what is the ‘real thing’ in shakuhachi playing, and are all
the different styles really of the same origin?
These two themes became the starting point for my present research: the historical
authenticity of a tradition, and the elements of its transmission.

rebuilding of the main hall of the Tōfuku-ji in Kyoto, a temple of Rinzai Zen Buddhism, which had been destroyed
in a fire. One of the main temples of the Fuke sect was Myōan-ji, also located in Kyoto. After the abolishment of the
Fuke sect, some artefacts from Myōan-ji were handed over to the head priest of Zenkei-in, a sub-temple within the
compounds of Tōfuku-ji.

23
 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

1.2 Disposition
The study is concerned with two core issues, each dealing with one of the two central
questions above. Chapter 1, Sections 1.3 to 1.5 contain a discussion of the theoretical
foundation for the present study. Section 1.6 contains a description of an analytical model
that I employ in this study, and a discussion of the methodology used in the analyses.
Before entering the actual analyses, I introduce in Chapter 2 the main source material,
both primary and secondary sources. The succeeding Chapter 3 is an introduction to the
shakuhachi as an instrument, and to its older history in Japan. The shakuhachi was imported
from the mainland (probably both China and the Korean kingdoms) at the latest in the first
half of the eighth century. At this time it was used as a musical instrument within the court
music. This usage formally ended in the middle of the ninth century, but the shakuhachi was
still used by people at the court possibly as late as the early sixteenth century.
The shakuhachi became a religious implement during the Edo period (1603–1867), and
Chapter 4 contains a discussion of the invention of a tradition in the Edo period, by a certain
group of Rinzai Zen Buddhist monks called komusō. In this chapter I discuss the position
the shakuhachi occupied in the contemporary Edo-period society, and I propose a possible
re-interpretation of how these komusō became related to other monks that appear in the
literature from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries.
In Chapters 5 and 6 I discuss how a notion of tradition is re-created in twentieth-century
studies. By alluding to similarities between the Edo-period komusō monks and earlier
appearances of monks, referred to as boro-boro and komosō, most of the twentieth-century
studies that I have investigated indicate an older indigenous tradition, which traces back to
the fourteenth century. In these two chapters I analyse some of the primary material that is
often quoted in secondary literature, in Chapter 5 sources relating to the boro-boro, and in
Chapter 6 those relating to the komosō. I show how a thorough and critical study of these
sources may indicate a lack of connection between these other types of monks, who are
depicted in the twentieth-century studies as points in a linear development. Chapter 4 deals
with the Edo period, and is therefore chronologically later than the issues discussed in
Chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 7 contains a concluding discussion of the findings in Chapters 4
to 6.
Chapter 8 contains an analysis of writings that relate to prescriptive elements of
performance techniques and aesthetics, the notation, and the resulting sonorous elements. I
discuss here structural and aesthetic aspects of the music, in terms of fixed forms (kata).
The notion of kata is discussed on the basis of secondary sources, as well as primary
sources such as the ‘un-notated instructions’ that are an integral part of the music and its
transmission. The chapter contains an analysis of the act of transmission, the processes
leading to a transmission of prescriptive elements and the experience of the receiver – the
Poietic and Esthesic Levels mentioned in Section 1.1 above, and further discussed and
explained in Section 1.6 below – including a discussion of the ontological status of the
pieces that are transmitted. The Poietic Level requires a discussion of intentionality in music.
I have limited the discussion to the intentionality of the performer/transmitter in a
Transmission-type of Enactment, upon which I elaborate in Section 1.4.2 below.

24
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

1.3 Introductory Discussion: The Field of Study

The substantive content of traditions has been

much studied but not their traditionality.

1.3.1 Traditional Music Edward Shils, “Tradition,” 1971, 124.

1.3.1.1 The Notion of Tradition in Performing Arts and Music

What are the characteristics of tradition? Music played on a ‘traditional’ instrument gives a
sense of something genuine. The very words ‘tradition’ and ‘traditional’ seem to imply that
there are certain, yet undefined, qualities that belong to the art form. Expressions like
“traditional Japanese music” and “the tradition of shakuhachi playing,” signify not only
‘music’ and ‘shakuhachi’ as such. In the everyday usage of the words, some quality has
been added, and the expressions “Japanese music” and “shakuhachi playing” do seem to
have other qualities than their ‘traditional’ counterparts. In the early days of folklore studies
in the West, in the middle of the nineteenth century, the concept of folklore connoted
tradition, ancient customs, festivals and old ballads. The content of the old narratives and
customs were not in conformity with common beliefs based on the observed reality, which
led the urban literati, that first conceived of folk arts, to perceive folklore as something
irrational and rural. Dan Ben-Amos, a folklore scholar, states that traditionality, irrationality,
and rurality, together with transmission from generation to generation gave way to the
notion of folklore as un-authored art forms. These were the attributes bestowed upon
folklore, according to Ben-Amos in one of his writings on the subject.

[B]y default rather than merit, anonymity became an earmark of folklore. Indigenous
prose or poetry became part of folklore only after the memory of its creator had been
erased. Then, the seal of anonymity sanctioned tradition as genuine. It legitimized songs
and tales as integral parts of the cultural heritage of society.12

The view of traditional art as an unchanging, genuine form of art goes back to
eighteenth-century Europe, when the notion of creation changed, and creation as such
became the field of activity for artists.13 Very generally speaking, a popular notion of
‘traditional performing arts’ (dentō geinō)14 in Japan would be an old, unchanging art form,
probably with its roots in pre-Meiji-period Japan. On the other hand, when it comes to
music, I have encountered people who, when confronted with the concept of ‘traditional
music’ (dentō ongaku), first of all come to think of the children’s songs that have been
taught in the mandatory school education since the Meiji period. These songs were
composed based on Western music theory, and used to introduce Western music as the main

12
Dan Ben-Amos, “The Idea of Folklore: An Essay,” 1983, 2. Emphasis added.
13
See Section 1.3.3.2 below.
14
The word geinō is translated as “(public) entertainment, performing arts” and I prefer the translation ‘performing
arts’ to ‘entertainment.’ (伝統芸能).

25
 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

current of music education in modern Japan.15 To be ‘traditional’ thus encompasses a wide

range in both time and substance. The twentieth-century sociologist Edward Shils asserts
that in many usages of the term ‘tradition’ it is implied that the substantive content of the
tradition is in compliance with, and respectful of, traditionality. He gives the following
examples of conditions that have to be met to indicate such compliance and respectfulness,
which are similar to the attributes of folklore put forward by Ben-Amos above.

… if they are transmitted orally rather than in writing; if they are a matter of hearsay and
not of established facts; if there is no evidence for their factual assertions and no
ratiocination associated with their normative ones; and if their authors or originators are
anonymous rather than individually identifiable by name.16

An internet Google search with the web browser Safari, using the characters 日本の伝統芸能
(nihon no dentō geinō: Japanese traditional performing arts), returns 1.51 million Japanese
language pages, where the top pages consist of NHK, Wikipedia, Yahoo, and Japan Arts
Council. Leaving out the word ‘Japanese’ (nihon no) returns some 3.48 million Japanese
language pages, with the addition of an NPO, the ATAP or Association for Traditional
Performing Arts of Japan, among the top hits.17 These pages give information about such
well-known stage arts as Nō, Kabuki, and Bunraku, but also relates to broadcasts of hōgaku,
‘national music,’ by the nationwide non-commercial broadcasting corporation NHK, Japan
Broadcasting Corporation.18 Some pages also relate to local folk music activities, or the
promotion of such activities, and again, some pages explain the word dentō geinō as
denoting ‘Japanese culture’ prior to the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
NHK, the de facto official media channel, uses the phrase nihon no dentō geinō, whereas
the use of the word dentō in other official circumstances is scarcer. The National
Association for Performing Arts started up under the name of the National Theatre of Japan
in 1966 in accordance with the National Theatre Law. The name was changed in 1990 to
Japan Arts Council,19 and again reorganised as an independent administrative institution in
2003 under the same name.20 Within the ambitus of their homepage there is a Traditional
15
In the enactment of the first law on a new school system (gakusei), one reads, “There will be a lack [of teachers]
for a foreseeable future.” (当分之を欠く).
The “Gakusei” (学制) of August 3, 1872: Accessed from the homepage of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Techonology at http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/hakusho/html/hpbz198102/hpbz198102_2_012.html on
February 10, 2009.
Kikkawa Eishi holds that: “The traditional Japanese music did not hide away completely from the beginning of the
Meiji period, but due to the Western music, its shadow became gradually thinner, and gradually it was pushed aside
into the backstreets [of society]. This is strongly connected with the fact that the only national music school, Tokyo
Music School, almost completely discarded traditional music, and became a school for Western music.” (明治時代に
なっても、決して日本の伝統音楽が影をひそめたわけではないが、洋楽のために次第に影が薄くなり、次第に裏道に追いやられて
行った。そのことは、唯一の官立の音楽学校である東京音楽学校が、ほとんど伝統音楽を切り捨てて、西洋音楽学校になったこと
と重大な関係がある。). Kikkawa Eishi, Nihon ongaku no rekishi (1965), 1990, 354.
16
Edward Shils, Tradition, 1981, 17.
17
Changing the language setting to ‘All languages’ actually decreased the return with a fraction: 1.46 and 3.32
million respectively. With the web browser Firefox the return for both language settings was almost the same:
“Japanese language” gave 1.5 and 3.5 million returned pages, and ‘All languages’ gave 1.46 and 3.41 million pages
for the respective search words. I did not change any other parameters.
18
NHK is the abbreviation of Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (日本放送協会), a publicly owned corporation funded by license
fees for the reception of televised broadcasts, a mandatory fee for anyone who owns a TV-set in Japan.
19
A literal translation would be: Association for the Promotion of Japanese Art and Culture. (日本芸術文化振興会).
20
This reorganisation was part of the privatization of national agencies during the Koizumi administration. (独立行政法人).

26
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

Performing Arts Database, dentō geinō dētabēsu, but apart from this appearance, the word
dentō is not used. Also in the official Japan Arts Council Law that regulates the activities of
the council, the word dentō is not used. Instead, the phrasing is “Japanese Performing
Arts.”21

1.3.1.2 The Japanese Word for Music

This thesis deals with ‘traditional music,’ so a short comment on the word for ‘music’ in
Japanese is required. In modern Japanese the compound 音楽 (read ongaku in Japanese) is
used to denote ‘music,’ but it was not used as a generic term denoting ‘music’ until the
beginning of the Meiji period (1868–1911).22 The compound can be found in texts in Japan
and of course also in China, where the compound 音樂 (read yinyue in Chinese) appears in
old texts.23
The earliest appearance in Chinese books of the characters used for ‘music’ is in the
Lushi chunqiu, from the third century BCE.24 In the first paragraph of Book 5, Chapter 2 Da
yue,25 it says: “Yinyue originates in the distant past. Born of sobriety, founded on the genesis
of all things.” The text continues by stating that Yin and Yang developed from the dyadic
division of the universe, which indicates that the concept yinyue was regarded as a
fundamental aspect of all that exists.26
In Lushi chunqiu the compound 音樂 seems to have been used to denote music, but at
times only the character 樂 is used.27 In a standard translation of Lushi chunqiu, The Annals
of Lu Buwei, the character 音 is translated as ‘sound,’ but also ‘tune,’ or ‘piece of music.’
Furthermore, the character 聲 can denote ‘sounds,’ but it also means ‘voice.’28 In the third
paragraph of Book 5, Chapter 2, one reads, “As a general principle, music [樂] is the
harmony between Heaven and Earth.” In the first paragraph of Chapter 4 it says, “It is the
essential nature of the ear to desire sounds [聲]; but if the mind finds no pleasure in them,
the ears will not listen even to the Five Tones [音].” Again, in Book 6, Chapter 3, stories
about the origins of the ‘eastern tunes,’ the ‘southern tunes,’ the ‘tunes of Qin,’ and the
‘northern tunes’ are described, with the character 音 used to denote ‘tune.’29 It is beyond the
scope of this study to take into account the use in China of the compound word, or other
21
http://www.ntj.jac.go.jp/
22
NOD, ongaku, p. 9 (Kuniyasu Yō).
23
The character 音 denotes ‘sound,’ and the character 樂／楽 with the Japanese reading gaku denotes ‘music,’ but the
character is also used for ‘comfort,’ ‘pleasure,’ ‘amusement,’ etc.
24
呂氏春秋 (Japanese: Ryoshi-shunjū), by Lu Buwei ((呂不韋, ?–235 BCE; J. Ryofui). Literally Mister Lu’s Spring
and Autumn Annals. In The Annals of Lu Buwei, translated by John Knoblock and Jeffrey Riegler, 2000, [1], one
reads: “Lu was prime minister of the state of Qin on the eve of the founding of the Qin dynasty, [and] Lu Buwei
aimed to encompass the world’s knowledge in a great encyclopedia, compiled in 239 B.C. by a group of scholars
retained by him.” Also YHJ, ryoshishunjū (呂氏春秋), Nakamura Shōhachi (中村璋八, 1926–), October 31, 2010.
Ryofui lived in the Spring and Autumn Era of Warring States (春秋戦国時代).
25
In Japanese dai-gaku, 大楽.
26
Accessed from http://ctext.org/lv-shi-chun-qiu/da-yue/zh on January 20, 2011. (音樂之所由來者遠矣，生於度量，本於
太⼀一。太⼀一出兩儀，兩儀出陰陽。陰陽變化，⼀一上⼀一下，合而成章。).
27
In Chinese, this character has the reading yue with the meaning ‘music,’ and le with the meaning ‘happiness.’
28
Hui Yu, ed., Xin shiji hanying da cidian (A New Century Chinese-English Dictionary), p. 1446.
29
John Knoblock and Jeffrey Riegler, transl., The Annals of Lu Buwei, 2000, 138: 凡樂、天地之和、陰陽之調也; 142: 耳
之情欲聲、心不樂、五音在前弗聽; 160–162: 實始作爲東音, 實始作爲南音, 實始作爲秦音, 實始作爲北音.

27
 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

words used for ‘music.’ It does, however, seem likely that the compound word yinyue – or
its constituents – did not have the same field of denotation as the modern English word
‘music’ has. The quote above – “Yinyue originates in the distant past” – could well describe
a notion of ‘pleasant sounds’ that are founded on the genesis of all things, or even some
eternal heavenly sounds that bring joy and amusement.
The earliest known appearance of the compound 音楽 for ‘music’ in Japan is from the
beginning of the eighth century,30 and in the Shoku-Nihongi, completed in 791, there is a
note referring to the year 752:

On the twenty-second day of the fourth month in the fourth year of the Tenpyō-shōhō
Era: “Upon the completion of the great statue of Vairocana, the consecration began. …
The gagaku musicians, and [people from] many of the temples, performed a variety of
music [音楽], and everybody gathered.”31

In Shaseki-shū, written by the Buddhist monk Mujū in 1283, there is also a remark about
music. In Chapter four, section six of the Yonezawa-bon of Shaseki-shū, one reads that
“music [音楽] could be heard from the sky.”32 The term ongaku, denoting ‘music,’ is thus an
old term also in Japan, but, as mentioned above, it has not had a central position – and it has
not been used as a generic concept – in the Japanese vocabulary before the Meiji period.
The Japanese musicologist Hirano Kenji argues that the compound, and the character 楽,
used as an abbreviation, were “loan words, imported from Chinese, and their primary use
was, as one can expect, probably to denote foreign music,”33 as the quote above from the
Shoku-Nihongi also indicates. The compound word was also used to denote sound
phenomenons that were “lacking in concreteness,” 34 as indicated by the quote from
Shaseki-shū above.
In Heian period texts, the compound 音楽 and its constituent 楽 (or 樂) have been used
with other readings: utamai (literally ‘song and dance’), mono no ne (literally ‘sound of
things’), and asobi (literally ‘play’).35
The term asobi appears in literature from the Heian period Japan (794–1185). 36 In
classical Japanese it is a verb with a wide array of denotations, ranging from playing (both
what children do and games for adults such as shōgi or go), going on an outing, a boat ride,

30
The term appears in the Taihō Legal Codes (大宝律令 Taihō-ritsuryō), a centralized code of administrative laws
enacted in 701. (HHJ, ongaku: p. 176. DAIJIRIN, taihō ritsuryō: p. 1453.)
31
KOKUGO, Vol. 4, ongaku: p. 153. Vairocana is normally written 毘盧遮那仏 (birushanabutsu) but the great
Buddha statue at Nara Tōdai-ji is referred to as 東大寺盧舎那仏像 (tōdaiji rushana butsuzō). Vairocana is the astral
body of the historical Gautama Buddha, and in Japan is also regarded as the embodiment of the Buddhist notion of
emptiness. 乙酉 (kinonotori, itsuyū) is the 22nd day of the month. (天平勝宝四年四月乙酉「盧舎那大仏像成、始開眼。〈略〉
雅楽寮及諸寺種々音楽並咸来集。).
32
KOKUGO, Vol. 4, ongaku: p. 153. (空の中に音楽聞え). Shaseki-shū (沙石集) is further discussed in Chapter 5,
Section 5.3. The Yonezawa-bon ( 米沢本 ) is supposedly close to the original text by Mujū Ichien ( 無住一円 ,
1226–1312).
33
Hirano, “Nihon ni oite ongaku to wa nani ka,” 1988, 19. (中国語を輸入した外来語であり、その本来の用法は、やはり外
来音楽を対象としたものであったはずである。)
34
Ibid. (具体性を持たない).
35
Kikkawa, Nihon ongaku no biteki kenkyū, 1984, 18–23.
36
KOGO, asobi: p. 30.

28
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

or hunting. It also denotes holding a feast or party, the playing of kagura music,37 but also,
generically, playing music and singing songs. The word asobi, thus, denotes activities,
things one can do for fun, enjoyment, pleasure, or the like: its meaning is not limited to, but
includes the playing of music. However, Motoori Norinaga, a famous eighteenth-century
scholar on National Studies (kokugaku),38 argued that the character 楽 by itself was read as
asobi in ancient times, but that the reading utamai was also possible. The latter reading had
been established in the early eighth-century Nihon shoki (The Chronicles of Japan),
referring to music that was imported from the three kingdoms on the Korean peninsula:
Paekche, Silla, and Goguryeo. Eventually, utamai came to denote foreign music and
domestic music that was influenced by imported music, and asobi was used to denote music
with an indigenous origin. The term asobi, used to denote ‘music’ rather than other forms of
entertainment, most likely did not refer to what we, today, mean with the word ‘music’: it
was a fusion of dance, music, and words (song or recitation).39
Several terms are used in various genres of music that have an origin before the Meiji
period. The word gaku (楽) is normally understood as the court music, gagaku (雅楽). Other
words have been used, and appear in program notes, and in writings about Japanese music.
For example: ongyoku (音曲), song accompanied by shamisen or koto in vaudeville theatres;
nō-bayashi (能囃子), the ensemble in the Nō theatre, and its music; yōkyoku (謡曲), the text of
a Nō play; shira-byōshi (白拍子), a form of song and dance performances in the Heian and
Kamakura periods; sōkyoku (箏曲), koto music normally with song; jiuta (地歌), songs
accompanied by shamisen; nagauta (長唄), one of the music ensembles used in the Kabuki
theatre, and its music; and so on. In the modern usage of language, these terms denote music
in a wide sense when we attempt to explain them, e.g., “nagauta is a music form that is used
in Kabuki,” but more accurately, they are terms that relate to, and identify, specific genres.
Even if the word ongaku seems to have appeared more often in Edo period texts, the
notion of ‘music’ as a generic concept was not fully introduced until the Meiji period. The
musicologist Hirano Kenji refers to the book Kabuongaku no ryakureki (An Abbreviated
History of Song, Dance, and Music) of 1888, and states that this book incorporates Japanese
classical music in the term ongaku. However, according to Hirano, “after that, centred
around people concerned with Western music, we can say that the tendency to use the word
‘music’ [ongaku] limited to [denote] only Western music [yōgaku] grew stronger.40 As a
contrast to Western music (yōgaku) the term hōgaku (national music) became more popular.
This term has a wide definition, as a contrasting term to yōgaku. It is also used in a more
narrow definition, denoting music that developed in the Early Modern Period, e.g., music
for koto, shamisen, and shakuhachi. In this narrow definition, music of the Ancient and
Medieval Periods, e.g., gagaku, sutra chanting (shōmyō), and Nō music, is not included.
Neither does the narrow definition include folk music or other kinds of local and regional
music.41
37
The word kagura (神楽) literally means ‘god music,’ and it is a type of music that probably existed in Japan before
the music from Tang dynasty China and the Korean Kingdoms entered in the seventh to the eighth centuries. There
are ‘local kagura’ called sato-kagura (里神楽), and ‘noble kagura’ called mi-kagura (御神楽).
38
See also Section 7.2.2.3.
39
NOD, ongaku, ‘gaku’ no kun to imi (Music: The reading of ‘gaku’ [music] and its meaning): p. 9–10 (Kuniyasu
Yō). See also Section 3.2.1 for a short discussion of how and when the shakuhachi was imported to Japan.
40
NOD, ongaku, nihon de no ‘ongaku’ no yōrei (Music: Examples of ‘music’ in Japan): p. 10 (Hirano Kenji).
41
DAIJIRIN, hōgaku: p. 2202. See also Section 1.3.3.4.

29
 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

Thus, the present study is concerned with hōgaku in the above narrow definition,
especially the music of the shakuhachi and its possible connections to older music forms.
For the sake of simplicity, in the present study I use the words ‘music’ and ongaku in this
narrowly defined meaning when talking about shakuhachi music.

1.3.2 Tradition: Definition and Etymology

Shino Arisawa discusses the term ‘traditional’ in her doctoral thesis Changes in the
transmission of “traditional” music: the case of Japanese jiuta-sōkyoku, where she states
that “the word dentō was created around the 1930’s as a translation of the word ‘tradition’
in English, … [but] some scholars associated this translation with political ideologies linked
to the type of ethnocentrism found in Nazi Germany,”42 among which Arisawa mentions the
folklorist Yanagita Kunio. If we initially disregard the possible connotation of the word to
any nationalistic or militaristic ideaologies, it is of interest to see how the Japanese
perceived the concept ‘tradition’ in translation. The character for den (伝) is read, as a
transitive verb tsutaeru, ‘to convey,’ as an intransitive verb tsutawaru, ‘to be conveyed,’ or
-zutai, which means ‘along.’ In older texts, e.g., Genji Monogatari, the noun tsutae is used
with the meaning ‘legend’ or ‘tradition,’43 a usage which prevails in modern Japanese. The
character tō (統) is read, as a transitive verb suberu, ‘to gather together,’ or ‘to unify,’ and as
an intransitive verb subaru, ‘to be gathered together,’ or ‘to be unified.’ It also refers to that
which is unified, gathered from early times, under control and following precedent: rules,
nori (法); unified rules and fundamental laws and regulations, tōki (統紀). If we keep its
lexical meaning, the term dentō thus denotes a unification of what is conveyed, a
transmission that is kept intact and in line with its rules. The lexical definition of the word
dentō is as follows:

The reception and handing down of systemized, both tangible and intangible, formations
of customs, conventional practices, styles, tendencies, thought, blood lineages, etc., from
old times. Also, the systemized formations, which have been handed down.44

I have translated the central word keitō as ‘systemized formations.’ The encyclopedic
explanation of this word is: “That which is unified according to a uniform order or rule.
Also, that connection. Thoughts, ideas, etc., that belong to the same lineage.”45
Examples of usage of the word dentō are given from four different works in the most
common encyclopedia:46 (1) the Hohei sōten,47 Infantry Drill Manual, revised in 1909, (2)
the novel Yukiguni (Snow Country, first published 1935–37) by Kawabata Yasunari, (3) the

42
Shino Arisawa, “Changes in the transmission of “traditional” music,” 2008, 16.
43
KOKUGO, Vol. 14, tsutae: p. 2.
44
KOKUGO, Vol. 14, dentō: p. 362. (古くからの、しきたり・様式・傾向・思想・血筋など、有形無形の系統をうけ伝えるこ
と。また、うけついだ系統。).
45
DAIJIRIN, keitō: p. 754.
46
These references are from KOKUGO, Vol. 14, dentō: p. 362.
47
歩兵操典

30
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

Law on School Education from 1947, and (4) Shen Yue, a fifth-century Chinese person of
letters.48
The Law on School Education from 1947 received its latest revision on June 3, 2011. In
the above quoted lexica, the word tradition is used in Article 18, but in this revision it has
been moved to Article 21, paragraph 3, with a slightly different wording. The text and
placement in the latest revision has not changed since the previous one in 2007.

1947 To give guidance to a correct understanding in respect to the present state and
tradition of [one’s] native place and the nation.
2011 To give guidance to a correct understanding in respect to the present state and
history of our country and [one’s] native soil, respect tradition and culture, and
cultivate an attitude of love towards our country and [one’s] native soil, which
have bred these [traditions and culture].49

The Hohei sōten was a military command, approved by the Emperor, indicating the
training and combat standards for the foot soldiers. In the early years of the Meiji period a
translation of similar works in French and German was used, but following the
Russo-Japanese war 1904–1905, a revised version was published in 1909. The only original
text I have been able to obtain is a revised version from 1940, where the phrase “The
National Army, which is endowed with a brilliant tradition, …”50 is used. This version is
supposedly basically the same as the 1909 revised text: “The early Meiji text was nothing
more than a translation from French and German texts, but after the Russo-Japanese war, in
1909, fundamental revisions were added. After that small amendments were made, but
basically it didn’t change until the defeat in the war.”51 This supports Arisawa’s comment
about Japanese scholars who found the word dentō to be polluted with militaristic
connotations. Without access to the older text it is of course impossible to find solid support
for Arisawa’s statement that the word dentō was first used in Japan in the 1930’s, but even
if dentō was used in the 1909 Hohei sōten we can, however, conclude that the word – with
the denotation ‘tradition’ – is not so old in Japan: it has been used in modern Japanese for
somewhere approximately between seventy-five and one hundred years.
In lexica, according to the most comprehensive character dictionary, 52 the oldest
reference to the usage in China is to the so-called “Records of the Eastern Barbarians” in the
“The History of the Later Han”53, and it reads: 世世傳統. The meaning is to transmit that
48
J. Shin’yaku (沈約, 441–513), a prominent scholar and historian.
49
http://law.e-gov.go.jp/htmldata/S22/S22HO026.html, May 22, 2010 and October 21, 2011.
1947 郷土及び国家の現状と伝統について、正しい理解に導き
2011 我が国と郷土の現状と歴史について、正しい理解に導き、伝統と文化を尊重し、それらをはぐくんできた我が国と郷土を愛す
る態度を養う, which is the exact same wording as in 2007.
50
From the Summary of the Infantry Drill Manual ( 歩 兵 操 典 綱 領 第 ３ 赫 々 た る 伝 統 を 有 す る 国 軍 ), at
http://www.warbirds.jp/sudo/infantry/i1.htm, accessed on May 24, 2010. Also in KOKUGO, Vol. 14, dentō: p. 362.
51
YHJ, hoheisōten (歩兵操典), Fujii Haruo (藤井治夫, 1928–), May 24, 2010. 明治初期のものはフランス、ドイツのものを
翻訳したにすぎなかったが、日露戦争後の 1909 年（明治 42）根本的な改訂が加えられた。以後小改訂はあったが、基本は敗戦ま
で変わらなかった。
52
Morohashi, Vol. 1, p. 906.
53
東夷伝: The Records of the Eastern Barbarians (C. Dongyi-zhuan (also 東夷列伝); J. Tōiden) of 後漢書: The History
of the Later Han (C. Houhanshu; J. Gokan-jo). The phrase appears in Section 27: 「倭在韓東南大海中，依山島為居，凡
百餘國。自武帝滅朝鮮，使驛通於漢者三十許國，國皆稱王，世世傳統。其大倭王居邪馬臺國。樂浪郡徼，去其國萬二千里，去其西
北 界 拘 邪 韓 國 七 千 餘 里 。 其 地 大 較 在 會 稽 東 冶 之 東 ， 與 朱 崖 、 儋 耳 相 近 ， 故 其 法 俗 多 同 。 」 (Chinese Text Project at
http://ctext.org/hou-han-shu/dong-yi-lie-zhuan, October 30, 2010).

31
 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

which has been unified (from early times gathered, under control and following precedent)
from generation to generation. In the writings of the above-mentioned Shen Yue, the quote
is from an order of amnesty given at a ceremonial investiture of the Crown Prince. The
quote reads: “Preserve the ceremonial vessels, and transmit the rules and principles from old
times. These matters are [highly] esteemed.”54
The essence of this sentence is to retain (protect, preserve) the vessels used in
ceremonies,55 and to transmit that which has been unified (from early times gathered, under
control and following precedent), and further, in the second half of the line, that it is of
grave importance to achieve this very thing. In both these cases, the character 傳, ‘to
transmit,’ is the predicate, and 統, that which should be transmitted, is the direct object of
the action of transmitting. Thus, neither of these instances expresses a notion of dentō –
‘tradition’ – as a concept. The oldest reference to the use of the character 傳 that I have
found is a reference to the Analects of Confucius.56 In the section referred to in lexica, the
chapter “Zi Zhang,” the character denotes a verb. I have consulted three translations of this
chapter in the Analects, which carry three different renditions: ‘deliver,’ ‘teach,’ and ‘impart’
respectively. The crucial part of Section 12 reads as follows: “According to the way of the
superior man in teaching, what departments are there which he considers of prime
importance and delivers? What are there which he considers of secondary importance, and
allows himself to be idle about?”57
Here 傳 is translated in terms of ‘deliver.’ Another English translation reads: “In terms of
a gentleman’s learning, what is to be taught first, what is to be taught last is similar to the
categorization of plants.”58 Here the character for ‘way,’ 道, is used in the meaning of
‘learning,’ and the ‘teaching’ is expressed with 傳, implying that ‘teaching’ was regarded as
the process of delivering or transmitting certain aspects of learning and knowledge. Again,
in another online resource, the translation of this passage reads, “what is to be imparted
first,”59 which then implies a ‘communication of knowledge,’ but in the translation into
Japanese at the same site the word oshieru (‘teach’) is used for the same character.60
There does not seem to be any indication that Confucius, or any other scholar or prolific
writer of ancient times, used the two characters 傳 and 統 as a compound denoting the

54
Morohashi, Vol. 1, p. 906. (沈約、立太子赦詔:「守器傳統、於斯爲重」). KOKUGO, Vol. 14, dentō: p. 362. As the
reference is given in Morohashi it creates the impression that the quote is from the fifth century. However, this
quote of Shen Yue seems to be from the book Wenyuan yinghua (文苑英華, J. Buneneiga) of 987 (KOKUGO, Vol.
17, buneneiga: p. 553), some 470 years after Shen Yue’s death. Wenyuan yinghua, vol. 26, no. 432:
http://guji.artx.cn/article/11281.html accessed on November 22, 2011.
55
The character 器 refers to vessels or containers. My interpretation is that it refers to the ceremonial vessels, handed
down from generations, but in a Buddhist context it may also refer to a vessel of ability, talent, or capacity. I find it
more likely, though, that Shen Yue, as a historian and probably more of a Confucian than a Buddhist, refers to the
ceremonial artefacts, rather than the more abstract notion of ability. Things and principles seem to be on his agenda,
not individual capacity.
56
The Analects (C. Lun Yu; J. Rongo); the character 傳 appears in Chapter 19: Zi Zhang, according to the Chinese
character dictionary Gudai hanyu cidian, p. 227.
57
Translation from the Chinese Text Project, http://ctext.org/analects/zi-zhang, October 30, 2010. Typing errors
corrected, and emphasis added. The full section in Chinese reads: 「子游曰： 子夏之門人小子，當洒掃、應對、進退，則可
矣。抑末也，本之則無。如之何？ 子夏聞之曰： 噫！言游過矣！君子之道，孰先傳焉？孰後倦焉？譬諸草木，區以別矣。君子之道，
焉可誣也？有始有卒者，其惟聖人乎！ 君子之道，孰先傳焉，孰後倦焉，譬諸草木，區以別矣。」.
58
Quoted in translation from Analects of Confucius, 1994, 366. Emphasis added.
59
Available at Cheung, ed., http://www.confucius.org/lunyu/ed1912.htm, October 22, 2011. Emphasis added.
60
Ibid.

32
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

concept of ‘tradition.’ Needless to say, a notion of traditionality may have existed – and
most likely did exist – but it was not expressed in the compound word under discussion here.
Furthermore, the references in Japanese lexica do imply that the usage of the word either
changed during the first half of the twentieth century, or, more likely, that a new compound
was created and ascribed the meaning ‘tradition.’ The accepted view among scholars in
Japan is that dentō is a translated word, denoting the Western concept of ‘tradition,’ and it
seems likely that the compound word was incorporated in the vocabulary in China by way
of Japan.

***

The introduction of the concept in modern Japanese is pre-dated by the modernization of

Japan, kindai-ka, which began in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The term
kindai-ka has two meanings in Japanese: firstly, a historical meaning, which denotes the
time from the Meiji period up to WWII in Japan, when Japan was heavily influenced by
Western ideas; and secondly, an abstract meaning, with a more generic denotative field of
any re-organisation that involves a political, economical, cultural, or structural change,
without any specified time, or geographical location.61 With ‘modern’ or ‘modernization’ I
refer to the former definition of the term. We may conclude that it seems likely that the term
dentō was either coined, or gained popular use, to contrast older cultural phenomena with
‘modern’ aspects of culture and society.
Since the language of this thesis is English, it would not suffice to discuss only a
definition of the Japanese word, but rather to see if the word in English relates to the
Japanese. The word ‘tradition’ has the following lexical meaning.

1 a: an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior …

1 b: a belief or story or a body of beliefs or stories relating to the past that are commonly
accepted as historical though not verifiable
2: the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by
example from one generation to another without written instruction
3: cultural continuity in social attitudes, customs, and institutions
4: characteristic manner, method, or style … 62

As a translated word, the content of the definitions would be expected to be fairly similar.
The notion of unity that is prevalent in the constituent tō, unification, of the Japanese
compound word may be seen as corresponding to ‘relate to,’ ‘commonly accepted,’ or
‘continuity,’ but the unification process is not as strongly emphasized in the English word as
in the Japanese. The Japanese definition also has “systemized formations,” which implies
unification. The word keitō contains the same character tō as in dentō, and can therefore be
seen as literally meaning “lineage unification,” or the like.
In order to define something that is in unity with previous and present aspects of the art
form for the agents involved, they need a set of rules or standards by which they can judge
the level of unification with previous or preceding individual instances of music making, to

61
YHJ, kindaika (近代化), Hamashima Akira (濱嶋朗), October 9, 2010.
62
MW/OR, ‘tradition,’ accessed March 29, 2010.

33
 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

make certain that these individual instances are in line with the tradition. They might also
require a set of fixed performance techniques, with which the individual musician is able to
recreate new instances of the tradition in the same way as before.
The shakuhachi music of today, in Japan and outside its borders, is almost entirely based
on what is referred to as ‘traditional’ repertoires and performance techniques, regardless of
whether the music performed is ‘traditional’ or ‘modern.’ It is conceivable that an
individual musician is using old traditional techniques to perform new, modern music.63 The
notions of ‘traditional repertoires’ and ‘traditional music’ are not always used consistently,
and they are not necessarily based on a definition of when the ‘traditional’ music appeared
or was created. Even ‘modern’ musicians, as contrasted to their ‘traditional’ counterparts,
often insist on belonging to some ‘traditional’ group or lineage within the concept of a more
general shakuhachi tradition. As one example of this, we can look at the largest lineage of
shakuhachi in Japan today, in terms of the number of practitioners: the Tozan-ryū. This
lineage was established in 1896 by Nakao Tozan.64 It comprises some 6,000 licensed
teachers. 65 Nakao Tozan composed a new repertoire of solo and duo pieces for the
shakuhachi, referred to as tozan-ryū honkyoku, but these pieces do not have any connection
to the music of the Edo period komusō. Tozan-ryū performers did, and still do, perform in
the ‘traditional’ Edo period chamber music.66 Within the Tozan-ryū, the new compositions
by Nakao Tozan are referred to as ‘art music,’67 in contrast to the usage of shakuhachi for
begging up to the end of the Edo period. At the same time, shakuhachi is perceived as a
traditional art. In a bulletin on the official homepage of Tozan-ryū Gakkai68 announcing that
Yamamoto Hōzan 69 had been designated a Living National Treasure, 70 one reads that
“[Yamamoto Hōzan] has vastly contributed to the fact that shakuhachi music, which is [part
of the] Japanese traditional arts, has become widely known throughout the world.” In the
same bulletin it also says that “[t]he fact that [Yamamoto Hōzan] … has been designated
Living National Treasure is a proof of that Tozan-ryū shakuhachi music has been
acknowledged as an important traditional art that should be preserved as ethnic music [of
Japan].”71

63
In reality, this is often the case. However, changes in performance techniques and in the making of instruments,
etc., are also common, in order to better accommodate ‘modern’ influences, especially from Western classical and
popular music.
64
Nakao Tozan (中尾都山, 1876–1956).
65
Tozan-ryū has divided in various sub-groups, and the 6,000 licensed teachers are those in the Tozan-ryū Gakkai
Foundation (（財) 都山流楽会, established in 1965), according to the official homepage of this Tozan-ryū lineage,
available at http://tozanryu.com/ (accessed April 9, 2010).
66
This genre is referred to as sankyoku ensembles of jiuta-sōkyoku. See also Section 8.1.2.
67
芸術音楽.
68
都山流楽会.
69
Yamamoto Hōzan (山本邦山, 1937–).
70
The term in Japanese is jūyō mukei bunka-zai hojisha, or more commonly, ningen-kokuhō. The new law for
protection of important cultural properties, “Bunka-zai hogo-hō” (文化財保護法), was implemented in 1950. This law
included a new item: important intangible cultural properties, jūyō mukei bunka-zai (重要無形文化財). The law of
1950 was a fusion of the 1929 Law of preservation of national treasures (国宝保存法), and the 1933 Law of
preservation of important artworks (重要美術品等ノ保存ニ関スル法律). It also absorbed the Law of preservation of
historical sites, places with scenic beauty, and natural monuments from 1919 (史蹟（しせき）名勝天然記念物保存法). The
law also came to intregrate two new concepts: the above-mentioned “Important intangible cultural properties,” and
“Buried cultural properties” (埋蔵文化財). YHJ, bunka-zai hogohō (文化財保護法), by Enomoto Yukio (榎本由喜雄),
May 14, 2010. (重要無形文化財保持者・人間国宝).
71
http://www.tozanryu.com/saikin/news.html, accessed April 15, 2010. Emphasis added. (日本伝統芸能である

34
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

In the following sections I will explore some notions about ‘tradition’ and ‘traditional’ in
related disciplines in Western thought, that are relevant for the present study.

1.3.3 Tradition as a Concept in Related Western Disciplines

As mentioned in the previous section, the concept of something ‘traditional’ contains a
handing-over of some central elements of the art form, and a unification process so that that
which has been handed over remains consistent with what has been before. This implies a
transmission from generation to generation, not only of the techniques required for
becoming a practitioner of the art, but also of authority. Tradition thereby, of its own accord,
associates itself with a respect for and an alignment with an authoritative body, be it society
on the whole or a sub-cultural grouping, which holds the established rules of the tradition.
The rules determine what and who could and should be counted as ‘traditional.’ These are
rules that are decided in the discourse conducted within the borders of the society, group, or
discipline, in order to determine authority within the group, what rules that should guide the
discourse, and what and who should be allowed in. In his inaugural lecture, L'ordre du
discours, Michel Foucault explicates different procedures, common to all societies, to
control, select, organize, and allocate the production of discourse, “in order to avert its
power and threat, master its randomness, and circumvent its heavy, fearsome materiality.”72
Foucault mentions three types of such procedures: preclusion from discourse, procedures
that are internal to the discourse, and procedures to determine the conditions for entering the
discourse. “No one,” says Foucault, “enters the order of the discourse if he does not fulfill
certain conditions, or from the beginning is not qualified to fulfill them.”73 Some discourses
are more difficult to enter than others.74 Foucault asserts that the most visible form of
restricting systems consists of what he terms rituals.

A ritual determines what qualifications the speaking individuals must have (and who, in
the game of dialogues, questioning, and recitation, shall take what positions and phrase
what types of utterances), it decides the gestures, behaviours, circumstances, and all the
signs that must accompany the discourse. It also determines the supposed or forced
efficiency of the words, what effects they shall have on those they are directed to, and the
limits of their cogent value. The religious, legal, therapeutical, and partly also the
political discourses can hardly be differentiated from this ritualisation that simultaneously
determines both isolated properties and suitable roles for the speaking subjects.75

尺八楽を広く世界に知らしめることに大きく貢献されました／遂に都山流人としては初めての人間国宝になられたことは、都山流
尺八楽が民族音楽として保存すべき重要な伝統芸能であると認知されたことの証左であり).
72
Foucault, Diskursens ordning (L'ordre du discours) (The Order of Discourse), Mats Rosengren, transl., 1993, 7.
(Foucault, L’ordre du discours (1970), 1971, 11).
73
Foucault, Diskursens ordning (L'ordre du discours) (The Order of Discourse), Mats Rosengren, transl., 1993, 26.
(Here the word ‘order’ should be read in the meaning of a society or similar grouping, not in the sense of “the order
of things.”) (Foucault, L’ordre du discours (1970), 1971, 39).
74
In the “Translator’s Note,” the translator Mats Rosengren states that Foucault is using the French word discours
with two meanings, apart from the more common meanings of “speech, lectures, and talking,” also to function as “a
name of all written or uttered phrases” as well as “a name of that whole practice which generates a certain type of
utterances” (p. 57).
75
Foucault, Diskursens ordning (L'ordre du discours) (The Order of Discourse), Mats Rosengren, transl., 1993, 28.
(Foucault, L’ordre du discours (1970), 1971, 41).

35
 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

Foucault does not make any differentiation between ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’ societies
concerning the application of his order of discourse. A ‘traditional’ society reacts in the
same way as a ‘modern’ society, even if the rules and rituals may differ. Obeying the rules
of ‘tradition’ counters the very notion of creation of something new, and there arises a
dichotomy between traditional values and newly created values, between ‘traditional’ and
‘modern’ in the more generic meaning mentioned above (cf. also 1.3.3.2 below).
The concept ‘tradition’ is, however, not very old in Western thought. The sociologist
Joseph A. Soares reformulates the concept of tradition as it appears in social theory as one
way of understanding “the logic of social action, group identity, and collective memory,”76
but the use of the term ‘tradition’ in Western academic disciplines has not been much
debated; rather it has been taken for too obvious, which has led to a rather ambiguous or
vague concept. Soares gives his own sociological definition of ‘tradition,’ to which I refer at
the end of the next section (1.3.3.1) as an example of tradition as a social construction.
In the article “The Meanings of Tradition,” the folklorist, ethnologist, and historian
Simon Bronner indicates that within the field of folklore studies there is an intimate
relationship to the concept of ‘tradition.’ He gives some examples from a number of major
introductory textbooks on folklore, e.g., “folklore denotes ‘expressive forms, processes, and
behaviors … that we judge to be traditional’…”77 Thereby our subjective experiences of
expressive forms become the centre of study.
Conceptually, folklore and socio-historical studies are the disciplines of closest interest
for the present investigation, but a philosophical view is also of significance. In the
following three sections I will introduce discussions on the conceptual background to the
notion of ‘tradition’: (1) from a socio-historical perspective, with respect to the social
context and the historical authenticity of tradition; (2) from a philosophical perspective,
with respect to the dichotomy between (static) tradition and (dynamic) creativity; finally, (3)
from a folkloristic perspective, with respect to the oral elements and transmission.

1.3.3.1 The Concept Tradition in Socio-historical Studies

In the book Tradition, a major treatise on the subject from 1981, Edward Shils (1911–1995),
a highly influential sociologists of the twentieth century, defines ‘tradition’ as “that which
has been and is being handed down or transmitted.”78 In Shils’s words, a tradition exists
regardless of its truth-value, and the content of a tradition can contain both changed and
unchanged elements. According to Shils, newcomers to a tradition may well hold the
conviction that “the belief which they are newly acquiring is the same as it had been in the
past,” but they could not know “what the belief was before they received it.”79 On the other
hand, for Shils, actions are never traditions in themselves. Enactment of authority,
ceremonial or ritual actions are not tradition: “[they] can in various ways be transmitted as

76
Joseph A. Soares, “A Reformation of the Concept of Tradition,” 1997, 6.
77
Simon J. Bronner, “The Meaning of Tradition: An Introduction,” 2000, 99. (Quote from Robert Georges and
Michael Owen Jones, Folkloristics, 1995). Emphasis by Bronner.
78
Edward Shils, Tradition, 1981, 13.
79
Ibid., 262.

36
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

traditions; they can become traditions.”80 Shils views any coherent system of rules and
beliefs as a pattern, “which guides the reenactment.”81 Anything that has a past can, thus, be
a tradition as long as somebody adhers to it, acknowledges it, and calls it a tradition. For
Shils, modernism and tradition are not contrasting or conflicting concepts. A change can
occur, and the relation to past events is arbitrary: the adherents to the tradition are not in a
position (maybe) to tell whether it is ‘real’ or not, but for Shils that does not matter.
Whatever we do builds on a past – a tradition – according to Shils. Obviously, whatever we
do, we do it based on some rules, learned behaviour, or other framework. Nobody acts
completely out of new decisions made every second, tradition-less. I find that this weakens
Shils’s notion of tradition: in principle, anything is presently or potentially a tradition. There
is, however, a time factor involved in Shils’s notion. A belief or a practice that does not gain
followers or only survives for a short time is not a tradition: “It has to last over at least three
generations—however long or short these are—to be a tradition.”82
The historian Eric Hobsbawm introduces another challenging usage of the word
‘tradition’ in his introduction to the book The Invention of Tradition. It contains a thorough
and frequently quoted discussion of the processes referred to as the ‘invention of traditions.’
Hobsbawm holds that the invention of tradition is “essentially a process of formalization
and ritualization, characterized by reference to the past, if only by imposing repetition,”83
including, but not limited to, revival movements of past, no longer living traditions.
Traditions can, thus, be newly invented or re-activated replicas of long-gone traditions, but
neither of these instances of tradition has a living past; they cannot develop a past and not
even preserve one, according to Hobsbawm. He contrasts this with “the strength and
adaptability of genuine traditions …,” and explains that “[w]here the old ways are alive,
traditions need be neither revived nor invented.”84 He refrains, however, from making any
definition of genuine traditions, or any clear distinction from the invented ones, but treats
them in one respect as very similar: “The object and characteristic of ‘traditions’, including
invented ones, is invariance. The past, real or invented, to which they refer imposes fixed
(normally formalized) practices, such as repetition.”85 This statement raises two important
questions. Firstly, if the invented traditions cannot preserve a past, how can then one quality
of invented traditions be invariance? This seems contradictory, but his notion of invented
traditions in this respect is that an invented tradition builds an idea of a past, which is
qualitatively different from a real past, and keeps this idea of a past intact: “[invented
traditions] normally attempt to establish continuity with a suitable historic past.”86 As I
understand Hobsbawm, he means that an invented tradition does not thereby preserve a past,
but rather a notion of a past, values and norms of behaviour – in a wide sense of the word –
that are inculcated by repetition. The second question is how ‘real’ traditions can have the
quality of invariance if they at the same time have “strength and adaptability?” Hobsbawm’s
aim is not the ‘real traditions’ but the ‘invented ones,’ and he does not expound any further

80
Ibid., 31.
81
Ibid.
82
Ibid., 15.
83
Eric Hobsbawm, “Introduction: Inventing Traditions,” 1983, 4.
84
Ibid., 8.
85
Ibid., 2.
86
Ibid., 1.

37
 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

on the quality or mechanism of real traditions, except for categorizing them as alive, strong,
and adaptible, but at the same time unchanging.
The aim of Hobsbawm’s text is not to explicate the qualities or character of real and live
traditions, but rather to disclose the mechanism of invented traditions. For Hobsbawm, the
revival of traditions is a result of the liberal ideologies of social change in the nineteenth
century that “systematically failed to provide for the social and authority ties taken for
granted in earlier societies,” which in turn created a gap between the older traditions and the
modern society. Hobsbawm distinguishes three types of invented traditions that have
developed since the time of the industrial revolution.

[The invented traditions] seem to belong to three overlapping types: a) those establishing
or symbolizing social cohesion or the membership of groups, real or artificial
communities, b) those establishing or legitimizing institutions, status or relations of
authority, and c) those whose main purpose was socialization, inculcation of beliefs,
value systems and conventions of behaviour.87

He regards b) and c) as possible derivates of a), but holds that all three types developed in
different parts of society on their own accord. Hobsbawm also gives an account of the
structure of invented traditions, and their mechanism, in contrast to other forms of more or
less ritualized practices. He makes a qualitative distinction between the ‘invented traditions’
on the one hand, and ‘custom’ and ‘convention’ – or ‘routine’ – on the other.
For Hobsbawm, ‘custom’ does not preclude innovation and change, as long as the change
appears compatible with precedent. What he refers to as ‘custom’ is what a practitioner of
some profession does, and ‘tradition’ refers to “the ritualized practices surrounding their
substantial action.”88
Social practices that need to be carried out repeatedly tend to develop ‘convention’ for
the sake of convenience. These conventions, or routines, may be formalized for the purpose
of carrying the necessary practices to new practitioners: a form of transmission of
structures; a pre-determined way of performing an operation. Such formalized routines do
not, however, hold any symbolic or ritual functions in themselves. The conventional
routines often function at their best when they become habitual, automatic procedures,
which in turn require invariance. The routines may in such cases be confused with invented
traditions, but their function and justification is, in Hobsbawm’s words, “technical rather
than ideological.”89 Routines are used pragmatically, but when the conventions or objects
lose their practical use, they can be adopted and used symbolically. Hobsbawm exemplifies
this with the wigs of lawyers, which changed in significance when the everyday use of wigs
was no longer in vogue. To summarize Hobsbawm’s outline of ‘tradition,’ ‘custom,’ and
‘routine’:

87
Ibid., 9.
88
Ibid., 3.
89
Ibid., 3.

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 Chapter 1 – Introduction

tradition A process of formalization and ritualization, characterized by a reference to a suitably

selected, and often factitious, past history, inculcating certain values and norms of
behaviour.
custom The practices put into effect by practitioners, flexible in substance but formally
compatible with precedent, which imposes substantial limitations on their ability to
change.
routine Conventional procedures for the execution of an operation or task, implemented for
practical reasons, and lacking in symbolic value.

Hobsbawm’s definition of ‘tradition’ points at a way of thinking that – in one way or

another – attaches value to the ‘oldness’ and ‘authenticity’ that the tradition stands for, i.e.,
it implies a wish for the past. I would, however, argue that the invention or construction of a
tradition does not necessarily imply a reactionary or conservative mind-set:90 Any given
tradition, invented or not, could be viewed as a way of creating identity among a group of
people who acknowledge the practices that the tradition prescribe. The construction of a
tradition may also be a way to introduce a new distinction in quite radical ways; something
that breaks away from an existing practice, but requires a past in order to establish itself in
the social context.91
Soares suggests a three-folded sociological definition of what he refers to as a ‘living
social tradition,’ asserting that “it must engage a group of practitioners who have a sense of
community based on a shared identification with a particular past.”92 To make a summary of
Soares definition, the requirement for something to be a ‘living social tradition’ is that there
is a distinct social group with the following qualitites: (1) the group has a common identity
derived from an interpretation of its past; (2) its collective memories have some objective
expression in the material environment; and (3) the group performs activities that are guided
by a spirit of continuity.93 This definition closes in on ‘tradition’ as a social construct:
whatever a social group A defines as their unique character, based on their own definition of
the origin of the group, creates traces in the material world because of the activities that the
group believes to be in accordance with what they are. In the words of a social
constructivist:

The theoretical formulations of reality, whether they be scientific or philosophical or even

mythological, do not exhaust what is ‘real’ for the members of a society … [and] … the
sociology of knowledge must first of all concern itself with what people ‘know’ as
‘reality’ in their everyday, non- or pro-theoretical lives.94

90
I do not intend any political connotations here, even if there may be many instances where a political agenda is at
work in the invention of tradition. With ‘reactionary’ I assume the following meaning: ‘relating to, marked by, or
favoring resistance or opposition to a force, influence, or movement; especially, tendency toward a former and
usually outmoded political or social order or policy,’ rather than the pejorative use of the word that was common in
political rethoric and propaganda during the twentieth century. (Based on the definition of ‘reactionary’ and
‘reaction’ in MW/OR).
91
For example the Ueda-ryū was established in 1917, breaking off from the Tozan-ryū, which in turn was
established in 1896. Shils would probably not regard the Tozan-ryū as a tradition in 1917, but it was an established
organization at the time. The founder of Ueda-ryū made his own new compositions and created his own school or
lineage, mixing old pieces with new music.
92
Soares, “A Reformation of the Concept of Tradition,” 1997, 14.
93
Ibid., 16. Emphasis added.
94
Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann, The Social Construction of Reality, 1981, 27.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

This view yields a closed system that accomodates for Soares definition above, of
tradition as a socially constructed entity. Edward Shils presents a similar view of tradition:
he states that tradition is the traditum, that which has been handed down (or is being handed
down). A traditum is something that once was created, performed, and believed in the past,
but it doesn’t have to have a solid base: “To be a traditum does not mean that the persons to
whom it is made present and who accept it, do so on the grounds of its existence in the past.
Tradita can become objects of fervent attachment to the quality of pastness which is seen in
them,”95 and for some people it may even be the only reasonable thing to believe in. I do not
see that the notion of a closed system of belief should be problematic in itself, but the
relation to the past is central to any etic discussion on whatever tradition it may be. The
anthropologist Jocelyn Linnekin asserts that any tradition that is defined by its members is a
constructed tradition: “[T]he selection of what constitutes tradition is always made in the
present; the content of the past is modified and redefined according to a modern
significance. In nationalist movements, tradition becomes a rallying cry and a political
symbol. Cultural revivalists search for an authentic heritage as the basis for ethnic
distinctiveness; as they rediscover a culture they also create it.”96
The notion of closed systems in which a tradition is transmitted, as put forward in the
above sociological studies, is similar to some trends in folklore studies, where ‘tradition’
has been, and to some extent still is, at the center of interest. Before moving on to the
research within folklore, I will discuss the concept of ‘creativity’ as opposed to ‘tradition’
in the Western world.

1.3.3.2 Creativity and Tradition

Paul Oskar Kristeller (1905–1999), a philosopher and scholar on Renaissance humanism,
infers that the word ‘creativity’ became part of the standard English vocabulary as late as
the middle of the twentieth century. Probably it was either coined or given a wider use by
the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead in the 1920s,97 whereas ‘creative’ and ‘to create’ of
course have a much longer history. In the Western history of thought, the turning point for
‘creativity’ came about in the eighteenth century, when not only God was creative, but also
artists.
Kristeller builds his notion of creativity on his theory that the Fine Arts were systemized
for the first time in the eighteenth century, a view that has become generally adopted
“among historians and philosophers of the art and by intellectual and cultural historians,”
according to James I. Porter.98 According to Kristeller, it was Abbé Batteux who took the
decisive step towards a system of the fine arts, in his treatise Les beaux arts réduis à même
principe from 1746. Kristeller states:

95
Shils, Tradition, 1981, 13.
96
Jocelyn Linnekin, “Defining Tradition: Variations on the Hawaiian Identity,” 1983, 241.
97
Paul Oskar Kristeller, “‘Creativity’ and ‘Tradition’,” 1983, 105.
98
James I. Porter, “Is Art Modern? Kristeller’s ‘Modern System of the Arts’ Reconsidered,” 2009, 1–2. Porter is
critical of Kristeller’s theory, stating that there are other views available that “offer dramatically different pictures of
the same ground that Kristeller covers in his essay” (p. 2). I will not dwell on Porter’s critique here; it is beyond the
scope of this thesis, and the Kristeller dogma is to my knowledge still the generally adopted view in philosophy.

40
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

It is true that many elements of his system were derived from previous authors, but at the
same time it should not be overlooked that he was the first to set forth a clearcut system
of the fine arts in a treatise devoted exclusively to this subject. … Batteux codified the
modern system of the fine arts almost in its final form … [starting] from the poetic
theories of Aristotle and Horace, …, and tried to extend their principles from poetry and
painting to the other arts. … He separates the fine arts which have pleasure for their end
from the mechanical arts. … In the central part of his treatise, Batteux tries to show that
the “imitation of beautiful nature” is the principle common to all the arts, and he
concludes with a discussion of the theatre as a combination of all the other arts.99

The point that Kristeller wants to make is that the notion of fine arts, as compared to craft
or mechanical arts, did not exist before that time, even though the notion saw its first light
towards the end of the seventeenth century with the quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns,
which came about in the early 1690’s due to the discoveries that had been made in the
natural sciences. Even though the dispute related to literature, the Moderns were conscious
of these achievements, and tried to separate themselves from the views of the more
conservative Ancients. Kristeller claims that, from this controversy, the Moderns broadened
the dispute by making “a systematic comparison between achievements of antiquity and of
modern times in the various fields of human endeavor,”100 and developed a classification of
knowledge and culture. By examining the claims by both the Ancients and the Moderns, a
new perspective of art began to develop: in fields of human activity where mathematical
calculation was crucial and accumulation of knowledge proved important, the new
investigations showed, according to the Moderns of the time, that the progress of the
Moderns over the Ancients could be clearly demonstrated. However, in fields that are
dependent on the talent of the individual agent, “the relative merits of the ancients and the
moderns cannot be so clearly established but may be subject to controversy.”101 This was,
according to Kristeller’s theory, the first time ground was cleared for a distinction between
art and science. During the controversy Charles Perrault wrote Parallèle des Anciens et des
Modernes in four volumes between 1688 and 1696, in which, according to Kristeller, he
states that “in the case of poetry and eloquence, where everything depends on talent and
taste, progress cannot be asserted with the same confidence as in the case of the sciences
which depend on measurements.”102
To return to the issue of ‘creativity,’ Kristeller asserts that in the eighteenth century,
poetry, music, and the visual arts, painting, sculputure and architecture were for the first
time grouped together as fine arts: “The artist was guided no longer by reason or by rules
but by feeling and sentiment, intuition and imagination; he produced what was novel and
original, and at the point of his highest achievement he was a genius.”103 The notion of a
creative mind that originates works of art could be seen as diametrically opposite to a
tradition, where by definition preservation of form and imitation of classical works
constitutes the re-creation of artworks.

99
Kristeller, “The Modern System of the Arts: A Study in the History of Aesthetics Part II,” 1952, 20–21.
100
Kristeller, “The Modern System of the Arts: A Study in the History of Aesthetics Part I,” 1951, 525.
101
Ibid.
102
Ibid., 527.
103
Kristeller, “‘Creativity’ and ‘Tradition’,” 1983, 107.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

1.3.3.3 The Concept Tradition in Folklore Studies

The study of folklore comprises a wide array of artefacts, mentifacts, and sociofacts,104
covering knowledge, thought, and art. For the present study, I will confine the discussion to
cases where folklore is either directly concerned with, or where there is a logical link to,
music and other performing arts.
The concept of ‘tradition’ in folklore studies is not very much older than in social studies.
According to the folklore scholar Allan Gomme, W. J. Thoms is credited with having
coined the word ‘folklore’ in a letter to a journal, The Athenaeum in August 1846. In this
letter he “suggested the term ‘folk lore’ to denote the study of traditional customs and
beliefs and what had hitherto been known vaguely as ‘popular antiquities’.”105 W. J. Thoms
seems to have been rather careful not to use the word ‘tradition.’ According to another
article on the development and meaning of the word ‘tradition’ by Simon Bronner, Thoms
referred to tradition as “a genre steeped in the past rather than a concept of process or
transmission.” Bronner continues by stating that Thoms queried whether the readers would
be glad to read about “some record of old Time—some recollection of a now neglected
custom—some fading legend, local tradition, or fragmentary ballad!”106 I believe, however,
that this concept of ‘tradition’ is still commonly used within a number of disciplines, where
‘traditional’ then denotes something old, authentic, and unchanging.
Following the nineteenth-century coining of the term ‘folklore,’ tradition was regarded as
more or less the same thing as folklore. The folklore scholar Dan Ben-Amos critically noted
that in this context, tradition, like lore, consists of “past knowledge that has accidentally
survived, and without adequate attention will suffer a natural death.” 107 According to
Ben-Amos, for many folkloristic scholars adequate attention meant to collect and classify
the knowledge that had yet not disappeared. In an earlier text, Ben-Amos stated that the
criterion for something to be classified as folklore had, at least up to the 1970’s, been its
existence as an oral tradition. If a narrative is written down, it ceases to be folklore and
enters into the realm of literature. Folklore scholars had for a long time been adding certain
ideals to the notion of what folklore should be, rather than to find a suitable definition. If
definitions were made, Ben-Amos says, they tried to find a way of describing folklore in
terms of it being a static, tangible object. He concludes:

So far, most definitions have conceived of folklore as a collection of things. These could
be either narratives, melodies, beliefs, or material objects. All of them are completed
products or formulated ideas; it is possible to collect them. In fact this last characteristic
has been at the base of the major portion of folklore research since its inception.108

104
The terms ‘mentifact’ (ideas and beliefs of a culture) and ‘sociofact’ (social structures of a culture) were coined
by Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (1887–1975).
105
Allan Gomme, “The Folk-Lore Society: Whence and Whither,” 1952, 3. From Gomme’s article one can
conclude that The Athenaeum was a journal that no longer exists.
106
Bronner, “The Meaning of Tradition: An Introduction,” 2000, 90.
107
Dan Ben-Amos, “The Seven Strands of Tradition: Varieties in Its Meaning in American Folklore Studies,” 1984,
104.
108
Ben-Amos, “Toward a Definition of Folklore in Context,” 1971, 9. The text was published in 1971, but it first
appeared in a shorter version as a presentation at the American Folklore Society Annual Meeting in Toronto,
November 1967.

42
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

Countering the discussion above, ‘tradition’ could be defined as a process of transmitting,

either orally or semi-orally in accordance with the old way of regarding ‘tradition,’ or in
writing if we were to expand the concept. In either case this would denote nothing more
than the mere process of transmitting, which on the other hand is the meaning of the Latin
word tradere. To define ‘traditional shakuhachi music’ this way would, however, only lead
to the phrasing “shakuhachi music that is handed down,” which would be nothing more than
to make ‘transmission’ and ‘tradition’ synonymous concepts.
If, on the other hand, we define ‘tradition’ as ‘that which is transmitted,’ we would reach
a narrow definition in terms of something like transmitted entities within a specific social
unit. In Ben-Amos words, “tradition is embodied in the literary forms that singers and
narrators transmit to each other.”109 If we translate this idea to shakuhachi music, it would
denote a mass of transmitted music within a given lineage or guild, and the ‘traditional’
aspect of the music would be something that is carried by each guild’s leader, the iemoto.110
The actual mass of material is defined only in terms of the choice of the bearer of a
tradition: a personalized canonization of the repertoire.
The music of the shakuhachi is partly orally transmitted: there are notations, especially
from the twentieth century. This would make it possible to define ‘traditional shakuhachi
music’ in terms of a canon of pieces. In the world of shakuhachi music there are, however, a
number of separate guilds that define their own canon of ‘classics’ or ‘basic repertoire,’
which do not necessarily have anything in common. The new guilds of shakuhachi music
that arose in the early twentieth century have developed their own basic repertoires, and
even in the oldest still existing lineage, the Kinko-ryū, different masters, iemoto, use
different sets of pieces, different notations, and different ways of playing the pieces. By
defining a canon of pieces, any group of shakuhachi performers who share a common view
of what ‘tradition’ stands for, may well construe a tradition – projected in the past, in order
to legitimize the present – with reference to the notion of a “living social tradition” that
Soares proclaims (see above, Section 1.3.3.1). This notion is also mentioned by Ben-Amos
in his statement that “the construction of tradition as a symbolic past has social purposes,
one of which is the creation of an identity for a group.”111 To define a tradition for a group
includes a choice of factors to determine the group’s affiliation with a past. The
above-mentioned anthropologist Jocelyn Linnekin states that the use of tradition as a
defining factor of a group is an example of both objectification and invention of a symbolic
construct: “As a self-conscious category, tradition is inevitably ‘invented’.”112 This is the
issue of Hobsbawm’s concept of invented traditions, which has been discussed above.
Instead of this static view of folklore and tradition, Ben-Amos offers his theory: Folklore
is not an aggregate of things, collected and taken out of its context, not a process of
transmission or the material transmitted, nor a defined canon of repertoire, but rather a
process within a context – what he calls a “communicative process.” For Ben-Amos in 1971

109
In Ben-Amos, “The Seven Strands of Tradition: Varieties in Its Meaning in American Folklore Studies,” 1984,
118. Emphasis in the original. In this text Ben-Amos explicates seven possible and existing ways of perceiving
‘tradition.’
110
The iemoto (家元) is the de facto head of a group, and s/he also constitutes the group’s aesthetic standard.
111
In Ben-Amos, “The Seven Strands of Tradition: Varieties in Its Meaning in American Folklore Studies,” 1984,
116.
112
Linnekin, “Defining Tradition: Variations on the Hawaiian Identity,” 1983, 241.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

there was no difference between the process and the product; folklore was a performative
act.113 The telling of the tale is the tale in its social setting, i.e., the interaction between
narrator, the story, and the listeners, and folklore threfore becomes a communicative act in a
defined context. For Ben-Amos, internationalization can spread the content of a story, create
diffusion, but it is not folklore. As an act of communication, the interaction between a
narrator or musician and the listeners presupposes a certain ability to understand what is
being conveyed. They need to be speaking the same language, share the same values and
beliefs, they need to have the same or very similar background, and they need to be able to
decode signs that are used in the social interaction. Thus, any group of listeners has to be
such that all its members belong to the same reference group as the performer or narrator.
The size of a group of people who are in the process of communicating something also
needs to be such that all its members can be in physical contact. If the members cannot
relate to each other directly face-to-face – with or without any modern communication tools
– a process of communication cannot be established. For Ben-Amos, then, the definition of
‘folklore’ becomes: “artistic communication in small groups.”114
By completely excluding any reference to past events (tradition) or in what way it has
been conveyed (oral transmission), it is possible to avoid the sense of oldness and genuinity,
the connotations of persistence of form through time, and the lack of a sense of creativity
that these words tend to evoke. Ben-Amos definition is, however, problematic in two
respects. Firstly, with the requirement of a folkloristic act being limited to communication
in small groups, the notion of ‘folk’ loses its implications: it would be difficult to imagine a
‘folk’ in a small-group communication. This does, however, seem contradictory to the idea
that tales and music are handed down locally, within regions or even in bigger social units.
Secondly, Ben-Amos does not include any discussion on what aspects would differentiate
‘artistic communication’ from other forms of communication, thus causing him problems in
defining the characteristics of something being ‘artistic.’ On the other hand, if we
hypothetically assume that an artist intends to be ‘artistic,’ we may understand Ben-Amos
definition in terms of communication in small groups with the intention – or purpose – of
being ‘artistic.’
Even with these flaws, Ben-Amos’s definition is suggestive. Relating to Hobsbawm’s
invention of tradition, the ‘traditionality’ of a piece of music is not necessarily based on
historical facts. Ben-Amos says that if we take the content of a narrative or a piece of music,
which relates to old times, and combine this with a cultural conviction of its historicity, we
would have to present the stories or the music as if they were handed down from
antiquity.115 In some cases, the introduction of new ideas within an art form may also be
sanctioned by a reference to the traditionality of that art form. The characteristic of being
‘traditional’ is accidental, or construed for above-mentioned purposes, rather than being an
intrinsic and objective feature of the art form itself. The concept of ‘folklore’ thus changes

113
In 1984 Ben-Amos writes about ‘tradition’ the following way: “Tradition has survived criticism and remained a
symbol of and for folklore. It has been one of the principal metaphors to guide us in the choate world of experiences
and ideas.” Quote from “The Seven Strands of Tradition: Varieties in Its Meaning in American Folklore Studies,”
1984, 124. Emphasis in the original.
114
Ben-Amos, “Toward a Definition of Folklore in Context,” 1971, 13.
115
Ibid.

44
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

from a thing to an act. Any tale or piece of music loses its ontological status – it would not
exist – except for in an act of ‘artistic communication in small groups.’

1.3.3.4 Shakuhachi Music as Folklore

The shakuhachi, as will be clear in the following chapters, has been used both as a religious
implement, and as a musical instrument. Its first appearance in Japan was as an instrument
in the court music, a ceremonial form of music used at the court for celebrations, festivities,
and similar occasions. Already in medieval times, however, the shakuhachi was used for
entertainment, as mentioned in the Genji monogatari, and it was played by performers of
dengaku, one of the music forms that preceded the Nō music.116 There are scroll and screen
paintings from the early to the mid 1500s that show the shakuhachi in the hands of
mendicant monks. In respect to ‘shakuhachi’ or ‘shakuhachi music’ as generic concepts, the
idea of ‘artistic communication’ may therefore sound off-target. Among practitioners of
music with an origin in the Early Modern Period of Japan (17th – 19th centuries), the term
hōgaku (‘national music’) is frequently used to denote the genre. This term is, however, also
used to denote for example J-pop, or other kinds of contemporary popular music that is
made by Japanese. The hōgaku with an origin in the Edo period or earlier, i.e., what is
sometimes referred to as ‘traditional’ music, is also used in contrast to the generic term
‘new Japanese music,’ shin nihon ongaku, which is music composed in the former half of
the twentieth century, or shinkyoku, which refers to the pieces in that repertoire. There is
also contemporary music, gendai ongaku, which denotes music composed after the Second
World War. The term gendai hōgaku, ‘contemporary national music,’ is often used to
denote contemporary music composed for traditional instruments, for example shakuhachi,
koto, and shamisen. The popular hōgaku is, on the other hand, contrasted to yōgaku,
‘western music.’117 Another term that is used to denote music from the Medieval to the
Early Modern Periods in Japan is ethnic music, minzoku ongaku, and the shakuhachi is then
referred to as an ethnic instrument, minzoku gakki. Folklore is the study of the people,
normally referring to ordinary commoners, and their culture. As will be obvious from
Chapters 3 and 4, the shakuhachi moved from being a court instrument in the Ancient
Period (6th – 12th centuries), becoming a popular instrument during the early Medieval
Period (12th – 16th centuries). From the late Medieval to the beginning of the Early Modern
Period (16th – 17th centuries), the shakuhachi transformed from an instrument used by
artisans, in reality outcasts and mendicant monks of a low-ranking social standing, to one
used by the nobility: the shakuhachi-playing monks that belonged to the Fuke sect were

116
These references can be found in treatises on the court music and Nō theatre, e.g., the Taigen-shō, a treatise on
court music from 1512, and Sarugaki dangi, a collection of saying of Zeami, the father of Nō as we know it today.
See further Sections 3.3.1 and 4.5.2. The ‘rice field music’ (dengaku) was a popular music form as early as the 11th
century, and it was a competing development to the ‘monkey music’ (sarugaku) in the 14th century evolution of the
Nō theatre. Also sarugaku has an old history in Japan, probably related to the sangaku, which came to Japan in the
7th century.
117
See also Section 1.3.1.2 above, where the terms hōgaku (邦楽) and yōgaku (洋楽) are defined. Similar terms are
also used for example in films (hōga 邦画, and yōga 洋画), and they are commonly used in music and video stores,
etc. In these cases the translation ‘domestic’ may be better than ‘national.’

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

samurai, i.e., of the noble class. These monks used the shakuhachi foremost not as a musical
instrument, but as a religious implement.118
From the late eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries the shakuhachi retained a
position both as a religious implement used in meditative or spiritual practices, and as a
musical instrument employed in chamber music ensembles with other indigenous
instruments. During the twentieth century the shakuhachi began to be more widely used in
folk music, and also in collaboration with other ethnic music and their instruments, such as
jazz, Western classical music, Indian music and so on. From this perspective, and based on
the spread of the shakuhachi during the past 40–50 years and most prominently during the
past ten years, both in Japan and outside its borders, it is debatable what position the
shakuhachi should be said to hold in today’s society.
However, regardless of what position the shakuhachi has or has had in society, the
‘shakuhachi’ may be regarded as a ‘tradition’ that is transmitted semi-orally within the
boundaries of small groups. What is normally understood as a ‘traditional’ repertoire is still,
today, transmitted and performed within small groups that are defined by the iemoto (cf.
1.3.3.3) who is governing the group. Based on the above disussions, I find that the theories
used in folklore are fully applicable to the material used for the present study. 119

***

Regarding shakuhachi as an example of folklore in a broad sense, and adding intention or

purpose, we can change Ben-Amos’s definition of folklore above – “artistic communication
in small groups” – to communication in small groups for the purpose of X, and substitute X
with ‘being artistic,’ ‘arousing religious sentiment,’ or ‘creating a meditative state of mind,’
depending on the intention of the practitioner. If we assume that Ben-Amos understands
‘communication’ as a reciprocal activity, there is still an element missing: the notion of the
listener. The audience must also assume that the artist has the intention of ‘being artistic,’
‘arousing religious sentiment,’ etc., and the believed intention of the practitioner may in
many cases be the reason for the audience to gather.
Ben-Amos’s definition of folklore implies certain aspects of the communicative act. In
November 1967, when Ben-Amos first presented his definition in Toronto, another
conference was held in New York City. There, in a study of the nature of storytelling, the
folklore scholar Robert A. Georges introduced the concept of ‘storytelling events,’ which he
defined as “the message of complex communicative events.”120 With Ben-Amos he refuted
118
The position the shakuhachi has held in society is discussed in Chapters 3 and 4, and I refrain from giving any
further references here. I use the word ‘nobility’ in a wide sense, including both the court nobility and the samurai,
in line with Nishiyama Matsunosuke’s use of the word in relation to the arts in the Edo period. See Section 4.3.2
below.
119
In Japan the instigator of folklore studies as an academic discipline, Yanagita Kunio (1875–1962), acknowledged
cultural diversity in his early stage. In his latter stage he turned to the articulation of a unifying essence of ordinary
people in Japan, which has influenced many writers of nihonjin-ron (discourse on the essence of being Japanese),
and also made the folklore studies of Japan more inclined towards nativism and essentialism. (Scott, Schnell and
Hashimoto Hiroyuki, “Guest Editors’ Introduction: Revitalizing Japanese Folklore.” Anthropology Publications,
http://ir.uiowa.edu/anthro_pubs/8, accessed January 29, 2011. University of Iowa, 2003, 186–188.) The present
study does not investigate Japanese folklore as such, but the tendency towards essentialism in folklore studies in
Japan seems symptomatic of the aspects of its traditionality.
120
Robert A. Georges, “Toward an Understanding of Storytelling Events,” 1969, 316. Earlier drafts of the paper
were presented at the Folklore and Social Science Conference in NYC in November 1967.

46
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

the idea that the aim of folklore studies – for Georges exemplified within ‘folktales’ –
should be to isolate and identify, gather and classify, a number of recorded stories or tales:
“Nineteenth-century scholars came to regard stories as cultural artifacts and to conceive of
them as surviving or traditional linguistic entities pervaded by meaningful symbols.”121 He
continued by alleging that research within the field of folklore has had the same focus since
the nineteenth century, i.e., a historical perspective, in which the texts have been “nothing
more than a written representation” of what Georges regards as the above-mentioned
“complex communicative events.” Anthropologists, on the other hand, “have tended to
engage in synchronic studies.” Georges’s approach, however, is that the recorded texts,
normally collected and analyzed, constitute nothing more than one aspect of the message
communicated in these complex structure of a storytelling event.122
The idea of storytelling as an event is similar to a musical performance, and I find that
Georges’s notion of and discussion about these events, as one specialized case of
Ben-Amos’s ‘artistic communication,’ is of certain relevance for the present study. I will
regard Georges’s ‘storytelling events’ rather as ‘events of artistic communication’ and refer
to such events below as Events.
Ben-Amos defined himself away from ‘tradition,’ and Georges postulates himself away
from the same concept, by formulating what he regards as the constitutive elements of an
Event. Georges makes four postulates about the features of an Event: (1) The Event is a
communicative event, with one sender (performer/transmitter) and at least one receiver who
interprets the content (audience/student). The communication is direct, person-to-person,
and the two types of participants communicate through a coded message to convey a
cognitive or emotional content.123 Both audial and visual media are used. For Georges,
mainly concerned with narratives, the message is coded with linguistic, paralinguistic and
kinesic codes.124 From a viewpoint of musical performances, the message would be coded
with linguistic, paralinguistic, kinesic, and audial (tonal) codes. It may be argued that there
are no linguistic, or paralinguistic, codes in the case of a performance of instrumental music.
I would, however, argue in favour of the notion that a Georgeian Event – an event in
accordance with Georges’s definition – does contain these codes, even if it is a musical
performance. Most occasions of musical performances contain an explanation of the choice
of piece, an explanation of the piece itself, and in some (rare) cases, an explanation from the
performer of his or her feelings towards or thoughts about the piece. These auxilliary
sub-events should be regarded as belonging to the Event as a whole. The communicative act
is interactive, with continuous responses between the participating agents. (2) The Event is a
social experience, where all the participants establish specific identity relationships, and
assume social identities for the purpose of the Event. 125 The participants also act in

121
Ibid., 313.
122
Ibid., 314, 316.
123
Georges seems to present a simple communication theory of encoding-decoding, but I see no hindrance to the
assumption that the receiver not only and simply ‘decodes’ the transmitted message, but actually interprets it, based
on his or her individual experience. Hence, ‘communication’ should here be understood as a series of Poietic and
Esthesic Processes (see Section 1.6) by means of a Neutral Trace, the codes in Georges’s terminology.
124
‘Kinesic’ is a term used in lingustics, defined in Oxford English Dictionary as: “Of or pertaining to
communication effected non-vocally through movements or gestures.” (OED/OR, accessed April 4, 2011).
125
I would argue that this postulate supports the notion of ‘artistic communication for the purpose of X,’ as
discussed above.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

accordance with their established and assumed identity relationships. The Event is of social
value for the participants, and its impact can be communicated outside of the Event to
non-participants. The Event also has a social function, not only for the participants in the
Event but also in the society surrounding the Event. (3) Each Event is a unique occasion in
time and space, and it generates nonreversible effects for the participants and in the larger
society surrounding the Event. (4) Events exhibit various degrees of similarities, whereby
individual Events can be grouped together as a certain type of Event. The criteria for
grouping Events are culturally determined, so different groups with different value systems
are likely to make different compilations of Events.126
From these postulates, Georges finds that the linguistic entities – or in the case under
study here, audial entities – cannot be regarded as ‘traditional entities,’ originating in a long
past through the efforts of anonymous creators, and then persisting through time and space.
The message conveyed is not a thing that can be lifted out of its context, and it exists only
as long as the individuals involved in the communicative act assume their roles. The
message of an Event, says Georges, “has no existence ‘outside’ the storytelling event itself.
… [It] is simply one aspect of an integral whole from which it and every other aspect of the
storytelling event are inseparable.”127 Ben-Amos almost reiterates this in the discussion
leading up to his definition of folklore. He states that there are two social conditions for a
folkloric act to occur: “both the performer and the audience have to be in the same situation
and be part of the same reference group,” which implies that they are in a situation “in
which people confront each other face to face and relate to each other directly.” From this
he concludes, as did Georges, that “even when a certain literary theme or musical style is
known regionally, nationally, or internationally, its actual existence depends upon such
small group situations.”128
Another issue that Georges approaches in a way that is similar to Ben-Amos is the
definition of folklore as being orally transmitted. If we insist that pure oral transmission is a
condition for something to be regarded as folklore, then the focus is on isolated forms rather
than the object of study in its totality. If the principal duty of a performer, a narrator of tales
or producer of sound, is to reproduce or re-create the material as accurately as possible, we
have to accept that the stories or the pieces of music are stable, unchanging physical entities,
against which we can compare the factual outcome of a given event.129 Any change in the
outcome would also have to be evaluated as accidental; most likely it would appear without
the conscious intention of the performer, and therefore it would probably have to be deemed
unavoidable. From Georges’s postulates, we must, however, conclude that an Event is
generated and shaped by – and exists because of – a specific situation, in which all
participants interact. To say that two separate Events communicate the same message, or
that they constitute two variations of one and the same message, is misleading.

126
Georges, “Toward an Understanding of Storytelling Events,” 1969, 317–319.
127
Ibid., 323.
128
Ben-Amos, “Toward a Definition of Folklore in Context,” 1971, 12–13. Emphasis added.
129
I am not using the word “Event” (capitalized) here; if we assume that there are physical entities that exist
independently from actual performances, we would not be able to accept the notion of an Event.

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 Chapter 1 – Introduction

Such assertions merely reinforce the notion that the messages of storytelling events enjoy,
in some way, an independent or semi-independent existence—that they are entities which
can be “handed down” or “passed on” and which “vary” and “change” accidentally,
unconsciously, or unavoidably.130

If the linguistically coded message, the text, were to be regarded as the total message of
the Event, several aspects would be missed. It would lead to the collection of entities,
presumed to contain a full coverage of the content.
Ben-Amos asserts that oral texts, whether narratives, songs, or instrumental music “cross
over into the domain of written literature and … musical arts; conversely, the oral
circulation of songs and tales has been affected by print.”131 This is a situation that is
common to many cultures, and it is definitely the case with the ‘traditional’ music in Japan;
songs, stories, music have been recorded, written down, notated since centuries ago, and the
relevant notated material for the present study has roots going back to the sixteenth century.
Still, the ‘traditional’ shakuhachi music is mainly regarded as being transmitted in a
semi-oral fashion. It would be heavily fallacious to regard the notated aspects of the
shakuhachi music as a total mapping of its musical content (cf. Chapter 8).

1.3.4 Traditional Shakuhachi Music

In the field of ‘traditional performing arts’ in Japan, the notion of a hierarchical structure
within which the art is transmitted is common ground. The concept of a household head,
iemoto, is well-known and debated in- and outside of Japan. The thorough research on the
subject that has been conducted by Nishiyama Matsunosuke, a twentieth-century historian
and emeritus professor of Tokyo University of Education,132 is well known and often quoted.
His writings include three works on the iemoto: Iemoto monogatari (The Iemoto Story),
Iemoto no kenkyū (Research of Iemoto), and Gendai no iemoto (The Iemoto of Today). He
has also written several books on tradition and the way of arts, e.g., Geidō to dentō (The
Way of Art and Tradition). In the English language literature, apart from some articles by
Nishiyama translated into English,133 the anthropologist Francis L. K. Hsu (1909–1999) is
also often quoted. His book Iemoto: The Heart of Japan from 1975 is a comprehensive
survey of various aspects of the iemoto system, in history and modern times, and a
comparison between Chinese and Japanese kinship systems. A more recent book on
transmission in traditional arts is Secrecy in Japanese Arts: “Secret Transmission” as a
Mode of Knowledge by Maki Isaka Morinaga in 2005. Morinaga discusses esotericism as a
generic concept for the logic of Japanese arts and their transmission, where secret
transmission, hiden,134 is a central notion. In Morinaga’s examination of Zeami, especially

130
Georges, “Toward an Understanding of Storytelling Events,” 1969, 324.
131
Ben-Amos, “Toward a Definition of Folklore in Context,” 1971, 14.
132
Nishiyama Matsunosuke (西山松之助, 1912–); Tokyo Kyōiku Daigaku (東京教育大学).
133
To my knowledge, only Edo Culture: Daily Life and Diversions in Urban Japan, 1600–1868, University of
Hawaii Press, 1997, has been translated into English. This book is a collection of writings by Nishiyama.
134
hiden (秘伝).

49
 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

his Nō treatise Fūshikaden, she concludes that in existing scholarship on Zeami, 135 a
dichotomy between traditionality and originality, and by extension also creativity, has
become a problem: “the discursive paradigm in which Zeami resides treats creativity and
traditionality as potentially—and desirably—fusible attributions.” 136 The existing
scholarship to which she refers relates to the discussion above, in Section 1.3.3.2, about the
birth of the notion of ‘creativity’ as something diametrically opposed to ‘tradition’ in
Western disciplines. I discuss Morinaga and her notion of ‘dynamic hearsay’ in Section 4.4
below.
‘Shakuhachi,’ understood as a music genre, stretches from music cultures in ancient
times to the present day, and there is a need for a discussion of what the expression
“traditional shakuhachi music” actually stands for from a Japanese standpoint. Nishiyama
Matsunosuke refers to the term geidō, 137 as one of the characteristics peculiar to the
traditional Japanese arts (nihon no dentō geijutsu), in contrast to other cultures.

It seems that the traditional arts of Japan, both in regard to fundamental ideas and
aesthetics, contain elements that are highly different from the classical arts of the various
countries in the West as well as all the countries in the East. One of these [elements] is, I
think, what is called geidō.138

Before discussing Nishiyama’s definition of the term, I need to make a comment about
how Nishiyama introduces the concept. I think it is possible to accept the hypothesis of an
existing concept of a geidō within the traditional arts of Japan, without having to deal with
the implied uniqueness in this quote. 139 I will assume that the concept of geidō is a
characteristic feature of the traditional arts, but I do not in any way exclude the possibility
that the same or similar characteristics exist in other (music) cultures. Rather, it is my firm
belief that the characteristics discussed below are not unique to any single culture, even if
the term itself is fairly old in Japan. According to Nishiyama, the term geidō appears for the
first time in Zeami’s Kakyō, written in 1424.140 Also Konparu Zenchiku, a Muromachi
period Nō drama actor, is using the term in his Kabuzuinōki of 1456.141
135
Morinaga does not give a full account of research on Zeami, and cites only two Japanese scholars with respect to
the dichotomy to which she refers.
136
Morinaga, Secrecy in Japanese Arts …, 2005, 59.
137
geidō (芸道). The characters for geidō consist of the character for ‘art’ (gei, 芸), and the character for ‘way’ (here
read dō, 道). Another way of expressing it would be the reading gei no michi (芸の道).
138
Nishiyama, Geidō to dentō, 1984, 141. Also in Nishiyama, “Kinsei geijutsu shisō no tokushitsu to sono tenkai”
Nihon shisō taikei 61: Kinsei geidō-ron, 1972, 585. (日本の伝統芸術には、根本的な思想や美学の点においても、西洋諸国や
東洋の各国における古典芸術と、かなり異なったものがあるようである。その一つが芸道というものであろうと私は思う。).
139
The text is from 1972, in the midst of an era of what can be called “positive nihonjin-ron.” The concept
‘nihonjin-ron’ is a genre of writings that attempts to explain the essential qualities of the core of Japanese culture
and its people by using nationality, ethnicity and culture as synonymous terms. Often it describes the ‘Japaneseness’
of things Japanese as something unique in the world, and something, which, by its very essence, is impossible to
comprehend for others than the Japanese people.
140
Nishiyama, Geidō to dentō, 1984, 141. The passage in Kakyō (花鏡) is translated in the following ways.
Rimer and Yamazaki: “In whatever artistic pursuit, one studies and then understands, studies and then understands,
so that he will know how to carry out his art in actual practice.” (Rimer, Yamazaki, On the Art of the Nō Drama,
1984, 106); Thomas Hare: “In every artistic vocation, there is a proper way to proceed: you should learn and learn,
study and study, and then bring it into effect.” (Thomas Hare, Zeami: Performance Notes, 2008, 122).
ならひならひ かく おこなふ
(一切芸道に、 習 々 覺 し々々て、さて 行 道あるべし, in Nihon koten bungaku taikei 65, 1973, 435.
141
Konparu Zenchiku (金春禅竹, 1405–1471). An early Edo period copy of Kabuzuinōki (歌舞髄脳記) is available at
http://hdl.handle.net/10114/4953.

50
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

Nishiyama defines geidō as “the way [dō] of art [gei] put into practice.” An integral part
of the gei consists of “using the body … the whole or a part of the body and put it to work,
and thereby creating a cultural value, or re-creating [it], that very work.”142 Furthermore, the
‘work (of the body),’ or hataraki in Nishiyama’s terms, creates a ‘work of art,’ geijutsu
sakuhin, which normally would be a tangible cultural asset. The resulting product – the
object – is not related to the Way of the Art, geidō.143 This object is what I will refer to as a
‘neutral trace’ or as belonging to the ‘neutral level’ – in all practicality, a physical entity –
following J. J. Nattiez’s analytical model, which I explain in Section 1.6.
For Nishiyama the ‘working’ (hataraki-kata) itself is an intangible cultural asset, and that
which defines the way of the art. Thus, he reaches a conclusion in which geidō is the way of
conducting the art, enjiru enji-kata. The way of conducting an art form is limited to the rules
of this art, the prescriptive elements, which, in the case of Japanese arts, take the form of
various kata according to Nishiyama.144 It is worth noting here that the terms hataraki-kata
(働き方) and enjiru enji-kata (演じる演じ方) are not related to the word kata (型) denoting a
prescriptive form. The two former kata (方) denote a way of doing something, and the latter
(型) denotes a prescriptive form, a mold. These terms are homophones, but not homographs,
and should not be confused with each other.
I return to Nishiyama’s concept of geidō and kata in Chapter 8, but following
Nishiyama’s line of argument, any art form that develops a form, kata, that regulates and
prescribes the correct way of conducting the art, enji-kata, will be part of the traditional art,
in as much as it is geidō. The forms are applied to prescribe bodily movements that are the
processes, i.e., the art, that may result in a tangible object. The processes constitute art, and
thereby geidō is established. 145 The existence of kata within any given art form will
therefore be a necessary – if yet not decisively sufficient – condition for that art form to be a
traditional Japanese art form.

142
Nishiyama, “Kinsei geijutsu shisō …,” 1972, 585–586. (芸道というのは、芸を実践する道である。芸とは、肉体を用いて
… 体の全体または一部をはたらかすことによって、文化価値を創りだすとか、または再創造するとかをする、そのはたらきをいう。).
143
Nishiyama argues that any artefact created by and through an artistic process has no relation whatsoever to the
Way of Art (geidō). The process leading to the artefact is, however, an aspect of geidō. Thus, geidō is the concrete
and artful realisation of form by an individual. He excludes all kinds of concrete products, such as pottery, paintings,
sculptures, and so on. (Ibid., 590).
144
Ibid., 586, 596.
145
Ibid., 590.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

1.4 Defining the Questions at Issue

In the present study I investigate and interpret the physical entities available on the ‘neutral
level,’ i.e., the physical entities (cf. Section 1.6), including both text material and other
elements of transmission. ’Tradition’ presupposes that there is something that is being
transmitted. In order to deconstruct ‘tradition’ the best approach would therefore be to study
what has been transmitted in history, and how this has been transmitted. Since there are no
physical sources that can tell of such transmissions, I have divided the study in two facets of
analysis: the question of historical authenticity, and how the transmission of tradition is
being conducted today. The present study, thus, has two points as its main focus: the
historical authenticity and the constituents of the prescriptive forms that are at work in the
process of transmission.

1.4.1 Historical Authenticity

The first point of focus, then, is the issue of authenticity. The shakuhachi and its music have
a long history, stretching back to the eighth century in Japan. If we include the various
appearances of the instrument, from its introduction to Japan to the sixteenth century, the
shakuhachi has crossed over many musical genres: It was used in the court music, gagaku,
and the popular festival music of medieval times – probably both dengaku and sarugaku,
two genres that eventually developed into the music of the Nō theatre. The shakuhachi was
used for popular entertainment in the sixteenth century, and at the same time it appears as an
instrument used by mendicant monks at the latest towards the end of the fifteenth century.146
Around this time it is not unlikely that it was also used by blind monks, whose main activity
consisted of the recital of sutras and story-telling, accompanying themselves on the lute
biwa.147 In the Early Modern Period, during the Edo period, the shakuhachi eventually
became acknowledged as a religious implement, but was at the same time – in violation of
the laws regulating its applications and functions – also used in secular chamber music. In
modern times, from the Meiji period on, it became a popular instrument in entertainment
music, and in today’s contemporary society a variety of musicians as well as practitioners of
Zen Buddhism use it. 148 As discussed in Section 1.3.3.1 above, we could accept any
‘traditional’ usage of the shakuhachi as a social construction within a well-defined group,
based on the group’s own definition of its tradition. However, most individual practitioners
or groups of practitioners – regardless of their affinity – tend to claim a common or similar
origin. Most of the historical studies conducted during the twentieth century – whether
concerned with the history of shakuhachi in general or of a certain lineage – disclaim the
legendary origins of the shakuhachi as it is outlined in a book with the name Kyotaku denki
kokuji-kai (1795), which for a long time was the unquestioned truth. The studies conclude
that the official acknowledgement of the shakuhachi as a religious implement in the latter

146
See Chapters 3 and 4.
147
See Section 5.1.5.
148
See Sections 3.2, 3.3, and Chapters 4 and 7.

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 Chapter 1 – Introduction

half of the seventeenth century, a status it had for about two hundred years, was based on
socio-political concerns rather than on historically proven facts.149 At the same time, all the
historical studies refer back to an older, pre-Edo-period history. They claim that the
shakuhachi had certain specific connections to music and religious usage in the Medieval
Period. On the basis of medieval sources, the historical studies make reference to the time of
the historically famous Prince Shōtoku, who lived in the late sixth and early seventh
centuries.150 Through these studies we have access to certain historical data, but there are
also several aspects in the studies that are given without explicit references to sources, and
the ‘facts’ are often presented without any discussion of their historical reliability. I
introduce and expand on these studies in my analyses below. The shakuhachi does have a
historically proven past, but there may, however, be a question whether the interpretations
of the past are based on historical facts that are reliable and consistent with each other, or
only suitable for the groups of which they are the definable origin. The question is, thus, in
what respects the shakuhachi tradition – in Hobsbawm’s terminology – is a ‘real’ or an
‘invented’ tradition.

1.4.2 Prescriptive Forms

The second point of focus relates to prescriptive forms: the characteristics of the
prescriptive elements, which make it possible to perform music as ‘traditional’ music. The
discussion in Section 1.3.3.4 partly relates to the event theory presented by Georges. I
believe it would be fair to say that a Georgeian Event contains a performative – here a
shakuhachi performative – and the definition ‘communicative acts in small groups for the
purpose of X’ could be further explicated: ‘communicative acts of shakuhachi performatives
in small groups for the purpose of X.’ If we combine this explicated reformulation of
‘traditional shakuhachi music’ with Nishiyama’s concept of prescriptive forms in Section
1.3.4, we reach the following definition: ‘communicative acts of shakuhachi performatives,
in accordance with certain prescriptive forms, conducted in small groups for the purpose of
X.’ Thus, the prescriptive forms are employed for the purpose of X, which implies the
intention of affecting someone, normally an audience.151 The performer needs to employ a
strategy to achieve the intended purpose. Unless given a priori, the strategy would include
considerations of what techniques to use, and how to use them. Both the situation, i.e., the
performative activity – or performance – itself, and the technical aspects of the actual
performance need attention.
A prominent folklore scholar and anthropologist, Roger D. Abrahams, holds that, “[a]
full analysis of a genre or tradition requires the study of organizational elements of both

149
See Chapters 4 and 7.
150
This aspect is further discussed in Chapter 7. Shōtoku Taishi has become a symbol of what is commonly thought
of as originally and essentially Japanese, and a reference to him adds value to the referent.
151
It is of course conceivable that the intention is to affect oneself, to put oneself in a certain state of mind, or that
the performer has no purpose whatsoever. In the former case, whether it is an audience or not is determined by the
given situation, and in the latter case, the performer would at least seem to have the purpose of being purposeless,
i.e., carrying an intention of not having any specified purpose.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

items and performance,”152 and the items are those of what he refers to as ‘expressive
folklore.’ For Abrahams, ‘tradition’ becomes an abstract system of rules that guide a
performer.153 However, to use Georges’s term, an Event is conducted for a purpose, and
thus, in Abrahams’s words, “each item of expressive culture is … a tool of persuasion.”154
In order to allow for the participants to be able to interpret and appreciate the expressive
elements of an Event, even the techniques employed in the performance have to be in line
with something that is preconceived – or at least within the boundaries of what is expected –
by the audience. The participants will reflect on the creativity of the performance, how
much invention is invited into the performance, but also how much would be permitted or
demanded from the given context. An argument will not be persuasive, and the listener will
not accept persuasion, if it is not comprehensible to him or her. A performance may not be
accepted as a ‘performance’ if the content of the performance is in conflict with the
expectations of the audience, which implies that the listener evaluates the levels of
‘creativity’ and ‘traditionality.’155
To give an aesthetic experience or a persuasive argument to an expecting audience does,
however, require that the prescriptive elements guiding the performance – of music in this
study – are less fixed than in some other situations. Abrahams distuinguishes between
different types of what he refers to as Enactments,156 or intensified events, stating that in
performance individuals “take aesthetic responsibility for the enactment,” and while
viewing play as a different type of Enactment, still finds that “[p]laying, whether in game or
performance, is unique in its capacity to rearrange features and factors of behaviour.”157 The
different types of Enactments may cross over and into each other, but in general, the four
types of Enactments – play, games and sports; performances; rituals; and festivities – are
discrete entities, because they occur at different situations, and they require different
conventions, roles, and relations. He contrasts Performances with Rituals, in which the
sequence of actions taken by the performer is stereotyped. Abrahams states that:

152
Roger D. Abrahams, “Introductory Remarks to a Rhetorical Theory of Folklore,” 1968, 145.
153
Ben-Amos interprets Abrahams as asserting the existence of “an abstract system of rules and symbols that exists
as a guiding pattern and as a storehouse of themes and forms that can be enacted during appropriate situations by
capable performers.” In Dan Ben-Amos, “The Seven Strands of Tradition: Varieties in Its Meaning in American
Folklore Studies,” 1984, 122.
154
Abrahams, “Introductory Remarks to a Rhetorical Theory of Folklore,” 1968, 146.
155
Even in performances of contemporary music, with an audience supporting this music, it occurs that the audience
reacts with dismay if not able to comprehend what is going on. John Cage’s piece 4’33” is a piece in which a pianist
enters the stage, sits down at the piano, and then does nothing for 4 minutes and 33 seconds, then closes the lid and
leaves the stage: the piece consists of nothing but silence. Commenting on the first performance of his piece, John
Cage says: “People began whispering to one another, and some people began to walk out. They didn't laugh – they
were just irritated when they realized nothing was going to happen, and they haven’t forgotten it 30 years later:
they’re still angry.” (Cage in conversation with Michael John White (1982), in Kostelanetz 1988, p. 66. Quoted
from http://solomonsmusic.net/4min33se.htm, accessed Novembre 16, 2010).
156
As with Events, I have capitalized Enactment, as well as the four types of enactments that Abrahams defines:
Play, Performance, Ritual, and Festivity. To these four I have added one: Transmission. I argue for this addition
below. I capitalize the words when I use them to denote the representative object of the communicative act of play,
performane, ritual, festivity, or transmission respectively.
157
Abrahams, “Toward an Enactment-Centered Theory of Folklore,” 1977, 101. Abrahams does however mean that
play and performace are different, but I would hold that the similarities referred to here are in line with Abrahams
own argument that “expression is designed to influence” (“Introductory Remarks to a Rhetorical Theory of Folklore,”
1968, 146.). If an expression is designed to influence, and the individual has aesthetic responsibility in his purpose
of X, it seems inevitable that features and factors of behaviour may be rearranged, and thereby change the outcome
of the performed item.

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 Chapter 1 – Introduction

[In Ritual there is] a rendering of transition through an (almost) invariant sequencing of
symbolic or “deep” actions, images, and use of objects; expressed in the most
self-consciously employed and monitored expressive codes; and ritual “offices” or roles
involved in carrying out that experience.158

The situation and stylized behaviour decide the type of Enactment, but this does not
mean that they are not interrelated. Thus, a Performance may have ritualistic aspects, or
playful ones, and a Ritual may, and often does, include festive parts, for example, the
celebration after a wedding ceremony.
For the purpose of the present study I wish to add one type of enactment that I think is
missing in Abrahams’s list: Transmission. In a teaching situation of ‘traditional’ music the
process of transmission becomes central, whether the transmission is oral or semi-oral. The
shakuhachi tradition is transmitted in a semi-oral fashion, and the hierarchical structure
surrounding Transmission makes it similar to Ritual. 159 There are, however, several
differences: a ritual is often conducted on sacred ground, or at least purports to be so. In
many rituals the recipients of the ritual are normally not expected to take on the same role as
the officiant (a wedded couple is not supposed to become priests), whereas in a transmission
event, the receiver is supposed to eventually take a similar role as the transmitter.160 In a
Transmission-type enactment we may discern ritualistic aspects, as well as playful ones, but
Transmission fulfills Abrahams’s conditions for something to qualify as a discrete
Enactment: the time, place and occasion when it occurs, the conventions surrounding it, the
roles and relationships between transmitter and receiver, codes of expressivity, and rules of
behaviour,161 are typical for what I will refer to as the Transmission-type of Enactment, and
different from the other types of Enactments that Abrahams lists.
For Georges, each person involved in an Event selects a social identity from the multiple
social identities in his or her social persona: One person assumes the role of storyteller. The
others (normally more than one) assume identities as listeners from their available selection.
After that they act in accordance with the duties prescribed by the assumed identities.162 The
roles assumed are, however, not social facts, but rather a part of the social practice, or a
process in line with expectations and ideals prevalent in the given context. Abrahams refers
to the patterns by which roles are assumed or taken as ‘schemas.’163 I would substitute
Georges’s storyteller for a transmitter in my investigation, and the listeners for students or
receivers.

158
Abrahams, “Toward an Enactment-Centered Theory of Folklore,” 1977, 110.
159
This may be debated, but the hierarchy of the iemoto system, with an artistic (and social) leader controlling the
group, and a number of formalized behavioural patterns to learn in the process of acquiring the art, some aspects of
the total social fact surrounding the learning process could maybe be analyzed as Ritual. I would, however, prefer to
make a distinction between Ritual and Transmission.
160
The definition of ‘transmitter’ is rather wide: the role of transmitter is at least someone who is able to tell about
the music. Normally, the transmitter is also a performer, or at least someone who is performing. The receiver is
supposed to take on both these roles after completion, but Performance and Transmission (Transmittance) are
separate Events, and therefore the roles of Performer and Transmitter are separated, even if it normally is one and
the same individual.
161
Abrahams, “Toward an Enactment-Centered Theory of Folklore,” 1977, 100–101.
162
Georges, “Toward an Understanding of Storytelling Events,” 1969, 320.
163
Abrahams, “Toward an Enactment-Centered Theory of Folklore,” 1977, 109.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

The roles assumed or taken, as a performer, listener, transmitter, or receiver, are thus
related to and prescribed by the context. The same is true for the actual patterns of the
enactment, which means that there is a correlation between situation and item, between the
performative activity and that which is performed in terms of how it is performed: the
prescriptive elements of the performed item, kata. Thus, it seems that Nishiyama’s notion of
kata should be regarded as implicitly including not only prescriptive elements and the
structural aspects of form, but also the formalized aspects of the situation.

1.5 Aim, Limitations, and Position of the Study

1.5.1 Aim
Most of the research conducted on the shakuhachi, both as an instrument and the music
performed on it, is historical. There are only a few studies focusing on musical analysis. As
I mention in Section 1.4, a study of the ‘traditionality’ of shakuhachi would require a critical
study of the transmission of the shakuhachi. But, since this is not feasible, I find the
question of transmission a two-fold one: Firstly we have the question of how the shakuhachi
relates to the older history in Japan; this issue is connected to the above discussion of
historical authenticity. Secondly we have the question of how this tradition has been
transmitted from the Early Modern Period to our time; this issue is concerned with the
constituents of the prescriptive forms, which supposedly are at work in the process of
transmission.
‘Tradition’ is often viewed as an unbroken continuum, where a ‘true’ or ‘pure’ line back
to the ‘origin’ is valued. This is especially true within the world of music culture that is
rooted in the Edo period. What are the ‘traditional’ precedents in traditional shakuhachi
music? The historical studies by Japanese scholars and researchers are more or less
congruous in regard to the history of the shakuhachi during the Edo period, and the most
influential writing in recent years has been Nakatsuka Chikuzen’s study from 1936–1939,
reissued as a book in 1979.164 This study gives a thorough account of older history, and the
development during the Edo period. In academia there is but one study – in English by
Andreas Gutzwiller in 1974 – that does not disclaim the legendary origins of the
shakuhachi.
The aim of the present work is not to challenge these historical findings. Nevertheless,
the studies authored in Japanese – basically reiterated in studies that are written in English,
e.g., Lee 1993 – also make reference to the older history, and implicitly make claims that
the shakuhachi has connections to Buddhism in pre-Edo-period times. None of the Japanese
studies make any critical remarks about the findings. The aim of Chapters 4–7 is to conduct
a critical study of the twentieth-century research that relates to the pre-Edo-period history.
164
Nakatsuka Chikuzen, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (A Historical View of Kinko-ryū Shakuhachi).
See Chapter 2 for an overview of the relevant texts.

56
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

My hypothesis is that the assumed connection between monks in the Medieval Period and
the Edo-period monks is construed. To explicate further, Chapter 4 is a critical investigation
of the creation of an origin and the invention of a tradition by the komusō monks during the
Edo period. I argue that the komusō created a source and invented a tradition, rather than
developing an already existing tradition, which is the commonly accepted theory in most
other studies. In Chapters 5–6 I examine the primary sources that are drawn upon in the
twentieth-century writings on the history of the shakuhachi, and indicate that the
twentieth-century writings, intentionally or not, provide a re-creation of tradition, furnishing
the shakuhachi with an alleged older indigenous origin with strong connections to
Buddhism.
The social environment surrounding the Enactment of transmission is a strict hierarchical
system, within the framework of the iemoto-seido, 165 which may be a reason for the
scarceness of critical studies of the pieces or the transmission. Tsukitani Tsuneko166 is one
of the few Japanese who have conducted studies of the pieces transmitted in different
lineages, and Riley Lee conducted a thorough study of transmission in his Ph. D. thesis
from 1993 (cf. Chapter 2). In the present study I employ a model of analysis presented by
Jean-Jacques Nattiez,167 a French Canadian musicologist and semiologist, who built his
tripartitional division of analysis on the theories of Jean Molino: (1) the creative processes
leading up to a work of art, referred to as poietic processes, (2) the intellectual processes
leading to, in a wide meaning of the word, an aesthetic experience of the work of art, the
esthesic processes, and (3) the objectively observable facts, the neutral traces. Any
discourse on music should, according to Nattiez, contain an analysis of the neutral trace, the
concrete facts of music. What structural elements are we concerned with in terms of the
transmission of the music, and what position and function do they have in the total social
fact of the transmission of the shakuhachi tradition? I apply Nattiez’s model, not only to the
actual processes of transmission conducted in today’s world, but also to the historical
studies in Chapters 4–7. The model employed is explained and discussed in Section 1.6
“Analytical Model and Methodology” below.
The aim of Chapter 8 of this study is to investigate the notion of traditionality in the
process of transmission, based on the notion of kata, as defined by Nishiyama (cf. Section
1.3.4), and the Enactment theory presented by Abrahams (cf. Section 1.4.2) above. I also
discuss kata as a structural concept as presented by the Japanese musicologists Kikkawa
Eishi and Tsukitani Tsuneko. The following questions arise: What are the defining
characters of kata, and what relation can be found between prescriptive elements and the
situation of Enactment? My hypothesis is that kata is a fluid concept that does not
correspond to a definable and solely structural unit of the music, and that it is only definable
in terms of individual variations. By analyzing the Poietic and Esthesic Processes involved

165
The iemoto-seido, iemoto system, is the name of a socially constructed society, in which a head of a line, lineage,
or school, the iemoto, has the supreme authority of his or her line, lineage, or school. Normally, an iemoto has social,
ecnomical, administrational, and aesthetic authority over his or her organisation, and over the effects these aspects
exert on the members of the organisation.
166
月溪恒子, 1944–2010, professor in musicology at the Osaka National University of Fine Arts and Music until her
untimely demise on September 23, 2010.
167
Jean-Jacques Nattiez is a prominent exponent of musical semiotics as a distinct discipline. The University of
Paris VIII awarded him the world’s first doctorate in the semiology of music in 1972.
http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/2109/Jean-­‐Jacques-Nattiez.html.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

in the act of transmission, I attempt to deconstruct the perception of kata as a static, fixed,
and rigid form.

1.5.2 Limitations
As mentioned in Section 1.5.1, the historical studies agree on the Edo-period history of the
shakuhachi. During most of this time the shakuhachi was played by mendicant monks,
so-called komusō. The sect surrounding the komusō, the Fuke-shū, has never been officially
acknowledged but in a regulation from 1677 the temples and sub-temples of “the various
factions of komusō” were given official status.168 Tsukitani Tsuneko, one of the very few
academics studying the shakuhachi in Japan, states that “[t]his was the first time the bakufu
[central authorities] submitted an official notification to the komusō temples, with the
significance that the bakufu acknowledged the Fuke sect as a denomination.”169 In the
notification, there is, however, no mention of ‘Fuke-shū’ in any respect. Tsukitani
concludes that, “the temples began using ‘Fuke-shū’ or ‘Fuke Zen-shū’ to label
themselves.170
There is agreement among scholars and researchers regarding the reason for
acknowledging the sect and its monks. The komusō were of noble birth, i.e., samurai, but in
his research Nakatsuka Chikuzen, who wrote one of the most comprehensive and most
circulated studies on the history of the shakuhachi, concludes that the Fuke sect was more
than anything else a place to stay for the masterless samurai, rōnin, of the late seventeenth
century.

Thus, the main object of this law [Keichō okite-gaki171 ] was to be a rescue shelter for
these rōnin. [The notion of a] rescue shelter comprises several meanings, for example an
attempt to provide a secure place where the emaciated rōnin, [a condition] not common
among officers, could get clothes, food and roof over their heads, or to offer an
extraterritorial zone for those who were discontent with the central authorities, or to offer
a temporary hideaway for those who wanted to take revenge, and so on.172

As mentioned above, the legendary origin of the shakuhachi, with its roots in Rinzai Zen
Buddhism, is widely disclaimed by scholars. I discuss this aspect in Chapter 4, but in the

168
Kurihara Kōta, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 155–156. A total of sixteen factions are mentioned. (虚無僧諸派).
169
Tsukitani Tsuneko, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 30. (これは虚無僧寺に対し幕府が出した初めての公
たっし
式「 達 」文書で、幕府が宗派としての普化宗を認めたことを意味する。).
Nakatsuka Chikuzen says he believes that two fifteenth century Rinzai Zen Buddhist monks, Ikkyū and Rōan, in
combination, created the perceived connection to Fuke. Nakatsuka says that Ikkyū was a very knowledgable person,
and he also refers to Fuke in his writings, and that for Ikkyū, “Rōan is Fuke in his heart.” (Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū
shakuhachi shikan (1936-39), 1979, 261, 265. The existence of Rōan is, however, not historically proven.
(Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 73. Also see Section 7.2.1.1)
170
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 30. (「普化宗」あるいは「普化禅宗」はむしろ、虚無僧寺院の
側から名のりはじめ t ものである。).
171
See Section 4.2 for details.
172
Nakatsuka Chikuzen, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 238. (要するに浪人救済収容という事が此掟書の
眼目であった、救済収容という内には士官の途なき痩せ浪人の為に衣食住の安全を計ってやる事や、幕府に対して不平を抱く者に
治外法権的安全地帯を提供する事や、敵討をしたい者に一時の隠れ場を提供する事等々色々な意味が含まれて居る。).

58
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

analysis of authenticity of shakuhachi in its historical aspects I cover ‘shakuhachi’ as a

generic concept in pre-Edo-period times, as it is presented in the research conducted in
Japan during the twentieth century.
The aim of this study is to discuss what elements constitute a tradition, both in its
historical aspects of authenticity, and with respect to the process of transmission. In order to
do this, I investigate the tradition of shakuhachi music, with roots in the pre-Meiji-period
music culture, as a case study. There are, however, a number of lineages and sub-lineages
within the shakuhachi tradition. Shakuhachi is not one solid tradition of music transmitted
from old times in an unbroken line. In the discussion of transmission I mainly discuss one of
many lineages of shakuhachi – the oldest formalised lineage, Kinko-ryū – as a case study.173
Furthermore, the main material of study in Chapter 8 of the present research is based on
contemporary examples or realisations of music, with or without claims of having their
roots in the Edo period. In the analysis of Nishiyama’s geidō concept in respect to
shakuhachi music I therefore focus the study on the style of Yamaguchi Gorō (1933–1999)
of the above-mentioned lineage Kinko-ryū shakuhachi. Yamaguchi was one of the top
shakuhachi performers of twentieth-century Japan, and the youngest ever designated Living
National Treasure.174

1.5.3 Position
The present research is an interdisciplinary study of ‘tradition’ in the history of musical
culture in Japan. The aim is to discuss what elements constitute a tradition, both in its
historical aspects of authenticity, and in respect to the process of transmission. What
grounds exist to claim historical precedence? What are the constituents of transmission? It is
a study of a ‘traditional’ art form, including and combining several aspects of what
constitutes something ‘traditional’: the historical position, covering also socio-historical
aspects, and the prescriptive factors in a modern realisation of the art form, covering
folklore research, ethno-musicology, and anthropology.

173
Kinko-ryū is the oldest existing lineage of shakuhachi, established in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth
century. The name comes from Kurosawa Kinko (黒沢琴古), 1710–1771. His real name was Kurosawa Kōhachi (黒澤
幸八).
174
山口五郎. Living National Treasure is the common translation of ningen kokuhō, which is turn is the popular term
for jūyō mukei bunka-zai (重要無形文化財), Important Intangible Cultural Asset. Yamaguchi also recorded a solo
shakuhachi piece for NASA’s Voyager II project.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

1.6 Analytical Model and Methodology

Roger Abrahams, cited above in Section 1.4.2, reports four basic ways in which a work of
art can be approached, regardless of whether the work of art is viewed as ‘traditional’ or not.
The first approach is to see the work of art and the effect it has on an audience, “as
by-products of the manipulative energies of the performing creator or interpreter”; the
second approach views the work of art as an object, “divorcing the artist and his audience
from consideration”; and the third is concerned with “the way in which the performance
affects the audience.”175 Besides these three dimensions or levels of analysis, Abrahams also
refers to a fourth approach, in which the effect the audience has on the performer is studied.
This approach, interesting as it may be, is of less importance for the present study,
concerned with historical authenticity and transmission, and I have therefore not included it
in the analysis. The first three approaches coincide with what is referred to as the Poietic,
Neutral, and Esthesic Levels in the model put forward by Jean Jacques Nattiez, mentioned
also in Section 1.5 above. The terminology Nattiez uses is further explored in the sections
below. His model is introduced in Musicologie générale et sémiologie, with the English title
Music and Discorse: Towards a Semiology of Music, translated by Carolyn Abbate. The
theoretical foundation of his model is based on the premises presented by the semiologist
Jean Molino,176 especially his tripartite model, and the semiological notions of Charles
Sanders Peirce (1839–1914).
The similarity with Abrahams’s line-up of approaches is not a point of discussion;
Nattiez is stating that what he refers to as poietic analysis, analysis of the neutral level, and
esthesic analysis “correspond to three autonomous tendencies already present in the history
of musical analysis.”177 The levels of analysis are already there to begin with, and the
problem, the issue at stake, is how they can be connected. Nattiez suggests what he refers to
as the tripartitional approach as a means to combine the three levels of analysis in order to
reach a more complete understanding of the material under study.
Nattiez’s model is, in his own words, an attempt to build a semiological model for the
analysis of music. He places emphasis on the need for an analysis of the concrete object,
which is the material under study, what he calls the neutral level. Apart from this concrete
constituent of music, whether in terms of a written score or the sonorous realisation, he also
asserts the need to investigate the processes leading to the production of the object, what he
calls poietic processes, as well as those that lead to an experience of the object, what he
calls esthesic processes. The combination of these three levels is referred to as the
tripartitional approach. In this section I explicate Nattiez’s model and the reasons for
employing it in the present study.178 I capitalize the words when they are used as terms, to
avoid confusion with their everyday meanings.

175
Abrahams, “Introductory Remarks to a Rhetorical Theory of Folklore,” 1968, 144.
176
I have not been able to obtain much biographical data about Jean Molino. To my knowledge, his latest known
position was as professor at the University of Lausanne.
177
Nattiez, Music and Discourse. Toward a Semiology of Music, 1990, 138.
178
I have previously found Nattiez’s model useful in the study of music, and I used his model also for my master
thesis at Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku. The content of that study is introduced in Section 1.1 above.

60
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

1.6.1 The Position of the Researcher

Before dealing with Nattiez’s model I would like to make a few comments about the
position of the researcher as an insider or outsider to the field of study. An outsider
analyzing indigenous music may well find a formally structured music where the insiders,
the actual performers, make the sounds as part of a game or view it as play.179 The
distinction between insider and outsider perspectives has its origin in the linguistic
anthropologist Kenneth Pike. He coined the terms emic and etic in 1954, as derivatives from
the discrimination between phonemic and phonetic analysis. These terms have become
common ground in several disciplines concerned with intercultural issues.

emic: of, relating to, or involving analysis of cultural phenomena from the perspective of
one who participates in the culture being studied. 180
etic: of, relating to, or involving analysis of cultural phenomena from the perspective of
one who does not participate in the culture being studied. 181

In Pike’s definition of the terms, “the emic perspective focuses on the intrinsic cultural
distinctions that are meaningful to the members of a given society,” and, “[t]he etic
perspective … relies upon the extrinsic concepts and categories that have meaning for
scientific observers.”182 Besides Pike, another scholar who is closely associated with these
concepts is the cultural anthropologist Marvin Harris. For Pike, the etic approach is a way of
understanding the emic, whereas for Harris, the etic approach, or the result of an etic
approach, is a goal in itself.183
However, an analysis of the Poietic and Esthesic Dimensions of a performative act that is
not influenced by or concerned with the context – purely etic, if any such thing exists – can
lead to a misunderstanding of the function and role that the performative act has. On the
other hand, a purely emic analysis – again assuming the purity of such an analysis – may not
be understood by those outside the culture, since, per definition, it refers to the music seen
only through the indigenous eyes. In other fields of research, e.g., literature, a combination
of the two approaches has been employed: “an emic perspective understood as an ‘insider’s
view’ constructed from ‘the outside’ for a specifically defined purpose has proven quite
useful as an analytical tool in our discussions of genres and genre concepts.” 184 The
researcher, thus, needs to maintain an open dialogue between the insider and the outsider
paradigms in order to outline the nature of the relationship between them. Nattiez also holds
that “there can be no purely emic or purely etic analysis.”185 Both insider and outsider
viewpoints should be included, in relation to the three poles of the tripartition, and
integrated into the web of symbolic functioning (see further below).

179
Nattiez, Music and Discourse: Toward a Semiology of Music, 1990, 56.
180
MW/OR, emic, accessed Decembre 6, 2010.
181
MW/OR, etic, accessed on Decembre 6, 2010.
182
James Lett, “Emic/Etic Distinctions”: http://faculty.ircc.cc.fl.us/faculty/jlett/publications.htm accessed December
9, 2010.
183
Ibid.
184
Gunilla Lindberg-Wada, “Introduction: Genji monogatari …,” 2006, 3.
185
Nattiez, Music and Discourse: Toward a Semiology of Music, 1990, 196

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

One difficulty in combining the insider and outsider paradigms is that the researcher is
supposed to be an insider to – have some inside knowledge of – the culture s/he is studying,
which an outsider group does not have. S/he is also expected to keep an outsider’s distance
to the culture under study in order to maintain an objective perspective. The people
belonging to the studied culture, the members of the group under study, are supposed not to
have, or not be able to maintain, such objectivity. The insider knowledge combined with the
supposed objectiveness of the outsider is expected to give some authority to actually
performing the study and writing about the culture in question.
In the position of an ‘objective outsider’ it is important not to become limited by
ethnocentric thinking; the research per se, the writing, the written text, the reading of this
text by outsiders (readers) is all part of an insider culture – in this case the Western culture –
with the culture under study helplessly an outsider, and in the worst case, seen as an inferior
culture. In particular, the problem of objectivity pertains to the neutral level. It is neutral
only in so much as it is a trace, but it does not include any ‘objective’ elements; the trace is
a trace because of the Poietic Processes that are evaluated within a cultural context. Nattiez
asserts that: “An analysis in effect states itself in the form of a discourse – spoken or written
– and it is consequently the product of an action; it leaves a trace and gives rise to readings,
interpretations, and criticism.”186
The researcher, however objective s/he tries to be, experiences the music under study on
the Esthesic Level by definition, and the Esthesic Processes are biased by one’s own
cultural context. To talk about a purely neutral level is rather a theoretical fantasy. Even if
we accept the existence of the Neutral Level as such, we cannot understand it except from a
cultural context: we are all cultural beings. What we can do in respect to the trace is to set
up hypothesises, which explain Poietic and Esthesic Processes behind the creation and
perception of the trace.

1.6.2 Nattiez’s Analytical Model and its Employability

I find Nattiez’s model to be useful for approaching the material in the present study, both
with respect to the notion of historical authenticity, and as a model for a structural analysis
of the prescriptive forms that are inherent in the tradition. His model for analysis can,
briefly, be described as an analysis of the material, combined with an interpretation of both
the creative processes that ‘marks’ the work of art, and the experience of the work of art by
the receiver. In a situation of transmission, I believe that these marks are distinguishable,
and roughly correspond to the prescriptive elements of the music. I will argue that the marks
are physical realisations of the intention of the transmitter to teach the music, and that they
enable the receiver to gain somatic understanding of the music (probably, but in lesser
degree, also cognitive understanding).187
In 1975, Nattiez wrote Fondaments d’une sémiologie de la musique, but he states in the
preface of his later book that “this is a completely rewritten work,” and that he wants to take

186
Ibid., 133
187
To be able to play a piece of music does not necessarily make a person able to understand the piece in such terms
that s/he is able to explain what is going on. I return to this issue in Chapter 8.

62
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

account of his own “intellectual evolution” and also “a rich variety of research” that had
come to his attention since 1975.188 Nattiez also touches upon ethnomusicological research:

In ethnomusicology, it was thought for a long time that the indigenous peoples were not
capable of meta-musical conceptualization, and they were simply not asked about such
conceptualizations. … [but] developments in cognitive anthropology and ethnoscience
have encouraged certain ethnomusicologists (traumatized by the specter of
ethnocentrism) to believe that the indigenous informant’s word is always and necessarily
more ‘true’ than that of the external observer.189

Nattiez views this not as typical for ethnomusicology, but more as an example of what
we find in musicological research in general: “the musician’s rejection of musicological
discourse, a discourse considered parasitic,” but on the other hand, Nattiez continues,
“[t]here is the usual musicologist’s rejection of the musician’s discourse: ‘the composer
doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He’s the last to know anything about the results of
his creative activity’.” 190 Any researcher who is undertaking a study of music will
encounter these or similar problems. Nattiez also outlines the connection between
discourse and music in regard to studies of music in other cultures than the researcher’s
own. His views can be summarized as follows: The indigenous performers’ discourses do
have an effect on the musical corpus. As an outsider, an ethnomusicologist can study not
only the music itself, but also the indigenous discourse, and the relationship between
discourse and actual practice, including all effects it may have on the music itself.191 His
model is therefore not only suitable for musicological studies, but also for an analysis of
the discourse about music.

1.6.3 Semiology in the Analysis of Music

Nattiez builds his model of semiological analysis on three key bases.192 Firstly, he presents
the concept of a sign in accordance with Ferdinand de Saussure’s idea that a sign consists of
two entities, the signified (Fr: signifié) and the signifier (Fr: signifiant), which are related to
each other by and through a process of referring. The signified is the object (a ‘concept’),
and the signifier is a representation of or a reference to that object (a ‘sound image’). For
Saussure a linguistic sign does not unite a thing and a name, but a concept and a sound
image, or in other words, the signifier (signifiant) is the form the sign takes, and the
signified (signifié) is the concept it represents.193 Saussure treated the signified as a mental
construct, even if it would presumably be possible to imagine that – even for Saussure – the
signified may have a physical object as its referent. However, Saussure’s original idea of the
188
Nattiez, Music and Discourse: Toward a Semiology of Music, 1990, xi.
189
Ibid., 189
190
Ibid.
191
Ibid., 188.
192
Nattiez uses the word semilogoié in his French original, which is mostly translated as ‘semiology,’ but Nattiez
states that he does not make any important differentiation between the terms ‘semiology’ and ‘semiotics,’ but
regards them rather as synonyms.
193
David Holdcroft, Saussure: Signs, System, and Arbitrariness, 1991, 50–51.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

sign puts brackets around the referent: it excludes reference to objects that exist in the world.
“His signified is not to be identified directly with a referent but is a concept in the mind –
not a thing but the notion of a thing.”194
Secondly, Nattiez expands his theory by using Peirce’s perception of signs: “A sign, or a
representamen, is something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or
capacity.”195 In Saussure’s dyadic model there is no room, and probably no need, for an
object, but Peirce uses a triadic model: (1) The form that the sign takes, the representamen,
which is not necessarily material. The representamen would correspond to the signifier
(signifiant) in Saussure’s terminology. (2) An interpretant, the signified (signifié) for
Saussure, which is the sense that the sign makes: the sign has an effect in an interpreter. (3)
An object to which the sign refers.196
Peirce uses the word semiosis to refer to the interaction between the triadic elements, the
representamen, the object and the interpretant. He calls the triadic relation genuine, stating
that “its three members are bound together by it in a way that does not consist in any
complexus of dyadic relations.”197 Peirce divides objects into the physical reality, which he
refers to as ‘dynamical objects,’ the denotation of the sign, and objects as the signs
themselves represent them. He refers to these as the ‘immediate objects,’ which then
constitute the aspect of a sign, which makes it appropriate for the sign to stand for its
dynamical object.198
The third basis for Nattiez relates to another important difference between Saussure and
Peirce. For Peirce, the interpretant itself is a sign in the mind of the interpreter: it creates, as
it were, an equivalent sign, which is the interpretant of the first sign. This leads to a series
of successive interpretants, potentially ad infinitum.199 The meaning of a representation is a
representation, and any initial interpretation can be re-interpreted.

[A sign] addresses somebody, that is, creates in the mind of that person an equivalent sign,
or perhaps a more developed sign. That sign which it creates I call the interpretant of the
first sign. The sign stands for something, its object. It stands for that object, not in all
respects, but in reference to a sort of idea, which I have sometimes called the ground of
the representamen.200

Despite the possible differences depending on discipline, Peirce seems to be one of the
oft-cited founders of semiology (semiotics), but, according to Nattiez, “his concepts have
been of little inspiration to musical semiologists.”201 Nattiez states, however, that Peirce’s
dynamic concept of the sign is the very basis for his own thought. Every component of his
book, he says, “is grounded in the Peircian concept of the infinite and dynamic interpretant,”

194
Daniel Chandler, Semiotics for Beginners, digital resource at http://aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B, Chandler
© 1994–2010, “Signs.”
195
Charles Sanders Peirce, Collected Papers, 1955, 99 (CP 2.228).
196
John J. Fitzgerald, Peirce’s Theory of Signs as Foundation for Pragmatism, 1966, 40.
197
Peirce, Collected Papers, 1955, 100 (CP 2.274).
198
Fitzgerald, Peirce’s Theory of Signs as Foundation for Pragmatism, 1966, 43.
199
The aspect of infinity was a fact that Peirce apparently was aware of, and that Eco has referred to as ‘unlimited
semiosis’ (Chandler 1994–2010).
200
Peirce, Collected Papers, 1955, 99 (CP 2.228).
201
Nattiez, “Reflections on the Development of Semiology in Music,” 1989, 28.

64
 Chapter 1 – Introduction

and he continues by asserting that every sign is part of an infinite, multi-dimensional web of
interpretants, and “a sign, or a collection of signs, to which an infinite complex of
interpretants is linked, can be called A SYMBOLIC FORM.”202
Nattiez concludes that the object of the sign is actually a virtual object that does not exist
except within and through the infinite muliplicity of interpretants, by means of which the
person using the sign seeks to allude to the object.203 If we think of the word ‘happiness’ it
will make sense directly to us, but in attempting to explain the content of it we may come up
with a series of new signs, like: ‘bliss’, ‘satisfaction’, ‘contentment’, ‘fulfillment’, and so on.
All these signs vary from person to person, according to our personal and individual
experience. From this discussion Nattiez concludes that what the sign refers to is contained
in the factual experience of the person who is using the sign. This discussion is the basis for
a general and relatively simple definition of meaning.

An object of any kind takes on meaning for an individual apprehending that object, as
soon as that individual places the object in relation to areas of his lived experience—that
is, in relation to a collection of other objects that belong to his or her experience of the
world. 204

1.6.4 The Tripartitional Approach

Following Jean Molino, Nattiez distinguishes between the Poietic Dimension, the Neutral
Dimension and the Esthesic Dimension
Figure 1: Molino’s ‘total social fact’ and ‘total musical fact.’
in any symbolic form. He refers to this
model as a tripartitional program for a Total social fact: the social context

semiological analysis of the “total

musical fact,” graphically represented in
Figure 1.205
Molino has a wide agenda in the Total musical fact

article “Musical Fact and the Semiology

of Music,” which relates to what he
perceives as a polymorphous reality:
music is at the same time the production
of an acoustic object, this very object
itself, and the perception and reception
of that acoustic object. Music, says
Creative processes, including social settings (rituals, customs, etc.).
Molino, is a phenomenon that gives rise Artefacts, which are the resulting products of the creative processes.
to artefacts, which are “the result of an Intelligent (aesthetical or cognitive) experiences, resulting from being in
encounter with the artefacts.
arbitrary process of subdivision within

202
Nattiez, Music and Discourse: Toward a Semiology of Music, 1990, 8. Capitals in the original.
203
Ibid., 7.
204
Ibid., 7–8.
205
Ibid., 12, 15.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

the total social fact.”206 Molino sees similarities between music and other human activities,
like language and religion, and he insists that we cannot describe or define music correctly
“unless we take account of its threefold mode of existence – as an arbitrary isolated object,
as something produced and as something perceived.”207
Nattiez employs and further develops the concepts defined by Molino. With Poietic
Dimension Nattiez means “the symbolic form [that] results from a process of creation.”208
An analysis at the level of the Poietic Dimension accommodates all aspects involved in the
production of music, whether a specific piece, a genre or a tradition, from the creation to the
act of writing down and memorizing it, learning how to perform it, as well as the complete
cultural surrounding that influences the composer and the performing musician. The cultural
surroundings may well be, and often are, quite different for the composer of a piece, the
people who notate the music in a semi-oral culture or in other ways transfer it to the next
generation in oral or semi-oral traditions, and a much later performer of the piece.
The Esthesic Dimension does not necessarily coincide with the Poietic Dimension. It
refers to the processes in which receivers, when confronted by a symbolic form, “assign one
or many meanings to the form.”209 Nattiez finds it more appropriate to talk about meaning
as constructed. This level of analysis includes perception, cognition, interpretation and
socio-historical aspects of reception.
The Neutral Dimension is the trace: “the symbolic form is embodied physically and
materially in the form of a trace accessible to the five senses.”210 Analysis at the Neutral
Level, niveau neutre, concerns itself with the immanent configuration of the end result of
the Poietic Process, the music itself, whether as sound, notation, discourse on the material,
or even written or oral teaching. In the learning process the person who receives teaching
will go through both Poietic and Esthesic Processes, simultaneously or sequentially. This
holds both for literate and for oral, or semi-oral, traditions, but there may be qualitative
differences between different modes of transmission. I explore this aspect in Chapter 8.
For Molino, “the musical fact is … closely bound up with the whole body of human
facts,” 211 and Nattiez holds, with Molino, that an analyst can grasp music in all its
multifaceted totality by examining the three levels of analysis in turn:

The essence of a work is at once its genesis, its organization, and the way it is perceived.
For this reason ... [we] require a theory that deals with the practical, methodological, and
epistemological results of this holistic vision of music. I shall call this general theory
musical semiology.212

206
Jean Molino, “Musical Fact and the Semiology of Music,” 1990, 119.
The term was introduced by Marcel Mauss according to Nattiez, Music and Discourse… , 1990, 42.
207
Molino, “Musical Fact and the Semiology of Music,” 1990, 114.
208
Nattiez, Music and Discourse…, 1990, p. 12.
209
Ibid.
210
Ibid.
211
Molino, “Musical Fact and the Semiology of Music,” 1990, 115.
212
Nattiez, Music and Discourse…, 1990, ix–x.

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 Chapter 1 – Introduction

Elsewhere, Nattiez states that “... the task of semiology is to identify interpretants
according to the three poles of the tripartition, and to establish their relationship to one
another.”213 The various aspects of analysis are already in existence, but the aim is to reach
a more complete view of the object of study than what can be achieved by a one-sided
analysis:
What I am suggesting that we call poietic analysis, analysis of the neutral level, and
esthesic analysis [...] correspond to three autonomous tendencies already present in the
history of musical analysis. But the semiological project for analysis has two special
features of its own. One is its examination of how the three dimensions can be brought
together in analysis of a single piece. [...] The second is the semiological project’s
insistence upon the methodological necessity of analysing the neutral level.214

The sound, the Neutral Level or the Trace, is the primary but not the only artefact from
which Poietic Processes can be deduced, and it is the main, but not sole, cause of Esthesic
Processes, i.e., musical perception and interpretation.

1.6.4.1 The Tripartional Approach as a Theory of Transition

The idea of the tripartition describing a creative process giving rise to a trace (a message)
that is interpreted by a receiver seems to suggest a typical communication theory, a line
leading from sender to message to receiver as in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Encoding and decoding in a linear communication theory.

encoding decoding

Sender Message Receiver

Nattiez, however, asserts that “semiology is not the science of communication.”215 The
idea that a composer (or a performer) ‘encodes’ a message into the immanent structure of a
piece, which then is ‘decoded’ by the receiver is an over-simplification of how art is created
and perceived. By adding a notion of a reconstruction of the trace by the receiver, Nattiez
and Molino challenged the idea of a ’code’ being present, which is mutually understood by
the sender and the receiver. They perceived semiology as an act of interpretation that builds
more on the receiver’s context than the sender’s, an act that does not necessarily have any
parts in common with the Poietic Dimension or the Neutral Dimension. To quote Molino:
[T]here is no guarantee of a direct correspondence between the effect produced by a work
of art and the intentions of its creator. Every symbolic object presupposes an exchange in
which producer and consumer, transmitter and receiver, are not interchangeable and do
not have the same point of view on the object, which they do not constitute in the same
way at all. … But the symbolic phenomenon is also an object – matter subject to form.216

213
Ibid., 29.
214
Ibid., 138.
215
Ibid., x, 15, 16.
216
Molino, “Musical Fact and the Semiology of Music,” 1990, 130.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

For Molino, the crucial point is that the object should not be viewed as a vehicle for
semantic transmission, a means for communication.
Nattiez’s refusal to accept the theory of music-as-communication builds on his rejection
of the notion that music is just another type of language, a language where “compositional
intentions can be transparent to the listener, thus compelling these new structures to
complete a communication between those that cause them to be, and those who perceive
them.”217 Nattiez calls this “the communication utopia,”218 stating that the normal situation
is displacement between intentions and perceptive behaviours in human communication in
general, regardless of whether it is musical, linguistic, or in terms of some other media. The
tripartitional model can be illustrated as in Figure 3.

Figure 3: The concept of the tripartition.

Poietic processes Esthesic processes

Sender Trace Receiver

Physical reality:
sound, notation, writings etc.

The Poietic Processes create marks in the trace – or rather create a ‘marked’ trace, which
is then interpreted by the receiver. In a musical performance, a musician will create a
marked trace, the performed sounds, which are interpreted by the audience. Another
performer would give a differently marked trace. In both cases the performers will have
certain intentions in their performances, but in neither case is the intention(s) of the
performer communicated to the audience. 219 There is a transition from the Poietic
Dimension to the Trace, and another transition from the Trace to the Esthesic Dimension.
There are several more ‘transitional arrows’ to be included in the actual analysis, and
Figure 3 above is further subdivided in Chapter 8 of the present study.

1.6.5 Analytical Situation

In Nattiez’s model, there are three aspects that need to be addressed in deciding the object
of analysis: (1) the physical dimension of the study, (2) the stylistic relevance, and (3) what
elements of the corpus are under study.
To begin with the stylistic relevance (2), Nattiez offers an image of an inverted pyramid
to explain the relevance of the study, as shown in Figure 4. At the broader top of the
reversed pyramid we find universals of music, next a system (style) of reference, the style of
a genre or an epoch, the style of composer X, the style of a period in the life of a composer,
and finally, the “tip” of the pyramid, a work. Nattiez holds that all analyses implicitly or
explicitly adopt one of these levels of stylistic relevance, and it may even happen, as Nattiez
puts it, that “an analysis ‘navigates’ from one level to another.” 220

217
Nattiez, Music and Discourse…, 1990, 98.
218
Ibid., 99.
219
The intentions and the creative processes are not one and the same thing, but they are linked.
220
Nattiez, Music and Discourse…, 1990, 136.

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 Chapter 1 – Introduction

Figure 4: Nattiez’s “Pyramid of stylistic relevance” (p. 136).

universals of music

system (style) of reference

style of a genre or an epoch

style of composer X

style of a period in the life of composer X

work

The present study is an attempt to deconstruct ‘tradition’ in both its historical aspects,
and as a concept that characterizes the act of transmission. I apply Nattiez stylistic relevance
in the following way, also indicated in Figure 5 below:
Relating to Section 1.4.1 above, dealing with historical authenticity, the aim of Chapter 4
is to critically study how the komusō created an origin and invented their own tradition. In
Chapters 5–6 of this study I critically examine the twentieth-century historical writings on
the shakuhachi, and the “system (style) of reference” will refer to the shakuhachi tradition.
Instead of a ‘composer X’ I refer to a selected number of individual writers/researchers in
the twentieth century, who have been instrumental in outlining the older history of the
shakuhachi.
The transmission of the concrete musical content of the shakuhachi is normally regarded
as a semi-oral transmission of almost exclusively anonymous works. Hence, in the phase of
transmission, there is no composer, nor any ‘invented’ or imagined authority on the work
outside of the act of transmission, who can provide a key to the ‘correct’ interpretation of
the piece. Several pieces in the fundamental repertoire, honkyoku, have a known
geographical origin, which can provide some clues to the style in which the piece should be
played. The music is exclusively transmitted by skilled and well-known practitioners,221
who are the authority of the content of the pieces. The present study is not a study in
musicology, and the universals of music that Nattiez refers to are of less importance.
However, I touch upon some aesthetic aspects of the music in Chapter 8, in order to define
elements that are central in the act of transmission. These elements also relate to a system of
techniques, the techniques employed within Kinko-ryū. This system of techniques relates to
a genre, which, in accordance with Section 1.4.2 above, is one limitation of the study: the
genre of Kinko-ryū honkyoku, as performed and transmitted by one performer/transmitter,
Yamaguchi Gorō.222 In my analysis of the transmission process, I have implicitly used my

221
The practitioners are not necessarily ‘performers’ in the meaning of ‘stage performers.’ I return to this issue in
Chapter 8.
222
The “style of a genre” (Kinko-ryū) and the “style of a transmitter X” (Yamaguchi Gorō) are, on an ontological
level, not clearly separable. This does of course not mean that I say that Yamaguchi and Kinko-ryū are the same, or
that other performers could as well be inseparable from Kinko-ryū, without being Yamaguchi. This issue is further
discussed in Chapter 8.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

experience of studying a large number of works within the genre, as transmitted by

Yamaguchi Gorō based on the notation, written by Miura Kindō in 1928–1929.223

Figure 5: Nattiez’s “Pyramid of stylistic relevance” revised, as applied to the present study.

Historical authenticity universals of music Transmission

shakuhachi tradition system (style) of reference canonization and lineages (styles)

genre or an epoch Kinko-ryū (genre)

Researchers individual Yamaguchi Gorō (transmitter/performer)

period

Related writings work Actual transmission (scores, sonorous ‘reality’)

In the historical investigation, the physical dimension (1) covers three major pre-WWII
Japanese studies, from 1902, 1918, and 1936–39. It also covers reiterations of these studies
from the 1970s, both in Japanese and English. The elements of the corpus (3) are outlined in
Chapter 2 below.
In the study of transmission, the physical dimension (1) covers my experience of
studying a number of pieces from the repertoire, the Kinko-ryū honkyoku repertoire, which I
use in Chapter 8 to discuss certain aspects of the transmission of the music tradition. This
repertoire is connected to the middle of the Edo period, the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries. However, the physical dimension of the study as such stretches over elements of
transmission in the present. The elements of the corpus (3) that are being investigated
concern certain aspects of the immanent structures of the music, and the practices in both
performance and transmission. In the discussion about transmission, I investigate in what
ways the works can be perceived by a receiver of the tradition. The study therefore
combines the Neutral, Poietic, and Esthesic Levels.

1.6.6 Methodology
My analyses of the aspects of historical authenticity of the shakuhachi tradition are based on
influential historical studies from the first half of the twentieth century, but they also refer to
studies about the shakuhachi from the post-WWII period, especially from the 1970s on.
Almost all of these writings, both from before and after WWII, make claims of an older
history, a history prior to the Edo period, relating to monks assumed to have been involved
in Buddhist activities, and who eventually developed into the shakuhachi-playing komusō of
the Edo period. From the statements made in these writings, I investigate some of the
crucial original texts. Below I refer to primary sources as Texts (written, orally spoken,
audial, or through other media perceivable items), and secondary studies or commentaries
relating to the Texts as Writings.
223
三浦琴童, 1875–1940. (琴古流尺八本曲楽譜). Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 24.

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 Chapter 1 – Introduction

The Writings from the post-WWII period, consisting mainly of studies in Japanese but
also some books and articles in English, rely almost entirely on the pre-WWII Writings,
which are made up of material in Japanese, consisting of two articles from 1902, some
writings from 1918, and a series of articles from 1936–1939, the two latter cases published
as books in the 1970s. I introduce both primary (Texts) and secondary (Writings) sources in
Chapter 2. My analyses commences with what is said in the Writings, and attempts to infer
some aspects of the Poietic Processes as well as the effects these may have in the Esthesic
Dimension, i.e., what interpretations result from the Writings. The analyses are inclined
towards a philological study of the original Texts vis-à-vis the Writings, with focus on
possible interpretations of, and contrasting aspects between, these Neutral Level entities.
I employ the same methodological approach in Chapter 8, but here both Text and Writing
material is more varied. Firstly, through the development of lineages, schools adhering to
some specific aesthetic ideals, and the subsequent canonization of the music, a new type of
Texts appears: notation. These Texts can be analysed as constituting a means of
transmission. If a piece of music is transmitted as belonging to a ‘tradition’ – and not as
‘just another sonorous reality (piece of music)’ – some elements of the tradition have to be
inherent in these Texts as transmittable entities. The ‘traditional’ shakuhachi music is
regarded as an oral (or semi-oral) tradition. Therefore, secondly, the aspect of literacy and
orality appears at the forefront. The canonized Texts do not give the full picture of the
tradition, and non-verbal elements become an important aspect in the analysis of the
tradition and its transmission. Thus, thirdly, verbal and non-verbal instructions of ‘how-to’
become the Texts to be analyzed. A common concept within the study of traditional
Japanese arts is kata, forms that prescribe the correct execution of, for example, a piece of
music, in accordance with the tradition the piece belongs to. These prescriptive forms, kata,
as the defining character of traditional music, are analyzed from the viewpoint that the
prescriptive elements are less strongly accentuated in a performance of a piece of music,
compared to an act of transmission of the same piece. In a performance, intentions of, for
example, artistic or creative elements may arise as a way to gain appreciation from the
audience. In practical terms, the process of transmission, on the other hand, excludes any
other intentions of the transmitter than those that relate to the conveyance of a correct
understanding.224 In the analysis I also discuss kata as a structural concept. Fourthly, the
elements used in actual transmission of the music become the Texts. As Writings I use
musicological studies from the late twentieth century, socio-historical studies of the concept
of kata, and I also build my analysis both on personal experience and commentaries by
other learners in respect to the process of transmission.

224
Theoretically we can of course envisage another situation, but in normal cases the individual transmitter/teacher
is not intentionally deceptive.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

Chapter  2  –  Sources:  

Primary  and  Secondary  Texts  

2.1 Appearances of Shakuhachi in Historical Texts

There is very little to be found in the literature before the Meiji period that relates to the
history of the shakuhachi. In pre-Edo-period texts, apart from a few exceptions, there are
normally only fragmentary remarks about, or references to the shakuhachi. From the Edo
period there are a few texts relating to the actual playing of the shakuhachi, or the hitoyogiri
shakuhachi,225 for example, the Shichiku Shoshin-shū (A Collection of Pieces for Beginners
of Strings and Bamboo), written by Nakamura Sōsan in 1664, which includes notation for a
number of pieces for the hitoyogiri shakuhachi, koto,226 and shamisen.227 The text is aimed
at learners of hitoyogiri shakuhachi, koto, and shamisen, but it also includes a short
introduction to the origins of the instruments, which constitutes important historical data.228
One of the most important of the Edo-period historical texts in relation to the founding of
the Fuke sect, is Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai (The History of the Kyotaku, Annotated in

225
The hitoyogiri shakuhachi (一節切尺八) was a medieval version of a five-holed flute, in shape and size closer to
the gagaku shakuhachi than the Edo period fuke shakuhachi. The hitoyogiri shakuhachi became almost obsolete
during the eighteenth century. (See Section 3.2 for a further explanation of this instrument and its appearance in
older texts).
226
箏, a thirteen-stringed instruments used in gagaku which was revolutionized in the late Momoyama period and
early Edo period by the monk Morota Kenjun (諸田賢順, 1534–1623). He composed completely new music for the
instrument, and this music was transmitted by one of his disciples, Hōsui (法水), to the blind biwa and shamisen
playing monk Yatsuhashi Kengyō (八橋検校, 1614–85), who in turn combined the koto and the shamisen to form the
chamber music of the Edo period, jiuta-sōkyoku (地歌箏曲). The character used, 箏, is not one of the standardized
Chinese characters used in the Japanese language, and sometimes the character 琴 is mistakenly used in relation to
the koto of this genre. However, the kin-koto 琴 denotes a different instrument than the sō-koto 箏. (Kikkawa, Nihon
ongaku no rekishi (1965), 1990, 152–155).
227
三味線, a three-stringed instrument that was brought to Japan from Ryūkyū (Okinawa) in the Momoyama period
by the blind biwa playing monks biwa mōsō (琵琶妄僧), and soon became the most popular instrument among
common people. (Kikkawa, Nihon ongaku no rekishi (1965), 1990, 158–159).
228
Nakamura Sōsan (中村宗三, biographic data unknown), Shichiku Shoshin-shū (糸竹初心集). The texts Ikanobori (紙
鳶), Kite, from 1687 and Shichiku Kokon-shū (糸竹古今集), A Collection of Old and New Pieces for Strings and
Bamboo, published in the Shichiku Taizen (糸竹大全), The Complete Works for Strings and Bamboo, in 1699, relates
to the hitoyogiri shakuhachi, but these are of less relevance for the present study.

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 Chapter 2 – Sources: Primary and Secondary Texts

Japanese), compiled in 1779 by Yamamoto Morihide and published 1795,229 in which the
legendary origins of the shakuhachi are outlined. The text Kyotaku denki most likely never
existed, but in Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai it is ‘quoted’ in full, and translated from its
supposed original in literary Chinese (kanbun) to eighteenth-century Japanese.230
As mentioned in Section 1.5.2 above, the sect surrounding the komusō, the Fuke-shū, has
never been given any official acknowledgement. In a document from 1677, addressed not to
the Fuke sect but to the temples and sub-temples of “the various factions of komusō”
(komusō shoha),231 the authorities stipulated certain rules for the komusō and their temples.
This document bears the heading “Memorandum” (覚), indicating that there are no definite
regulations for the sect or its monks, but merely an indirect acknowledgement of the Fuke
sect. Apart from this document, there are a number of versions of a document referred to as
the “Keichō okite-gaki.” This document is supposed to have been written in year 19 of the
Keichō era, 1614. The word okite-gaki means a law or regulation, and the document
stipulates a number of privileges supposedly bestowed upon the komusō by the first shōgun
of the Edo period, Tokugawa Ieyasu. These and other documents from the Edo period are
discussed in Chapter 4, in examining how the Fuke sect was established.
From the Edo period we also have Kinko techō (The Kinko Notebook), written by
Kurosawa Kinko III (1772–1816), the most likely founder of the Kinko-ryū shakuhachi, and
the grandson of Kurosawa Kinko I (1710–1771), a komusō who travelled the country,
gathered pieces from various temples, and later also gave his name to the oldest of the
extant shakuhachi lineages, Kinko-ryū.232
At the end of the Edo period, Hisamatsu Fūyō (1791–1871), a student of Kinko III,
became the leader of the Kinko-ryū.233 Hisamatsu wrote Hitori kotoba (A Monologue) in
1818, Hitori mondō (A Solitary Dialogue) in 1823, and Kaijō hōgo (Sermon of the Calm
Sea) in 1835. The first two texts are aimed at beginners of shakuhachi, introductory writings
pertaining to the right way of playing, a correct mind-set, and certain basics about repertoire.
The last text is an inflammatory call for the shakuhachi-playing komusō monks to stick to
the right path, especially directed to those who deviate from the Way of Kinko-ryū. They
are important texts in the study of the shakuhachi, both in its religious and its musical
aspects.234
One central figure in my analyses of the older history of the Edo period komusō is
Hayashi Razan. Apart from his 1621 commentary on the fourteenth-century Tsurezure-gusa
(Essays in Idleness) written by Yoshida Kenkō, Hayashi also wrote two historical studies of

229
Tsuge, “The History of the Kyotaku,” 1977, 47; Takahashi Kūzan, Fukeshū-shi: Sono shakuhachi sōhō to gakuri,
1997, 22. Takahashi Kūzan (高橋空山, 1900–1986) was not an academic scholar, but a shakuhachi player and
komusō practitioner, who conducted his own private research. Yamamoto Morihide (山本守秀).
230
Yamamoto Morihide, Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai (The History of the Kyotaku, Annotated in Japanese), Tokyo:
Nihon Ongaku-sha, 1981.
231
Kurihara Kōta, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 155–156. Sixteen sub-lineages are mentioned. (虚無僧諸派).
232
Kinko techō (琴古手帳).
233
Kinko III did not have a son, and his younger brother became Kinko IV (d. 1860). According to Kamisangō he
was not skillful and had a bad personality, and gave up shakuhachi of his own will. Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku
no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 106. (... 技倆未熟、人物劣等で、自ら尺八を捨てた …).
234
Hisamatsu Fūyō (久松風陽, 1791–1871); Hitori kotoba (獨言); Hitori mondō (獨問答); Kaijō hōgo (海静法語).

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

the shakuhachi in 1623 and 1625. These articles are included in the collected writings by
Hayashi Razan.235
There are other historical texts, both from the same period and earlier, in which
shakuhachi is mentioned, but there is no thorough historical treatise on the shakuhachi
before the twentieth century. The shakuhachi is, however, mentioned in two gagaku
treatises, the 1512 Taigen-shō and the 1522 Maikyoku-kuden, both authored by the gagaku
musician Toyohara Sumiaki.236 In the former treatise there is a whole chapter devoted to the
shakuhachi, containing important and interesting aspects that relate to my discussion in
Chapter 4 about the formation of a shakuhachi tradition in the Edo period (cf. also Sections
3.2 and 4.5.2 below).
The Taigen-shō is a treatise on the court music, implying that the shakuhachi at that time
was an instrument of the gagaku; the shakuhachi had, however, disappeared from the
gagaku ensemble during its reformation in the middle of the ninth century. In Taigen-shō it
is stated that the claim by dengaku performers, that shakuhachi is a dengaku instrument, is
not correct, but that shakuhachi is a gagaku instrument.237 Other gagaku related writings
include Kyōkun-shō, a treaty on gagaku from 1233, written by Koma Chikazane, and Zoku
Kyōkun-shō from 1322, written by Chikazane’s grandson Koma no Asakuzu. Both of these
works contain remarks about the shakuhachi.238
During the time from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries, shakuhachi also appears in a
variety of poems and songs, for example some poems by the fifteenth-century Zen Budhist
monk Ikkyū Sōjun, who wrote a number of so-called dōka, didactic poems on the Japanese
style of waka, often with a Buddhist content.239 He also wrote a collection of poems named
Kyōun-shū (Crazy Cloud Anthology), in which he refers to the shakuhachi in three, and
flutes in general in a total of nine poems. He also refers to the Zen monk Fuke (cf. Section
4.1), whose name was adopted by the sect surrounding the komusō monks. In Kyōun-shū
there are three poems relating to Fuke, two with name references and one with a reference
to a famous saying by Fuke (cf. Section 4.1). I discuss the poems by Ikkyū Sōjun further
below, in Sections 4.5.1 and 7.2.240 The shakuhachi also appears in tales and personal
writings, which I refer to in Section 3.3 below. From the sixteenth century, the late

235
Hayashi Dōshun Razan (林道春羅山, 1583–1657). Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi (The Field Hammer of Tsurezure-gusa).
Razan bunshū (Collected Writings by Hayashi Razan).
236
Taigen-shō (体源抄); Maikyoku-kuden (舞曲口伝); Toyohara Sumiaki (豊原統秋, 1450–1524). Some writers have
the reading Muneaki of the author’s first name (Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 119; Kamisangō in
Blasdel’s translation 2008, p. 77, but Kamisangō does not specify the reading. Please refer to Section 2.2 below for
an introduction to these texts). The National Diet Library and Japanese lexica have the reading Sumiaki, which I
have therefore adopted here. KOKUGO, Vol. 15, toyohara: p. 39.
The name of Taigen-shō is supposedly a pun on the author’s name, 豊原, relating to the old Chinese character for
body (tai) which is 體. The name Toyohara is then the right side (the tsukuri) of the characters for Taigen (豊原／體
源) (Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, p. 119). I would interpret this as also being a ‘hidden message’: “the
origin of the (gagaku) body.”
237
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 72.
238
Koma Chikazane (狛近真, 1177–1242), Kyōkun-shō (教訓抄); Koma no Asakuzu (狛朝葛, 1249–1333), Zoku
Kyōkun-shō (続教訓抄).
239
R. H. Blyth, Zen and Zen Classics: Volume Five, 1974, 162. (道歌).
240
Ikkyū Sōjun (一休宗純, 1394–1482), Kyōun-shū (狂雲集).

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Muromachi period (1378–1573), we also have song texts (kouta) with remarks on the
shakuhachi, for example, Kangin-shū from 1518, and Sōan kouta-shū.241
Among texts from Buddhist temples, which carry comments relating to the older history
of the shakuhachi, we have the Tōdai-ji kenmotsu-chō of 758 and Saidai-ji shizairyūki-chō
of 780 (cf. Section 3.2), and the Hōryū-ji kokon mokuroku-shō of 1238 (cf. Section 7.2).242
One important work from the Edo period is the Kiyūshōran, written by Kitamura Nobuyo
(pen name: Intei). This work is a collection of essays, covering everyday life, customs and
manners, as well as theatre, song, dance, and other forms of entertainment. It includes
Kitamura’s personal opinions of the items covered. The book was completed in 1830.243 In
the preface, Kitamura writes that he felt regret about all the notes he had written over the
years, and that the book was a way to gather them together (he could not bring himself to
throw the notes away).244 The book consists of twelve volumes and one appendix, covering
4,000 items divided into twenty-seven fields. 245 In Volume 6 there are notes about
shakuhachi, as well as shamisen and koto.

2.2 Twentieth-century Japanese Studies of the Historical Texts

Modern historical research began with Kurihara Kōta, who in 1918 wrote the first historical
survey of the shakuhachi, Shakuhachi shikō (A Historical Study of the Shakuhachi).
Originally, the text was published as a series of articles in the magazine Chikuyū, which was
published by Chikuyūsha, the shakuhachi guild of Kurihara’s teacher, Kawase Junsuke I.246
The articles were published again as a book by the Kinko-ryū shakuhachi guild Chikuyūsha
in 1975.247 Kurihara states in the preface to the book that “the aim is just to describe the
general development of the shakuhachi, and to make clear the characteristics of shakuhachi
and its true value.” Humbly, he continues, “[I] simply love the shakuhachi, and my
knowledge about it is very limited.”248 Not being an academic study, the book is lacking in
references and bibliographical data. In the beginning of the book Kurihara states what
sources he is quoting, a list of seventy-eight titles, but he does not supply any further
bibliographical information.

241
Kangin-shū (閑吟集); Sōan Kouta-shū (宗安小歌集). From the Edo period we also have the whole repertoire of
song texts in the ensemble music, jiuta-sōkyoku (地歌箏曲), songs accompanied by koto and shamisen, which do not
refer to the shakuhachi. The shakuhachi, however, has been a part of the ensemble most likely at least since the late
seventeenth century.
242
Tōdai-ji Kenmotsu-chō ( 東 大 寺 献 物 帳 ); Saidai-ji Shizairyūki-chō ( 西 大 寺 資 材 流 記 帳 ); Hōryū-ji Kokon
Mokuroku-shō (法隆寺古今目録抄).
243
KOKUGO, Vol. 6, kiyūshōran: p. 100.
244
Kitamura Nobuyo, Kiyūshōran (1830), 1903, Preface, p. 4.
245
YHJ, kiyūshōran (嬉遊笑覧), by Uda Toshihiko (宇田敏彦), accessed January 24, 2011.
246
初代川瀬順輔, 1870–1959.
247
Kurihara Kōta, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), Tokyo: Chikuyūsha, 1975.
248
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 1.

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Kurihara’s book is the first thorough historical study, but he was preceded by the
historian Mikami Sanji,249 who held a lecture with the title “Fuke-shū ni suite” (About the
Fuke sect) in 1902, which was published later the same year.250
One of the central documents relating to the Fuke sect, the so-called “Keichō okite-gaki”
(cf. Section 2.1 above), was supposedly written in 1614. According to this document the
monks of the Fuke sect, the komusō, had a number of special privilegies. Based on literary
style and the names of the persons who signed the document, Mikami showed that this
document most likely was a forgery. Kurihara reports further doubts about the legendary
view of the origin of the Edo-period shakuhachi tradition, and quotes a number of
inconsistenses with respect to the formation of the Fuke sect in the seventeenth century. One
of the more convincing points in Kurihara’s examination is that the “Keichō okite-gaki”
exists in a number of versions with a quite different number of provisions. The original was
supposedly destroyed in a temple fire, according to information provided to the authorities
by the komusō.
At least up to the 1920’s, the prevailing view of the shakuhachi was in accordance with
the 1795 Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai, the original Kyotaku denki annotated in Japanese, in
which it is stated that the Buddhist monk Shinchi Gakushin or
Plate 3: Nakatsuka Chikuzen.
(Photo in Gendai ongaku taikan, Muhon Kakushin, posthumously given the name Hottō Enmyō
1927, 185) Kokushi by Emperor Go-Daigo, brought the shakuhachi to
Used by courtesy of the National Japan after having concluded his studies of Chan Buddhism in
Diet Library.
China 1251–1254. 251 This tradition was supposedly
transmitted from the ninth-century Chinese Chan (Zen)
Buddhist monk Fuke,252 through sixteen generations to Hottō
Kokushi and from him to the alleged first komusō, the
fourteenth-century former general Kusunoki Masakatsu.253
In the 1930’s Nakatsuka Chikuzen (see Plate 3) began a
study of the history of the Kinko-ryū shakuhachi, and in
investigating the material he began to question the generally
believed historical background (legendary as it may be).
Nakatsuka conducted a thorough research of the historical
records pertaining to the Fuke sect and Hottō Kokushi,
building on the findings of Mikami Sanji, and especially
Kurihara Kōta. Nakatsuka’s research has become the basis for
most of the historical studies of the shakuhachi after his time.
Later academic research, for example by Kamisangō and Tsukitani (see below), often cites
both Kurihara and Nakatsuka. Nakatsuka’s research was published in the magazine

249
Together with Takatsu Kuwasaburō, Mikami Sanji compiled the first comprehensive history of Japanese
literature in 1890. Gunilla Lindberg-Wada, “Japanese Literary History Writing…,” 2006, 111. Suzuki, “Gender and
Genre…,” 2000, 74.
250
Mikami Sanji (三上参次, 1865–1939). The lecture was held at the Shigakukai (Association of History) on
February 23, 1902, and published in two installments in Shigaku zasshi (History Magazine), in April and May.
251
Shinchi Gakushin (心地学心) or Muhon Kakushin (無本覚心) (1207–1298); Hottō Enmyō Kokushi (法燈圓明國師).
252
Fuke (普化) is mentioned in the Rinzai-roku (臨剤録, a collection of sayings by Rinzai Gigen 臨済義玄 (C. Linji
Yixuan), ?−867). Compiled by Rinzai’s disciple Sanshō Enen (三聖慧然), revised by Kōke Zonshō (興化存奨),
according to Rinzai-roku, Iriya Yoshitaka, transl., 2010, 15, 217, 227.
253
Tsuge Gen’ichi, “The History of the Kyotaku,” 1977, 48.

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Sankyoku between 1936 and 1939 in a total of 43 articles. The articles were reissued as a
book, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (A Historical View of Kinko-ryū Shakuhachi), in
1979.254
One crucial finding at which Nakatsuka arrived was that the document that connected the
komusō and their Fuke sect to Zen Buddhism, the Kyotaku denki, was a forgery. Nakatsuka
found no evidence of any connection between Hottō Kokushi and the shakuhachi
whatsoever. Among present writings about the shakuhachi, there are only a few who still
insist on that Hottō Kokushi brought the shakuhachi to Japan. One is Takahashi Kūzan, who
states that Hottō Kokushi “followed Zen master Mumon Ekai and while thoroughly learning
Zen he also received the transmission of Fuke shakuhachi from Chōsan, who was a follower
of the Fuke tradition.”255 He then also refers to the writings of Kusunoki Masakatsu, a
fourteenth-century general at the South court and a legendary shakuhachi player, to support
his statement. These aspects of the history of shakuhachi are outlined and discussed in
Chapter 4 below.
As with Kurihara, Nakatsuka was not a scholar, and he had a very hard upbringing. He
grew up abused by an alcoholic and violent father and an ignorant stepmother, and the
severe circumstances made it impossible for him to go to school.256 He learned to read and
write by his own efforts, and in 1936 he began publishing the articles. His findings are
based on the indications put forward by Mikami and Kurihara, but the musicologist
Kamisangō Yūkō (see below) claims that Nakatsuka added “a much bigger volume of
material that he cited, and in detail pointed out the inconsistent aspects [of the legendary
history].”257 Kamisangō also claims that, by 1995, there were only himself and another
famous musicologist, Tanabe Hisao, who had accepted Nakatsuka’s theories at face value in
their own writings, but that Tanabe later rescinded and embraced the legend.258
Kamisangō Yūkō, a musicologist and a renowned scholar on the shakuhachi,259 wrote a
text with the title “Suizen: Chikuho-ryū ni miru fuke shakuhachi no keifu” (Suizen: The
Genealogy of Fuke Shakuhachi Seen in Chikuho-ryū), for the liner notes of a Nihon
Columbia Record Album in 1974.260 This text was later included in the Shichiku-ron
josetsu: Nihon ongaku ronkō jisen-shū (A Preliminary Discussion on Strings and Bamboo:
The Author’s Selection of Studies on Japanese Music), a private publication from 1995. In
this publication the text bears the title “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: suizen no rikai no
tame ni” (A Brief History of Shakuhachi Music: For the Understanding of Suizen).261 The

254
Nakatsuka Chikuzen, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (A Historical View of Kinko-ryū Shakuhachi), first published
in the monthly magazine Sankyoku, in a series of articles 1936–39. Tokyo: Nihon ongaku-sha, 1979.
255
Takahashi Kūzan, Fukeshū-shi: Sono shakuhachi sōhō to gakuri, 1997, 22. Mumon Ekai 無門慧開 (C. Wumen
Huikai), 1183–1260.
256
Gendai ongaku taikan, Tokyo: Tōkyō Nichi-nichi tsūshinsha, 1927, 185.
257
Kamisangō Yūkō, “Nakatsuka Chikuzen to ‘Kinko-ryū shikan’,” 1995, 189.
258
Ibid., 189–190.
259
Professor in musicology at Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku 1984–2002. Professor at Kurashiki Sakuyō Daigaku
2003–2005. Especially reknown for his research in shakuhachi, heike-biwa, and Miyagi Michio.
260
『吹禅−竹保流にみる普化尺八の系譜』(1974 年 11 月、日本コロンビア制作レコード・アルバムの解説書). The construct sui-zen
refers here to an alleged tradition of ‘blowing Zen,’ a notion that I further discuss in Chapter 7. Chikuho-ryū is one
lineage of shakuhachi playing that was established in 1917.
261
Kamisangō Yūkō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: Suizen no rikai no tame ni” (A Brief History of Shakuhachi
Music: For the Understanding of Suizen) Shichiku-ron josetsu: Nihon ongaku ronkō jisen-shū (Preliminary

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text was translated and adapted for the book Shakuhachi: A Manual for Learning by
Christopher Yohmei Blasdel in 1988, with a second revised edition published in 2008. In
the English translation the text carries the neutral title “The Shakuhachi: Its History and
Development.”262
Other modern writers on the shakuhachi include Ueno Katami, who wrote the book
Shakuhachi no rekishi (A History of the Shakuhachi) in 1983. The book is a comprehensive
history of the shakuhachi, with many quotes from historical records, and it was re-published
in 2002.263 Apart from numerous private scholars, for example Kanda Kayū and Kosuge
Daitetsu of the Komusō Kenkyū-kai,264 Tsukitani Tsuneko has performed maybe the most
thorough research on the shakuhachi and its fundamental repertoire, the honkyoku. Tsukitani
was professor at Osaka Geidai until her death in 2010. One of her most prominent writings
is the Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū (A Study of Classical (koten) Fundamental
Pieces (honkyoku) for Shakuhachi) from 2000.265 Tsukitani is one of the few, Japanese or
non-Japanese, who have attempted any musical analysis of honkyoku, the (mainly) solo
repertoire for shakuhachi, handed down from the Edo period komusō.

2.3 Studies and Other Texts in English

In English there are only a few studies, most of them following the revisionist theories of
Mikami, Kurihara, and Nakatsuka. A small number, however, do agree with the traditional
view of the shakuhachi. Andreas Gutzwiller wrote his PhD thesis at Wesleyan University in
1974, with the title Shakuhachi: Aspects of History, Practice and Teaching, in which he
defends the ‘traditional’ view of the legendary origins of the shakuhachi as outlined in the
1795 Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai. He refers to a fourteenth-century Chinese text, Wenxian
Tongkao (cf. Chapter 3), saying that:

The book Wên-hsien t'ung k'ao, incidentally, mentions another book (without giving its
title or year) where the ch'ih pa' [the Chinese reading for ‘shakuhachi’] is mentioned in
connection with Buddhist clerics. According to this source a monk played before emperor
Hsüan Song (Jap.: Gensô, reg. 712-756 AD) and presented him with an instrument.266

Discussion on Strings and Bamboo: Author’s Selection of Studies on Japanese Music), Tokyo: Private publication,
1995, 67–119.
262
By ‘neutral’ I mean in relation to the expression sui-zen. This word is commonly translated as ‘blowing Zen,’ but
it may build on a possible misinterpretation of a longer expression, sui-zen ichinyo (cf. Section 7.1.3 below).
263
Ueno Katami, Shakuhachi no rekishi (The History of Shakuhachi) (first published in 1983), Tokyo: Shuppan
Geijutsu-sha, 2002.
264
Kanda Kayū (神田可遊); Kosuge Daitetsu (小菅大徹); Komusō Kenkyū-kai (虚無僧研究会), an organisation for
people interested in the shakuhachi and komusō, located at the temple Hosshin-ji (法身寺), a sub-temple to one of the
main Fuke or komusō temples, Reihō-ji (鈴法寺), during the Edo period. Kosuge is the head-priest of Hosshin-ji.
265
Tsukitani Tsuneko (月溪恒子, 1944–2010), Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū (尺八古典本曲の研究).
266
Andreas Gutzwiller, Shakuhachi: Aspects of History, Practice and Teaching, 1974, 5.

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 Chapter 2 – Sources: Primary and Secondary Texts

There are no sources or other material that would support this, and, if true, it may be an
isolated occurrence. In the very next paragraph Gutzwiller uses a frequency argument to
establish the connection between shakuhachi and Buddhism as (almost) a historical fact.

Japanese sources, though they are sometimes of doubtful credibility, frequently mention
that the instrument was used in a religious context by Buddhists. The frequency with
which the sources insist that the use of shakuhachi as a musical instrument in religious
context has its roots in Chinese practice makes it unlikely that the claim is completely
without truth.267

Another academic study on the shakuhachi is Riley Lee’s Yearning for the Bell: A Study
of Transmission in the Shakuhachi Honkyoku Tradition, a PhD thesis at the University of
Sydney, Department of Music, in 1993. In his dissertation, Lee gives a summary of the
history, closely following the twentieth-century historical research mentioned above
(Mikami, Kurihara, Nakatsuka, Kamisangō, Ueno, Tsukitani), but the main part of his thesis
is a study of the transmission of the piece “Reibo,” including a general discussion on oral
transmission, an analysis of honkyoku, as well as transcription and comparision of two main
lines of transmission of the piece. Three years before Lee, Takahashi Tone submitted his
PhD thesis in musicology at the Florida State University, with the title Tozan-ryû: an
innovation of the shakuhachi tradition from Fuke-shû to secularism. The Tozan-ryū is a
style of shakuhachi playing that developed in the Meiji period, and as a lineage or school it
was established in 1896. Takahashi’s thesis consists of some 200 pages of history, mainly
Edo period and the development of Tozan-ryū in the Modern Period. After that he
undertakes a musical analysis of Tozan-ryū, notation and scales, covering around 100 pages.
Both Lee’s and Takahashi’s theses are submitted in the field of musicology; the history
chapters they have written are background chapters, and not the main analyses. It is,
however, unfortunate that all the studies so far have been either in Japanese or submitted in
musicology. This has led to a situation in which the knowledge of the history of the
shakuhachi in the English speaking community is based on secondary writings.
There are also a few academic articles relating to the shakuhachi. First, from 1969 we
have Donald Berger’s “The Shakuhachi and Kinko Ryu Notation,” published in Asian
Music. Berger did not write a historical study, simply stating that the shakuhachi was used
by the komusō monks during the Edo period. The main purpose of the article is “to acquaint
the reader with the shakuhachi notation of the Kinko Ryū,” using the style of the late
shakuhachi master Yamaguchi Gorō (1933–99) as reference.268
James H. Sanford wrote the article “Shakuhachi Zen: The Fukeshu and Komuso” in 1977,
published in Monumenta Nipponica. Sanford follows the revisionist theory of the rise and
fall of the Fuke sect, but he uses a limited number of sources. Apart from two texts by
Nishiyama Matsunosuke,269 whose main area of study is the Edo period, and the 1902
article by Mikami Sanji, he refers to secondary literature from the twentieth century that

267
Ibid., 5–6. Gutzwiller seems to have become more inclined towards the revisionist theory in his later writings
(Edgar Pope, “A Historical Controversy,” 2000, 39–40.)
268
Donald P. Berger, “The Shakuhachi and Kinko Ryu Notation,” 1969, 32.
269
Iemoto monogatari (The Story of Iemoto), and Iemoto no kenkyū (Research of Iemoto).

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must be considered to be of less central importance in the study of the shakuhachi.270 The
primary sources quoted by him are from a Meiji-period collection of old texts, Kojirui-en,271
but he he also refers to “a traditional source, the Shakuhachishi-kō,” classifying it in a
footnote as “a late Edo period work.”272 I have not encountered any other work with a
similar name than Shakuhachi shikō by Kurihara Kōta, which was written in 1918, some
fifty years after the end of the Edo period. Regardless of the limited sources used, and what
seems to be a rather careless historical positioning of Shakuhachi shikō, Sanford’s text is
often quoted, and it does contain several interesting remarks about the lives of the komusō.
In relation to the shakuhachi as a religious implement, Max Deeg wrote “Komusō and
‘Shakuhachi-Zen’: From Historical Legitimation to the Spiritualisation of a Buddhist
Denomination in the Edo Period” in 2007, published in Japanese Religions. I refer to this
article in Chapter 6.

2.4 Visual and Other Physically Existing Material

Visual material including the shakuhachi is fairly abundant, especially from the Edo period.
The oldest appearance is in the drawings on a long bow, which belonged to Emperor Shōmu
(701–756) now kept at the Shōsō-in in Nara, a treasure house belonging to the temple
Tōdai-ji. Other visual appearances include the twelfth-century Shinzei nyūdō kogaku-zu,
paintings of instruments of the time. There are also a number of illustrations of artisans, the
oldest dating back to the Kamakura period, but there are no shakuhachi depicted until the
end of the fifteenth century. From 1494 and 1500 we have the Sanjūni-ban Shokunin
uta-awase (cf. Section 6.1) and Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase (cf. Section 5.1)
respectively, which both are often-cited sources in secondary literature on the shakuhachi.273
From the middle of the sixteenth century there is also a famous screen painting of Kyoto,
Rakuchū-rakugai-zu byōbu (cf. Section 6.2), in which two komosō play shakuhachi.
Among extant shakuhachi the oldest ones are from the eighth century, kept at the
Shōsō-in in Nara (see above and Chapter 3). These old artefacts, Emperor Shōmu’s
long-bow, and the Shinzei nyūdō kogaku-zu are material that relate to the earliest history
of the shakuhachi, which is not the focus of the present study. They are not included as
material for analysis here, but I use two images from the Shinzei nyūdō kogaku-zu as
illustrations (cf. Chapters 3 and 7).

270
Sanford quotes Nihon no ongaku (Japanese Music) by the well-known and established musicologist Tanabe
Hisao, but this contains only 35 pages that relate to shakuhachi. Apart from this book, Sanford refers to 13 pages
from the book Nihon no dentō ongaku (Traditional Japanese Music) by Koide Kōhei, and a book by Yamashita
Yajūrō with the name Komusō: Fukeshū Reihōji no Kenkyū (Komusō: Research in the Reihōji Temple of the Fuke
Sect), which is a locally published book in the area of Tama, where Reihō-ji temple was located.
271
Kojirui-en is a collection of items, from ancient times to 1867, referring to society, cultural products, and systems
as seen in historical material and publications. The material was gathered between 1879 and 1907, and published
1895–1914. The text was edited by the Jingūshichō, an organ for administration of affairs relating to the Ise Jingū
shrine. (古事類苑). KOKUGO, Vol. 8, kojiruien: p. 180.
272
James H. Sanford, “Shakuhachi Zen. The Fukeshu and Komuso,” 1977, 415.
273
Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase (三十二番職人歌合) depicts a komosō playing shakuhachi, and Shichijūichi-ban
Shokunin uta-awase (七十一番職人歌合) depicts a boro without any reference to the shakuhachi.

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81
 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

Chapter  3  –  The  Shakuhachi:  

Instrument  and  Implement  

It seems evident that the Japanese shakuhachi has its roots in China. In Wenxian Tongkao,274
a fourteenth-century historical text from China compiled some four centuries after the fall of
the Tang dynasty in 907, there is a reference to the word shakuhachi, going back to the court
musician Lu Cai, 275 active at the court during the reign of the Tang Emperor Tang
Taizong.276 Kurihara expounds on the ‘Lu Cai theory,’ saying that Lu Cai supposedly
revived an older flute of a length that had fallen out of use. In the time of Lu Cai, there seem
to have been two prevalent types of flutes used, one long, chōteki, and one short, tanteki.277
The long flute was available in twelve lengths, to correspond to the twelve-tone scale of
Chinese music. The short flute was however only available in a limited number of lengths,
and Lu Cai supposedly revived the short flute, with its fundamental tone, the key tone,
tuned to a flute of the length of one shaku and eight (hachi) sun, thus, a shakuhachi.278
Kurihara refers to Hayashi Dōshun Razan, whose comments about these matters are
recorded in a collection of Razan’s writings, the Razan bunshū.279
Both the Wenxian Tongkao and Razan Bunshū are however of a later date, the former
written 700 years and the latter 1,000 years after the events they relate, thus calling their
historical accuracy into question, but Kamisangō quotes the Tangshu (Book of Tang), a
historical text from 945,280 as stating that, “Lu Cai made twelve types of shakuhachi. They

274
Bunken-tsukō or Bunken-tsūkō in Japanese (文献通考) consists of texts from the dynasties Tang (by the historian
Du You 杜佑, (J. Toyū) 735–812) and Song (by Zheng Qiao 鄭樵, (J. Teishō) 1104–1162), published during the Yuan
period (1279–1368) in 1322. NIPPONICA: bunkentsūkō. Shōgakukan Nihon kokugo daijiten has the publication
year 1319. KOKUGO, Vol. 17, bunkentsūkō: p. 559.
275
Rosai in Japanese, active at the Tang court in the middle of the seventh century. (呂才).
276
Taisō in Japanese (唐太宗, 627–649). The Chinese name of this era is Zhen Guan (貞觀).
277
chōteki (長笛); tanteki (短笛).
278
From around the Heian period kane-jaku (曲尺) became the prevailing length measure. The measures used were
shaku, sun, bu, rin (尺寸分厘), where each measure is a tenth of the previous. In 1891 (Meiji 24), kane-jaku (曲尺)
was made the official length measure, defined as as one third of a meter. It continued to be so until 1955 (Shōwa 33).
(DAIJIRIN, shaku: p. 1111). See also Section 1.1 above.
279
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 22, quotes Hayashi Dōshun Razan. See also Section 4.5.3.
280
Tōjo in Japanese (唐書). NIPPONICA: tōjo, accessed on March 24, 2011.

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all differed in length, tuned to the twelve-tone scale.”281 The Tangshu decreases the time lag
by four centuries, but it is still three hundred years after the actual event.
If this is true then Lu Cai may have revived a flute that is mentioned in remarks about a
Han dynasty commentator, Ma Rong.282 We cannot tell whether there was a ‘shakuhachi’ in
use 500 years before Lu Cai. The fact that there did exist a variety of lengths may indicate
that the short flute, the tanteki mentioned above, received the name shakuhachi, based on its
keynote. The flute would then be tuned in various lengths, in different pitches. In the
writings on music from the historical texts of the tenth-century Liao dynasty, the Liao-shi
compiled in 1344,283 a comment is also made about “long flutes, short flutes and shakuhachi
flutes,” thus indicating that there existed a ‘shakuhachi’ apart from the long and short flutes
respectively.284 In the gagaku treatise Kyōkun-shō from 1233 there is a remark about the
‘long flute,’ relating this to the above-mentioned Ma Rong: “The long flute was from the
beginning played by Ba Yū [Ma Rong], and he called it chōteki.”285 There are other theories
as to when ‘shakuhachi’ first appeared in China, but the ‘Lu Cai theory’ seems to be the
most commonly accepted.
In the following sections I give a short introduction to the construction of shakuhachi
(3.1), various types of shakuhachi in Japan (3.2), and some early remarks in historical texts
that I include here for reference (3.3). Some of the early appearances, often quoted in lexica
and secondary writings on the shakuhachi, are discussed in detail in Chapters 4–7.

Plate 4: Shakuhachi played by the author.

3.1 Construction of Modern Shakuhachi

The first shakuhachi that appeared in Japan had six fingerholes
and three nodes on the bamboo. The shakuhachi probably
underwent gradual change, from the twelfth and up to the
seventeenth century, when the so-called fuke shakuhachi seems to
have developed. The fuke shakuhachi is the origin of modern day
shakuhachi described below. A typical performance posture can
be seen in Plate 4.
Some typical features of the present day shakuhachi are:

• the use of the root end of the bamboo (probably an Edo period development);
• five fingerholes compared to the Heian period shakuhachi’s six holes (probably a development that took place
some time from the Kamakura to Muromachi periods);
• an outwardly cut mouthpiece (maybe also from the Kamakura or Muromachi periods);
• a total of seven nodes (probably middle or late Edo period), compared to the previous types typically with one
(hitoyogiri shakuhachi) or three (gagaku shakuhachi) nodes.

281
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 69. This ‘Lu Cai theory’ is also referred to in Ueno,
Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 46ff.
282
Ba Yū in Japanese. (馬融, 79-166 CE).
283
, (J. Ryō) 907–1125. 遼史楽志, Ryōshi-gakushi in Japanese.
284
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 16.
285
Koma Chikazane, Kyōkun-shō (1233), 1973, 156. (抑長笛、馬融善ノ吹者為〔ナヅク〕長笛。).

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Plate 5: The author's standard-

length shakuhachi: 1 shaku 8 sun.
The shakuhachi belongs to the group of end-blown
air-reed vertical flutes. The upper sound-producing
mouthpiece, uta-guchi, is cut in an angle outwards,
normally with an inlay of bone or horn. There are five
fingerholes, four on the front and one on the back. There is
no left/right orientation, and the player may therefore freely
choose which hand s/he prefers as upper and lower hand
respectively. 286 The shakuhachi is held with the lower
hand’s thumb and middle finger only, with the back of the
upper edge, the ago-atari, leaning against the chin. The
fingerholes are normally counted from the bottom upwards,
and covered in the order indicated in Plate 5. According to
convention, the shakuhachi should consist of seven
nodes.287 There is no scientific proof that this aspect has any
influence on the sound. Three nodes occur at the lower end,
node four before hole 1, node five between holes 2 and 3,
node six between holes 4 and 5, and node seven at the
upper end. The upper end is cut at an angle, and the sound
is produced by blowing across the edge.

***

The shakuhachi can either be made with a naka-tsugi (中

継)
mid-joint, where it can be divided in two parts, or made
in one piece, which then is referred to as a nobe-kan (延管). There are three reasons to divide
the shakuhachi in two parts. Firstly, by dividing the bamboo, it is easier to make a
shakuhachi of the required length with seven nodes, and with one node at the bottom and
one at the top. To make a nobe-kan in the exact length is more difficult, since one would
prefer to have a node at the bottom for cosmetic reasons, and a node at the top, for practical
reasons: the top node makes it possible to create a wider and slightly rounded ago-atari (the
chin-rest). Secondly, it is easier to work on the inside if the bamboo is divided into two parts.
Thirdly, the mid-joint makes it easy to take the instrument apart, which is convenient when
transporting the shakuhachi.

286
In Shichiku Shoshin-shū it is, however, stated that the right hand should be the lower, and the left the upper.
Nakamura Sōsan, Shichiku shoshin-shū (1664), 1976, 5. Hisamatsu Fūyō in essence asserts the same in the second
statement of his 1818 Hitori kotoba (A Monologue): “[The shakuhachi] should be held firmly with the thumb and
middle finger of the right hand, but this does not mean that it should be held very strongly.” (右の大指と中指二本はし
っかりと持つべし、是とてもつよく持つにはあらず). http://www.bmbnt.com/shaku8/bamboo81.htm. Hisamatsu is also
quoted in Andreas Gutzwiller, Die Shakuhachi der Kinko-Schule, 1983, 169. Gutzwiller has 右の大指を中指二本は, but
I assume this to be a typing error. There are, however, no practical reasons for the left/right orientation, at least not
in modern shakuhachi. For long flutes, 2 shaku 3 sun and above, the fingerholes will normally be opened towards
the side of the flute, rather than on the ‘top,’ which leads to a left/right orientation. The holes can however easily be
reoriented from one side to the other.
287
The nodes should not be confused with the division of the shakuhachi in two halves by a mid-joint. The joint is
artificially created by cutting the bamboo piece in two. Today, the price of a shakuhachi with more or less than
seven nodes may be considerably lower than for a shakuhachi of equal quality and the conventional seven nodes.

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In modern shakuhachi the inside has a layer of a strong and hard cement, called tonoko
(砥の粉) in Japanese, made from powder of whetstone. This hard compound makes it easier
to create a smooth inner surface, which is important to tune the instrument and to give it an
even balance, both in pitch and timbre. The tonoko cement is a grounding that also changes
the timbre, and it is referred to as ji when talking about instruments with or without the
grounding applied: a shakuhachi with grounding cement is referred to as a ji-ari (地有), in
contrast to ji-nashi (地無) shakuhachi, i.e., instruments without the grounding cement. The
ji-nashi shakuhachi has a softer and more natural sound, and instruments with a thick layer
of grounding cement may sound more like a Western flute. Today there is a renaissance of
the ‘pure’ shakuhachi, but it is almost impossible to create a well-tuned ji-nashi shakuhachi.
Most instruments today are ji-ari. The inner surface, regardless of whether there is a layer of
grounding cement or not, is normally covered by a thin layer of lacquer to protect the
bamboo from saliva and outer humidity, which would soften the bamboo and also increase
the risk of mould. The lacquer not only has a protective function, but also makes it easier to
fine-tune the instrument. The use of grounding cement on the inside became increasingly
more common together with the practice of ensemble playing, where the tuning of the
instrument is crucial, and it also helps to create a sound with stronger volume that fits better
in the concert halls that have become the typical venue for concerts since the Modern
Period.
Even though the name states a length of 1 shaku 8 sun, the shakuhachi is available in
various lengths, from 1 shaku 3 sun up to 3 shaku or longer, each with a different pitch and
timbre. The pitch changes half a step with each sun, up to approximately 2 shaku 2 sun, but
the actual length may vary also depending on the thickness of the bore and other aspects.288

3.2 Different Types of Instruments Related to Shakuhachi

In this section I briefly introduce different types of instruments related to shakuhachi in
Japan that appear in the course of history. These include the gagaku shakuhachi, tenpuku,
hitoyogiri shakuhachi or simply hitoyogiri, and komusō or fuke shakuhachi. The origins of
the tenpuku are not known, but the other forms are said to trace their origin to the Chinese
xiao (see Plates 6 and 7).289 The modern era shakuhachi is a direct development of the fuke
shakuhachi, and I do not make any discrimination between shakuhachi and fuke shakuhachi
in this study, as far as the instrument itself is concerned.290

288
Regarding the making of the shakuhachi, I have consulted a recorded conversation with the shakuhachi maker
Nomura Godō in 1986, and a personal communication with the American shakuhachi maker Monty Levenson, on
September 19, 2011. Please refer to Monty Levenson’s site for further information about the relation between pitch
and length: http://www.shakuhachi.com/Y-ShakuhachiPitchChart.html.
289
The instruments belonged to Tsukitani Tsuneko (1944–2010), and the photos were taken by Natalie Schneider at
a shakuhachi festival in Bisei, Japan, August 27, 2007.
290
As an instrument there have been developments since the seventeenth century, but these aspects are beyond the
scope of the present study. There is a general outline of the construction of modern shakuhachi in Section 3.1 above.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

Plate 6: Various kinds of similar instruments. Plate 7: Close-up of mouth-pieces (uta-guchi).

From left to right: tenpuku, hitoyogiri, gagaku shakuhachi, From down to up: gagaku shakuhachi, fuke
fuke shakuhachi, and xiao. shakuhachi, and xiao.
Used by courtesy of Natalie Schneider. Used by courtesy of Natalie Schneider.

The terms are employed for historical

reasons, but also indicate central and
important differences in the construction of
the instruments. Another word that appears
in historical records is tanteki, or ‘short flute.’
This word is either used in relation to the term shakuhachi, 291 or with other references to a
hitoyogiri shakuhachi.292 In Taigen-shō, an early sixteenth-century treatise on court music
(gagaku), the author Toyohara Sumiaki says that, “[a]ccording to Ritsusho gakuzu [the
shakuhachi] is called tanteki.”293 This comment in Taigen-shō builds on an earlier reference
to tanteki. The court music treatise Kyōkun-shō from 1233 makes the same reference to
Ritsusho gakuzu, and states that the tanteki is called shakuhachi.294 The tanteki is therefore
not treated as a type of shakuhachi, but rather as an alternative name for it.
As an instrument, the shakuhachi may go back as far as to the first century CE China, but
it seems most plausible that it was a type of flute that was (re-)established in the early days
of Tang dynasty China (cf. the introduction to this chapter). It developed in Japan from the
Nara (710–784) to the Muromachi (1378–1573) periods, and its present form originates in
the type of shakuhachi that was more or less finalized at the latest during the eighteenth
century. There are accounts of the shakuhachi being used in chanting of Buddhist sutras in

291
In connection with the Tang dynasty musician Lu Cai (J. Rosai) mentioned above.
292
According to Moriya Yukinori, the president of Hōgaku no Tomo, Tanteki hiden-fu ( 短笛秘伝譜 , Secretly
Transmitted Scores for Tanteki) from 1608 is attributed to Ōmori Sōkun (大森宗勲, 1570–1625). (Hōgaku no Tomo
Mail Magazine No 40, August 30, 2002). Riley Lee also mentions that the word hitoyogiri is not used in Tanteki
hiden-fu regardless of the fact that “the instruments being discussed are clearly made with a single node.” (Lee,
Yearning for the Bell …, 1993, 92).
293
Toyohara Sumiaki, Taigen-shō, 1512, Vol. 5: Chapter “Shakuhachi”. (律書楽図ニ云ク是ヲ短笛トス). I have not
been able to obtain any bibliographical data on the text referred to, the Ritsusho gakuzu, but Kurihara quotes
Ritsusho gakuzu as saying that, “shakuhachi is a tanteki, held vertically when played.” Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō
(1918), 1975, 15. (尺八為短笛縦向吹者也).
294
Koma Chikazane, Kyōkun-shō (1233), 1973, 156. (短笛ハ尺八云。律書楽図云、是以為短笛。). Also in Kurihara,
Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 15.

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the ninth century, but originally the shakuhachi was used in the court music imported from
the kingdoms on the Korean peninsula and the Tang dynasty China in the Asuka (593–710)
and Nara (710–784) periods. From the middle of the ninth century, the shakuhachi
disappeared from the reformed court music, gagaku, which incorporated both Chinese
music (tōgaku) and Korean music (komagaku).295
Below I give an introduction to the four types of instruments mentioned above that are
related to the present day shakuhachi, and their position in history.

3.2.1 The gagaku Shakuhachi

The first shakuhachi that entered Japan around the eighth century is nowadays referred to as
gagaku shakuhachi,296 since it was prominently used in the gagaku court music in the eighth
and early ninth centuries. The gagaku shakuhachi was made of bamboo, with three nodes,
but there are also some historical instruments from this time made of jade and stone (see
below). The instruments made from these other materials had three nodes carved to make
them look like bamboo, which may be an indication that they were precious items rather
than practically used instruments. Another aspect that differentiates the gagaku shakuhachi
from later types of shakuhachi is that they have a total of six fingerholes, five on the front
and one on the back, whereas all later types have four on the front and one on the back.
Some of these ancient shakuhachi are still extant today. Among these there are eight
gagaku shakuhachi from the eighth century at the Shōsō-in repository of the temple Tōdai-ji
in Nara. 297 Yet another shakuhachi belongs to the temple Hōryū-ji in Nara, which is
nowadays kept at Tokyo National Museum.298 This instrument was supposedly used by the
historically well-known Prince Shōtoku (574–622), who has become a symbol of something
originally and essentially Japanese.299 It is, however, doubtful whether this instrument is
from the seventh century and whether Shōtoku Taishi actually played the shakuhachi (cf.
Section 7.2 below).
The court music consisted originally of music from the Tang dynasty China and the
Korean peninsula (cf. footnote 295 above). The oldest extant shakuhachi date from the
middle of the eighth century, presented by Empress Kōmyō to the Shōsō-in. The fact that
she gave the items to the temple should be an indication that they were important and

295
The court music is known as gagaku, refined music (雅楽), but gagaku was a result of a reformation of the music
forms that had been imported from the continent: tōgaku, music from Tang (唐楽), and komagaku, music from Korea
(高麗楽) which was also known as sankangaku, music from the three Korean kingdoms (三韓楽). The term komagaku
implies music from the kingdom Koguryŏ, known as Koma in Japanese, but later komagaku became a generic term
for music from the Korean kingdoms.
296
雅楽尺八.
297
Shōsō-in (正倉院) was probably erected in 756, or at the latest in 759, a few years after the completion and
opening ceremony of the Tōdai-ji Dai-butsu in 752, as a repository for art treasures. It was administered by the court
until 1875, when the government took control. It is now managed by the Imperial Household Agency. NIPPONICA:
shōsōin, April 7, 2011.
298
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 70.
299
Shōtoku Taishi (聖徳太子) was the regent of Empress Suiko (推古天皇, 554–628), and considered to be the real
founder and patron of Buddhism in Japan, after its introduction by the Soga clan in the late sixth century. Shōtoku
Taishi is also the supposed author of seventeen moral injunctions regarded as the first Japanese constitution. George
B. Sansom, Japan: A Short Cultural History (1931), 1985, 69–71.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

valuable items, and maybe something that her late husband, Emperor Shōmu, had held
dear.300 Of the eight shakuhachi kept at Shōsō-in, five are mentioned in the eighth-century
Tōdai-ji Kenmotsu-chō (Directory of Offerings to Tōdai-ji),301 and four of these can be
traced to a king of the Paekche dynasty on the Korean peninsula. 302 In the Tōdai-ji
Kenmotsu-chō it is stated that there were “one jade shakuhachi, one shakuhachi [sic!], one
birch-wrapped shakuhachi and one carved shakuhachi, which had been presented by the
King Giji of Paekche to the Naidaijin.”303 At the time the Naidaijin was the de facto head of
state after the emperor, 304 and the shakuhachi must have been a cordial gift from one nation
to another, thus showing the importance put on musical instruments at the time, and the
relation between Paekche and the Japanese court during the Asuka and Nara periods (7th–8th
centuries). Apart from these four instruments there is also one carved shakuhachi in stone,
presented from Koguryŏ,305 which makes it plausible that music was imported not only from
Paekche, but also from other parts of the Korean peninsula.
The remaining three shakuhachi at Shōsō-in are made of bamboo. As mentioned above,
the ones that are made of stone or jade are all carved to resemble bamboo, and they all have
three nodes. They have five fingerholes on the front and one on the back, but they are
slightly different in length. This may imply that already at this time there were shakuhachi
of different lengths, and the name, one shaku and hachi (eight) sun was not, as it may seem,
the determinating factor for the type of instrument. More likely, it was the keynote for the
short flute developed by Lu Cai. The lengths of the Shōsō-in shakuhachi were measured by
the Court Music Division within the Court Ceremonial Office of the Imperial Household
Department.306 Nakatsuka refers to this measurement, and a summary of the findings:

1. Bamboo shakuhachi, 1.445 shaku, tuned half a step above shōsetsu

2. Bamboo shakuhachi with birch wrapping, 1.27 shaku, tuned almost in fushō
3. White bamboo shakuhachi, 1.264 shaku, tuned in fushō
4. White jade shakuhachi, 1.152 shaku, tuned almost in rankei
5. Stone shakuhachi with carvings, 1.19 shaku, tuned almost in ōshiki 307

300
Around 600 of the more than 10,000 items in Shōsō-in belonged to Emperor Shōmu (聖武天皇, 701–756), and
they were dedicated to the Buddha at Tōdai-ji by his widow Empress Kōmyō (光明皇后, 701–760). Varley, Japanese
Culture: A Short History, 1973, 26. Sansom, Japan: A Short Cultural History (1931), 1985, 159.
301
東大寺獻物帳.
302
Paekche (百済, J. Kudara) was defeated in 663 CE by Silla (新羅, J. Shiragi), supported by the Tang dynasty
China. Sansom dates the defeat to between 660 and 670. Sansom, Japan: A Short Cultural History (1931), 1985, 35.
303
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, p. 42. Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 70.
Giji-ō (義慈王 599–660, K. Uija-wang) was the 31st and last king of Paekche (Kudara), who reigned from 641–660.
304
The Nai-daijin was a high-ranking position within the ritsuryō system, above the sa- and u-daijin introduced by
Emperor Kōtoku (孝徳, 596–654) in the Asuka period as 内臣 (uchitsu omi), which was changed to 内大臣
(nai-daijin) by Emperor Tenshi (626–671) who reigned 668-71. Emperor Kōnin (光仁, 709–782) in the latter half of
the Nara period lowered the position to below sa- and u-daijin, which was a position that was kept during the Heian
period. (KOGO, naidaijin: p. 966).
305
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, p. 42. Kōkuri in Japanese (高句麗 also 高麗) Goguryeo or Koguryŏ in
Korean. Also defeated by the Silla and Tang in 668. Not to be confused with the Goryeo or Koryŏ (高麗) Dynasty
(918–1392), which is short for Goguryeo and thus also known as the later Goguryeo.
306
宮内省式部職雅楽部.
307
From Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 23–25. The pitch is given with the Japanese
♯ ♭ ♯ ♭
tone names: shōsetsu = F, fushō = G /A , rankei = A /H (B) , and ōshiki = A. YHJ, jūniritsu, by Hashimoto Yōko
(橋本曜子), November 6, 2011, and http://www.kochyo.co.jp/onritsu/12.html. The measure shaku differed in actual
length (see Section 1.1 above). Here 1 shaku = 30.3 cm.

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The main impulse for the development of ceremonial court music seems to have come
mainly from Korea, including indirect influences from Sui and Tang dynasties China. In the
Saidai-ji Shizairyū-kichō (Saidai-ji Catalogue of Treasures) from 780,308 the final volume
“Instruments and Cloths, Item 6” lists one set of “Great Tang instruments,” a spotted
shakuhachi, and eight shakuhachi counted as “Tang instruments.”309 This list, dating from
some 24 years after the Tōdai-ji list, explicitly includes Tang instruments.
In an officicial decree issued by the State Council, Daijōkan-fu,310 the number of officials
and performers of gagaku was decided in the Gakuryō Gakushi no Jō.311 In the notification
of 809 (the fourth year of the Daidō era under Emperor Saga) it is stated that of the twelve
performers of tōgaku there should be one shakuhachi performer.312 In a later directive from
the first year of Kashō, 848, the number of officials and students is reduced; for the
shakuhachi this meant that there should be two students, compared to the previous three.313
Not only was the number of shakuhachi students decreased, but the total number of utamai
no tsukasa was decreased from 254 to a total of 100. During the eighth century the number
of tōgaku musicians increased relative to the number of komagaku and wagaku (indigenous
music) performers.314
According to Kamisangō the reformation of the imported music in the middle of the ninth
century gradually shifted to fit the Japanese taste and the circumstances at the court, and
that the court music ensemble decreased in size. Shakuhachi was among the imported
instruments that disappeared, and, as Kamisangō states, “we can assume that the main
reason for this was that the shakuhachi overlapped with the ryūteki [vertical flute], and with
a ryūteki [in the ensemble] there was no need for a shakuhachi.”315
Historical records indicate that the shakuhachi was used at the court up to the fifteenth
century (cf. Section 3.3 below). There is, however, no conclusive evidence of that the
instrument used in Japan after the Heian period, or even after the middle of the ninth
century when it disappeared from the court music ensemble, was a gagaku shakuhachi; it
could have been any type of flute. There are no remarks or illustrations of shakuhachi until
the gagaku treatise Taigen-shō of 1512, in which we encounter a hitoyogiri shakuhachi with
five fingerholes and one node, as discussed below (see Plate 8).

308
西大寺資材流記帳.
309
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 47–48.
310
太政官符.
311
太政官符: 楽寮楽師の定. (Officials: gakuryō or uta no tsukasa/utamai no tsukasa; performers: gakushi).
312
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 70.
313
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 51.
314
Kikkawa, Nihon ongaku no rekishi (1965), 1990, 55; Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 50–51.
315
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 70.

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3.2.2 The tenpuku

The tenpuku 316 is of unknown origin, but in construction it is partly similar to the gagaku
shakuhachi, partly similar to later shakuhachi, and partly to the Chinese dongxiao (J. dōshō).
It contains three nodes, as does the gagaku shakuhachi, but has five fingerholes, like later
shakuhachi. It is short, approximately 30 cm and thus similar in length to the gagaku
shakuhachi, but the mouth-piece is cut in a similar fashion to the Chinese dongxiao, i.e.,
“with an inward-sloping notch.”317 Furthermore, the bottom node is not completely opened,
but has a small hole, unlike other types of vertical bamboo flutes in Japan.318
The tenpuku is said to have been used by warriors in the Satsuma domain (present day
Kagoshima) during the period of civil wars 1467–1568. On Kagoshima Prefecture’s official
website there is a comment about the tenpuku in the Kagoshima Area Traditional Art
Museum: “The origin of the tenpuku is uncertain but according to historical records it did
exist at the time of Shimazu Tadayoshi (1492–1568), and now it is only transmitted in
Kagoshima.” 319 During the Edo period it was used in Satsuma together with the lute
satsuma biwa, and was transmitted also at schools during the Meiji period, but in the 1890’s,
“musical instruments were regarded as a hindrance to study, and biwa and tenpuku were
forbidden. This led to the fact that the tenpuku tradition, which is transmitted orally with no
musical notation, declined rapidly.”320
Even in the twentieth century the tenpuku tradition was orally transmitted, first by Ōta
Ryōichi (1888–1957), and then by Shirao Kunitoshi (1920–??), who established an
association for practitioners and lovers of the instrument, the Tenpuku Dōkō-kai.321 There
are, however, only seven short pieces that are still being transmitted.322 In his doctoral thesis,
Riley Lee lists these pieces as “‘Shirabe,’ ‘Anoyama,’ ‘Tsutsune,’ ‘Takane,’ ‘Ichiyana,’
‘Tennoshiyama,’ and ‘Senpesan.’ The durations of these pieces range from thirty seconds to
four minutes. The first three are solo pieces, while the remaining four were performed with
songs.”323
It is conceivable that shakuhachi-playing monks or samurai met and exchanged traditions
with the tenpuku-playing samurai, but there is no evidence to substantiate such influences.
One theory of the origin of the tenpuku is that it was imported from the continent, probably
the Korean peninsula, in the sixteenth century.324 Whether an import, or a locally developed
316
天吹.
317
OMO, xiao. Accessed on April 7, 2011. Kamisangō has a similar explanation, saying that, “[t]he mouthpiece is
shaped by gouging the inside of the bore, like the Chinese dongxiao.” (Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no
ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, p. 76.
318
YHJ, tenpuku (天吹), Tsukitani Tsuneko (月溪恒子, 1944–2010), March 1, 2011.
319
島津忠良 ; http://www.pref.kagoshima.jp/ab10/kyoiku-bunka/bunka/museum/shichoson/kagoshima/tenpuku.html,
accessed on March 6, 2009. (天吹の起源は不明ですが，島津忠良（１４９２∼１５６８年）の時代に存在していたことが史書の
記述にあり，現在では鹿児島にだけ伝承されています。).
320
http://www.pref.kagoshima.jp/ab10/kyoiku-bunka/bunka/museum/shichoson/kagoshima/tenpuku.html, accessed
on March 6, 2009. (しかし明治３０年代に楽器は勉学の妨げになるとして，琵琶・天吹が禁止されると，当時楽譜のない口述に
よる伝承であった天吹は急速に衰退していきました。).
321
http://www.shimadzu-yoshihiro.or.jp/tenpuku.html, accessed on March 2, 2011.
322
YHJ, tenpuku (天吹), Tsukitani Tsuneko (月溪恒子, 1944–2010), March 2, 2011.
323
Riley Lee, Yearning for the Bell…, 1993, 101. According to Lee, the names of the pieces were traditionally
written in the syllabic katakana, rather than with Chinese characters.
324
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 205.

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flute with a possible interaction with other indigenous flutes, it has very little influence on
the development of the shakuhachi. I don’t find that the tenpuku – as an instrument or as a
tradition – has any decisive relevance to the present study.

3.2.3 The hito-yo-giri Shakuhachi

Of higher relevance than the tenpuku is the so-called hito-yo-giri shakuhachi.325 Plates 6–9
show both old and modern samples of the instrument. Literally the name means
‘one-node-cut,’ and is a description of the construction: the hitoyogiri consists of only one
node, compared to three for the gagaku shakuhachi.
The oldest visual representation of a presumed hitoyogiri is in the Taigen-shō from 1512.
The illustration of what is called shakuhachi is a vertical flute consisting of one node (see
Plate 8). There are illustrations of instruments in different lengths, and accordingly,
different pitches,326 thus indicating that ‘shaku-hachi’ denoting a specific length, was at this
time not a defining quality of the instrument. A shakuhachi of the ‘(one) shaku hachi [8]
(sun)’ length is in a lower pitch than the hitoyogiri shakuhachi that are depicted in
Taigen-shō.327
In Taigen-shō, the word hitoyogiri is not used, but, according to Kamisangō Yūkō, the
illustrations show instruments with one node; they are literally ‘one-node-cuts’ or
hito-yo-giri. Regarding these shakuhachi Kamisangō asserts that they were “hitoyogiri in
the broad sense of the word. However, at this time, the term
‘hitoyogiri’ was not yet in use.”328 The word had never been Plate 8: Illustration in Taigen-shō.

used in any text relating to the musical tradition as such, but Used by courtesy of The National
Diet Library.
it may have been alluded to in some poems by the
329
fifteenth-century Rinzai Zen monk Ikkyū Sōjun. The
reference is, however, not evident, and there are no other
early remarks about a hitoyogiri.
The later hitoyogiri is mentioned in Momoyama- and
Edo-period texts, and the first time that the shakuhachi and
the hitoyogiri are clearly designated as instruments of similar
types but of different origins is in the 1664 Shichiku
shoshin-shū by Nakamura Sōsan. Nakamura uses the
expression “shakuhachi of hitoyogiri type” (hitoyogiri no
shakuhachi). 330 He writes that the hitoyogiri shakuhachi
should be 1 shaku 8 bu in length, whereas the komusō
shakuhachi should be 1 shaku 8 sun.331 Nakamura was a
325
一節切尺八.
326
With the Japanese names for pitches they are in hyōjō (E4), sōjō (G4), ōshiki (A4), and banshiki (B4)
327
The pitch of a standard length shakuhachi is ichikotsu (D4).
328
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 73.
329
一休宗純, 1394–1481. Cf. Section 7.2 below.
330
Nakamura Sōsan, Shichiku shoshin-shū (1664), 1976, 2.
331
One shaku is approximately one foot (33 cm.), one sun is a tenth of a shaku, and one bu is one tenth of a sun.
One shaku eight bu would then be approximately 35–36 centimeters.

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musician, and the tuning was important for him. He continues by stating that “since the
thickness of the bamboo gives different tunings, rather than settling the length, [the basic
tone] should be tuned in [the pitch] ōshiki [A4].”332 I wish to stress the point that Nakamura
is making here, because he also refers to the komusō as not playing in tune. This aspect is
developed in the discussion about a supposed predecessor to the Edo period komusō, the
so-called komosō, upon which I expound in Chapter 6.
Nakamura also names the founder of the hitoyogiri shakuhachi tradition as Sōsa Rōjin
(Rōjin should be regarded as a honorific suffix to the name, “Sōsa, the old man”), and his
own teacher Ōmori Sōkun, the fifth generation after Sōsa, and originally a retainer of Oda
Nobunaga. After the death of Nobunaga, “[Sōkun] drifted, trying to escape from the
shadows, pitied by the mist, sorrowed by the dew, and then finally found the wondrous
sound of the shakuhachi, which tradition he transmitted to us.” The komusō shakuhachi, on
the other hand, was, according to Sōsan, transmitted from “the founder of this Way, Hōtō of
Yura, ... and from old times used in the houses of Buddhist monks.”333

Plate 9: A hitoyogiri belonging to the temple Hosshin-ji. Photo by the author at Hosshin-ji on June 4, 2009.

Nakamura differentiates very explicitly between the two lines of development,

connecting his own tradition to retainers of Oda Nobunaga playing beutiful tunes, and the
komusō tradition to Hottō Kokushi not caring about how it sounds. Shichiku shoshin-shū is a
central text in the study of shakuhachi history, and I return to this text in Chapters 4–6.

3.2.4 The komusō Shakuhachi or fuke Shakuhachi

The komusō shakuhachi mentioned by Nakamura Sōsan is the same as the fuke
shakuhachi.334 The komusō were monks within a Rinzai Zen Buddhist sect called the Fuke
sect. They received official acknowledgment in 1677, thirteen years after Shichiku
shoshin-shū. The legend about the connection between the thirteenth-century Hottō and the
Fuke sect and its komusō was not published until 1795 in the Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai, but
in 1644 it had apparently already spread and become common knowledge. The main issue
in Chapter 4 is how these monks came to be known as komusō, and how the sect was
established. I regard the shakuhachi tradition from the Edo period on as a construed
tradition, and I argue that the process that led to this situation was based on the komusō’s
wish to connect the new sect to historically established, and at the time highly valued,
persons and texts.

332
Nakamura, Shichiku shoshin-shū (1664), 1976, 4.
333
Ibid. (It is read Hōtō in the reprint I have used, but the name is pronounced Hottō in many other texts. 法燈国師).
334
虚無僧尺八／普化尺八.

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Many of the Japanese scholars divide the development of the shakuhachi in historical
periods, stating that the six-holed, three-noded gagaku shakuhachi was the instrument of the
eighth to the twelfth centuries. Furthermore, it is often asserted that during the Medieval
Period there was an intermediate type of shakuhachi, about which we know very little; a
chūsei shakuhachi. This, or several other unknown types of shakuhachi, was a step in the
development into five-holed instruments with one or three nodes, further developing into
the hitoyogiri and the fuke shakuhachi, the latter being the origin of the present day
shakuhachi. It would be difficult to pinpoint any exact development from gagaku
shakuhachi to later types. Kamisangō states that it would not be adequate to assert that the
tenpuku, hitoyogiri, and fuke shakuhachi already developed as three different types from the
beginning when the five-holed shakuhachi first appeared some time during the Medieval
Period, but rather that these types developed later through different circumstances from a
common five-holed shakuhachi origin.335
Plate 10: Komosō playing shakuhachi.
The tenpuku mentioned above is hardly treated at all in Detail from the Sanjūni-ban Shokunin
the historical research in Japan. Kamisangō mentions uta-awase Kōsetsu-bon (cf. Chapter 6).
tenpuku as “an instrument used by countryside samurai in Used by courtesy of the Suntory
Museum of Art.
the Satsuma area around the close of the Medieval
Period,”336 but there are not enough historical records to
substantiate this, or any influence on the shakuhachi
tradition. The shakuhachi is mentioned in texts from the
Heian (794–1185) and Kamakura (1185–1333) periods,
and the hitoyogiri may have been used at the time of Ikkyū,
but there are no records that give conclusive evidence of
what type of shakuhachi was used, e.g., number of holes
and nodes, length, and so forth, until the early
sixteenth-century Taigen-shō, where we encounter what
appears to be a one-noded five-holed shakuhachi. 337
Therefore, to talk about a ‘medieval shakuhachi’ is at least
problematic, unless it is used solely as a logical construct in
order to clarify a probable course of development, as seems to be the case with Kamisangō,
even though he opens up a “wide definition” of the term hitoyogiri to accomodate for some
poems written by Ikkyū, as mentioned above. I discuss these poems in Section 7.2 below.
One distinctive feature that differs between the pre-Edo-period shakuhachi, and the fuke
shakuhachi of the Edo period, is that older types of shakuhachi, including gagaku
shakuhachi, tenpuku and hitoyogiri (shakuhachi) were cut from above the root, above
ground, whereas the fuke shakuhachi is a root-end flute. To craft a root-end instrument the
bamboo root has to be dug out when harvesting the bamboo. This involves a lot more work
on behalf of the harvester, and thus the root must have been of central interest to the maker
of the flute. There are a few observations about ruffians using the shakuhachi, either as a
weapon or to make fun of the komusō, reported in Kurihara, Nakatsuka, and Kamisangō, as
well as by the authors of more popular writings, e.g., Ueno and Takeda.

335
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 72.
336
Ibid., 68.
337
Toyohara Sumiaki, Taigen-shō, 1512, Vol. 5: “Shakuhachi.”

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

In Honchō Sejidan-ki by Kikuoka Senryō,338 published in 1734, there is a remark that

may indicate a plausible reason as to why the root-end shakuhachi was used. “It is said that
the making [of shakuhachi] with the root of the bamboo began with the kyōkaku, who
carried it [with them] to use [it] for fighting.”339 The kyōkaku was a chivalrous group of
people whose origins lay in the Kyoto and Osaka area, kamigata, during the Muromachi
period. The kyōkaku were also known as ninkyō. The kyōkaku had originally a noble
character, resisting the inconsistencies in society, with slogans like “crush the strong and
save the weak” or “to get the consent from [one person] is worth more than a thousand
pieces of gold.”340 The kyōkaku were further divided in gikyō and yūkyō,341 the former
having a more ethical outlook than the latter. In the seventeenth-century Edo period society,
the number of masterless samurai, rōnin, increased. From the beginning of the Edo period,
with a peak in the middle of the century, the so-called hatamoto-yakko formed groups and
roamed the city streets in an arrogant fashion.342 They engaged in gambling, entertained
themselves in the kuruwa (redlight) districts, and acted as the warriors they were; they
would even engage in the practice of testing a new sword by cutting down a passer-by,
so-called tsuji-giri.343 In opposition to the hatamoto-yakko the machi-yakko appeared. The
leader of the hatamoto-yakko, Mizuno Jūrōsaemon was ordered to commit seppuku in 1664,
and by 1686 both the hatamoto- and machi-yakko had more or less disappeared.344 The
kyōkaku should be seen as a group of diverse people, from morally aware persons to plain
rogues.
Among these kyōkaku there are some stories relating to shakuhachi. The book
Katabisashi, a collection of short essays from 1853, refers to the shakuhachi, stating that it
is one shaku eight bu (isshaku hachibu) long, has one node, and is called both shakuhachi
and hitoyogiri.345 The length indicated here is the same as that of the hitoyogiri shakuhachi
mentioned in Nakamura Sōsan’s Shichiku shoshin-shū from 1664. Katabisashi is quoted by
Kurihara and Kamisangō.

A long time ago, there was a kyōkaku called Karigane Bunshichi, who lived in Nanba.
By nature he was a virtuoso on the shakuhachi, and since he was loved by people his
kyōkaku followers all learned to play. Later he left playing [the shakuhachi], but found it
useful for quarrels, and so he made it one shaku eight sun long, used many nodes [of the
bamboo], cut the bamboo at its root and used it instead of a sword. In that way, the name
tanteki [short flute] and hitoyogiri were lost. … His one shakuhachi eight sun [long]
fighting shakuhachi is not a musical instrument, but now it has become the implement of
Buddhist monks, who even have their [own] main temple. … 346

338
菊岡沾凉 著 「本朝世事談綺」
339
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 180. (根竹を依っ以て製することは侠客のこれを以て争闘の用に供したるより
始まるといふ).
340
DAIJIRIN, p. 628; ninkyō, p. 1858. YHJ, kyōkaku (侠客), by Inagaki Shisei (稲垣史生, 1912–1996), March 18,
2011. (侠客; 任侠, 仁侠).
341
義侠, 遊侠.
342
旗本奴.
343
A samurai was allowed to cut down an offensive or rude townsman. (辻斬り).
344
YHJ, kyōkaku, hatamoto-yakko, machi-yakko (侠客・旗本奴・町奴), Inagaki Shisei (稲垣史生), March 1, 2011.
345
Saitō Hikomaro, Katabisashi. http://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/html/i05/i05_00674/index.html. Accessed
March 15, 2011. Vol. 1, “Shakuhachi.”
346
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 185–186. (むかし難波に雁が音【雁金とも】文七といひし侠客あり、自然と尺
八の妙手にて世にめでられしゆゑに、手下の侠客ども悉く學べり、後々は吹くことはさし置きて、いさかひの為の便利にせんとて

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Karigane Bunshichi was executed in 1703, at the age 28. 347 If we are to believe
Katabisashi, the root-end shakuhachi was not in common use until around the late
seventeenth century, probably after Nakamura’s Shichiku shoshin-shū. Nakamura does,
however, comment about the length of the komusō shakuhachi, stating that it is one shaku
eight sun, whereas the hitoyogiri shakuhachi should be one shaku eight bu.348 Karigane
must have been born in 1675, which is then eleven years after Nakamura’s text. There are
other stories about rogues who played shakuhachi, and it is of course a possibility that the
story about Karigane became popular and that he therefore was bestowed with the honour of
having ‘created’ the fuke or komusō shakuhachi. The point is that the hitoyogiri and fuke
shakuhachi were not clearly perceived as different until the latter half of the seventeenth
century. One of the earliest records of a komusō, preceding Shichiku shoshin-shū by about
fifty years, is a story about a certain Ōtori Itsubei, who was executed in 1612.349 Itsubei is
said not to have belonged to the social class system of samurai, farmers, craftspeople, and
merchants, i.e., he was more or less an outcast. He met a komusō at a drinking place, and
they got into a fight. Itsubei is then said to have played the shakuhachi with his buttocks.
Kiyūshōran also states that this is probably the first time a kyōkaku (referred to as
otokodate) is known to have played shakuhachi.350
In the nineteenth-century essay Kanden Kōhitsu by Ban Plate 11: A komosō playing
shakuhachi in Kanden Kōhitsu.
Kōkei there is an illustration of a so-called komosō (Plate
Used by courtesy of the National
11).351 The komosō appeared before there were any komusō, Diet Library.
and the possible link between them is further discussed in
Chapter 6. The nineteenth-century instrument in Plate 11
looks like the root-end type, compared to the shakuhachi
played by the komosō in the scroll painting Sanjūni-ban
Shokunin uta-awase from 1494 (see Plate 10 above, and
Plates 19 and 20 in Chapter 6), or the shakuhachi that is next
to the biwa hōshi in the scroll painting Shichijūichi-ban
Shokunin uta-awase from 1500 (see Plate 16 in Section 5.1).
Both of these latter flutes look more straight, and appear to be
lacking the root-end. Furthermore, the flute next to the biwa
hōshi it also looks distictively shorter, more of a hitoyogiri
than a fuke shakuhachi. Considering, however, the way the
komosō in the older illustrations (Plate 10 above, and Plates 19 and 20 in Chapter 6) is
holding his flute, it is quite evident that the illustrator has no personal experience of playing

一尺八寸にして節をあまたにして、竹の根ぎはを切りて一刀のかはりとす、かくては短笛の名も一節切の名義も失へり … 彼の一尺
八寸の喧嘩道具の尺八は、楽器にあらず今は僧徒の器となりて本山さへできたり云々).
In Saitō Hikomaro, Katabisashi (1853), and in the quote in Kurihara, Karigane is written as 雁が音, but in
Kamisangō and in the transcript in Kurihara of Karigane’s imprisonment and execution the characters 雁金 are used.
347
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 85; Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975,
187–188.
348
Nakamura, Shichiku shoshin-shū (1664), 1976, 4.
349
This story is related in Kitamura’s Kiyūshōran (1830), as well as in Kurihara and Kamisangō. In the former the
name is written 大鳥一兵衛, but Kamisangō has 大鳥逸兵衛. Kurihara remarks that both ways of writing are used.
Kitamura, Kiyūshōran (1830), 1906, 42; Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 180; Kamisangō,
“Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 85.
350
Kitamura, Kiyūshōran (1830), 1906, 42.
351
閑田耕筆 by Ban Kōkei (伴蒿蹊) 1733–1806.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

the shakuhachi: the hands are far too high up on the flute. In Kanden Kōhitsu, which is more
recent, the position of the hands looks more natural. The size and shape of the instruments
in these drawings do not necessarily correlate to what the instrument actually looked like.
The komosō who appears in Kanden Kōhitsu looks similar to the komosō in Sanjūni-ban
Shokunin uta-awase, and the poem in Kanden Kōhitsu is the same as one of the poems in
the Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase scroll painting. What we may deduce from these
illustrations is that the flute either had undergone a change, or, more likely, that the
illustrator in the Kanden Kōhitsu was more familiar with the shape and holding of the
shakuhachi.

3.3 Shakuhachi: Appearances as Instrument and Implement

In the following three sections I introduce the appearances of the shakuhachi in a variety of
circumstances. Other older texts from the late thirteenth to the early sixteenth centuries,
relating to the present study, are discussed in Chapters 5 and 6. Texts from the Edo period,
and texts that are related to the formation of the Fuke sect are discussed in Chapter 4. The
remarks here are included as a reference for the reader, to reveal the spread of the
shakuhachi in the time after the shakuhachi disappeared from the court music ensemble in
the middle of the ninth century, up to the middle of the fifteenth century. I have put the
remarks in chronological order. Below I mention appearances that more or less directly refer
to the court, some references to Buddhism, and some short comments about appearances of
shakuhachi in the West.

3.3.1 Appearances Relating to the Court: An Instrument

In the secondary literature on shakuhachi from the twentieth century there are several
remarks concerning appearances in older texts. Kurihara reports various occurences of the
shakuhachi in ancient and pre-modern texts, e.g., a remark about shakuhachi in the Fudoki,
compiled during the first decades of the eighth century. In Japanese, Chinese characters are
normally used with their semantic meaning, but the Chinese characters can also be used
phonetically.352 In the Fudoki the xiao is referred to with the Chinese characters 殺古波乏,
with the reading “sha - ku - ha - chi” (semantically the characters mean “kill - old - wave -
poor”). This is probably the oldest extant reference to the word ‘shakuhachi’ in Japan.353
Also, in Genji Monogatari, the shakuhachi is mentioned in the chapter “Suetsumu Hana”
(Safflower), which shows that the shakuhachi was used at the court. In this episode, Genji

352
This is used also in modern Japanese. See also Chapter 6.
353
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 16. I have attempted to locate this in the original text without any
success, both in hardcopy and through Internet sources. (風土記). If this reference is true, it implies that the word
shakuhachi was not necessarily written with the semantically correct 尺八. This could be an indication of that the
word ‘shakuhachi’ was known, but not necessarily with the commonly accepted Chinese characters. At this time,
words were sometimes written using the phonetic value of the characters, disregarding their semantic meaning.

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together with a number of young noblemen were engaged in music and dance, and the
sound of “the ō-hichiriki and the sakuhachi” (sic!) was overwhelming.354 Even though this
is the only remark about the shakuhachi in Genji Monogatari, the fact that it is mentioned
demonstrates that the shakuhachi was practiced by noble members of the court. The
shakuhachi is also mentioned as an instrument played at the New Year’s banquet in 1158, at
the time of Emperor Go-Shirakawa. This is found in the Taigen-shō, with reference to the
Imakagami (Mirror of Today), from 1170, where one reads that “[a] flute, called shakuhachi,
that has long been forgotten, was played ... at this occassion; it was well received and
indeed a rare experience.”355 Both Taigen-shō (1512) and Imakagami also state that the
shakuhachi had not been heard for a long time, and this is the last conclusive appearance of
shakuhachi used in gagaku.356
That the shakuhachi was still used at the court around the end of the Heian period
(794–1180) seems doubtless. In a treatise on the transverse flute ryūteki, the Ryūmei-shō
from 1133, and other later writings, e.g., Zoku Kyōkun-shō (a 1322 treaty on gagaku) and
Taigen-shō, Sadayasu Shinnō, son of Emperor Seiwa (reigned 858–876), is said to have
revived the gagaku piece “Ōshōkun.” Toyohara in Taigen-shō even has it that he
“transmitted it to a transverse flute from shakuhachi,”357 whereas Ryūmei-shō, as quoted by
Kurihara, only states that “he sought it out from shakuhachi notation.”358
In the scroll painting Shinzei nyūdō kogaku-zu
(exact date of creation is unknown), there is a Plate 12: Shinzei nyūdō kogaku-zu. Kneeling
shakuhachi performer in gagaku outfit.
shakuhachi among the gagaku instruments, and the Used by courtesy of the Tokyo University of the
shakuhachi performer wears a period-typical gagaku Arts.
costume. Shinzei Nyūdō Kogaku-zu is the complete
name of the scroll painting, and Shinzei Nyūdō is the
Buddhist name of Fujiwara Michinori who
supposedly collected drawings of musical intruments
and musical practices of the time. 359 There are no
surviving originals of this scroll painting. There are a
total of five copies from the Muromachi to the Edo
periods. One of these, from 1449, belongs to the
Tokyo University of the Arts (shakuhachi performer
in Plate 12, and Somakusha in Plate 26, Chapter 7).
Yoshino Shūi, Gleanings of Yoshino, a compilation
of events at the Imperial court published in 1358,

354
Murasaki Shikibu, “Suetsumu Hana” in Genji Monogatari, Iwanami Shoten, 1973, 253.
355
http://www.j-texts.com/chusei/rek/imatoku3.html (p. 142); To find a remark about the shakuhachi at the court is
of interest; the author wrote about events at a time when the court was at danger, and the Imakagami is mainly
concerned with reflecting on the fact that life at the court was what it always had been, rather than to describe
political and social change. In YHJ, imakagami (今鏡), by Takehana Isao (竹鼻績), March 8, 2011. Also in Kurihara,
Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 56, and Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 71.
356
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 71.
357
Toyohara, Taigen-shō, 1512, “Shakuhachi” (尺八ヨリ横笛ニウツサレタリ).
358
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 53. (たづね出されたりけり). (貞保親王, 870−924).
359
信西入道古楽図. 藤原通憲 (1106? –1160).

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contains a remark that the son of Emperor Go-Daigo, prince Kanenaga Shinnō, was an
accomplished shakuhachi player,360 and the Yamashina no Noritoki kyō nikki, Diary of Lord
Yamashina no Noritoki, has an entry dated March 24, 1408. In this entry it is reported that
Emperor Go-Komatsu listened to a performance of sōga, accompanied by shakuhachi.361

Concluding remarks
We can conclude that up to the tenth century, at least at the court, the shakuhachi was used,
but in the middle of the twelfth century the practice of playing the shakuhachi was not
common at the court. Even though the shakuhachi is mentioned in early sixteenth-century
gagaku-related writings (Taigen-shō), the aim there does not seem to be an attempt to
position the shakuhachi in the gagaku of the time, but rather give credibility to the Toyohara
gagaku family by relating to the legend of the prince Shōtoku Taishi and other noblepersons
playing the shakuhachi (cf. Section 4.5.2). The use of the shakuhachi at the court seems to
have diminished during the twelfth century, after having been an instrument heard by
nobility for some 400 years, which of course does not exclude the possibility that it was still
used for amusement or other private purposes.

3.3.2 Relation to Buddhism: An Implement

The earliest remark about shakuhachi used in relation to Buddhism comes from Kojidan,
probably compiled in 1215 by Minamoto no Akikane. Jikaku Daishi (Ennin) is supposed to
have played the shakuhachi during a recitation of the Amida Sutra (Sukhavati in Sanskrit),
because the voices were too low.362 This is also noted in Taigen-shō (1512). The remark in
Kojidan is, however, almost four hundred years later than the actual event, which makes it
historically questionable.
Most famous are the komusō of the Edo period, monks of the Rinzai Zen Buddhist sect
called the Fuke sect. The komusō used the shakuhachi for religious purposes, and the pieces
they played are referred to as honkyoku, ‘fundamental’ pieces. The contrasting generic term
for all other pieces is gaikyoku, ‘outer’ pieces, known as rankyoku, ‘disorderly’ pieces,
during the Edo period (1603–1867).363 At the end of the seventeenth century the shakuhachi
was acknowledged as a religious implement, used by the komusō, and officially forbidden to

360
Some scholars hold Yoshino Shūi for fiction, and that the author primarily attempted to give a sense of cultivation
in the Southern Court, influenced by Yoshida Kenkō, the author of Tsurezure-gusa, which is discussed in Chapters 4,
5, and 7 below. Publication year and author’s name are uncertain, but supposedly written by Matsuō (松翁), who
may have been one of Kenkō’s disciples, Mei Shōmaru (命松丸). YHJ, yoshino shūi (吉野拾遺), Kinoshita Motoichi
(木下資一), May 14, 2010.
361
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 72. (山科教言卿日記). The type of music called sōga
(早歌, also sōka or hayauta) was popular among the warrior class from the thirteenth to the middle of the sixteenth
centuries, and there are several collections of songs from the fourteenth century. YHJ, sōga, by Tonomura Natsuko
(外村南都子, 1935–),March 25, 2011.
362
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 32. Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...”
(1974), 1995, 71. (慈覚大師円仁, 794–864). Jikaku Daishi is the posthumous name for Ennin.
363
honkyoku( 本 曲 ), ‘fundamental’ pieces; contrasted to gaikyoku ( 外 曲 ), ‘outer’ pieces, or rankyoku ( 乱 曲 ),
‘disorderly’ pieces.

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be played by laymen.364 As implied by the very use of the word rankyoku, disorderly pieces,
denoting wordly music, the shakuhachi was played in ensemble with the widely popular
string instruments shamisen and koto; a practice of ensemble playing had already begun,
regardless of the official prohibition. The shakuhachi during the Edo period is the main
topic of Chapter 4. In the beginning of the Meiji period (1868–1912), at a time of strong
anti-Buddhist movements, the Fuke sect was abolished in 1871. Since the Meiji period the
shakuhachi occupied a more fixed position within the chamber music in ensembles with the
string instruments koto and shamisen, and the new music that saw the light of day in this
and subsequent eras. The previously officially acknowledged komusō had to make a living
by playing with string instruments in order to survive, since their privileges as mendicant
monks, takuhatsu-sō, 365 diappeared with the sect. There are no other remarks about
shakuhachi and Buddhism, apart from those discussed in Chapters 4 to 6.

3.3.3 Instrument and Implement

In modern day Japan and in the Western world alike, the typical and most widespread view
of the shakuhachi is as a religious implement of the Fuke (Rinzai) Zen monks, the komusō.
The Fuke sect was established in the latter half of the seventeenth century, and as mentioned
above, was eventually abolished during the anti-Buddhist movement in the very beginning
of the Meiji period. As a religious implement, the shakuhachi grew in popularity in the West
during the 1960s, partly due to the activities of the shakuhachi masters Yamaguchi Gorō
(1933–1999; designated Living National Treasure in 1992), Yokoyama Katsuya
(1934–2010), and Yamamoto Hōzan (b. 1937; designated Living National Treasure in 2002),
and the scholarly and educational work of Tsuge Gen’ichi. The former three made their
contributions through performances and teaching from the late 1960s onwards, and
Professor Tsuge taught at Wesleyan University, in its World Music Program intermittently
for 12 years beginning in 1966. Yamaguchi Gorō was the first Japanese Artist in Residence
at Wesleyan 1967–68, Yokoyama Katsuya premiered the Takemitsu Tōru piece “November
Steps” with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Ozawa Seiji and with biwa (lute)
player Tsuruta Kinshi, in November 1967, and Yamamoto Hōzan performed at a jazz
festival at Newport, USA, in 1966.366
More continuous activities in the West have been conducted by Araki Kodō V (1938–),
who lived in the United States from 1963–1989. After 20 years in Japan, he moved back to
the US in 2010. Iwami Baikyoku V (1923–), a student of Araki Kodō III, moved to Brazil in
1956, where he later was naturalized.
The shakuhachi has since been used in a variety of Western music, besides the traditional,
or classical, repertoire. Since WWII the shakuhachi has been employed in world music, jazz
and contemporary art music. A number of adaptations have been attempted. In the 1920s a
hybrid form, called an ōkurauro, using the mouthpiece of the shakuhachi and the body of a

364
The prohibition for laymen to play shakuhachi developed when the Fuke sect, or rather the monks of the sect,
were acknowledged by the central authorities in 1677. These aspects are further discussed in Chapter 4.
365
托鉢僧
366
Christopher Yohmei Blasdel, The Shakuhachi - a manual for learning, 2008, 130.

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Western transverse flute was constructed.367 At this time also seven-holed and nine-holed
shakuhachi were developed, to better accommodate the instrument to Western music. By
adding more holes, it was possible to achieve an even tone colour for half tones, which is
not easily done on a shakuhachi with five holes.368 The seven- and nine-holed shakuhachi
are still used today by some performers, whereas the ōkurauro became extinct. Monty
Levenson, an American shakuhachi builder, created a new type of ōkurauro, which he calls
a shakulute.369

367
Ibid., 10–11.
368
Ibid. The five-holed shakuhachi requires half-holing to create pitches between the open-hole tones. This also
changes the tone colour (timbre), which does not agree with Western art music, at least not as it was conceived in
the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
369
http://www.shakuhachi.com/ (“SHAKULUTE”)

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

Chapter  4  –  Constructing  Tradition:  

The  Shakuhachi  in  the  Edo  Period  

During the Edo period (1603–1867) the monks of a specific Buddhist sect – the komusō of
the Fuke order – became officially acknowledged practitioners of the shakuhachi as a
religious implement. The name of the sect alludes to the Tang dynasty Zen (Chan) Buddhist
monk Fuke,370 who lived at the same time and in the same city as Rinzai (d. 866), the
founder of Rinzai Zen Buddhism.371 Legend has it that the fuke shakuhachi (cf. Section
3.2.4) is related to the monk Fuke through a sixteen-generation transmission in China, after
which it was brought to Japan in the middle of the thirteenth century by a Japanese monk
who had studied in China. The name of the monks belonging to this Edo period sect –
komusō or Monks of Emptiness and Nothingness372 – appear for the first time in official
writings in 1677, and the earliest known use of the characters is from 1598. The monks had
affiliations to Rinzai Zen Buddhism by and through the legendary connection to the monk
Fuke.
There are still practitioners of shakuhachi who prefer to believe in the legend of the Fuke
sect, but, however beautiful it may be, the studies conducted in the first half of the twentieth
century by Mikami Sanji, Kurihara Kōta, and Nakatsuka Chikuzen strongly indicate that the
legend is a construction fabricated by the komusō in the Edo period. The findings by
Nakatsuka, and the revision of the tradition that he propagated, were given further impetus
in the latter half of the twentieth century through the writing of Kamisangō Yūkō and the
adaptation and translation of his text into English by Christopher Yohmei Blasdel. Section
4.1 is an outline of the legend as it is described in the document referred to as “Kyotaku
denki,” published in the 1795 book Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai. Section 4.2 is a discussion of
documents that precede the “Kyotaku denki” that were instrumental in the komusōs’
invention of tradition. The discussion is based on the research conducted in the first half of
the twentieth century by Mikami, Kurihara, and Nakatsuka. Section 4.3 contains an

370
Fuke, ?–860 (普化, C. Puhua). (BKJ, p. 442). Fuke is mentioned in the Rinzai-roku (臨剤録, a collection of sayings
by Rinzai Gigen (see below). Since the Chinese reading is not used in relation to the shakuhachi, I use the Japanese
reading here.
371
Rinzai Gigen, d. 866 (臨済義玄, C. Linji Yixuan). Since Rinzai Zen is more widely known as a Japanese
denomination, I use the Japanese reading here.
372
虚無僧.

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examination of the shakuhachi’s position in the Edo-period society, based on present studies
of shakuhachi and the research conducted by Nishiyama Matsunosuke. In Section 4.4, a
way of viewing an invented tradition as proposed by Maki Isaka Morinaga is introduced. I
apply her theory of ‘dynamic hearsay’ to the komusōs’ invention of a shakuhachi ‘tradition.’
Finally, in Section 4.5, I discuss an alternative interpretation to the revisionist view of the
construction of an origin, as explicated in the early twentieth-century studies mentioned
above.

4.1 The Legendary Origin of the komusō and the Fuke Sect
The text referred to as “Kyotaku denki” appears in the first and second volumes of three in
Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai (The History of the Kyotaku, Annotated in Japanese), published in
1795. The original text in literary Chinese (kanbun) is attributed to a person called Tonwō,
active around 1624–1643.373
The editor Yamamoto Morihide also wrote the explanations and comments to the text in
contemporary Japanese. The only extant “Kyotaku denki” is the one published in the
Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai, where it appears in two almost identical versions.374
Most of the twentieth-century secondary literature holds “Kyotaku denki” for a fraud, a
text that was created for a certain purpose. Already Kurihara doubted its authenticity. He
argued that it is not clear were the text originated from, that the narratives seem to be more
myth than fact, and that the text gives a feeling of reading a legend in the form of a novel.
Kurihara admonishes against believing that the text is a true account of the background to
the shakuhachi of the komusō monks. He does, however, also conclude that the text explains
the origin of the komusō characteristics, and that it is useful in the research of the earlier
shakuhachi history.375 The most thorough research on the origins of the komusō is probably
that conducted by Nakatsuka Chikuzen in a series of articles under the name Kinko-ryū
shakuhachi shikan. Nakatsuka reiterates what Kurihara already had concluded, describing
the text as, “a kind of history of the Fuke sect,” but regarding its content he writes that, “it is
a text that belongs to the class of dramatized novels, and nothing more than that.”376 One of
the twentieth century’s most prolific scholars on the Edo period culture, Nishiyama
Matsunosuke, also refers to Nakatsuka when he states that Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai is an
apocryphal book.377

373
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 108. According to Kurihara and Nakatsuka, Tonwō was a Zen
Buddhist monk, but no further biographical data seems to be known. (遁翁). The first character is mainly used in
personal names, but the meaning is ‘escape,’ ot ‘get away with’ (nigeru; nogareru), and the second character is used
as an honorific for an old man (okina). If we disbelieve the “Kyotaku denki” it is of course possible to interpret this
as a pun: the old man who gets away with it.
374
Tsuge, “The History of the Kyotaku,” 1977, 48.
375
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 108–109. (阿野家伝来の一巻たることは事実なるべしと雖、他に傍證なく其の
出所も明かならず、加ふるに叙事往々神話に似て、恰も稗史小説を読むの感あり、其の軽々に信ずべからざるや言を俟たず).
376
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 129, 131. (一種の普化宗史である・只一篇の戯曲小説の類に
過ぎないものだと断定する).
377
Nishiyama Matsunosuke, Iemoto no kenkyū (1959), 1982, 524.

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Nakatsuka questioned the absence of references to the text during the 150 years that
passed from its supposed completion in the Kan’ei era (1624–43), to the publication of the
text in Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai in 1795. He asserts that the fact that even the author of
Shichiku shoshin-shū, Nakamura Sōsan, who was “an extremely zealous researcher,” did not
know the legend in detail indicates that the text did not exist before 1664, the year when
Shichiku shoshin-shū was published.378 Nakamura writes that the origins of what he calls
komusō shakuhachi “are unknown for certain.”379 The comments by Nakamura are central
in the discussion of chronology surrounding both the establishment of the Fuke sect, and the
contents of this tradition, i.e., the original pieces for shakuhachi as explained in the
“Kyotaku denki.” I return to Nakatsuka’s and Nakamura’s writings below.

4.1.1 The Legend According to “Kyotaku denki”380

The Zen master Fuke lived in the eighth century, in the Tang dynasty China (618–907). He
was an odd character, who used to ring a bell while chanting (in the Japanese reading):
myōtō-rai myōtō-da, antō-rai antō-da, shihōhachimen-rai senpū-da, kokū-rai renga-da.381 A
young man, by the name Chō Haku,382 desired to become a disciple of Fuke, but Fuke
turned him down. Chō Haku was an accomplished flute player, and he made a flute of
bamboo to imitate the sound of Fuke’s bell. He played only this one piece, and he called his
flute ‘emply bell’ (kyotaku).383 The tradition was handed down from Chō Haku for sixteen
generations to a monk with the name Chō San.384 Devout believer in Buddhism as Chō San
was, he went to the temple Gokoku-ji,385 where he met a Japanese Buddhist monk called
Gakushin,386 whom he befriended. San taught the tradition of kyotaku to Gakushin, who had
been captivated by the sound of the flute. Gakushin learned both the heart of Zen Buddhism
as well as the kyotaku tradition. When Gakushin returned to Japan, he had become an
accomplished player of kyotaku. Apart from the kyotaku tradition, he also brought four
devoted men with him to Japan, known collectively as the shikoji.387

378
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 129. (非常に熱心な研究家である).
379
Nakamura, Shichiku shoshin-shū (1664), 1976, 4. (濫觴はたしかに不知).
380
The following is a summary of the content of the “Kyotaku denki” in Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai of 1795, based on
the 1977 translation by Tsuge Gen’ichi. I have consulted Shakuhachi shikō of 1918 (1975) by Kurihara Kōta,
Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan of 1936–39 (1979) by Nakatsuka Chikuzen, and the historical survey written by
Kamisangō Yūkō in 1974 (1995). I have also consulted the original text: Yamamoto Morihide, Kyotaku denki
kokuji-kai (1795), 1981. For reasons of simplicity I use the Japanese reading of words and names.
381
These words are discussed in the following section.
382
C. Chang Po (張伯).
383
Tsuge tranlates kyotaku as ‘false bell’ (Tsuge, “The History of the Kyotaku,” 1977, 49), but I assume that he is
using ‘false’ in the meaning ‘not really a bell.’ I prefer to use ‘empty bell,’ which refers to the Buddhist notion of
‘emptiness’ as well as to the hollow bore of the flute. The word ‘false’ has ambiguous connotations (虚鐸).
384
C. Chang San (張参).
385
C. Hu-kuo-ssu (護国寺).
386
Shinchi Gakushin or Muhon Kakushin, posthumously given the name Hottō Enmyō Kokushi by Emperor
Go-Daigo, studied Zen (Chan) Buddhism in China 1251–1254. Shinchi Gakushin (心地学心) or Muhon Kakushin (無
本覚心) (1207–1298); Hottō Enmyō Kokushi (法燈圓明國師).
387
四居士.

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After his return to Japan, Gakushin continued his Buddhist studies, initially at Kōya-san
and later he founded his own temple called Saihō-ji in the province of Kishū.388 He was
given the title “Great Master of Zen” (dai-zenji), and had many students. Among them,
there were the four devoted men, and one especially earnest student named Kichiku.389
Gakushin taught the shikoji and Kichiku how to play the kyotaku, but his hope was that
Kichiku would carry on the tradition. Kichiku was so thrilled by the flute that he asked his
teacher permission to play the kyotaku in the streets and at people’s doors. Gakushin found
this to be an excellent idea, and Kichiku went off. One time, when Kichiku was meditating
at the shrine of Kokūzō-dō on the top of the mountain Asamagatake, 390 he had two
revelations in a dream. First, he was alone on the sea when he heard a sound. Everything
became dim and dark, and through the fog he could hear the desolate and sonorous tones of
a flute. The sound ended, and the fog grew thicker and thicker, gathering to a dense mass
from which the sound was heard again. After Kichiku woke up from his dream, he imitated
the sounds he had heard on his flute. He returned to his master Gakushin, and on his kyotaku
he played the sounds he had heard. Gakushin responded that the sounds Kichiku had heard
were a sign from Buddha. Gakushin gave the first strain of sounds the name “Mukaiji”
(Flute over the Foggy Sea), and the second he named “Kokūji” (Flute in the Empty Sky).391
Kichiku kept on playing the three pieces he now had mastered and changed his name to
Kyochiku, literally Empty Bamboo.392 The name of the first, original piece was the same as
the flute, kyotaku, but people mistook the character for taku (meaning ‘bell’) for another
character for ‘bell,’ namely rei, and the piece kyotaku changed into “Kyorei.”393 At the time
of Tonwō people had forgotten about the original meaning, and played different pieces with
different techniques, and the initial intentions of Chō Haku had vanished.
After Kichiku the tradition lived on for another five generations, when it was handed
over to a monk who had taken the name Kyomu, actually Kusunoki Masakatsu, a famous
fourteenth-century general.394 After the fall of the Southern Court, for which Masakatsu had
been fighting, Masakatsu met Kyofū, the fourth generation transmitter of the kyotaku
tradition in Japan after Kichiku. After that Masakatsu became the monk Kyomu, but he did
not shave his head or wear the clothes of a monk. Kyomu also made a basket hat that
covered his face, and he called it a tengai. The idea was to be in seclusion even when
walking among other people. When people inquired about who he was, he would respond,
“I am the monk (sō) Kyomu,” and therefore the name kyomusō was used for the monks
following the kyotaku tradition. After Kyomu, the kyotaku tradition was handed down for
ten generations, to the alleged author of the Kyotaku denki, Tonwō.395
388
Saihō-ji (西方寺) later changed name to Kōkoku-ji (興国寺). The province Kishū (紀州) is present day Wakayama
Prefecture.
389
Kichiku 奇竹, and the four devoted men were Kokusaku (国作), Risei (理正), Hōfu (法普), and Sōjo (宗恕).
390
虚空蔵堂／朝熊嶽
391
霧海箎／虚空箎.
392
虚竹.
393
The word kyotaku is written 虚鐸, and kyorei 虚鈴. Another way of writing kyorei is 虚霊, meaning ‘empty soul.’
394
Kusunoki Masakatsu (楠木正勝) was a general fighting for the South Court during the fourteenth century
Nanboku-chō Period of the South and North Courts. Masakatsu was and still is a famous hero, who disappeared
mysteriously after being defeated in a battle in 1399. I regard it as highly likely that it was these aspects that made
him a suitable person for the legend.
395
The word kyomu is written the same way as komu, i.e., 虚無. Interestingly enough, the reading of the characters is
explicitly Kyomu and kyomusō in the original text. Yamamoto, Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai (1795), 1981, 69, 111.

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4.1.2 A Discussion of “Kyotaku denki”

In this section I discuss the “Kyotaku denki” based on the findings of Kurihara Kōta and
Nakatsuka Chikuzen. The main parts of Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai that I quote in this section
are translated by the Japanese musicologist Tsuge Gen’ichi in his article “The History of the
Kyotaku” (cf. Chapter 2). Tsuge’s translation is based on the annotated “Kyotaku denki”
that is published in Volume II of Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai.396 The story begins with who
Fuke was.397

Fuke-zenji (in Chinese, P'u Hua Ch'an Shih) was a Zen Buddhist priest of great learning
in the T’ang dynasty. ❮2❯ He lived in Chen Province and was pleased with his
uninhibited Zen spirit.398

This paragraph has a slightly different rendering in Volume I, which begins: “Tonwō
says that Fuke-zenji was a man of T’ang China, and that he was the thirty-eighth successive
master who assumed the position and passed on the doctrine of Sakyamuni.”399 This is of
course quite a remarkable statement, about Fuke being a direct successor of Siddhārtha
Gautama. The following paragraph describes Fuke’s activities, which became the most
central doctrine for the Edo period komusō.

Ringing a taku, he would go to town and say to passers-by: Myōtōrai myōtōda, antōrai
antōda, Shihō hachimenrai (ya), senpūda, Kokūrai (ya), rengada. ❮3❯ “If attacked in the
light, I will strike back in the light. If attacked in the dark, I will strike in the dark. If
attacked from all quarters, I will strike as a whirlwind does. If attacked from the empty
sky, I will thrash with a flail.”400

Footnote ❮3❯ in Tsuge’s translation above relates a comment added by Yamamoto, which
reads: “These words of Fuke-Zenji were the most important honsoku [basic principle] of the
Kyomusō [komusō]. If we translate them into Japanese, their significance will be
diminished. However, what they mean may be tentatively interpretated and clarified.” This
saying, myōtō-rai myōtō-da …, of Fuke is related in the Rinzai-roku, Episode seven in the
Chapter “Kanben,”401 where the following story is told.

396
Tsuge, “The History of the Kyotaku,” 1977, 48.
397
In “Kyotaku denki” Fuke is referred to as a Zenji, i.e., a Zen master, but Fuke never had that title. This is a
construction after the event, most likely in order to give him and his followers, the komusō, a higher status.
398
Tsuge, “The History of the Kyotaku,” 1977, 49. In the quotes I use italics for words in Japanese or Chinese that
are underlined in Tsuge’s translation. I have also changed the straight quotation marks (' and '') to typographical
ones (‘ and “ ”). Parentheses and brackets are as in the original: Square brackets [ ] contain comments by
Yamamoto added by Tsuge in the translation, and parentheses ( ) contain Tsuge’s comments. Where Tsuge has
footnote numbers inserted I have included them within ❮❯ angle brackets that are not in the original text.
399
Yamamoto, Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai (1795), 1981, 13. Tsuge, “The History of the Kyotaku,” 1977, 53 (footnote
❮2❯).
400
Tsuge, “The History of the Kyotaku,” 1977, 49.
401
The word kanben refers to the practice between Zen monks to use kōan in order to try each others depth of
insight. (勘弁・勘辨). Iriya, ann., Rinzai-roku (1989), 2010, 150 (footnote 1).

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Fuke was always [walking] the streets ringing a bell and chanting, “If it comes from the
light I will deal with it in the light, if it comes from the dark I will deal with it in the dark.
If it comes from all sides I will respond to it as a whirlwind, and if it comes from
emptiness I will clear it away with a series of blows.” The master [Rinzai] had an
attendant go to Fuke to catch him saying this, and then ask Fuke: “Well, what would you
do if it didn’t come from any of these?” Then Fuke thrusted [the attendant] away from
him, saying: “Tomorrow there is a gathering a Daihi-in, and then I will put your mind at
ease.” The attendant went back and reported, whereupon the master said: “From before I
have thought of this man as something special.”402

The central saying by Fuke – myōtō-rai myōtō-da, antō-rai antō-da, shihōhachimen-rai

senpū-da, kokū-rai renga-da 403 – may of course be interpreted in several ways; it has all the
necessary obscurity to classify as a Zen Buddhist kōan. The commentator Yamamoto reads
myō, the light, as something straightforward, without hidden motives, and an, the darkness,
as something hiding away in the dark, confused, or with unspoken intentions. The character
for ‘head’ is used (myōtō – clear head, antō – dark head), which Yamamoto interpretes in
terms of a direct and momentary response (deai-gashira). Yamamoto asserts that Fuke
means that he would respond clearly if it is a case that is clear, and shadily and unclear if
from a dark place, and that his teaching does not alter depending on who is asking.404
In the third stanza Fuke says that he will lash out as a whirlwind, if attacked from all
sides. Yamamoto’s explication is that since he would go out in the towns and cities, it was
his sermon that he called a whirlwind. In the fourth stanza Fuke indicates that he will turn
into a renga, a tool for threshing crops, if attacked from emptiness. The character 打 is used
in the original for striking, thrashing, clearing away, responding to, or deal with in the two
translations above. Yamamoto says: “[T]he cane, used to hit or strike, should be understood
as an unusually precious and noble cane. Thus, this word [the fourth stanza] is a cane that
admonishes people, and a voice that calls out and wake all people up from their sleep.”405
My interpretation of what Fuke is saying in the last two stanzas is that he is willing to
encounter anyone, even if he is approached by several opponents at the same time, and if
someone who has reached enlightenment (who understands the meaning of ‘emptiness’)
approaches him, he will be second to none, not even Rinzai himself presumably, in violent
respons.
In the beginning of the text in Volume II of Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai, there are three
paragraphs that do not appear in the text given in Volume I. In these paragraphs the change
of name of the original piece, “Kyotaku,” is explained.

402
Ibid., 157–158. The translation is from Iriya’s modern Japanese rendering, which I include here. (普化はいつも街頭
で鈴を鳴らしてこう唱っていた、「それが明で来れば明で始末し、暗で来れば暗で始末する。四方八方から来れば旋風【つむじか
ぜ】のように応じ、虚空から来れば釣瓶打ちで片付ける」と。師は侍者をやって、普化がこう言っているところをつかまえて言わ
せた、「そのどれもなく来ればどうする。」普化はかれを突き放して言った、「明日は大悲院でお斎【とき】にありつけるんだ。」
侍者が帰って報告すると、師は言った「わしは以前からあの男は只者ではないと思っていた。」).
403
明頭来、明頭打、暗頭来、暗頭打、四方八面来、旋風打、虚空来、連架打.
404
Yamamoto, Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai (1795), 1981, 69. Also quoted in Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975,
121–122, and Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 126. Nakatsuka renders this in the
following way: 明かなる場合ならば明かに、暗き所ならば闇まぎれに我法は明暗に拘らぬぞという意.
405
Yamamoto, Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai (1795), 1981, 72. Also quoted in Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975,
122, and Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 126. Nakatsuka renders the last part in the
following way: 此打つという杖は殊の外貴き杖なり此語が即ち人を諭す杖にて万人の眼を覚す呼声なり, which is an almost
literal rendering of the original text, except for 眼 (eye) used by Nakatsuka where Yamamoto has ねぶり (sleep).

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Kyorei (“false bell”), a musical piece, was originally named Kyotaku (“false bell”),
because it imitated the sound of a taku (to in Chinese, a hand-bell with a clapper).
Consequently the instrument [the bamboo flute on which the piece was played] was
called a “false bell,” and so was the piece.
Since the taku and the rei (ling in Chinese) are similar, in later ages people mistook the
latter for the former and coined the name kyorei (“false bell”).
Then is it not a great mistake to assume that, just because the instrument is usually called
shakuhachi, “kyorei” is nothing but the name of a piece? ❮1❯406

The author regrets that the instrument itself – or the implement as it were – has lost its
original name, and become ‘shakuhachi.’ The instrument kyotaku changed reading to kyorei,
and then that became just the name of a piece, losing its connection to the tradition. The
piece “Kyorei” – or “Kyotaku” – must, however, have been the classical piece, but what the
author conservatively seems to lament is that the tradition has diversed: the instrument and
its tune was no longer one and the same thing. One paragraph explains the naming of the
two pieces that Kichiku re-created from his meditative dream. Kichiku had hurried back to
his master, played the two tunes, and asked him to give the pieces a name.

The master said, “That must be a gift from the Buddha! What you heard first shall be
called Mukaiji (“Flute in the Foggy Sea”), and what you heard next shall be named
Kokūji (“Flute in the Empty Sky”).407

In the last paragraph, Tonwō again refers to pieces played on the shakuhachi, eight
generations after the alleged first komusō, Kusunoki Masakatsu.

By that time, the name kyotaku had been forgotten. Only the name “Kyorei,” as the title
of a musical piece, was known. In both China and Japan the flute has commonly been
called shakuhachi. ❮30❯ Nobody knows who gave it that name. Chirai taught the tradition
to the present writer [Tonwō], who handed it down to Mufū. However, Mufū later studied
the flute with other teachers and played in innumerable styles. ❮31❯408

If we assume that the author of the text was active in the Kan’ei era (1624–43), the
generation after Tonwō would be almost contemporary with the above-mentioned
Nakamura, who wrote Shichiku shoshin-shū in 1664. Nakamura makes some comments
about the komusō monks’ playing, and the pieces they played.

406
Yamamoto, Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai (1795), 1981, 13, 65–67. Tsuge, “The History of the Kyotaku,” 1977, 49
and footnote 1 on page 53. Tsuge translates kyotaku as ‘false bell,’ but it can also be translated as ‘empty bell’ (cf.
Section 4.1.1 above).
407
Tsuge, “The History of the Kyotaku,” 1977, 51.
408
Ibid., 53.

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I have heard that [komusō shakuhachi] was used in houses here and there from old
times.409 I have heard that people called Bonji, Kanji, Iro-oshi, Shira-bonji, etc.,410 were
the practitioners of this shakuhachi. In recent times, there are these outcasts komusō, and
they began playing [a piece] called Goro, and apart from that there are a variety of pieces,
like Renbo-nagashi, Kyō Renbo, Samuyai-gawa, Yoshida, etc. None of them sound as if
they were played in tune with the standard tones. However, since they are not part of our
Way, I do not know any details.411

If Mufū broke off from the tradition, it would have been extinct by the time of the
publication of Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai, in which there are no further comments about any
other lineages or transmitters of the tradition. The question thus arises: who continued the
tradition after Tonwō, if Mufū was not following the orthodox line? Who were the
transmitters to the time of Yamamoto Morihide? Supposedly the komusō, but the “Kyotaku
denki” does not indicate any ‘true’ line of transmission. If we believe “Kyotaku denki” to be
a true account of the history of the shakuhachi tradition, the fact that Mufū is said to have
been playing with other teachers indicates a division of the tradition at an early stage in the
Edo period. Furthermore, it is hard to believe that the zealous researcher and hitoyogiri
shakuhachi practitioner Nakamura, commenting on what he has heard about the komusō,
should be ignorant about the central pieces of the komusō tradition, or its detailed and
written history. Nakatsuka says:

If we believe Shichiku shoshin-shū, around this time, i.e., the time of the Kanbun era
[1661–72], the komusō were still not [commonly] known as komusō to the world, the two
pieces Mukaiji and Kokū did not exist, the Kyotaku denki did not exist, there were also
no particular evidences of Hottō Kokushi, and so on, and there were only [these]
extremely insubstantial komusō just playing some small pieces like “Goro” and
“Renbo-nagashi.”412

409
In the 1908 publication in Shin-Gunshoruijū No. 6: Kakyoku it says hōbō, meaning ‘here and there,’ but in the
text given in Nakatsuka (Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 129), and Tsukitani (Shakuhachi koten
honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 12) it reads boro-boro.
410
These words refer to boro-boro monks, a type of monks mentioned in Yoshida Kenkō’s Tsurezure-gusa, written
around 1330, often regarded as predecessors to the Edo period komusō. See also Section 4.5 and Chapter 5 below.
411
Nakamura, Shichiku shoshin-shū (1664), 1976, 4. Nakamura is using the word koto when talking about “Goro,”
but then te when referring to the pieces “Renbo-nagashi,” etc. The word koto normally refers to ‘things,’ and here I
believe it could refer to both a technique and a piece. The word te means ‘hand.’ In the world of older music (even
today) te denotes techniques, as well as shorter sections that are added to an already existing piece (ire-te). In some
cases it can also denote an added section in a piece, then referred to as te-zuke. However, it is normally not used to
denote a whole and complete piece, but it seems likely that Nakamura is using the word with this very denotation.
(昔よりほうぼうの家に用いる物と聞えたり、梵士漢士色おししら梵士などいひしもの、此尺八の執行者と聞えたり、近き比不人【ふ
にん？】といふこむ僧有て、ごろといふ事を吹出し、その外れんぼながし、京れんぼ、さむ也井川、よし田などいふさまざまの手
有之、いづれも律呂の調子にあはせたる物とは聞えず、されども我道にあらざれば、其深き事をしらず).
412
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 130. Nakatsuka is using the word te here, just as
Nakamura did in the above quote. Here I have translated te as “pieces,” because there are pieces with the name
“Koro Sugagaki” and “Reibo-nagashi” in the extant repertoire of pieces for the shakuhachi from the Edo period,
which probably are present day versions of these older pieces referred to here. I believe that “Goro” and
“Renbo-nagashi” were some kind of at least rudimentary pieces. (ソコで糸竹初心集を信ずれば当寺即ち此寛文の頃はまだ、
虚無僧は所謂天下の虚無僧となって居らず、霧海箎、虚空二曲も存在せず、虚鐸伝記も存在せず、法燈国師云々も別段証拠がある
訳でもなく、僅に「ごろ」とか「れんぼながし」とかいう「手」を吹いて居ったに過ぎない、極く貧弱な虚無僧であったのみであ
るという事になる。).

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Apart from these critical words, Nakatsuka also doubts the authenticity of “Kyotaku
denki” for the following reasons: (1) There are no remarks about dates or years in the text.
(2) The biographical data of Tonwō are unclear. (3) There are no clear bibliographical data,
no remarks about sources. (4) It is not clear where the original text had been during its 150
years of absence, and no records about where it re-appeared. It is only stated that it belonged
to the Ano family. (5) Kusunoki Masakatsu was not the originator of the komusō.413 If
Kusunoki Masakatsu had been the first komusō or komosō, the use of the braided hat that
fully covers the face (tengai) and other peripherals typical for the komusō or komosō should
have appeared in contemporary literature or paintings, but no such material is to be found at
this time. 414 Furthermore, there are no remarks in China about the tradition, sixteen
generations in length, from Chō Haku to Chō San. If Hottō Kokushi had brought shakuhachi
with him, and let his disciples play it in the streets, it would have been mentioned
somewhere. But there is no such material to be found. Kamisangō summarizes Nakatsuka’s
findings in a few lines:
The annals of the main komusō temple in Kyoto, Myōan-ji, were most likely forged at a
later date. It was not until the Edo period that Myōan-ji became a temple, and before that it
had been a lodge for monks to stay overnight (maybe for komosō or early komusō).
Myōan-ji did not become a sub-temple to Kōkoku-ji until after that, i.e., in the Edo period,
and the connection with Kōkoku-ji was invented by the monks at Myōan-ji. When
Nakatsuka began investigating the records at the supposed main temple of Myōan-ji, i.e.,
the Kōkoku-ji temple that was established by Gakushin (Hottō Kokushi), he also found
writings pertaining to Gakushin, and additionally the diaries of Gakushin. Nowhere among
this material were there any records about Gakushin having brought shakuhachi to Japan, or
anything even near any kind of connections to shakuhachi. There were no records about any
disciple with the name Kichiku or Kyochiku, and no mention about the four devoted men
who supposedly came to Japan together with Gakushin.415
One paragraph in “Kyotaku denki,” which relates to the students around Gakushin, reads:

Among his numerous students, there was one called Kichiku. The more earnest he
became in his devotion to Zen Buddhism, the more ardent was his admiration for his
master. Gakushin also took a more kindly interest in him than in other students. One day
Gakushin told Kichiku: “When I was [studying] in the country of Sung, I was instructed
in the kyotaku and I perform on it well even today. I would like to initiate you in this
flute in the hope that, as my successor, you will pass this art on to posterity.” Kichiku,
dancing for joy and expressing his gratitude, received instruction in this music and
attained proficiency in the instrument. He took delight in playing it everyday untiringly.
There were four more students—Kokusaku, Risei, Hōfu and Sōjo—who also learned this
flute well. They were known to the world under the [collective] title Shikoji (“Four
Devoted Men”).416

Nakatsuka studied a journal of Gakushin’s activities, written down from word of mouth
by one of his disciples, Kakuyū, in 1280, when Gakushin was seventy-four years old. The

413
Ibid., 130–131.
414
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 89. See Section 4.2.2.2 for a discussion of tengai.
415
Ibid., 90–91.
416
Tsuge, “The History of the Kyotaku,” 1977, 50–51.

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book, of which Nakatsuka quotes the essential sections, was published in 1933, based on an
edited version from 1517.417 Nakatsuka comments his findings in the following way.

Where does it say something about the sixteenth generation after Chō Haku, and where
does it say something about any opportunity of studying shakuhachi? … There is not
even one word giving any explanation on the shakuhachi.418

There is no remark by Gakushin about the four devoted men, who supposedly followed
Gakushin from China to Japan, and Nakatsuka concludes that the reference to them in
“Kyotaku denki” is not based on any facts. Furthermore, the student Kichiku (or Kyochiku)
was given special attention by Gakushin according to “Kyotaku denki,” but he is not
mentioned in the record of Gakushin’s activities. Such a special person, to whom Gakushin
taught the kyotaku tradition, would require “a full page of attention in the records of
activities,”419 according to Nakatsuka, but there is no remark about such a person, or the two
pieces Kyochiku supposedly re-created from his vision.
As mentioned both in Chapter 1 and Chapter 2, the findings of Nakatsuka are generally
accepted by many scholars, but, according to Kamisangō, he was the only one who had
accepted Nakatsuka’s findings face-value as late as in the 1990s. I assume that many
practitioners of shakuhachi, especially those who are mostly interested in the religious
connotations of the shakuhachi, prefer to believe the legend, and that is of course a choice
one can make. There are, however, further pieces of evidence showing that the komusō
forged documents in order to consolidate their position in the Edo period society, prior to
the publication of the legend. The “Kyotaku denki” should be viewed as part of the komusōs’
scheme to support and hopefully consolidate an already invented tradition.

4.2 The Invention of a Tradition

4.2.1 The 1677 Memorandum

As mentioned in Sections 1.5.2 and 2.1 above, the sect surrounding the komusō, the Fuke
sect, was never given any official acknowledgement. In a document from 1677, addressed
not to the Fuke sect but to the temples and sub-temples of “the various factions of komusō”
(komusō shoha),420 the authorities stipulated certain rules for the komusō and their temples.
This document is headed as an oboe-gaki, a memorandum, indicating that there were no
definite regulations for the monks, but rather an indirect acknowledgement. Tsukitani
Tsuneko, one of the few academics studying the shakuhachi in Japan, says that “[t]his was

417
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 245. (覚勇).
418
Ibid., 248.
419
Ibid., 249.
420
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 155–156. A total of sixteen sub-lineages are mentioned. (虚無僧諸派).

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the first time the bakufu [central authorities] submitted an official notification to the komusō
temples, with the significance that the bakufu acknowledged the Fuke sect as a
denomination.” In the notification, there is, however, no mention of ‘Fuke-shū’ in any
respect. Regarding the sect, Tsukitani concludes that “the temples began using ‘Fuke-shū’
or ‘Fuke Zen-shū’ to label themselves.”421
In the English language literature on the shakuhachi, the memorandum of 1677 is
referred to either as an ‘edict,’ or an ‘ordinance.’ Even if the oboe-gaki of the Early Modern
Period should be regarded as important historical documents, they were not foremost
regulatory, but rather explanatory of agreements made.422 In Nakatsuka the text is quoted as
an oboe-gaki, but he also uses the word hatto, which translates as ‘ordinance.’ In the Edo
period, the central authorities controlled the country firmly, and disobedience towards
anything that could be regarded as a rule may have resulted in the loss of one’s head.
Therefore, in reality, even a memorandum issued by the authorities would have had the
same or a similar effect as a law text. I will, however, refer to this text from the authorities
to the komusō temples in 1677 as a memorandum.

Content of the 1677 Memorandum

The document is dated December 18, the fifth year of the Enpō era (1677), and addressed to
the various factions of komusō, at their main and branch temples. The text consists of three
items, which regulate the following aspects of the komusō temples:423 Item (1) regulates the
administration of the temples, stating that the main and branch temples should elect their
head monks in a democratic way, and that the administration should be fair.424 Item (2)
regulates the acceptance of students, stating that the main and branch temples should
investigate new apprentices carefully before approving them, and that the temples should
avoid admitting criminals and suspicious people to their ranks.425 Item (3) regulates the
compliance with the laws that govern society, stating that the main and branch temples
should not punish the monks in their own way, but should adhere to the laws and
regulations issued by the central authorities.426 After the three items, a warning is added:
“The clauses [given] above should be obeyed firmly. In case of violation, this will be
punished.”427
421
Tsukitani Tsuneko, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 30. Nakatsuka Chikuzen states he believes that
the very connection to Fuke was created by two fifteenth century Rinzai Zen Buddhist monks, Ikkyū and his fellow
Rōan, in combination. Nakatsuka asserts that Ikkyū was a very knowledgable person, that he also refers to Fuke in
his writings, and that Rōan held the spirit of Fuke in his heart. (Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39),
1979, 261, 265. Cf. Sections 4.5.1 and 7.2 where Ikkyū and Rōan are discussed.
422
An oboe-gaki is, “[a] document or a record that is written for the purpose of being one’s own reminder. The
former is used in ancient texts as one style of an itemized format.” (YHJ, oboegaki (覚書), by Kubota Masaki (久保田
昌希), accessed on April 15, 2011). (自身の備忘を目的として作成された文書、または記録。前者は一つ書（がき）の形式で記
される古文書の一様式をいう。).
423
I follow Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 208–209, and Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi
(1983), 2002, 222–223.
424
本寺之住職者、其末寺並本寺之弟子仲間、以衆評撰器量、可相立之、縦雖有由緒、師弟子以相対、後住契約並遺状不可立之、於
末寺住職者、其寺之弟子共相談之上、窺本寺、可居置之事。
425
弟子契約之義、改其人、慥取証人、可極之、為背大法追放人等、不可抱置之事。附虚無僧之作法、古来相定之通、従本寺、弥念
入レ急度可申付事。
426
末寺並弟子中、背一宗之法令、仕置之時、小科之者 断本寺、可任差図、大科之族者、達奉行所、落着可申付之、理不盡之働仕
間候事。
427
右之条々堅可相守之、若於違背之者、可為曲事者也。

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Even if the Fuke sect as such is not mentioned, the issuing authority seems to have been
aware of the existence of a ‘religious body,’ which they hence attempted to control. It shows
that the authorities accepted the monks, most likely as a fait accompli. After the unification
of Japan, beginning with the battle at Sekigahara in 1600, and ending with the siege of
Osaka castle in 1615, where the last resistance from the descendants of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
was defeated, the number of masterless samurai, rōnin, increased rapidly. Based on the
research conducted by Nakatsuka Chikuzen, Kamisangō Yūkō asserts that already since the
end of the civil wars, around the 1570’s to 1580’s, more and more rōnin had become
shakuhachi-playing komosō. These rōnin became a danger for the central authorities, and
the counter-measure was to intensify the control over them.428
A Christian rebellion at Shimabara in 1637, supported by a number of rōnin, was
forcefully put down, and ended with a bloodbath. This rebellion was one important factor in
the national isolation that was implemented a few years later, but it also revealed the risk
that the existence of masses of rōnin constituted. Even more precarious for the authorities
was the Keian Incident in 1651 (year 4 of the Keian era). Yui Shōsetsu, a teacher of military
science, plotted to overthrow the Tokugawa regime. The conspiracy was disclosed and Yui
committed suicide. In a note, however, he explained that his aim had not been a coup d’état,
“he had only wanted to focus attention on the plight of the rōnin.”429 Kamisangō Yūkō
expounds on this by saying that the rōnin who had began to appear as komosō were
threatened by the crackdown: “it came to the point that they formed a group, and advocated
their own existence as a religious sect.”430
In the light of these incidents, the memorandum of 1677 may be viewed as a way for the
authorities to accept and acknowledge one established group of rōnin in order to keep
control over them.

4.2.2 The “Keichō okite-gaki”

The memorandum of 1677 was the first official document issued by the authorities to the
komusō, but it gives only a few regulations for the monks to follow. A more detailed
ordinance, the “Keichō okite-gaki,” is one of the most important in the creation of a
tradition for the komusō monks. This document is dated the nineteenth year of the Keichō
era, i.e., 1614, two years before the death of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Tokugawa
shōgun.431
There are several aspects of this document that have led Japanese scholars to doubt its
authenticity (see the following sections), but during the Edo period, the document was used

428
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 93. According to G. B. Sansom, Nobunaga had
defeated some powerful enemies in 1573, but he continued to fight other rivals and several militant Buddhist sects
(Sansom, Japan: A Short Cultural History (1931), 1985, 408–409). The defeat of powerful clans may have
generated some rōnin. Nobunaga’s preference for Zen Buddhism may also have been instrumental in the choice of
denomination that the komusō later made, noting that the komusō were of warrior class.
429
ENCYCLOP: Yui Shōsetsu (由井正雪). (Emphasis in the original).
430
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 94. (彼らは、一つの集団を結成し、一つの宗派として自
己の存在を主張するに至った。).
431
Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康, 1543–1616).

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by the Fuke sect to support and protect its monks and their activities. One early
nineteenth-century event – the so-called Sengoku Incident – shows the scope of power that
the document possessed until quite late in the Edo period. Consulting the published lecture
by the historian Mikami Sanji in 1902 and other sources, the outline of the incident is as
follows.432
Sengoku Sakyō,433 head of a branch house of the Sengoku Clan, was successful in
installing his own son as the successor to lord Sengoku Masayoshi, who had died suddenly
without an heir.434 Sakyō had managed to get his son married to the daughter of Matsudaira
Tadatoshi (a.k.a. Chikara no Suke), younger brother of Matsudaira Yasutō.435 One of the
loyal retainers to Izushi, Kamiya Utata, tried to disclose the plans of Sakyō. He failed and
had to flee for his life to Edo,436 where he became a komusō at the branch office of the
komusō temple Ichigetsu-ji in Shimōsa. 437 The branch office was located in Asakusa.
Kamiya became the head priest of that office, and took the monastic name Yūga.438 When
he was out walking one day he was suddenly arrested by the Edo police authority, the
machi-bugyō,439 but he claimed his rights as a komusō and asked for the Commissioners of
religious affairs, Jisha-bugyō, to handle the situation.440 With reference to the “Keichō
okite-gaki,” the Jisha-bugyō did not accept the arrest, and Kamiya was set free. The
Sengoku Incident ended in that after hearing Kamiya, the authorities found that Sengoku
Sakyō’s handling of the succession had been illegal, and he was decapitated in 1835.441
The central point here is the claim that was put forward by the komusō temple
Ichigetsu-ji. In the first clause of the “Keichō okite-gaki” it is stated that the rank of komusō
was established as a hiding place for samurai, and that it was established in order for a
warrior to find temporary shelter, when he had no place to go, e.g., in time of distress. This
clause then overrode the Edo police authority’s arrest of Kamiya Utata.

432
Other sources that I have consulted are Nishiyama Matsunosuke, Iemoto monogatari (The Iemoto Story) (first
published in 1959) as it appears in Nishiyama, Iemoto-sei no tenkai (The Development of the Iemoto System), 1982,
and James Sanford, “Shakuhachi Zen. The Fukeshu and Komuso,” 1977.
433
仙石左京.
434
Sengoku Masayoshi (仙石政美) was the lord of Izushi in the Tajima Province (但馬出石藩), located in present day
Hyōgo Prefecture.
435
Matsudaira Tadatoshi (松平忠敏) or Matsudaira Chikara no Suke (松平主税助, 1818–1882), younger brother to
Matsudaira Yasutō (松平康任, 1780–1841).
436
Decrees issued by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1585 and 1586 presribed that no-one was allowed to leave an
employment without permission from their lord. Sansom, Japan: A Short Cultural History (1931), 1985, 432.
437
Ichigetsu-ji (一月寺) is located in present day Matsudo City in Chiba Prefecture, which at the time was Kogane in
the Shimōsa Province. (下総国小金)
438
Kamiya Utata (神谷転) changed his name to Yūga (友鵞).
439
The prohibition against leaving one’s employment, issued in decrees by Hideyoshi in 1585 and 1586 (see
footnote 436 above), gave Sengoku Sakyō a possibility to ask the Edo police authority to arrest Kamiya Utata.
440
In the Edo period there were three official organs to handle official affairs, and they also constituted the Supreme
Court. The highest organ, Jisha-bugyō (寺社奉行), took care of questions relating to religion (Buddhism and
Shintōism), and it was under direct control of the shōgun. YHJ, jishabugyō (寺社奉行), by Kitahara Akio (北原章男),
accessed on April 18, 2011. The other two were kanjō-bugyō ( 勘 定 奉 行 ), administering finances, and the
machi-bugyō (町奉行), who were the chief city magistrates and police authorities. Sansom, Japan: A Short Cultural
History (1931), 1985, 459.
441
Mikami, “Fuke-shū ni tsuite” (1), April 1902, 63–65; also in Nishiyama, Iemoto monogatari (1959), 1982,
134–135; YHJ, sengoku sōdō (仙石騒動), by Kobayashi Shigeru (小林茂), accessed on April 18, 2011.

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4.2.2.1 The Different Copies of “Keichō okite-gaki”

Mikami and Kurihara give thorough accounts of the content of the various extant copies.
They both divide the copies in two groups, with different number of clauses. Consulting
both Mikami and Kurihara, the different versions of “Keichō okite-gaki” can be divided
into: (I) those with fewer clauses (7–11), and (II) those with more (16–21). The existence of
copies with different number of clauses, and different order of the clauses, is indicative of
additions and changes made. The original is not extant, and there seems to be no historical
proof that it ever existed. All the clauses give the komusō some kind of priviliges, and thus,
the more clauses they contain, the more they favour the monks. One important aspect is that
all affairs relating to Buddhist sects or Shintō shrines were controlled and regulated by the
central authorities, i.e., the Commisioners of Temples and Shrines or Jisha-bugyō. This
official organ was under direct control of the shōgun himself, but it was not established until
1635. Before that, affairs relating to temples and shrines were handled by a monk with the
name Konchi-in Sūden (cf. 4.2.2.3 below).
Even though there are extant copies of different versions of “Keichō okite-gaki,” there
are no notations about it in any of the official records from the Edo period (cf. 4.2.2.3). The
original, and other old records that could have indicated its prior exisence, were reported to
have been lost in temple fires. These correspondences were all replies by the komusō to
inquiries from the central authorities about the original’s whereabouts. The first report was
in 1789, then again in 1795, and once more in 1846. In the beginning of a reply dated 1789
from the main temple of the Fuke sect to an inquiry from the central authorities about a
copy of “Keichō okite-gaki,” one reads: “Regarding the document of Keichō 19, signed by
Itakura Iga no Kami and Honda Sado no Kami, that was presented to us, it was lost in a fire,”
and at the end of the note it says: “After the loss in the fire we have not seen a copy, but we
will give you an oral report about these matters.”442 Again, in a reply in 1795 from the main
temple of the Fuke sect, as a reply to an inquiry from the central authorities, it says: “during
the past Genroku era [1688–1703] it was lost in a fire.”443 Probably the last inquiry from the
Jisha-bugyō, the Commissioners of Temples and Shrines, was in 1846, to which the Fuke
sect replied that more than half of the old records at Ichigetsu-ji – including the “Keichō
okite-gaki” – were lost in a fire in 1707, and that all of the old records at the guard station of
Reihō-ji were lost in another fire in 1703.444 If we assume that the “Keichō okite-gaki” was
a forgery, the temple fires were either lies or very convenient circumstances. On the original
there would have been an official stamp and the signature of Tokugawa Ieyasu, which of
course are absent on the copies.
The shortest known type I version of the “Keichō okite-gaki” – containing nine clauses –
is recorded in the Tokugawa kinrei-kō, a compilation from 1898 of laws and regulations
related to the central authorities during the Edo period.445 It is, however, not clear when this
copy was either submitted to the authorities or issued by them (“Keichō okite-gaki” I-1). In

442
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 145–146. (慶長十九年板倉伊賀守本多佐渡守様以御連印被仰出候御書付焼失仕
候 … 焼失以来寫相見不申餘は口上にて奉申上候).
443
Ibid., 146. (去元禄年中大火の節焼失仕候).
444
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 211.
445
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 131. (徳川禁令考).

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1792, in a reply to the central authorities, Ichigetsu-ji and Reihō-ji submitted a version that
is close to the one in the Tokugawa kinrei-kō, but with clause number two excluded, one
clause added between number four and number five, and another clause added at the end,
totalling ten clauses (“Keichō okite-gaki” I-2). 446 According to Takahashi Tone, an
11-clause version, including clause 2 of I-1 and the additions in I-2, is recorded in the
Fuke-shū go-jōmoku (Decrees Relating to the Fuke Sect), preserved in the Cabinet Library
established in 1884.447
Among the longer versions, type II, there is one version that contains eighteen clauses,
which was published in a collection of essays with the name Toen shōsetsu of 1825
(“Keichō okite-gaki” II-1),448 but there is an almost exactly identical version in the Kinko
techō.449 The wording differs slightly at some points, but the general content of the clauses,
and their order, are the same.
In 1831, yet another copy was submitted from Reihō-ji to the central authorities with a
total of twenty clauses (“Keichō okite-gaki” II-2).450 Finally, Kurihara quotes a version with
twenty-one clauses that he says he found at the library. Kurihara has not been able to date
when this version was submitted, or if it was submitted at all, but one interesting aspect of
this version is that it has an addition, a ratification, saying “Enpō nen-chū no aratame,” or
Revision in the Era of Enpō, 1673–1680 (“Keichō okite-gaki” II-3).451

4.2.2.2 The Content of “Keichō okite-gaki”

Among the longer versions of this document, the type II-1 version carries the heading
“Komusō o-sadame” (Rules for the Komusō). A similar version can be found in the Kinko
techō, but there it carries the heading “Ieyasu-kō o-sadame” (Rules Issued by the
Honourable Ieyasu).452 The II-3 mentioned above has the simple heading “Sadame” (Rules).
All other longer versions, and all the shorter versions, however, carry the following
heading:

御入国之砌被仰渡候御掟書 go-nyūgoku no migiri, ōse watasare sōrō on-okite-gaki

Law Handed Over at the Time of the Honourable Entrance into the Province

446
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, p. 135–136. Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 209–210.
447
Takahashi Tone, Tozan-ryû: An Innovation of the Shakuhachi Tradition from Fuke-shû to Secularism, 1990, 61.
448
The Toen shōsetsu (兎園小説) was edited by Kyokutei Bakin (曲亭馬琴, 1767–1848). KOKUGO/OR, kyokutei
bakin (曲亭馬琴), accessed on April 15, 2011.
449
Kurosawa Kinko III, Kinko techō (The Kinko Notebook), in Tsukamoto, ed., Kinko techō (1937), 1999, 24–27.
(Kinko techō is attributed to Kurosawa Kinko I, but it was probably written by Kinko III).
In Kurihara (Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 136–139), there are only seventeen clauses. There seems,
however, to be a mistake in the setting of the type. The word ippen (一篇) appears within clause six of this version in
Kurihara. It seems likely that the ichi (一) should be the hitotsu of a hitotsu-gaki, i.e., the beginning of a new clause
(clause seven), as it appears in the Kinko techō. The character 篇 (also 編 or 遍) should then, probably, be read as
amaneshi (Murohashi, Vol. 8: 826), which can be translated as “widely,” “all over,” or “from corner to corner.” I
therefore count both these renderings as 18-clause versions.
450
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 131–135. Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 211–214.
451
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 143. (延宝年中改).
452
Kurosawa Kinko III, Kinko techō (The Kinko Notebook), in Tsukamoto, ed., Kinko techō (1937), 1999, 24–27.
(Kinko techō is attributed to Kurosawa Kinko I, but it was probably written by Kinko III).

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The second part, ōse watasare sōrō on-okite-gaki, refers to a law that has been handed
over. The first part, go-nyūgoku no migiri, literally means “the time of the honourable entry
to the province,” and it refers to the time when Tokugawa Ieyasu entered Edo, after Ieyasu
and Toyotomi Hideyoshi had defeated the Hōjō clan at Odawara.453 Since Ieyasu entered
Edo in 1590, the translation can be rendered more bluntly as, “Law Handed Over in 1590.”
Considering that the document is dated 1614, this title is somewhat peculiar, a fact that I
discuss with reference to the historian Mikami Sanji below (cf. Section 4.2.2.3).

Content of the “Keichō okite-gaki”

The text below is the version with nine clauses, version I-1, but unknown date of
submission.454 I have also consulted the 10-clause version quoted by Ueno, version I-2.455
Both originals are written in the itemized hitotsu-gaki style, where each item begins with
hitotsu (一). In the translation, however, I have numbered the clauses in version I-1 and
version I-2 respectively, e.g., 1/1, 2/—.

1/1 • The komusō constitute a religious sect for the benefit of samurai and rōnin
[masterless samurai] who wish to find a temporary refuge, and it does not pertain
to the jurisdiction of the authorities. Hence, it should be well noted that this clause
allows only those from the warrior class to enter the sect. The meaning of the
clause should be [properly] realized.
2/— • Promotion to komusō in the various provinces is only for the samurai, and no
monk, peasant, townsman, or person of low birth is to be promoted.
3/2 • When a komusō is on a pilgrimage in the provinces and notices a suspicious
person, he should immediately arrest and detain this person. If it is in a state
controlled domain the person should be handed over to the government official, if
it is in another domain controlled by a local state administrator the person should
be handed over to the village official.
4/3 • The komusō are also filling the position of samurai, and thus it is natural that they
will ask for information about their enemies, etc., while travelling. Therefore, if
people in the provinces are careless or rude towards the komusō, or in some way
create any impediment for the komusō in their begging, [the komusō] should
investigate the detailed circumstances and notify the main temple. If the situation
cannot be cleared by the main temple, the situation should immediately be reported
to the police authority in Edo.
5/5 • The komusō should not take off their headgear indiscriminately; they should
make sure that they have thorough understanding for [the significance of] this.
6/6 • When the authorities make inquiries, the various factions of the sect should
sincerely and with effort supply whatever information they know.
7/7 • In cases when a komusō wishes to proclaim a revenge, thorough investigations
[into the matter] should be conducted, and at the same time the main temple should
make a decision which should be followed. Then a request should be submitted.

453
After a long siege the Hōjō were starved into capitulation, but Hideyoshi suggested to Ieyasu that he surrender
some coast land west of Hakone (near Odawara), in return for the domain of the Hōjō clan to the east of Hakone, i.e.,
Edo or present day Tokyo. At the time, Edo was no more than a fishing village, but Ieyasu moved his armies there
in a short period of time. (EB/OR, Conquest of the Hojo, accessed on April 19, 2011).
454
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 130–131.
455
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 209–210.

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8/8 • If a samurai rushes into the temple grounds, carrying a bloody sword and requests
[shelter], he should be asked about the circumstances of the occurrence and
detained. If the detainee is deceptive in his speech a complaint should immediately
be lodged.
9/9 • The main temples should publicize the rules of the denomination, and the
regulations should be obeyed without negligence. If someone should infringe the
rules they are to be enforced without fail.
The rules above should be firmly obeyed. Without losing the proper way of the warrior
class, it should be well noted that this is a sect for martial training. Therefore, free travel
all over Japan is allowed, and decided in accordance with the above.
First month of Keichō 19, Kinoe-tora [1614]
Honda Kōzuke no Suke (seal), Itakura Iga no Kami (seal), Honda Sado no Kami (seal)

To the komusō temples456

The 10-clause version, I-2, submitted from Ichigetsu-ji and Reihō-ji in 1792, is similar to
the above “Keichō okite-gaki” I-1, but the second clause – regarding the promotion to
komusō – is omitted. In the I-2 version there is one clause added between clauses number
four and five, and another clause added at the end, totalling ten clauses.457

Added clause 1 (clause 4 in I-2)

—/4 • The komusō should seek their lodging at a temple, or go to the government office
at station inns for travel accomodation.458

Added clause 2 (clause 10 in I-2)

—/10 • The komusō should take care always to have in their possession a wooden long
sword and a dagger [to be hidden in the garment].459

456
一 虚無 之儀 勇士浪人一時之爲隱家不入守護之宗門依而天下之家臣諸士之席可定置之條可得其意事
一 虚無 諸國取立之儀 諸士之外一向坊主百姓町人下賤之 不可取立事
一 虚無 諸國行脚之 疑敷 見掛候時 早速召捕其所江留置國領は其役人江相渡地領代官所 其村役人江相渡可申事
Kurihara has 地領代官所 and Ueno 他領代官所. I have not found the former compund, and I have used Ueno here. On
the other hand, Ueno has 同領, which makes less sense than the 國領 in Kurihara.
一 虚無 之儀 勇士爲兼帯自然敵抔相尋候旅行依而諸國之 對虚無 麁相慮外之品又 托鉢之障六ヶ敷儀出来候
ハ其子細相改本寺迄可申達於本寺不相濟儀 早速江戸奉行所江可告来事
一 虚無 法冠猥ニ不可取 ト萬端可心得事
一 尋 申付候 ハ宗門諸派可抽丹誠事
一 虚無 敵討申度 於有之 遂吟味兼而斷本寺從本寺可訴出事
一 諸士提血刀寺内驅込依願 其問起本可抱置若以辯舌申掠 於有之ハ早速可訴出事
一 本寺宗法出置其段無油斷爲相守宗法相背 於有之ハ急度宗法可行事
右之條々堅相守武門之正道不失武 修行之宗門ト可心得 也爲其日本國中往来自由差免置所決定如件
慶長十九甲寅正月
本多上野介印 板倉伊賀守印 本多佐渡守印
虚無 寺江
457
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 135–136. Kurihara, however, does not mention the erased provision
number two. Also in Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 209–210.
458
一 虚無 止宿は諸寺院或は驛宿之役所へ可致旅宿事
459
一 虚無 常に木太刀懐劒等心懸所持可致事

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Clause five above is of certain interest. The word used for ‘headgear’ is hōkan, literally
“karma crown.” In the longer, type II versions, this has changed to tengai, which denotes a
braided hat that covers the whole face, looking like an overturned basket (see Plates 2 and
13). Nakatsuka notes that this kind of headgear was not in use until after the Meiwa era
(1764–1771), with reference to woodblock prints of komusō from that time.460 According to
“Kyotaku denki” the tengai was introduced by Kusunoki Masakatsu, the alleged first
komusō. In a passage where Masakatsu, a.k.a. Kyomu, explains his clothing: “Kyomu
continued, ‘I have made a new ordinance: the basket-hat is to be called tengai (“canopy”); it
shall be irreverent for a man engaged in these religious austerities to take off the basket-hat.
His face must be covered with it when he meets others. The idea is to assume a life of
seclusion even in town.’” 461 Considering that version I-2 of the “Keichō okite-gaki,”
submitted in 1792, does not carry the word tengai, it may indicate that the story in Kyotaku
denki kokuji-kai, which was published in 1795, was the first time that the deep basket type
of hat was prescribed.462
As is obvious from the above versions, the Plate 13: A komusō with tengai.
Suzuki Harunobu.
komusō were samurai, and the detailed content
Used by courtesy of the Museum of Far Eastern
of each clause is quite remarkable. The longer, Antiquities, Stockholm (NMG-1955-0221).
type II, versions contain more or less the above
clauses, and a number of additions. It is difficult
to say in what exact chronological order the
different versions were submitted to the central
authorities, but it seems likely that the versions
with more clauses were handed in to the
authorities in resistance against harsher control,
i.e., the shorter versions are of an earlier date,
and the longer of a later. The longer versions
contain more details, and also give the komusō
more special privilegies.
I have consulted three of the type II versions,
as given in Kurihara. Firstly, II-1, which
Kurihara quotes from a collection of essays,
Toen shōsetsu, was written in 1825. I regard this
version II-1 as containing eighteen clauses, for
the reason mentioned in footnote 449 above, and
I consider it to be essentially the same as the
18-clause version that appears in the Kinko techō. The next version II-2, containing twenty
clauses, was submitted from Reihō-ji in 1831. The third version, II-3, contains twenty-one
clauses, which is more than any other version, but Kurihara does not specify any date of

460
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 47–49. Nakatsuka is referring to a woodblock print by
Suzuki Harunobu, but probably not the same one as in Plate 13. A Suzuki Harunobu depicting a komusō with his
tengai removed is available at the British Museum homepage. Search: komuso, accessed May 24, 2011 at:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/.
461
Tsuge, “The History of the Kyotaku,” 1977, 52.
462
There is, however, a comment about the tengai in a text from 1628, which I discuss in Section 4.5.3.2 below.

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submission.463 It also carries a ratification dated at the time around the 1677 memorandum,
which is of interest in discussing the invention of the shakuhachi tradition. Even in the
shorter versions, it is quite obvious that the komusō were samurai, and that they were
engaged also in sword fights. It is also evident that the sect was outside the jurisdiction of
the central authorities; clause one above is the same, or similar in content, in all the shorter
and longer versions that I have studied. Mikami states that, considering the political
situation of the time, he finds it hard to believe that the authorities would provide a shelter
and hiding place for the masterless samurai, and he compares clause one with the
extraterritorial aspects of settlements for foreigners in Japan up to 1900.464
The longer versions give an even more vivid image of the character of the komusō.
Following Kurihara, pages 132–143, consulting also Ueno, pages 209–214, and Kinko techō,
pages 24–26, I summarize some of the contents in these longer versions. As warriors and for
the sake of seeking revenge on a foe, they are given free pass through all the checkpoints,
allowed to travel freely, including visiting theatres and free passage on ferryboats (II-1/10,
II-2/7, II-3/7).465 When a komusō desires revenge the circumstances should be investigated
to establish that neither party has any objections, and the duel should be held within the
temple grounds. Only a samurai can be given permission for this, and a komusō duellant
must return to lay status before the duel takes place. All partiality is forbidden (II-1/13,
II-2/14, II-3/14).466 During the duel, only one companion is allowed, and a duel should not
be allowed for anyone except warriors (II-1/15, II-2/16, II-3/16). 467 This situation is
different from when a samurai is entering a komusō temple with a sword dripping with
blood. The former is a case of planned revenge, and the latter is a situation where a samurai
who is not of komusō status enters a temple to seek shelter. Obviously, from the appearance
of these clauses, both cases occurred. Apart from these regulations of revenge, there are also
rules of conduct. For example, a komusō who is traveling by horse, in a wagon or similar
should make sure that he is not seen by common people (II-1/16, II-2/17, II-3/17),468
probably because he would not be wearing his headgear while riding or in a wagon, and
thereby he would risk showing his face. Furthermore, it was presumably not deemed proper
for a monk on a pilgrimage to travel by other means of transportation than on foot. A
komusō should refrain from inappropriate behaviour, and follow the rules at the official
checking and guard stations. If a komusō was caught trying to sneak past a checkpoint, this
should be properly investigated and punished. The rule should be carefully preserved

463
II-1: Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 136–139. II-2: ibid., 131–135. II-3: ibid., 139–143. All three of
these texts are written in a different style than the two shorter type I texts related above. There is a mix with
hiragana (one of the syllabic systems in Japanese), which is highly unusual in law texts, as they are normally
written in literary Chinese (kanbun). Two of the texts are reported by Kurihara as found in either a collection of
essays (II-1), or “found at the library” (II-3, probably referring to the National Library of Japan or a similar facility),
and I believe that it is possible that these two texts may have been prepared for a more general public. On the other
hand, the 20-clause text, submitted to the central authorities in 1831, is written in a similar style.
464
Mikami, “Fuke-shū ni tsuite” (2), May 1902, 66, 73.
465
虚無 之儀 兼々勇士之道敵討などのため諸関を免し依之在々所々芝居或 渡船等に至迄往来自由差許申候事
466
虚無 自然望敵討 遂吟味双方申分無之様還俗申付於寺内勝負可爲致候勿論 士之外不差免候贔負を以て片落成仕方停止之事
467
虚無 に罷出敵討度 於有之 其段委細相改差免可申候勿論多勢集り打申間敷候尤同庵一人迄 差免置候併諸士之外 一切不
差免候事
468
虚無 修行往来之 馬駕等に乗り諸人え面合せ申す間敷候是又可在心得候事

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(II-3/18).469 The komusō were allowed entrance to theatres, but they were not supposed to
stay at inns, especially not take part in drinking parties and other forms of entertainment
(II-1/12, II-2/13, II-3/13).470 When they were on a pilgrimage, they should not stay more
than seven days (one day in II-1) at the same place. They were also not allowed to take part
in any improper musical activities or play for entertainment purposes (II-1/17, II-2/18,
II-3/19).471 Their instrument should not be made shorter than the standard length (1 shaku 8
sun), and they should not attempt to play different styles of music, presumably flute music,
and probably referring to the popular hitoyogiri shakuhachi (II-2/19, II-3/20).472 The above
clauses give a varied image of the komusō; to put it bluntly, I perceive a variety of types,
from revengeful warriors to misbehaving entertainers. The most explicit description of the
essence of the komusō is, however, the very last clause in the longer versions of the “Keichō
okite-gaki,” where it says that the rank of komusō should be determined for vassals and
warriors in the whole country. They should not lose the proper way of the warrior: they
should learn the appearance of a monk, and display that overtly, but in his heart a komusō
should strive for the intention and resolution of a samurai. A komusō should, from the very
outset, thoroughly realize that the Fuke sect is a sect for martial practice. For that reason, a
komusō is allowed free travel all over the provinces of Japan, in accordance with the laws
and regulations in the document (II-1/18, II-2/20, II-3/21).473
The three longer versions discussed here have similar content, but it is only the 21-clause
version that carries what, in effect, is a ratification signed by three representatives of the
central authorities in the Enpō era (1673–1681): Hotta Kaga no Kami, Ōta Settsu no Kami,
and Makino Uchi no Kashiwade no Kami.

Revision in the era of Enpō [1673–1680] (Carrying the names Hotta Kaga no Kami
(seal), Ōta Settsu no Kami (seal), Makino Uchi no Kashiwade no Kami (seal))474
To disclose the revered meaning of the above ordinance openly, the Council of Elders
hereby present it in an ordinary manner. The true path of the denomination that we see
should not be hidden. Furthermore, fellow komusō who turn their back on the sect should
have their komusō license [honsoku] revoked, and they will be severely punished in
accordance with the rules of the denomination.
Month Day
To the Assembly of Monks at the Main Temple475

469
虚無 修業先之関所番所にては不作法無之様古来之通可致候若又脇道より忍通候虚無 之に於ては急度遂吟味可爲曲事相愼可
相守事
470
一宿等致間敷候殊以酒宴遊興). This clause has slightly different wordings, and in II-3 there are some words missing.
It is, however, beyond the scope of this thesis to study the details of this matter.
471
住所を離他國所々城下町托鉢修行七日之外逗留堅無用惣而不流事吹申間敷候尤遊藝出合堅吹申間敷事
472
托鉢修行之 尺八等も短成竹を集め色々之儀吹申間敷候事
473
虚無 之儀 天下之家臣諸士之席に可被定上 常に武門之正道を不失何時にても還俗可申付間面には 之形を學ひ内心に 武
士之志をはげみ兼々武 修行之宗門と可心得 也爲其日本國々往来自由差免申置候仍而定書如件
474
The title of Makino should probably be read Uchi no Kashiwade no Kami, but it can also be read Naizen no Shō.
The character in Kurihara does, however, differ: in Kurihara it reads 内繕正, which probably should be 内膳正. The
title denotes the head of the Imperial kitchen. The character 繕 means ‘mend,’ but I have not been able to find the
character combination 内繕正 in lexica. (Morohashi, Vol 1, p. 1053). It does, however, seem strange that the head of
the Imperial kitchen would put his seal on a document released by the Council of Elders to a religious sect. It is,
however, beyond the scope of the present study to further investigate this matter.
475
延寶年中改 （堀田加賀守印、太田攝津守印、牧野内繕正印とあり）
右掟書今度爲御意被仰出候趣にて御老中より被相渡候間平生奉拜見宗門之正道不可隱事且又宗門相背輩於有之 本則取上宗門厳罰
可申付 なり 月 日 本寺集會 中

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4.2.2.3 Mikami Sanji’s Rejection of the Authenticity of “Keichō okite-gaki”

Mikami Sanji was a scholar of history and literature. In a 1902 lecture titled “Fuke-shū ni
tsuite” (About the Fuke sect), held at the Association of Historical Studies and later
published in the Shigaku zasshi (History Magazine), Mikami refers to the above-mentioned
Sengoku Incident, and then reports the doubts he had developed regarding the authenticity
of the “Keichō okite-gaki.” Most of the later studies of the shakuhachi cite Mikami, or build
on his findings. From a historical viewpoint it seems to be beyond doubt that the document
was in fact not written by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Mikami’s critical study can be summarized in
the following five points:
1) The title of the document states that the ordinance was handed over at the time of the
Honourable Entrance into the Province, which refers to when Ieyasu entered Kantō and his
new castle town Edo after the siege of Odawara in 1590. Mikami states that the intervening
time was long, and that, “no matter how stupid and ignorant the person who made such a
forgery is, it is hard to believe that he would make such a mistake.” However, the mistake
was made, and it is surprising that nobody in the central government made any remarks
about this. Mikami replies to his own question: “With such a remarkable mistake, when
there is a point of suspicion, it should be perfectly in place if anyone at the Jisha-bugyō
[Commissioners of Temples and Shrines] pointed out such a mistake without any
reservation, but … the name of [Tokugawa Ieyasu] is at the top, and therefore there is no
way to point this out; everything comes back to [Tokugawa Ieyasu] and therefore anything
passes.”476
2) The names of the three persons who signed the document, Honda Kōzuke no Suke,
Itakura Iga no Kami, and Honda Sado no Kami, indicate that the document is a forgery.
“[This] is one proof that an illiterate komusō, who knew nothing about the handling and
distribution of laws and regulations at the time, has made the document.”477 Honda Sado no
Kami Masanobu was an assistant to Tokugawa Hidetada (who was to become the second
Tokugawa shōgun), and his name was never signed together with the other two on any
documents relating to religious affairs. Moreover, at the time the Commissioners of
Temples and Shrines, Jisha-bugyō, had yet to be established (1635), and the person in
charge of religious affairs was Konchi-in Sūden,478 a Rinzai Zen Buddhist priest and Edo
period politician. It would have been normal to have the signatures of Konchi-in Sūden,
Honda Kōzuke no Suke Masazumi, and Itakura Iga no Kami.479
3) Konchi-in Sūden was in charge of documents relating to Buddhism and Shintōism. In
his diaries there is a wealth of articles about temples and shrines, monks, laws and
ordinances, letters, and even drafts. Having studied the diaries, Mikami says that he has not
been able to find any regulations sent to the komusō.480

476
Mikami, “Fuke-shū ni tsuite” (1), April 1902, 73–74. (是程著い疑點かあれば如何に寺社奉行の局に當つて居る人であッ
ても遠慮なくそれ位の間違は指摘して宜い筈でありますが、… 權現様といふ三字か頭に冠つて居りますからどうしても指摘すると
が出来ない、逃げ場所が權現様でありますから大抵の事は通つて居つたのです).
477
Ibid., 74. (是が又其當時の法令發布の手續を少しも知らぬ無學な虛無僧が作つたといふ一つの證據であります).
478
金地院崇伝 (1569–1633).
479
Mikami, “Fuke-shū ni tsuite” (1), April 1902, 69, 74–75.
480
Ibid., 69–70.

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4) Apart from these objections to the “Keichō okite-gaki” Mikami also makes a point
about the style of writing. He finds it not to be in compliance with the way an ordinance
would have been written in the early seventeenth century, in the Keichō era, but rather more
in the style of the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth Tokugawa shōgun, i.e.,
around 1680.481 That means that, according to Mikami Sanji, the “Keichō okite-gaki” was a
forgery written about the same time as the 1677 memorandum. It should, however, be
pointed out that Mikami mentions documents with around twenty, seventeen, or sixteen
clauses as “longer versions,” and documents with nine, eleven, and eight clauses as “shorter
versions.” This in itself is suspicious for Mikami, but which of these documents he used
when dating the style to around 1680 is not clear from his text. Among the versions I have
consulted, the one in the Tokugawa kinrei-kō seems to be the most formal in style, I would
assume that this is the text he dated. The other versions seem to be in a slightly more
colloquial style, as mentioned above.
5) The first aspect that made Mikami suspicious is, however, the fact that there are no
official records from the Edo period that mention any of the extant documents. Furthermore,
Mikami found that already in the Edo period there were suspicious remarks made about the
document from within the central authorities. However, since the document was headed
with the name of Tokugawa Ieyasu, nobody dared to come forward with any suspicious
remarks; if the document was proven authentic, any doubtful remark may have resulted in
the loss of one’s head. According to the notes made by one of the Jisha-bugyō
commissioners, Inaba Tango no Kami Masamori, the Confucian scholar Arai Hakuseki
(1657–1725) had made some comments regarding the authenticity of the “Keichō
okite-gaki.” The copy Hakuseki was using was probably, according to Mikami, a copy
made from the predecessor of Masamori, i.e., the Jisha-bugyō commissioner Hotta Bitchū
no Kami Masaaki, or his predecessor and contemporary colleague Wakisaka Nakatsukasa
Daisuke Yasutada,482 but the document was never questioned officially until Mikami Sanji
conducted his critical study.
Apart from these formal aspects of the document, Mikami also finds it hard to believe
that Tokugawa Ieyasu would have granted such privilegies to the komusō during a time
when his enemies were still in the Osaka castle. The content of the document is not in line
with the political situation of the Edo period.483
As far as known, the first time a copy of the “Keichō okite-gaki” was handed in to the
central authorities was in 1792 (the 10-clause version I-2). That is three years before the
publication of the Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai, and around one-hundred and eighty years after
the assumed issuance of the original “Keichō okite-gaki.”

481
Ibid., 75.
482
Ibid., 66–68. (新井白石; 稲葉丹後守正盛; 堀田備中守正秋; 脇坂中務大輔). The names of Hotta and Wakisaka were
corrected in the publication of the second half of the lecture. Mikami, “Fuke-shū ni tsuite” (2), May 1902, 64: 堀田備
中守正篤; 脇坂中務大輔安董.
483
Mikami, “Fuke-shū ni tsuite” (2), May 1902, 66–67.

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4.3 Shakuhachi in the Edo-period Society

4.3.1 Shakuhachi Lineages in the Edo Period

As mentioned above, the Fuke sect was never acknowledged as a sect, but the monks, the
komusō, and their temples were given official acknowledgement by the authorities in the
memorandum from 1677, addressed to temples and sub-temples of komusō shoha – the
various komusō factions. One central document in the formation of the Fuke sect is the
so-called “Kaidō honsoku” (The Kaidō Rules) – also known as “Boro no te-chō” (The Boro
Notebook) – dated 1628. I discuss this and some other central documents surrounding the
creation of the origin of the Fuke sect in more detail in Section 4.5 below.
The document ends with a list of sixteen factions, indicating a diversification among the
komusō quite early in the Edo period. All factions, except one, have a regional reference in
their names, and the names indicate a geographical spread. There is, however, a quite
remarkable concentration of factions around and north of Edo: of the fifteen factions with
regional references in their names, there was one in Kyūshū, one in the western provinces in
present day Chūgoku prefecture, two surrounding Kyoto and Nara, one approximately in the
middle between Edo and Kyoto in present day Aichi prefecture, another one in the
mountains in present day Gifu prefecture, and a total of nine around and north of Edo. Many
of these areas were connected to the route between Edo and Kyoto, the so-called Kaidō
(Tōkaidō), from where the name of the document probably has been taken.484 Some of these
factions, or temples affiliated to them, have survived in the repertoire of pieces that was
transmitted in the region or at a certain temple in the region. There is, for example, “Ōshū
Kyorei,” which is different from the geographically close “Echigo Kyorei,” but they are
regarded as different pieces, transmitted in different locations.
In Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai, which was published in 1795, the number of factions
mentioned decreased to six, with a total of fifty-five affiliated temples. The number of
temples may sound astonishingly large, but most of the temples were nothing more than
lodges to accommodate komusō out on pilgrimages.485 Even though different pieces were
played and transmitted at different temples in different parts of Japan, and played in
different ways, the various factions did not constitute separate styles or schools, referred to
as ryū in Japanese. The Fuke sect was abolished in 1871, and in 1883 the Myōan Kyōkai
was established at the temple Myōan-ji in Kyoto, as a society for those inclined towards
religious komusō activities. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, various
pieces and styles were brought into the Myōan Kyōkai, and eventually a loosely coherent
style developed, referred to as the Myōan-ryū, or Myōan style of shakuhachi.
The oldest extant school or lineage of shakuhachi that developed during the Edo period is
the Kinko-ryū, tracing its roots back to a komusō named Kurosawa Kinko I (1710–1771).486

484
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 272–273. (海道本則／暮露の手帳). (筑紫・中国・五畿・伊
勢・上州・美濃・武蔵・中武蔵・下総・常陸・下野・奥州・奥洲・北国に二つ).
485
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 96.
486
初世黒沢琴古.

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He was the appointed shakuhachi instructor of the two main Fuke temples around Edo,
Ichigetsu-ji and Reihō-ji,487 responsible for teaching shakuhachi to new komusō monks.488
According to a document from 1768 titled “Chōka jūkyo shakuhachi shinan-sha seimei
narabi ni fukiawase-sho mei” (Names of Teaching Studios and Shakuhachi Teachers Living
in the Quarters of Townspeople), Kinko I was, however, also teaching at a total of five
studios in the city of Edo.489
At the time of the second and the third generation Kinko, so-called fukiawase-sho – de
facto shakuhachi studios for teaching – were set up at several places around Edo. In 1792
the two main temples Ichigetsu-ji and Reihō-ji submitted a written document to the official
organ handling affairs concerning temples and shrines, the Jisha-bugyō,490 stating that there
were twenty-one studios (fukiawase-sho) in the hands of fourteen shakuhachi teachers.
Among the named teachers were not only komusō monks, but also commoners, and the
names of both the second and the third generations Kurosawa Kinko – Kinko II and Kinko
III – were among the teachers listed.491 This shows that less than 120 years after the official
approval of the komusō monks, both komusō and common people were teaching shakuhachi
to townspeople. During the later part of the Edo period the shakuhachi became more and
more of an urban culture, but this change was not limited to the city of Edo and the
Kinko-ryū. The komusō played together with string instruments and taught shakuhachi to
townspeople, even though it was prohibited.
Already seventeen years after the official approval in 1677, the monks received a very
strong admonition, in which is written that they should not indulge in profane music making.
In 1694 (Genroku year 7), the head temple of the Fuke sect in Kyoto, Myōan-ji, issued a set
of regulations, the “Honsoku-deshi e mōshi-watashi sadame” (Announcement of
Regulations for Disciples of the First Seal),492 containing twenty-three articles regulating the
behaviour and do’s and don’ts for the komusō. In the document, it is stated that children
under the age of fifteen should not be allowed to receive honsoku licenses at the various
fukiawase-sho, and that issuing honsoku licenses to bad people and hiding their names,
should stop. Yet another article states that the komusō should not show themselves at
Shimabara, the geisha entertainment area in Kyoto, and they should not appear during the
summer festival. Furthermore, the komusō should not conduct their activities around the
Nijō area, most likely because it is the location of the shōgun’s castle while in Kyoto, and
that they should behave modestly and make sure not to be rude when encountering officials.
It is also said that, while appearing as monks, they should not argue with people or have
fights, and not enter entertainment areas or places in the capital where there are many

487
Ichigetsu-ji (一月寺), located in Kogane, Shimōsa province (下総国小金), present day Chiba-ken Matsudo-shi;
Reihō-ji (鈴法寺), located in Ōme, Musashi province (武蔵国青梅), present day Tokyo-to Ōme-shi. Since the central
authorities were located in Edo, they preferred to use these two temples as the main temple, and Myōan-ji in Kyoto
was the third main temple. Why there were so many temples, and two in around Edo, is not known, but the reason
may be the various factions of komusō. (Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 95).
488
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 31. (両寺の番所の尺八指南役として活躍したのが初世黒沢琴
古).
489
Nishiyama, “Edo-jidai no kaisō to ongaku” (Social Strata and Music in the Edo period), 1987, 410. (町家住居尺八
指南者姓名並に吹合所名).
490
寺社奉行.
491
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 241–242.
492
The komusō held three seals, of which the honsoku, their registration as komusō monks, was the most important.
(本則弟子江申渡定).

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people. In the final article, it is also stated that the komusō should perform their religious
activities playing the fundamental pieces, honkyoku,493 and that the practice of playing
secular or corrupt pieces was “inappropriate” and should “stop immediately.”494
All these detailed regulations indicate that, even at this time, the activities by the komusō
needed to be controlled, and that it already had become common practice to teach
townspeople also in Kyoto. From this official proclamation we may also conclude that the
komusō probably did perform secular ensemble pieces, gaikyoku,495 quite early on.
The very existence of the above-mentioned rules of conduct, determining some social
aspects of the komusō’s behaviour, imply that the ‘tradition’ as such was still forming in the
seventeenth century; the shakuhachi and its music went through a number of changes during
the time it was being established as a tradition. As the name of a musical instrument
‘shakuhachi’ has historically proven connections, at least to the eighth century in Japan. The
connection to medieval shakuhachi is unclear and disputable, and it seems likely that the
tradition of komusō shakuhachi was not established in the society until the end of the
seventeenth century. In Shichiku shoshin-shū (Collection of Beginners’ Pieces for Strings
and Bamboo) of 1664, the author Nakamura Sōsan, a performer of hitoyogiri shakuhachi,
explains about its origins, and also comments on the komusō shakuhachi.

What is called komusō shakuhachi is cut in the length of one shaku [approx. 30
centimetres] eight sun [approx. 24 centimetres], and it is called shakuhachi. Its origins are
unknown for certain. It is said that in old times, the founder of this Way was Hottō from
Yura, but I don’t think this is so.496

Even though the komusō were soon to receive an official acknowledgement, the 1677
memorandum, indicating the formation of a religious body at the close of the seventeenth
century, this origin was apparently not known even to a person like Nakamura, who was
knowledgeable enough to publish a book about the shakuhachi, and who was himself a
practitioner of the similar hitoyogiri shakuhachi.

4.3.2 Social Aspects of Tradition: The Shakuhachi in the Edo-period Society

In this section I show how society influenced the shakuhachi tradition, and how the position
within society by the bearers and transmitters of this tradition had a direct effect on the
development of the tradition. Nishiyama Matsunosuke states that ‘tradition’ can be divided
into various groups, and discusses three types of culture, differentiated in respect to the

493
Pieces developed by the komusō for use in their religious activities on pilgrimages and when begging. (本曲).
494
In Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 166–169. The term rankyoku (乱曲) means literary
‘disorderly pieces,’ pieces that create disruption form the order of things, i.e., the playing of honkyoku. What was
referred to as rankyoku was popular pieces performed in ensemble with the koto and shamisen, which supposedly
disturbed concentration on normal activities. (Ibid., 169). (尺八の手本曲を可為修行、乱曲吹候事不相成候、勿論指南所者不
申及、於面々之宅、尺八を琴三味線合候儀急度停止申付候).
495
The term gaikyoku (外曲), ‘outer’ pieces, denotes all types of music which is not honkyoku, i.e., fundamental
music of the school. See further Chapter 8.
496
Nakamura, Shichiku shoshin-shū (1664), 1976, 4. (虚無僧尺八といふは、長さ一尺八寸に切ゆへ、尺八といふとぞ、濫觴
はたしかに不知、そのかみ由良の法燈此道の祖たるよしいへども、了簡せず).

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end-users of the culture in question. Type I is the tradition of culture among the nobility,
kizoku bunka, with its roots in the Heian period. Type II is the tradition of warrior class
culture, buke bunka,497 which developed from the Kamakura period and on. Type III is the
tradition of culture among the common people, minshū bunka, which showed a remarkable
development during the Edo period. He further classifies the types of artistry involved:
Type I is yūgei geinō, the pursuit of leisure, Type II is bugei geinō or martial arts, and Type
III is taishū geinō, popular performing arts.498 Many of the art forms that belong to Type I,
yūgei geinō, were created and developed by the hands of the nobility, including samurai, but
also of outcasts, e.g., stage performers of Nō and Kabuki, and, to some extent, maybe even
the beggar monks of the Muromachi period, the komosō (cf. Section 4.5). Nishiyama notes
that warriors who were involved in these Type I art forms took part, not as warriors, but
rather as nobility; Fuke shakuhachi is one of the many art forms that Nishiyama counts
within this genre.499
The rapid economical growth of the merchant class played an important part in the
change of end-user of the arts. In the above-mentioned “Honsoku-deshi e mōshi-watashi
sadame” there is a difference made between tōji jikimon-tei, disciples studying directly with
a teacher at the temple, and honsoku-deshi. Tsukitani Tsuneko states that at the temple
Myōan-ji, they “already at the end of the seventeenth century … differentiated between
‘honsoku-deshi,’ living in Kyoto or outside the city, and ‘tōji jikimon-tei’.”500
Towards the end of the seventeenth century the number of townspeople who wanted to be
part of cultural activities increased tremendously. Nishiyama holds that the popular
performing arts developed as a formalised art form, geidō, around the Genroku era
(1688–1703) or slightly before that, and that one characteristic of geidō in the Early Modern
Period is that “there was an increasing number of musical perfomers, stage performers and
artists … people who made art their occupation, and turned art into a commodity.”501 This
in turn had the effect that they requested diplomas to certify their accomplishments, which
was the real revolution in terms of cultural transmission, leading to a more organised iemoto
system on a grander scale.502 I agree with Gerald Groemer, the translator of Nishiyama’s
Edo Culture: Daily Life and Diversions in Urban Japan, 1600–1868, in his reflection on
Nishiyama’s ideas. The following is a passage from Groemer’s introduction to the book.

497
The warriors were also nobility, so there seems to be an overlap between the two. This problem is addressed
below. (I 貴族文化; II 武家文化; III 民衆文化).
498
Nishiyama, “Kinsei geijutsu shisō …,” 1972, 589. (I 遊芸芸能; II 武芸芸能; III 大衆芸能).
499
Ibid., 590. The komusō (虚無僧) monks of the Edo period were actually samurai, not to be confused with the
komosō (薦僧) beggar monks of the Muromachi period. The connection between the komusō and the komosō is
further discussed in Chapters 5, 6, and 7. Nishiyama refers to the samurai as nobility, but often the word ‘nobility’ is
used to denote the court aristocracy. In the Edo period society, the social classes were: samurai, farmers,
craftspeople, and merchants. The court aristocracy was of course on the same level as, or above, the samurai.
500
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 31. (十七世紀末すでに明暗寺には二種類の弟子がいて、明暗寺
はこれを「当寺直門弟」と、京地（京都の地）や田舎に居住する「本則弟子」として区別した。). Nakatsuka also notes the actual
existence of these two types of monks at the time of the 1694 regulations. (Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan
(1936–39), 1979, 169–170). Nakatsuka refers to honsoku-deshi as “machi-kata zaijū honsoku montei” (町方在住本則
門弟).
501
Nishiyama, “Kinsei no yūgei-ron,” 1972, 608, 618.
502
The iemoto system is a hierarchical system with a ‘head of the house’ at the top, who is the artistic standard for
the art form in question, but often also functions as a social leader in regard to activities and behaviour even outside
the artistic activities. See Chapter 8.

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The contemporary proliferation of ’town teachers’ – mediators between the iemoto and
the novice pupil – was in Nishiyama’s view a result of the increase in the chōnin’s
[townspeople’s] demand for cultural activity. This concern with culture was, in turn,
premised on the chōnin’s great economic advance during this period. Nishiyama does not,
however, interpret the chōnin’s desire for cultivation or the rise of the iemoto system as
merely a ’reflection’ of economic or political forces. Instead he views the iemoto
system’s growth as part of a popular strategy in which chōnin attempted to break through
the rigid framework of social rank and status that was strangling Edo-period society.503

In the world of shakuhachi, the practice of teaching townspeople, and the fact that these
townspeople became licensed teachers themselves without being of noble birth, must be
viewed as one aspect of this social phenomenon, since – according to the “Keichō
okite-gaki” – only a samurai could become a komusō. During the eighteenth century, the
Fuke sect was repeatedly admonished by the authorities to stop teaching shakuhachi to
townspeople, and to stop handing out diplomas and professional names, but the sect
defended itself by saying that these people were purveyors, that they were common people
working as servants at the temple, hired by a samurai household, or of the same status as
samurai. In reality they were shakuhachi teachers living in the city.504 This can be related to
the longer versions of “Keichō okite-gaki” discussed in Section 4.2.2.2 above, for example
in clause ten of the 21-clause version (II-3), where one reads:

• If another kind of person than a komusō plays the shakuhachi, a shakuhachi license
should be issued by the main temple, and the person should be allowed to play. Of course,
apart from warriors, people from the lower classes are not to play shakuhachi. Naturally,
they may not be made into komusō.505

The contents of clause 3 of the 18-clause version (II-1) and clause 9 of the 20-clause
version (II-2) are similar, but the clause is not to be found in the shorter versions that are
probably of an earlier date. The practice of giving professional so-called ‘bamboo names’506
and handing out komusō licenses was in alignment with the general trend in contemporary
society within the field of the traditional arts, at least from the middle of the eighteenth
century.507
The komusō were of noble birth, i.e., samurai, but as the content of the “Keichō
okite-gaki” indicates, the Fuke sect was more than anything a place of refuge for the
masterless samurai, rōnin, of the late seventeenth century, a place where they would find
clothes, food, and a roof over their heads. At the same time they were able to retain some of
their privilegies as samurai, e.g., the right to have a duel. They were not necessarily
interested in following the Way of Buddha. I would not claim, however, that they worked
503
Gerald Groemer, “Translator’s Introduction” in Edo Culture: Daily Life and Diversions in Urban Japan,
1600–1868, 5.
504
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 243.
505
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 141. (虚無 之外尺八を吹類有之 、本寺より尺八の免許を出し、吹せ可申候勿
論武士之外下賤之 共一切尺八吹申間敷候尤虚無 にも不可致候事候事).
506
Both chikumei (竹名) and chikugō (竹号) are used.
507
Nishiyama, “Edo-jidai no kaisō to ongaku” (Social Strata and Music in the Edo period), 1987, 409–410;
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 31; Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 245.
(honsoku 本則).

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against it consciously, or that all komusō were of that kind, but rather that many of the
komusō were more interested in finding a means of survival. Giving out professional names
(chikumei/chikugō) and handing out komusō licenses (honsoku) was a source of income for
the temples and their monks. This practice was in a way similar to other art forms, even if it
– at this time – had not taken the shape of a formalized iemoto system. It did, however,
make it possible for the komusō monks to (1) establish themselves as the true transmitters of
the shakuhachi tradition, and (2) earn a living not only from begging, but more and more
from musical activities. It is therefore not surprising that the later versions of “Keichō
okite-gaki” give the komusō monopoly on using the shakuhachi, in accordance with the
clause quoted above.
The Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai was published after a number of strong admonitions from
the central authorities during the eighteenth century. In a 1706 ordinance from the police
authority in Kyoto addressed to Myōan-ji, the main komusō temple in Kyoto, it was decreed
that townspeople should not be given komusō licenses, or honsoku.508 A similar but more
detailed ordinance was issued in 1759, addressed to the two main temples in Edo,
Ichigetsu-ji and Reihō-ji. The temples were told not to issue honsoku to other than samurai,
to make sure that those who receive the honsoku were not fugitives, and that they had a
reliable guarantor. It also states that a stop should be put to peasants and townspeople
playing the shakuhachi for entertainment.509 The komusō at Ichigetsu-ji and Reihō-ji replied
to this in 1792, saying that both temples had stopped handing out licenses to peasants and
townspeople, and that they would hand them out only to people of samurai rank. They also
inquired what to do with the honsoku licenses they had already issued, and said that they
will leave things as they are until further notified.510 Preceding this reply by almost twenty
years, another ordinance from the authorities had been issued in 1774. In this occurrences
are reported in which people appearing as komusō had extorted alms or lodging from
villagers, even hurting people by hitting them with the shakuhachi. The ordinance states that
in case of even the slightest unlawful behaviour by a komusō, he should be detained and
brought to the authorities. Negligence to comply with this ordinance is to be punished, and
the content of the ordinance should be handed out to territories controlled by the central
government, private territories, and territories owned by temples and shrines. The ordinance
was also to be posted at the entrance of villages.511
Ueno suggests that in the middle of the nineteenth century it had become unusual for
komusō to conduct begging, which was part of the religious practice. Instead they would
request alms from the villages, as implied in the 1774 ordinance.512 This is also indicated in
one of the texts by Hisamatsu Fūyō. In the Hitori mondō of 1823 Fūyō writes that, “those
who study shakuhachi as a Zen implement are rare.”513 Still, the 1835 Sengoku Incident (cf.
Section 4.2.2) is an indication that the “Keichō okite-gaki” was a politically powerful
document.

508
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 224.
509
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 163–164.
510
Ibid., 166.
511
Ibid., 167; Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 230.
512
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 234.
513
Hisamatsu Fuūyō, Hitori mondō (1823). In Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 213. (禅器の尺八を学ぶ者稀
なり).

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Kurihara remarks that the abuse and mischief of the komusō continued, 514 and the
authorities eventually issued a proclamation that in effect disclaimed the privilegies that the
“Keichō okite-gaki” had brought with it. In 1847, the central authorities issued an official
proclamation to the monks of the Fuke sect, in which it is stated that their activities had
become disorderly and indecent in recent years, that the denomination was a branch of
Rinzai Zen and that the monks should follow the path of a Zen Buddhist monk. It also states
that the sect should not make claims of being a hiding place, but rather that they should
conduct their activities in the same way as monks of other denominations, and receive what
people bestow on them, i.e., not extort alms, receive money for honsoku licenses, or other
worldly activities.515
Shakuhachi honkyoku are still performed today, and maybe with an increasing popularity
both in Japan and abroad. Maybe there were many komusō who did not have a strong
inclination for religious practices, but the fact that a large number of pieces are still being
played today indicates that the komusō were actively transmitting the music. Riley Lee
suggests that the fact that a large number of pieces have survived is a compelling evidence
that, “throughout the Edo period and even after the abolition of the Fuke sect, the
shakuhachi was played as a spiritual tool.”516 As the shakuhachi apparently was a popular
instrument in the Edo period Japan, the spirituality may not have been the most central and
important aspects in the transmission of the music. Lee also asserts that, even if there are
few, if any, who believe in the legend as it is told in the Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai, “the
centuries old association between the honkyoku and Fuke still operates within the
tradition.”517
This does not change the fact that the legend was created by the komusō for
socio-political and socio-economical reasons; neither does it change the fact that the music
we hear today does have its origin in the activities of the Edo period komusō. In a review of
the position of the – at the time – contemporary shakuhachi, Kurihara also concludes that
modern shakuhachi music developed thanks to the closed circle of which it was part during
the Edo period:

[T]he shakuhachi kept well in touch with the world during the three hundred years of the
Tokugawa period and accomplished a considerable development, which we, again, have
to say was due to the fact that it was the implement of the Fuke sect. Thus, the Fuke sect
was abolished and the komusō became extinct, and even though we call it today’s
shakuhachi, it is quite evident, without any verbosity, that its foundation is deeply rooted
in the komusō period.518

The komusō began to lose their position in society from the middle of the nineteenth
century, but after the abolishment of the Fuke sect in 1871, the fourth year of the Meiji
period and at the very beginning of the Modern Period, the shakuhachi developed in new

514
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 168.
515
Ibid., 168; Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 105. (普化層之儀ニ付御触)
516
Lee, Yearning for the Bell …, 1993, 149. Word in italics underlined in the original.
517
Ibid., 167. Word in italics underlined in the original.
518
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 191. (而も尺八が徳川時代三百年の間能く世と接触を保ち相当の発達を遂げた
るはまた普化宗の法器たりしが為なりと云はざるべからず、従て普化宗は廃止となり虚無僧は絶滅したる今日の尺八と雖も、其の
恨帯は深く虚無僧時代に存すること多言を要せずして明なり).

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ways. Chapter 8 contains a discussion of the transition that the shakuhachi tradition
underwent from the Edo period to the Meiji period, and of the transmission of this semi-oral
tradition.

4.4 The Concept of Dynamic Hearsay

Maki Isaka Morinaga, a scholar on Japanese literature and theater, wrote the book Secrecy
in Japanese Arts: “Secret Transmission” as a Mode of Knowledge in 2005. The book is “an
analysis of esotericism as a mode of knowledge in the discourse of Japanese theatrical and
martial arts.”519 Her study is centered around two texts displaying ‘Secret Transmission’: for
martial arts Heihō kadensho (Book of the Family Transmission of Military Strategy), by the
swordsman Yagyū Munenori (1571–1646),520 and for theatrical art Fūshikaden (Teachings
on Style and the Flower), by Zeami Motokiyo (1363–1443).521 Morinaga’s aim is not to
disclose secret teachings, or to discuss esoteric Buddhism, but rather, to discuss the logic of
Japanese arts, in order to see how knowledge operates in a localised context. From this
perspective, her theories relate also to the present study.522

4.4.1 Dynamic Hearsay and Invented Tradition

One of Morinaga’s propositions is that esoteric texts rely on hearsay, denbun,523 in cases
where the time of writing marks a break from that imagined past, which ensures a tradition.
She finds two forms of hearsay, (1) as a genre and (2) as a theoretical paradigm inside a
single text.524 She explicates her logic of esotericism in the following way:
519
Morinaga, Secrecy in Japanese Arts, 2005, 1.
520
(兵法家伝書／柳生宗矩). The English translation is my own; the word heihō means ‘the art of war,’ ‘tactics,’ etc.,
but it could also be translated as ‘swordsmanship.’ The Heihō kadensho was written in 1632 (Morinaga, p. 19), and
consists of three chapters: Shinrikyō (進履橋), Setsunintō (殺人刀), and Katsuninken (活人剱). The first chapter is a
catalogue of principles and techniques of the original Shinkage-ryū transmission by Kamiizumi Ise-no-Kami
(founder of the school) to Yagyū Sekishusai Munetoshi (the father of Munenori). The second, Setsunintō, contains a
discussion of technical aspects of swordsmanship and psychological aspects of the school. The last section of the
book continues the discussion of technique and goes further into the philosophy of martial arts. YHJ, heihō
kadensho (兵法家伝書), Watanabe Ichirō (渡邉一郎), accessed on May 11, 2010.
521
(風姿花伝／世阿弥元清). The English translation is from Rimer and Yamazaki, On the Art of the Nō Drama,
Princeton University Press, 1984. The Fūshikaden was written and compiled during a longer period of time.
Morinaga has it that Zeami finished Chapter 7 in 1408, but rewrote it in 1418 (Morinaga, p. 82). Other scholars
claim that the first three of the seven chapters were written in 1400, and the remaining four during the following
eighteen years. YHJ, fūshikaden (風姿花伝), by Masuda Shōzō (増田正造, 1930–, scholar of Nō), accessed on May 11,
2010. Zeami’s sixteen works were made public in a reprint from 1909 by Yoshida Tōgo (Masuda, and Morinaga, p.
73), even though some of his writings had been available to the public from the mid or late sixteenth century
(Morinaga, 74).
522
The term ‘hearsay’ that Morinaga applies should not be taken in its ordinary meaning, but rather as a generic
term for knowledge that has been transmitted orally.
523
伝聞.
524
Morinaga, Secrecy in Japanese Arts …, 2005, 46.

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[T]he logic here presupposes, and constructs, the particular association between a writer
and the origin of the knowledge in the imagined past. … I hold that “hearsay” in this
context enables esoteric texts to construct the past in a particular way. To be exact … [i]t
is … the dynamics among several types of hearsay modes that make possible the
esotericist construction of the past, and, by extension, the connection between a writer
and the past.525

Morinaga discusses mainly Zeami’s Fūshikaden in respect to hearsay, especially his use
of the citational markers iwaku (‘X says’) and to nari (‘so it is said’). According to a review
of Morinaga’s book by associate professor Susan Klein, modern scholars have twisted the
meaning of these markers around, “so as to not indicate citation at all, but instead,
remarkably, to indicate ‘original’ contributions by Zeami.” 526 Morinaga says that the
dichotomy between traditionality and originality, and by extension also creativity, in
existing scholarship (cf. Section 1.3.3.2 above) is the root of the problem: “the discursive
paradigm in which Zeami resides treats creativity and traditionality as potentially—and
desirably—fusible attributions.”527
Nō, as we know it today, goes back to the activities and writings of Zeami and his father
Kan’ami. I find that it should be possible to apply the notion of ‘hearsay dynamics’ to other
art forms as well, to determine how and if hearsay is used in the construction of a tradition.
Hearsay as a genre does not create any problematic points: this genre quotes what a
master, a teacher or an originator has said, a record of his or her teachings. However, when
it comes to hearsay as a theoretical paradigm inside a single text, Morinaga finds two modes
of quotation that are at use in esotoric texts by which an imagined past is constructed: clear
quotations and obscure quotations. Morinaga finds an abundance of clear quotations in
Heihō kadensho, for example, Chinese classics, Zen phrases (kōan, etc.), Zen masters,
Indian princes and so on, even though she also finds obscure quotations, references such as
“according to a buddha.”528 The Fūshikaden, on the other hand, has a limited number of
clear quotations, according to Morinaga, that appear almost exclusively when Zeami
explains the history of Nō. In regard to Nō artistery, however, Zeami hardly ever uses clear
quotations. The obscure quotations imply a reference but lacks credits. Some do not identify
the putative original source, e.g., “a sutra says…,” or the type mentioned above, iwaku and
to nari. 529 From there, Morinaga continues to subdivide obscure quotations into two
different types, reaching a strata of a total of three types of quotations: “clear quotations
(Type 1), obscure citations with identifiable sources (Type 2), and dim quotations without
identifiable sources (Type 3).”530
In Morinaga’s words, “as the result of exhaustive research, the established scholarship
has discovered that Fûshikaden is enriched with Type 2 citations supported by wide
knowledge ranging from poetry to Buddhism.” Apart from these identifiable quotes, Zeami

525
Ibid., 49.
526
Susan Blakeley Klein, review of Secrecy in Japanese Arts: “Secret Transmission” as a Mode of Knowledge,
Morinaga Maki Isaka, 2008, 188.
527
Morinaga, Secrecy in Japanese Arts …, 2005, 59.
528
Ibid., 50.
529
Ibid., 53–54.
530
Ibid., 50.

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also uses phrasings with iwaku and to nari, where scholars have not been able to identify the
sources. According to Morinaga, the established scholarship has nullified these parts, by
asserting that: (1) iwaku is nothing more than a wording that Zeami prefers, and that it does
not refer to any past writings, and (2) to nari is a construction with the auxiliary verb nari,
which has multiple functions, either ‘hearsay’ or ‘conclusion.’531
According to Morinaga, existing scholarship on esoteric practices tends to consider
dictation as the only possible form of writing. Morinaga refers to a certain Kuroda Ryō as
saying that many great artists, whether in acting or swordsmanship, are devoted to their art,
an art that is far from literary activity, so most of them “depend on anthologies in which a
third party collects these great actors’ words and deeds.”532 Morinaga further refers to
Professor Kumakura Isao, a scholar on the history of Japanese culture, and says that he
states that the words that become oral instructions accrue subjective meaning (shutaiteki na
imi) for “the disciple who receives them, and not to the part of a mentor who narrates.”533
According to Morinaga, Kumakura’s conclusion is that dictation is the only possible form
of recording the contents of oral transmission.
Morinaga, on the other hand, argues that even texts that are not dictations (may) include a
propensity, an innate inclination, for dictation. In scholastic studies on Zeami, seventeen
cases of mata iwaku have been found, of which seven have traceable sources. The
remaining ten are regarded, by scholars, as a literary style used by Zeami, when introducing
supplementary explanations added by Zeami himself.534 Morinaga questions why we should
regard occurences of mata iwaku and, by extension, iwaku, as customary formulas without
any hearsay connotations only when there are no definable sources. She does not disagree
with the propositions put forward by modern scholarship, but she finds that scholarship
stretches the methods too far. Morinaga asserts: “[E]ven when sources are unlikely to exist,
hearsay is possible as a logic of writing in the context. It means that Type 3 is vaild as a
taxonomic concept, and that the text demonstrates a propensity for hearsay whether or not it
is actually hearsay in the strict sense.”535
For Morinaga, both Type 2 and Type 3 citations construct the past, whereby Type 2 is a
key operator in this construction, and Type 3 citations are “capable of thrusting the present
(i.e., the latest possible ‘past’) into the past,”536 and she proposes that attention be given to
how creativity is conceptualized. By connecting present with past, by the use of Type 3
citations, Morinaga argues that these quotations can “incorporate utterances at the present
moment (creation) with utterances in the past (tradition).” Zeami created (saku suru),
receiving the tradition (fū wo ukete); 537 creation and the reception of tradition are

531
Ibid., 55.
532
Quoted in Morinaga, Secrecy in Japanese Arts …, 2005, 47: Kuroda Ryō (黒田亮), Kan no Kenkyū (勘の研究) (A
Study of Intention), Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1980, 153.
533
Quoted in Morinaga, Secrecy in Japanese Arts …, 2005, 48: Kumakura Isao (熊倉功夫, 1943–), “Hiden no shisō”
(秘伝の思想) (The Ideas of Secret Transmission). Geinō to chinkon (芸能と鎮魂) (Entertainment and Requiescat), in
Moriya Takeshi, ed., Taikei Bukkyō to nihonjin 7 (大系仏教と日本人) (Survey of Buddhism and the Japanese). Tokyo:
Shunjūsha, 1980, 286.
534
Morinaga, Secrecy in Japanese Arts …, 2005, p. 57.
535
Ibid.
536
Ibid., 58.
537
Ibid., 59.

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simultaneously present and mutually indispensable. This can be seen in some of Zeami’s
writings, for example in the Fūshikaden:

When the author and the actor of a nō are different persons, it is impossible for an actor to
perform to his full satisfaction. If the actor has written his own play, however, both the
text and the gestures can be performed according to his conception. One who can perform
the nō and has some talent in writing can surely compose one without difficulty. Such is
the very life of our art.538

This reveals the ‘creative’ aspect of Nō for Zeami, but in the same paragraph he is
nevertheless setting criteria for good and bad performances, based on their relation to
traditional aspects.

Now, as far as the nō performances themselves are concerned, they can be judged as high,
average, and low. A play that is taken from an authentic source, shows novelty, and
possesses Grace will have something of interest about it and will surely be a play of first
quality. If such a play is well performed and successfully received, then it is doubtless in
the first category. Even if the play is not such a good one but is constructed properly in
accordance with its source and without any flaws, then, if the performance is successful,
it can be considered in the second category. Even if the play is merely showy and not
authentic, should the actor make proper use of the text and apply all his skill and effort to
please the audience, then such a performance will be in the third category.539

From this we can conclude that there are several aspects that need to be considered in the
evaluation of a performance: (1) its authenticity, i.e., that it builds on the tradition; (2) its
novelty, i.e., a play should not only be copied from a tradition, but something new must be
added; (3) the actor’s ability and efforts in performing the play, i.e., a “proper use of the text”
and an application of “all his skill” are apparently highly evaluated, even if the play is
mediocre; (4) the successfulness of the performance, i.e., if the audience likes it, it is
positively evaluated.
In regard to the novelty vis-à-vis tradition, Zeami asserts that “while studying the old and
admiring the new, the great traditions of elegance must never be slighted,”540 which would
imply that ‘traditional aspects’ have higher priority than ‘novelty.’ This is also indicated by
Zeami in another of his writings, Sandō.

There is also the category of “created nō” in which a new play is prepared without any
specific literary source, making use of the affinities between famous places or historical
sites, in order to move the audience. Such plays are difficult to compose and require the
accomplishments of a highly skilled person or great talent.541

To have this great talent is to have gained the Flower, which should not be the Flower of
youth, but to have mastered the essence of Nō. Then, such a person could perform in any

538
Zeami, Fūshikaden (1400/1402), 1973, 359–360. Translated in Rimer and Yamazaki, On the Art of the Nō Drama,
1984, 21.
539
Zeami, Fūshikaden (1400/1402), 1973, p. 360. Translated in Rimer and Yamazaki, On the Art of the Nō Drama,
1984, 22.
540
Zeami, Fūshikaden (1400/1402), 1973, 342. Translated in Rimer and Yamazaki, On the Art of the Nō Drama, 3.
541
Zeami, Sandō (1423), 1973, 471. Translated in Rimer and Yamazaki, On the Art of the Nō Drama, 1984, 149.

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style that exists. If an actor is inattentive to the fundamental principles in his own style, his
acting can never possess any genuine life of its own. This aspect of ‘tradition’ refers to the
form or formalized pattern of performance, and Zeami implies that only those who
thoroughly master (kiwameru) the moulds (kata-gi) of their own art can understand other
forms of Nō as well. 542 I discuss the notion of form (kata) further in Chapter 8.
What is important in relation to the present study, is a central point in Morinaga’s
argument that “Zeami is engaged in the noh theater and practitioners’ genealogy, i.e., a
quest for the present, as opposed to archaeology, i.e., a quest for the past.”543 From this I
conclude that Morinaga’s concept of ‘dynamic hearsay’ may also relate to the creation of a
historical origin, regardless of the fact that Morinaga uses it mostly in relation to the
aesthetic principles of Nō in the writings of Zeami. I will treat this concept as a tool for
inventing tradition, as I envisage the creation of an origin in the shakuhachi tradition during
the seventeenth century.

4.5 The Construction of an Origin

In this section I investigate the normally assumed background to the establishment of the
Fuke sect, that to which the komusō supposedly related when the origin was created. Section
4.5.1 contains analyses of some poems by the Zen monk Ikkyū. Section 4.5.2 contains
discussions of the early sixteenth-century book Taigen-shō, a treatise on court music, and
some popular songs widely known in the sixteenth century. These sources were most likely
known, but not used by the komusō when they created a suitable past. In the sixteenth
century both the boro-boro monks and the komosō monks were active (see below), and they
are referred to in early seventeenth-century writings, partly by the komusō but also by a
well-known and highly respected Confucian scholar, Hayashi Razan. Section 4.5.3 is a
discussion of his commentary to the fourteenth-century Tsurezure-gusa, written by Yoshida
Kenkō, which had a tremendous impact on the society from the very beginning of the Edo
period. In this section I also discuss some early documents written by the newly formed
komusō. I believe that these documents, together with Hayashi Razan’s commentary, hold
the clue to the appearance of shakuhachi-playing komusō.
Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 contain detailed analyses and discussions of the appearance of
two older types of monks, the boro-boro and the komosō. My hypothesis is that the
twentieth-century studies of the history of the shakuhachi have sought to establish an older
indigenous origin of the Edo period komusō. Prior to that discussion, in the concluding
Section 4.5.4, I discuss a possible alternative to the commonly accepted theory, which holds
that the the komusō of the Edo period developed from the earlier existing monks mentioned
above, the boro-boro and the komosō.

542
Zeami, Fūshikaden (1400/1402), 1973, 375. Translated in Rimer and Yamazaki, On the Art of the Nō Drama,
1984, 40.
543
Morinaga, Secrecy in Japanese Arts …, 2005, 53.

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4.5.1 Fifteenth Century: Ikkyū Sōjun

Ikkyū Sōjun was a Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk who lived 1394–1481. He wrote a number of
books and collections of poetry, and in some of his poems he refers to the shakuhachi and to
the monk Fuke. I have no intention to expound on Ikkyū’s Zen Buddhist doctrine, but my
analyses of his poems touch upon his way of thinking. The aim of discussing Ikkyū is to
show that he had a liking both for the shakuhachi and Fuke, inclinations that probably were
central for the komusō when they created their origin. The saying of Fuke, “myōtō-rai
myōtō-da, ...,” as discussed in Section 4.1 above, appears in Rinzai-roku, a collection of
sayings and teachings by the Zen master Rinzai, compiled by his followers.544 Ikkyū also
refers to this saying in his writings. Ikkyū was well known in the early Edo period, and
Rinzai Zen Buddhist monks would presumably have known their Rinzai and Ikkyū fairly
well.
One of Ikkyū’s major works is Kyōun-shū (Crazy Cloud Collection),545 where ‘Crazy
Cloud’ is a reference to one of his aliases, Kyōun-shi. I have consulted a modern edition of
Kyōun-shū, annotated by Ichikawa Hakugen, in the interpretations and translations below.
Ichikawa alleges that the Kyōun-shū was probably compiled towards the end of Ikkyū’s life,
and that the poems were first gathered without any order, and later divided into those with a
Buddhist content and those of a more lyrical content to form two main parts: “Kyōun-shū”
and “Kyōun-shishū” (Collection of Crazy Cloud Poems), totalling 880 poems. 546 In
Ichikawa’s annotated publication only the first third, 231 poems, are in fact annotated. The
remaining 649 are only given in their original literary Chinese (kanbun).
In Kyōun-shū I have counted a total of twelve poems that mention wind instruments,
‘shakuhachi’ in three, and generally ‘flute’ as a generic term in nine. I have also counted
three poems where Ikkyū makes references to Fuke. Below I analyse and translate four
poems, one relating to shakuhachi and Zen, and three relating to Fuke and Zen. Firstly,
poem Number 75 bears the title “Shakuhachi”:

一枝尺八恨難任 一枝の尺八恨任へ難し、 isshi no shakuhachi, urami taegatashi

吹入胡茄塞上吟 吹いて胡茄塞上の吟に入る。 fuite koka saijō no gin ni iru.
十字街頭誰氏曲 十字街頭 誰が氏の曲ぞ、 jūjigaitō, ta ga uji no kyoku zo,
547
少林門下絶知音 少林門下 知音を絶す。 shōrin-monka, chi-in o zessu.

In a shakuhachi is contained, a sadness that is hard to withstand.

Playing the shakuhachi, one will enter into the lament of the old flute of northern China.
At the crossroads, whose tune is it?
Even at the Shaolin temple, nobody is left who knows this sound.

544
Records of Linji (臨済録), collected teachings of Rinzai Gigen (臨済義玄, d. 866), in Chisese Linji Yixuan, the
founder of the Rinzai School of Zen Buddhism.
545
狂雲集.
546
Ichikawa, “Ikkyū to sono zen shisō,” 1991, 574–575. Ichikawa is referring to the Okumura-bon edition, in which
the various parts are divided as follows: “Kyōun-shū” comprising 669 poems, “Zoku Kyōun-shishū” 154, “Sermons”
8, and an un-identifiable section (号類) 49 poems.
547
Ikkyū, Kyōun-shū, No 75, in Ichikawa, ed., Ikkyū Sōjun: Kyōun-shū, 1991, 296. The Shaolin temple is read
Shōrin-ji in Japanese.

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This poem contains a complex web of allusions. It begins with one (isshi) shakuhachi,548
saying that it is hard to withstand (tae-gatashi) the sadness (urami) that is contained in, or
can be expressed with, the instrument. By playing this instrument (fuite), one can enter into
the sad and sorrowful timbre of the flute played in the northern provinces of China: The
word koka refers to a reed flute, hujia in Chinese, played by the people in these remote
parts,549 and saijō no gin refers to a song (gin) heard on top of the fortification (saijō), or
more concretely, on top of the Great Wall in the far north.550 Ichikawa relates this part to the
poem “Hujiage” (The Song of the Hujia), by the poet Cen Shen (715–770).551 Here an
imagery of the sad and sorrowful timbre of the flute, played by red-haired and blue-eyed
foreigners in the Northern provinces, is used to convey a sense of the sadness when a dear
friend departs for distant places. The following is an excerpt in a Japanese translation –
“Koka no uta” – given by Ichikawa in a supplementary note:

君聞かずや胡茄の声最もかなしきを。紫髯緑眼、胡人吹く。之を吹いて一曲猶未だ了らざるに、愁
殺す桜蘭〔地方名〕征戍の児〔地方の守備に遠征する兵たち〕。 ... 秦山遥かに望む隴山の雲、辺
城夜夜愁夢多し。月に向って胡茄、誰か聞くを喜ばん 552

kimi kikazu ya, koka no koe mottomo kanashiki o. shizenryokugan, kojin fuku. kore o fuite
ikkyoku nao imada owarazaru ni, shūsatsu su ōran seiju no ji. [...] shinzan haruka ni
nozomu rōzan no kumo, henjō yoyo shūmu ōshi. tsuki ni mukatte koka, ta ga kiku wo
yorokoban.
Have you not heard the sad voice of the koka? It is played by the red-haired and
blue-eyed foreigners in the Northern provinces. The soldiers sent to defend the Ōran
province lament before they even finish playing one piece … [Leaving] Shinzan, with the
commanding view of the clouds over the distant Rōzan, at the border fortress there will
be night after night with many dreams of loneliness. When the foreigners in the north
face the moon and play their koka, who would then rejoice in listening [to this sad and
sorrowful sound]?

The final line of Ikkyū’s poem refers to the Shaolin temple, the legendary dwelling place
of Bodhidharma,553 and the foreigners mentioned in this song could be an allusion to
Bodhidharma, who himself was a foreigner in China: a possible connection between the
sound of the flute and the teaching of Bodhidharma, but also to the emotional sides of life,
sadness and loneliness far away from loved ones.
The third line of Ikkyū’s poem begins with “at the crossroads” (jūjigaitō), and continues
with a question about whose tune it is (ta ga uji no kyoku zo). The phrase jūjigaitō appears
in Rinzai-roku, in relation to a person who has to make a choice: this way or that? In
Rinzai-roku, Episode seven of “Sermons from the Pulpit,” this is exemplified in that one
way leads to the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra, probably written in the first century CE,

548
shi is a counter for long and narrow objects, like the shakuhachi.
549
DAIJIRIN, koka: p. 847.
550
The word sainai (塞内) means ‘on the inside of the Great Wall,’ and saigai (塞外) ‘on the outside of the Great
Wall,’ thus saijō (塞上) refers to ‘on top of the Great Wall.’
551
J. Shinshin or Shinjin, 岑参, a Tang dynasty poet. The poem: J. “Koka no uta”, 胡茄の歌. Shinshin lived in the
desert in Western China for a period of his life, and based on his experiences there he wrote a collection called (in
my translation) Poems from the Outskirts of the Great Wall (J. Saigaishi, 塞外詩,), in which the poem “Koka no uta”
is included.
552
In Ichikawa, ed., Ikkyū Sōjun: Kyōun-shū, 1991, 426.
553
In the Zen tradition, Bodhidharma is considered to be the founder of Zen (Chan) Buddhism in China.

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concerning an ideal layman Buddhist named Vimalakīrti,554 contemporary with Gautama

Buddha, and the other to the Chinese layman Buddhist Fu Daishi (497–569). 555 In
Rinzai-roku one reads that the Master spoke thus: “One person came to an absolute extreme
point in life, where there were no more roads to follow; one person was living in the midst
of reality, surpassing all relativism. So, which is better and which is worse? And do not say
that the former is Vimalakīrti, and the latter Fu Daishi! Alas, what hardships you are in.”556
The ‘tune’ (kyoku) may also refer to a short section in Rinzai-roku, where the expression
ta ga ya no kyoku carries the meaning “whose teaching.” In Episode one of the
above-mentioned section, “Sermons from the Pulpit,” a monk asks Rinzai: “Whose doctrine
[ta ga ya no kyoku] did you follow, to whose teaching did you succeed?”557 The difference
between ya (house, style, lineage), as in Rinzai-roku, and Ikkyū’s uji (or shi: clan, family,
family line, style, lineage), is more of nuance than meaning; in this context they both denote
a line or school of transmission.558 The word uji can, however, also refer to tagui, ‘a kind,’
‘a sort.’559 Since the poem on the whole alludes strongly to the song “Hujiage,” I interpret
uji no kyoku as also referring to it: “a [hujia] kind of tune,” presumably the song by Cen
Shen.
By referring both to the reed flute of northern China, and to Rinzai-roku, Ikkyū keeps the
double-meaning tune/teaching in the word kyoku. The final zo in the question is an
emphasis: When you are in doubt, when you come to a crossroad, asks Ikkyū “Whose music
is it?”560 The sound of the flute, i.e., the correct doctrine, is not known anymore even at the
temple Shaolin. The shōrin monka (in Japanese the name of the temple is pronounced
Shōrin-ji) refers to Bodhidharma’s followers, i.e., all the Zen Buddhist denominations,
saying that among them there is no longer anyone who knows this sound (chi-in o zessu),
nobody who understands the right teaching: those who know have ceased to be.561
I find this poem to be an example of a very complex structure of allusions. The
shakuhachi seems to have an emotional side for Ikkyū, but it also appears as if the playing
of shakuhachi would be a way to reach enlightenment. However, the main issue for Ikkyū is
the doctrine, the right path to follow. This connection between Zen and the shakuhachi must
of course have been a perfect match for the komusō. Even though the Zen-shakuhachi
connection is not explicit in any of the texts surrounding the komusō, it seems rather
obvious that they did in fact imply this connection: at the beginning of the komusō tradition,
the monks preferred to call themselves komosō, the only monk-related shakuhachi-players
in the sixteenth century, as far as we know from extant historical records. The fact that the
554
J. Yuimakitsu, 維摩詰.
555
The Great Teacher Fu Xi (J. Fu Kyū 傅翕, 497–569).
556
Iriya, transl., Rinzai-roku, 2010, 26–27. (上堂、七： 上堂して言った、「一人は、絶対究極の境地に達して、もはや先へ
進み出る道はなく、一人は現実のさなかに生きつつ一切の相対を超えている。さて、どちらが優り、どちらが劣っているか。前者
は維摩詰だ、後者は傅大士だなどとは言うまいぞ。やあご苦労。」).
557
Iriya, transl., Rinzai-roku, 2010, 16–17. (上堂、一： 僧「師は一体だれの宗旨を受け、また、だれの法を継がれましたか。」).
In the original in Rinzai-roku it reads 師唱誰家曲 宗風嗣阿誰, and in Ikkyū’s poem the part 誰氏曲 would then be
‘whose doctrine.’
558
The same wording is used in poem No. 157, with reference to a ‘long flute’ (長笛暮楼 誰が氏の曲ぞ), where
Ichikawa Hakugen has the reading ta ga uji no kyoku zo. The phrasing ‘whose style,’ ta ga fū no fue (誰風笛) appears
in No. 779, and ta ga ya no kyoku (誰家曲) in No. 796. (Ichikawa, ed., Ikkyū Sōjun: Kyōun-shū, 1991, 319, 380–381).
559
Morohashi Vol. 6: shi (氏), p. 835. (類い).
560
KOGO, zo: p. 1498–99.
561
Ichikawa, ed., Ikkyū Sōjun: Kyōun-shū, 1991, 296.

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komosō were low-ranking beggar-monks (cf. Chapter 6) must have been of less importance
compared to the possiblility of making this Zen-shakuhachi connection.
In “Kyotaku denki” Fuke is portrayed with references to his famous saying (myōtō-rai
myōtō-da, antō-rai antō-da, …), and the ringing of his bell. According to the legend, it was
the bell of Fuke that gave rise to the kyotaku tradition, i.e., the shakuhachi tradition. This
bell is mentioned in the Rinzai-roku, and related to in two of the three poems by Ikkyū that I
quote below. Fuke asked people in the streets to give him a monk’s robe, which they did,
but Fuke did not accept it. Rinzai heard about this, and ordered a coffin to be made. Rinzai
gave the coffin to Fuke with the words “Here, I have made you a monk’s robe.” Fuke took
the coffin on his shoulders, and went off saying: “Rinzai made me a monk’s robe.
Tomorrow I will go to the East Gate and die there.” The next day, everybody had gathered
at the East Gate, but Fuke said, “I will not do it today. Tomorrow I will go to the South Gate
and die there.” This continued for three days, and no one believed him anymore; on the
fourth day not a single person had come. Fuke went into the coffin, and asked a passer-by to
nail the lid firmly. Soon the rumour spread, and people gathered. They opened the lid of the
coffin, but Fuke had vanished. In the air, the gradually fainter sound of a bell was all that
could be heard.562 In poem Number 111 of Kyōun-shū, Ikkyū makes allusions to this bell.

見聞境界太無端 見聞の境界 はなはだ端なし、 kenmon no kyōgai, hanahada tan nashi,

好是清声隠々寒 好是清声隠々として寒し。 atakamo seisei in-in to shite samu(ke)shi.
普化老漢活手段 普化老漢の活手段、 fuke rōkan no katsu shudan,
563
和風搭在玉欄干 風に和して搭在す 玉欄干に。 kaze ni washite tōzaisu, gyoku-rankan ni.

The realm of the senses, is indeed an elusive thing,

As if it was a clear voice, faintly in the cold.
The old man Fuke used lively methods,
[The bell] hanging from the noble railing, [ringing] in harmony with the wind.

The first stanza refers to the boundaries (kyōkai) of the senses, but the word kyōgai can
also mean one’s own environment and circumstances, i.e., the world as each individual
experiences it through what we can see and hear (kenmon). To the utmost extent (hanahada),
this world has no ends (tan nashi); there are no places where we can get a firm grip on it.
The clear voice faintly in the cold refers of course to Fuke’s bell, implying also a sense of
chill in the body (samukeshi). The methods (shudan) of the old man (rō-kan) were full of
energy and life (katsu). In the last stanza, again the bell of Fuke is alluded to: it hangs
(tōzaisu) on the railing (rankan) of noble origin, ornamented, or belonging to a person of
high rank (gyoku-), and it hits the railing harmonizing (washite) with the wind (kaze), i.e.,
each time when there is a burst of wind. In this poem Ikkyū aligns the borders of the world
of our senses with the bell of Fuke. This bell was, through his various means and deeds, a
way to wake people to realize the real essence of the world. Ichikawa Hakugen notes that
the last two characters in the first stanza, meaning “no ends” (無端) could also carry the
meaning of the circle image often used by Zen monks to describe the essence of
enlightenment and the true shape of the mind.564

562
Iriya, transl., Rinzai-roku, 2010, 175–177.
563
Ikkyū, Kyōun-shū, No 111, Ichikawa, ed., Ikkyū Sōjun: Kyōun-shū, 1991, 306.
564
Ichikawa, ed., Ikkyū Sōjun: Kyōun-shū, 1991, 306. (一円相).

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The bell of Fuke is referred to also in poem Number 126, titled “Praising Fuke.”

徳山臨済柰同行 徳山臨済 同行を柰ん、 tokusan rinzai dōan o ikan,

街市風顚群衆驚 街市の風顚に群衆驚く。 gaishi no fūten ni gunshū odoroku.
坐脱立亡多敗闕 坐脱立亡 敗闕多し、 zadatsu ryūbō, haiketsu ōshi,
565
和鳴隠々宝鈴声 和鳴隠々たり 宝鈴の声。 wamei in-in tari, hōrei no koe.

What if Tokusan and Rinzai were to travel with him,

People in the streets and towns would be surprised by his crazy words and conduct.
Many of the monks who died sitting or standing can not compete with him,
The voices of the Buddha bells, faintly, ringing in harmony.

Here Ikkyū is making a direct comparison with two monks, Tokusan (782–865)566 and
Rinzai, known for their fierce ways of conducting their teaching. What if they were to travel
together, what would that be like (dōan o ikan)? Well, people who gathered in the streets
and the towns they visited would be surprised by Fuke’s crazy words and conduct (fūten).567
In the third stanza Ikkyū compares the parting of Fuke with the (more or less spectacular)
parting of many Zen monks before him, whether they were sitting or standing.568 Many of
them (ōshi) have shortcomings (haiketsu) compared with Fuke in this respect. I would
interpret the last stanza as denoting a number of bells dedicated for use in front of the
Buddha (hōrei), i.e., a number of denominations, ringing in harmony with Fuke’s bell, i.e.,
the true learning, which can be heard faintly, i.e., even though it is the true learning, it is not
the mainstream learning of Zen Buddhism. Ikkyū praises Fuke’s eccentric and odd ways of
teaching, including the way he parted this world, and holds him above the more famous
monks mentioned here.
Ikkyū was a Rinzai Zen Buddhist, but even within this school, he seems to have had an
especially keen eye for Fuke. In the last poem I quote here, Ikkyū allocates to Fuke’s style a
position at the centre of Zen Buddhism, which would be in line with my interpretation of the
previous poem. Poem Number 588 in Kyōun-shū, “Fuke the Monk,” reads like this:

議論明頭又暗頭 議論は、明頭又暗頭 giron wa myōtō mata antō

老禅作略使人愁 老禅の作略は人を愁は使む。 rōzen no saryaku wa hito o urewa-shimu.
古往今来風顚漢 古往今来の風顚漢、 ko-ō kon-rai no fūten kan,
569
宗門年代一風流 宗門年代の一風流。 shūmon nendai no ippūryū.

The dispute is the “light head and dark head,”

The old Zen monk’s thoughts make people troubled.
From old times until now, the crazy words and conduct of this man,
Have been one and the same tradition of our doctrine through the ages.

The first stanza includes a quote of Fuke’s famous saying (cf. Section 4.1) as it is told in
the Rinzai-roku: “Attacked from the light I hit back in the light, attacked from the dark I hit
back in the dark …” The connection to Fuke is obvious, as well as the fact that Ikkyū holds
565
Ikkyū, Kyōun-shū, No 126, Ichikawa, ed., Ikkyū Sōjun: Kyōun-shū, 1991, 310–311. Fuke o sansu (賛普化).
566
C. Te-shan, known for his hard discipline, often hitting the disciples with a stick. Tokusan Senkan (徳山宣鑑).
567
It reads 風顚 but I assume this is an alternative writing of 瘋癲, meaning ‘insanity,’ or generally an abnormal
mental condition. Also in poem 588 below.
568
How a Zen monk dies is one aspect of his teaching.
569
Ikkyū, Kyōun-shū, No 588, Ichikawa, ed., Ikkyū Sōjun: Kyōun-shū, 1991, 366. Fuke Oshō (普化和尚). I have also
consulted Takeda, Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi, 1997, 220.

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Fuke’s awkward ways of conduct in high esteem. Even though the scheme of the old Zen
monk (rōzen no saryaku) confuses people (hito o urewa-shimu), the crazy conduct (fūten)570
of Fuke (kan refers here simply to a ‘man’) has been the same through the ages (nendai),
from old times until now (ko-ō kon-rai), and this is the one and only tradition (ippūryū) of
the doctrine (shūmon); I interpret this as ‘our’ doctrine from Ikkyū’s point of view.
The author Takeda Kyōson (cf. page 162) interprets this poem in a different way. He
asserts that Fuke’s crazy behaviour is a way to wash off the vulgar and worldly-minded
aspects of the Zen doctrine (zenmon), and add elegance to the essence of Zen (zen no
honshitsu ni miyabiyakasa o ataeru). He also adds a sociological interpretation of Ikkyū’s
writing: He reads nendai as “in our time,” reaching a conclusion that what Ikkyū wants to
say is that Fuke pretended his awkward ways, and that it is only by taking an oblique
position that one can cut into a society turned into strife, which was the situation in Japan
during the latter half of the fifteenth century.571 This is a possible interpretation, but my
belief is that Ikkyū was more concerned about the doctrine as such, in a philosophical
manner, rather than its social aspects. I am not convinced that Ikkyū perceived ‘vulgarism’
and worldly-mindedness as something that should be washed off and replaced with elegance.
On the contrary, I believe that Ikkyū would embrace these aspects of life, as something that
holds the essence of Zen. Some of Ikkyū’s more colloquial writings give an indication of
this, for example the following poems, in translation by R. H. Blyth:

Shakamuni, Tell a lie,

That mischievous creature, And you fall into Hell.
Having appeared in the world, Then what will happen to Buddha
Misled, alas, Who contrived
How many people! 572 Things that do not exist. 573

The mind remaining

Just as it was born,—
Without any prayer
It becomes the Buddha. 574

Ikkyū seems to have been instrumental in creating the connection between Fuke,
shakuhachi, and Zen, but there are no historical records of Ikkyū actually playing the
shakuhachi, apart from what we may interpret as circumstantial proof in some of his
colloquial poems (cf. Section 7.2 below).
As a comparison and in contrast to the writings of Ikkyū, some other sources, which were
more or less contemporary with Ikkyū, were ‘rejected’ by the early komusō. I argue that this
probably was due to the fact that these sources did not constitute sufficient support for the
existence of the komusō.

570
See poem Number 126 above. (瘋癲).
571
Takeda, Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi, 1997, 220.
572
Blyth, Zen and Zen Classics: Vol. Five, 1974, 164. (釈迦といふいたづらものが世にいでておほくの人をまよはするかな).
573
Ibid., 165. (嘘をつきぢごくへおつるものならばなきことつくるしゃかいかにせん).
574
Ibid. (そのま々にうまれながらの心こそねかはすとても仏なるべし).

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4.5.2 Sixteenth Century: Taigen-shō and Popular Songs

4.5.2.1 Taigen-shō
Taigen-shō is a treatise on gagaku, the Japanese court music, of which the shakuhachi was
part up to the middle of the ninth century. After that, the court music was reformed and the
shakuhachi disappeared (cf. Section 3.2). Taigen-shō was written in 1512, by the court
music performer Toyohara Sumiaki. In this treatise there is one chapter devoted to the
shakuhachi, where the older history of the shakuhachi and its position in the music world of
that time is explained. This chapter can therefore be regarded as the oldest historical survey
of the shakuhachi. It was most likely known by the Edo-period literate public, including the
komusō-to-be, but it is not referred to in the invention of a tradition in the Edo period. In the
twentieth-century secondary writings it is, however, often referred to. In Taigen-shō, the
shakuhachi is connected to Buddhism, to the court, including Shōtoku Taishi, and also to
the early stages of Nō music, i.e., dengaku. The Taigen-shō was an attempt by Toyohara to
save a record of the music guild in the midst of the crisis that had dawned on classical music
after the Ōnin no ran, the War of Ōnin.575 This civil war began in 1467, and continued
around the capital until 1477, after which it spread out into the provinces, where the battles
continued until the close of the fifteenth century. The Ashikaga shōgunate indulged in
luxury, and the Imperial House was poverty-stricken. Neither were attacked because they
were deemed impotent, and did not constitute any danger. The imperial poverty reached its
nadir around 1500, when there was not even enough money to bury the deceased emperor,
and no money for the ceremony to inaugurate his sucessor.576 Under these circumstances
Toyohara tried to save the court music from extinction and oblivion. Connections to older
history, Shōtoku Taishi, to the court in general, and of course to the Nō theatre that was
admired by the warrior class, must have had high priority on his agenda.
Both Taigen-shō and the three-hundred-years earlier Kyōkun-shō relate an obscure origin
of the shakuhachi, in all likelihood connected to the statements in Kyōkun-shō that the
shakuhachi was played by sarugaku – monkey music – performers. According to this story,
the shakuhachi was made out of the humerus of a monkey.

In a book it is said that a long time ago, in the western provinces, [some] shakuhachi
player found the sound of the monkey to be felicitous, and took one shaku eight sun of
the humerus to make a shakuhachi, and for the first time played it.577

In Taigen-shō, this story is further developed, saying that the sound of a monkey in the
mountains of a western country in China was so appealing that no one who heard it could
hold his or her tears back, and it moved people to a will to comply with the Buddhist path.
Princes left the Imperial House, all the noblemen left their official duties and secluded

575
KOKUGO, Vol. 15, toyohara sumiaki: p. 39.
576
Sansom, Japan: A Short Cultural History (1931), 1985, 368–369.
577
Koma Chikazane, Kyōkun-shō (1233), 1973, 156. (或書云、尺八者、昔シ西国ニ有ケル猿ノ鳴音、目出カリケル、臂ノ骨
一尺八寸ヲ取テ造テ、始テ吹タリケル也。).

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themselves at mountain temples; from monks to merchants, all developed an understanding

of the evanescence of life. The temples ended up with hundreds of people.578 The story
continues, but it is enough for this study to notice that none of the twentieth-century studies
that I have investigated relate this ‘monkey’ story, except for Kurihara. Because of the
story’s mythical character, and its lack of any further information, the other authors
probably felt it was a superfluous even to mention it. The story has no direct relation to any
specific Buddhist denomination, no relation to komusō or their activities, and the relation to
Shōtoku Taishi, Jikaku Daishi, court music, and the like, had already been established.
The other old references given in Taigen-shō are to (1) Shōtoku Taishi (cf. Chapter 7);
(2) Jikaku Daishi of the Tendai School of Buddhism (cf. Section 3.3), also mentioned in
Kojidan, probably compiled in 1215; (3) Sadayasu Shinnō (cf. Section 3.3); and (4) Genji
monogatari (cf. Section 3.3). Apart from these above-mentioned references, there are two
more of great interest. Firstly, (5) Zōami, a dengaku Nō performer who was contemporary
with Zeami, and in relation to him, Toyohara’s forefathers are said to have been teachers of
shakuhachi, thus, (6) other members of the Toyohara family. Secondly, (7) Ikkyū Sōjun, the
fifteenth-century Rinzai Zen monk already discussed in relation to shakuhachi in Section
4.5.1 above, and further in relation to the hitoyogiri shakuhachi in Section 7.2 below.

In our family lineage, the late Kazuaki was an accomplished [shakuhachi performer]! It is
said that he performed at ceremonies preceding hōjō-e,579 lowered his head and followed
the little creatures to the top of the mountain, where they held a feast; he played to make
deer come closer, and when he played tens of thousands of insects would always gather.
This is something that could not be doubted. Atsuaki, of a collateral lineage, was a
student of Kazuaki. The dengaku performer named Zōami was also a student of Kazuaki.
After Kazuaki’s premature death, Zōami learned from Atsuaki. Zōami discussed our
illustrations with Atsuaki and finalized them.580

Kazuaki died in 1441, and he was three generations before Sumiaki, i.e., Sumiaki’s
great-grandfather. Kamisangō includes the passage above, as does the historian Hosaka
Hirooki. In both of these writings it is stated that the dengaku performers claimed that the
shakuhachi was their instrument, but Sumiaki asserts that this is not true.581 Zōami and his
successors had studied with the Toyohara family, which was in possession of the original
illustrations, but Zōami had made copies of them at the temple Higashi-yama Reizan.582
Thus, in 1512 the shakuhachi is described as an instrument of gagaku, but also in
competition with dengaku Nō performers. After Taigen-shō, and the succeeding Maikyoku
kuden written by Toyohara Sumiaki two years before his death in 1524, there are – to my
knowledge – no references to the shakuhachi appearing at the court, or in any similar
circumstances.

578
Toyohara, Taigen-shō (1512), Vol. 5, “Shakuhachi.” Also in Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 26. (此事
ヲ委注テ云、唐ニ西國ノ山ニアリケル猿ノナク聲奇妙ナリ、聞人皆涙ヲナガスノミナラズ道心ノ志イデキテ、太子ハ宮ヲ去リ諸卿
ハ宮職ヲステ々山寺ニコモリ、道人商客ニ至マテ皆無常ノ理ヲ催スコト數百人ナリ).
579
A religious ceremony in which living creatures are released into ponds or the woods.
580
Toyohara, Taigen-shō (1512), Vol. 5, “Shakuhachi.” (當家ニハ故量秋堪能ナリケルトカヤ放生會試楽ニ下向シテ山上之
兒達同道シテ梅尾焼尾ナント々テ鹿ヲ吹ヨセ侍ル必ス吹ハ万虫アツマルナント申 コレハ不可疑事ナリ他流ノ敦秋モ量秋弟子ナリ
田楽増阿ト云シモノハ量秋弟子ナリ早世ノ後ハ敦秋ニ習テ我図ヲ敦秋ニ云アワセテ定テ畢).
581
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 72.
582
Hosaka, “Jūnana seiki ni okeru komusō no seisei,” 1994, 175–176.

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At the end of the fifteenth century there are remarks about beggar-monks, komosō,
playing the shakuhachi. In a collection of rules and regulations issued by the Ōuchi clan,
these komosō are regarded as persona non grata, and a hardly cultivated komosō is also
depicted in the Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase, a scroll painting of artisans, from 1494 (cf.
Chapter 6). In 1500 the so-called boro-boro monks that appear in the fourteenth-century
Tsurezure-gusa (among other texts) are also depicted in another scroll painting of artisans,
the Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase (cf. Chapter 5). In the early seventeenth century,
some hundred years after Taigen-shō and these other sources, the boro-boro and komosō are
given equal footing. Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi, discussed in Section 4.5.3 below, is probably
the earliest source that equates these two types of monks. Before proceeding to
Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi there are, however, a few popular appearances of the shakuhachi
during the sixteenth century that need attention, to show the breadth of the contemporary
shakuhachi community and what possible historical connections were turned down by the
komusō at the time of the creation of their origins, what aspects of a possible ‘dynamic
hearsay’ they preferred not to include.

4.5.2.2 Popular Songs

In the latter half of the sixteenth century the shakuhachi also appears in popular songs, for
example in the poems in Japanese by Ikkyū Sōjun, so-called dōka,583 and in popular songs
during the Muromachi period, e.g., the Ryūtatsu kouta. I discuss these in Section 7.2 below.
Apart from these writings, there is also the more or less contemporary Kangin-shū, an
anonymous collection from 1518,584 literally A Collection of Songs to be Sung Queitly. It
precedes Ryūtatsu kouta by a couple of decades. In the preface there are two remarks about
the shakuhachi. In one, the unknown compiler writes of “the shakuhachi as my friend,”
when playing tunes of the four seasons, a remark that Kamisangō mentions.585 In the other,
the compiler talks of shakuhachi as one of the instruments used in accompanying the
songs.586 In the collection we also find the following three songs, referring to shakuhachi.

21 Dengaku
我らも持ちたる尺八を、袖の下より取り出し、暫しは吹いて松の風、花をや夢と誘ふらん、いつま
でかこの尺八、吹いて心を慰めん。587

warera mo mochitaru shakuhachi o, sode no shita yori tori-idashi, shibashi wa fuite matsu
no kaze, hana o yume to sasouran, itsumadeka kono shakuhachi, fuite kokoro o
nagusamen.
I have also brought my shakuhachi, which I take out from my sleeve. I blow it for a while,
waiting, and the wind blows through the pine, scattering flowers as in a dream. How long
should I have to play this shakuhachi, before my heart comes to ease?

583
Didactic poems in the Japanese style waka, often with a Buddhist content. (道歌).
584
Kitagawa, Muromachi kouta no sekai, 1991, 247.
585
Kangin-shū (1518, anonymous), in Kitagawa, ed., Kangin-shū, Sōan kouta-shū, 1991, 16. (… 尺八を友として …).
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 74.
586
Kangin-shū (1518), in Kitagawa, ed., Kangin-shū, Sōan kouta-shū, 1991, 15.
587
Ibid., 27–28.

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The first stanza is explained as “Me, too, brought my shakuhachi” in the annotation. The
end of the third stanza, matsu no kaze, carries a double-meaning: matsu can mean ‘pine’ as
the character written here indicates, but it also alludes to the verb ‘waiting,’ with the same
pronunciation. The blowing of the shakuhachi is turned to the blowing of the wind in the
next stanza, “Is it the flowers, blowing in the wind, that are invited to the dream?”
Kitagawa Tadahiko comments that this song could be a verse from the dengaku Nō piece
“Shakuhachi no nō,” a piece that exists in name only. Kitagawa further explains: “Also in
the Kyōgen piece ‘Rakuami’ there is a stanza that reads ‘I also bring the shakuhachi and
take it out from my robe, and then I play this shakuhachi until my heart is full,’ which is
similar to this text.”588 Zeami Motokiyo, the father of Nō as we know it today, was a
sarugaku Nō performer. In the Sarugaku dangi there is a note about how Zeami praised
Zōami – the dengaku Nō performer mentioned in Taigen-shō and one of Zeami’s
contemporary competitors – for his excellent recitation skills in a performance of a Nō
drama with the name “Shakuhachi.”589
Shakuhachi is also mentioned in some of the popular kouta:

177 Kouta
590
咎もない尺八を、枕にかたりと投げ当てても、淋しや独り寝

toga mo nai shakuhachi o, makura ni katari to nage-atete mo, sabishiya hitori-ne

The shakuhachi is without any blame, yet I throw it at my pillow with a cracking sound,
But, nevertheless, I sleep by myself. How lonesome!

The shakuhachi does not have anything to be rebuked for, and still the poet/singer throws
it at the pillow. The sound is a short, hard sound, described with the onomatopoeic word
katari, indicating that it was a wooden pillow, used to put under the neck in order not to
affect the hair styling. Here the words makura ni katari could also be read with the
double-meaning of “talking to the pillow,” further enhancing the sense of loneliness. But,
tossing the shakuhachi does not help to take away the lonely feeling of sleeping alone.

276 Kouta
591
待つと吹けども、恨みつつ吹けども、篇ないものは、尺八ぢゃ

matsu to fukedomo, uramitsutsu fukedomo, hen nai mono wa, shakuhachi ja

I play when I wait for my loved one, I play when I feel bitter and hateful,
But, the shakuhachi does not help a bit!

The verb matsu, which appears also in song 21 above, refers here to waiting for a loved
one, or waiting with a heart full of love-stricken emotions, and the poet/singer plays the
shakuhachi when in such circumstances. On the other hand s/he also plays when love has

588
Kitagawa, Kangin-shū, Sōan kouta-shū, 1991, 27. (狂言『楽阿弥』にも「我も持ちたる尺八を、懐よりも取り出し、この
尺八を吹きしむる)という、これと似た詞章がある。).
589
Zeami Motoyoshi, Sarugaku dangi (1830), 1973, 488. Translated in Rimer and Yamazaki, On the Art of the Nō
Drama, 1984, 175–176. This piece may be the same as that to which Kitagawa refers.
590
Kangin-shū (1518), 1991, 98–99.
591
Ibid., 142.

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turned into hate or bitterness, grudge or resentment. In all these circumstances, that which is
of no use, which does not help in any of these situations, is the shakuhachi.
The aim here is not to expound on the literary qualities of these poems, but the songs are
of a fairly simple structure, without complicated allusions to classical literature. This may
indicate the popularity among ordinary people, not studied in the classics.
There is one kouta in Sōan kouta-shū relating to shakuhachi. The year of completion or
compilation is unknown, but judging from its content and style Kitagawa Tadahiko places it
later than Kangin-shū, but slightly before the Ryūtatsu kouta, i.e., approximately around the
latter half of the sixteenth century.592

81 Kouta
593
憂き人を、尺八に彫り込めて、時々吹かばや、恋の薬に

uki-hito o, shakuhachi ni hori-komete, toki-doki fukaba ya, koi no kusuri ni

The name of a lost lover, I engrave on my shakuhachi.
Playing it from time to time, alas, as medicine for my love.

In the two sections 4.5.1 and 4.5.2 I have indicated a number of possible connections that
the Edo period komusō may have used in the creation of an origin. They probably made a
connection to Ikkyū, due to his liking both for the shakuhachi and for the Zen of the monk
Fuke. All of these instances, however, relate to the shorter and popular hitoyogiri
shakuhachi, and the heavier root-end instrument that came to be the instrument used by the
komusō had yet not developed. In the next section I turn to a discussion of connections
between the Edo period komusō and the earlier monastic types, komosō and boro-boro,
which are evident in historical records.

4.5.3 Seventeenth Century: Hayashi Razan and Early komusō Documents

4.5.3.1 Hayashi Razan and Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi

The impact of Yoshida Kenkō’s fourteenth-century work Tsurezure-gusa (Essays in
Idleness) on contemporary society should not be taken too lightly. Linda H. Chance, a
scholar on Japanese language and literature, states that Tsurezure-gusa had already attracted
attention from various quarters prior to the seventeenth century. Participation in
commenting on Kenkō’s work, “extended to a variety of social classes whose motives in
laying claim to the text, the version of the past it would represent, and the hold on the future
it could have were many.”594 It is not a far-fetched thought that the newly born komusō of
the first half of the seventeenth century were keen on finding a connection to this text. A
text that was not written in Chinese, but in the more accessible hiragana syllabic, had been

592
Kitagawa, Muromachi kouta no sekai, 1991, 251–252.
593
Sōan kouta-shū (late 16th century, anonymous), in Kitagawa, ed., Kangin-shū, Sōan kouta-shū, 1991, 184.
594
Linda H. Chance, “Constructing the Classic: …,” 1997, 41.

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a requirement in order to teach a new commoner audience in the early seventeenth century,
and Tsurezure-gusa, written by a man as it was, became the natural choice for
commentators and teachers of the time, according to Haruo Shirane.595 Chance asserts that
“[t]here were many earnest ventures to bridge the gap in material and textual knowledge
between Kenkō’s fourteenth-century contemporaries and his new fans, both townspeople
and samurai,”596 and the first commentary was published in 1604, authored by Hata Sōha.597
There is, to my knowledge, no comment about the boro or komo in this text, and the earliest
reference that equates these monastic types is in Hayashi Dōshun Razan’s annotation to the
original text, Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi, dated 1621.598 The original Tsurezure-gusa – in itself
and through the annotated publications – had a strong impact on people in all strata of
society. Linda Chance comments on this in the following words.

[Tsurezure-gusa] had served as a resource for poet-priests writing on versification or the

theme of impermanence, for warriors and merchants seeking to mold the behavior of their
followers, for storytellers building layers of allusion into their repertoire, and for those
Buddhist monks who were willing to use a secular source to echo their teachings.599

Hayashi Razan refers to the boro-boro that appear in Episode 115 of Tsurezure-gusa (cf.
Chapter 5), and after having stated that the boro-boro in Tsurezure-gusa also appear in the
book Boro-boro no sōshi (cf. Section 5.2), he connects the boro with the sixteenth-century
komosō (cf. Chapter 6).

After [the boro-boro] there appeared monks called komosō, not looking like monks, not
looking like laymen, and not looking like ascetic monks, carrying a sword, playing
shakuhachi, and with a straw mat on their backs. They walked around the streets,
stopping at people’s doors begging. The tradition has it that this is the style of the
boro-boro.600

This section appears to be a reiteration of the commentary on the beggar-monks komosō

that appear in one of the Muromachi period scroll paintings of artisans, the Sanjūni-ban
Shokunin uta-awase (cf. Section 6.1 below) from 1494, a scroll painting with which
Hayashi most likely was familiar. In the quote above, Hayashi equates the boro-boro monks
with the komosō, by asserting that the komosō were playing shakuhachi, begging at people’s
doors, and then concluding that this is the way of the boro-boro.

595
Shirane, “Introduction,” 2000, 10.
596
Linda H. Chance, “Constructing the Classic: …,” 1997, 42.
597
A physician, who wrote the commentary Tsurezure-gusa jumyōin-shō (徒然草寿命院抄). (秦宗巴, 1550–1608).
Nihon jinmei daijiten, accessed from Japan Knowledge on February 28, 2011.
598
Hayashi Dōshun Razan (林道春羅山 1583–1657). First name Nobukatsu (信勝). Razan was a prominent Confucian
scholar who exercised a heavy influence on the Confucian doctrine during the Edo period in Japan as a propagator
of the Neo-confucian shushigaku (朱子学). (徒然草野槌).
According to Linda Chance, Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi was printed in 1667. (Linda H. Chance, “Constructing the
Classic: …,” 1997, 42).
599
Ibid., 41.
600
Hayashi Razan, Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi (1621), 1968, 124.
(宿河原 摂津國 ぼろ々々 … 其後に薦僧と云もの僧とも見えず俗とも見えず山伏ともみえず刀をさし尺八を吹せなかにむしろを
おひ道路をありき人の門戸に立て物を乞もらふ是ぼろ々々の流也と云傳へたり).

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Hayashi continues his comments about the boro-boro in Tsurezure-gusa, stating that they
have thrown away worldly affairs, seemingly following the way of Buddha, but that at the
same time they are filled with egotism (gashū fukaku) and have a liking for strife (tōsō
konomu), which in content follows what Yoshida Kenkō writes in the original text. Hayashi
continues by asserting that the boro-boro are poor people, trying not to be noticed (benjin =
mienu hito), begging for scraps (issen o ete), and bringing home (osamuru) a handful
(ichiitsu). Since they like fighting, they do not give much regard to the possibility that they
could die suddenly, and it is as if they threw themselves into trouble (higa no hi ni iru ga
gotoshi). They do have a reputation of practicing the way of Buddha, but think little of
worldly teaching.601 In Episode 115 of Tsurezure-gusa two boro-boro meet in a duel,
because one of them wishes to take revenge on his teacher, who was killed by the opponent
in this episode. Yoshida Kenkō finds this wish for revenge, with one’s own life at stake, to
be an appealing characteristic of the boro-boro. Hayashi evaluates Yoshida Kenkō’s
appreciation of the boro-boro in the following words:

Kenkō values the frankness with which the boro-boro took revenge for his master,
willingly giving up his own life. That is the essence of this episode. Those who forget to
take revenge for their masters and fathers, and run away to places where a warrior would
not go, they are inferior to the character of the boro-boro.602

Hayashi, as the Confucian he is, gives ample respect to the willingness of the boro-boro
to sacrifice their own lives: “Retainers should be loyal and show respect to their masters. …
In case of a serious situation for the master, it is the duty of a retainer to sacrifice his own
life.”603
Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi was written in 1621, published in 1648, and printed in 1667.
Considering the facts that (1) Hayashi Razan was one of the most influential Confucianists
connected to the central authorities (bakufu), and (2) Tsurezure-gusa was one of the most
influential books of the early Edo period, it seems highly unlikely that Razan’s commentary
to Tsurezure-gusa should not have been known before its publication in 1648. My
hypothesis is that this was the case, and from that assumption I argue that the positive
evaluation of the boro-boro in Razan’s writing, and in effect also of the komosō, were
known, and highly welcomed, by the early seventeenth-century komusō.

4.5.3.2 Early komusō Documents and Early Historical References

Even before Hayashi Razan’s commentary, there is one document that relates to the origins
of the komusō. This document was written in 1598, by a monk called Isshi Oshō.604 Having
written it, he gave it to the nineteenth head monk of Reihō-ji, one of the three main temples

601
Ibid. (誠にその口を餬ひありきて朝に一銭を得て暮に一溢をおさむる 人なり一旦溘死することを何ともおもはぬ故に闘諍をこのみて
飛蛾の火に入がことし佛道を修する云名はあれど其弊如此に至ることも世教のためを思はざるひがことよりおこれりされど).
602
Ibid., 124. (ぼろ々々が其師のために仇をむくひて死を快くすることのいさぎよきを兼好がとれる此段の本意なり世の人の君父
の仇を忘れ武夫のひくまじき處をにげはしるはぼろ々々の有さまにおとれり).
603
Hayashi Razan, Shunkan-shō, 1975, 128. (臣タル人ハ、君ニ忠ヲツクシ敬ヲツクスガ宜キ処ゾ。… 君ノ一大事ニハ一命ヲ
モハタスハ、臣ノ義ゾ。).
604
一糸和尚.

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of the Edo period Fuke sect. It should, however, be noted that Nakatsuka in his research
found that the three main temple (Reihō-ji and Ichigetsu-ji around Edo, and Myōan-ji in
Kyoto) at this time were nothing more than lodges for mendicant monks. The document is
in the possession of Kōkoku-ji, the temple that was established by Hottō Kokushi, who
according to legend brought the shakuhachi to Japan from China in the middle of the
thirteenth century (cf. Section 4.1 above). In the text there are passages referring to Fuke as
well as Hottō Kokushi. There are references to shakuhachi, and to the four devoted men that
Gakushin (Hottō Kokushi) supposedly brought with him. Furthermore, one reads: “There
are not many who do their practice, and it is only [for me] to preserve the religious precepts;
… nine out of ten are not devoted to following the original doctrine. They just run from east
to west in vain, roaming around from door to door,”605 indicating a lack of interest in any
sincere religious activities. Interesting enough, however, is the fact that the word komu,
written with the characters 虚無, appears together with ‘true origin’ (hongen), ‘nature’
(shizen), and the four devouted men who supposedly followed Hottō Kokushi back to Japan
(yonin). At the end, the author dedicates the text to the head monk Sandō Mugetsu, adding
the title komusō.606 The names of Fuke and Hottō Kokushi also appear in the text, and this is
probably the earliest record of komusō, Fuke and Hottō Kokushi being mentioned together.
Considering their (lack of sincere) activities, it seems highly plausible that those who
took part as komusō at the time were more interested in having a function that they could
fulfill at their own will. The sect, if it was so systemized as to be called a sect, is referred to
as komu shizen. Nakatsuka interprets this in such a fashion, that the name may have been, if
there was at all a need for a name at the time, komu-shū or komu shizen-shū, meaning the
Komu sect or Komu Natural sect. The name Fuke sect is, however, not used.
The word komusō, written with the characters 古無僧, meaning ‘old nothingness monk,’
appears in the Keichō kenmon-shū,607 a collection of anecdotes in ten volumes by Miura
Jōshin (1565–1644), from the time when Tokugawa Ieyasu entered Edo until 1614608 – the
nineteenth year of the Keichō era – which was also the year that the “Keichō okite-gaki” is
supposed to have been authored. According to the references, the work is dated 1614, but it
also relates events from 1624–1644. It is therefore difficult to conclude when this reference
is from. In the same text, the story about the ruffian Ōtori Itsubei (cf. Section 3.2.4) is told,
with reference to the shakuhachi of a komusō (古無僧).609
In 1628 a text referred to as “Kaidō honsoku” (The Kaidō Rules), also mentioned in
Section 4.3.1 above, was written. This text comes seven years after Hayashi Razan had
written his Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi, and thirty years after the text by Isshi Oshō. The text
begins with Hottō Kokushi, recounting that he brought with him four devoted men when he
returned to Japan. It says that the “Kaidō honsoku” comes from Yura in Kii no Kuni, where
Kōkoku-ji, the temple established by Hottō Kokushi, is located. 610 The text is in a
question-answer style, beginning with where the komo (komosō) comes from, referring to

605
Translated from Nakatsuka’s comment. Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 269–270. (然
りと雖も今時修行少しく戒律を保つのみ、其人となりを顧れば十の九は宗旨の本源に徹せず、東走西奔空しく人の門戸に彷うのみ).
606
Ibid., 269. (示虚無僧為山堂無月菴主).
607
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 191.
608
NIPPONICA and ENCYCLOP: keichō kenmonshū. (Accessed on May 26, 2011). (慶長見聞集／三浦浄心).
609
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 191.
610
Present day Wakayama prefecture and the southern parts of Mie prefecture.

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the honsoku, the basic doctrine of the monks, i.e., Fuke’s myōtō-rai myōtō-da, … “Where
does the komo come from? It says antō-rai ya, so did they come from a dark country? It
says myōtō-rai ya, so did they come from a light country? The hat that the komo wear looks
suspicious! It is called a tengai,” and so on, explaining regulations about clothing, and, not
the least, their “priceless treasure,” the shakuhachi.611 Nakatsuka argues that the deep
basket-type hat, tengai, which is referred to in some versions of the “Keichō okite-gaki” did
not come into common use until the 1760s (cf. Section 4.2.2.2 above). Nakatsuka’s
argument is based on the lack of images or explanations indicating the use of a braided hat
that covers the whole face before the 1760s, and he concludes that this deep basket-type of
hat was not in use before the wood-block prints by Suzuki Harunobu. The hat referred to
here is named tengai, but it is explained only as a kasa, the normal bamboo shade common
in East Asia.612 There is a reference to the temples of the various komosō factions (cf.
Section 4.3.1 above), and the document is signed with boro.613 Before the listing of temples,
there is a poem that reads:

尺八ノ声ノ内ナル隠レカハ
宮城野ニ吹春ノ風カナ 614

shakuhachi no, koe no uchi naru, kakurega wa,

miyagino ni fuku, haru no kaze ka na.
The inner-most hiding place of the shakuhachi sound,
Is it maybe the spring wind that blows over the Miyagi plains?

This poem seems to allude to another one by the komosō in the 1494 scroll painting of
artisans with attached poems, Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase, discussed in Chapter 6
below, which ends by suggesting that it is not the spring breeze that blows, but the
shakuhachi of the komosō.

4.5.4 Conclusions
From the texts and documents discussed above, the komusō of the Edo period made use of
dynamic hearsay, obscure citations, in order to carve out their own origin. The fact that they
were nobility of the warrior class is clear from the later documents, especially – and almost
over-stated – in the “Keichō okite-gaki.” As indicated in Section 4.3, their activities in the
cities were more and more inclined towards worldly affairs. There is no substantiating
evidence to prove that the komusō were knowledgeable about the content of the Taigen-shō,
but it would at least seem plausible that they were. None of the texts or documents relating
to komusō carry any reference to this work, or any other work to which the Taigen-shō

611
“Kaidō honsoku” in Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 271. (薦ハ何クカラ来テソフロ、暗頭
来也、暗キ国カラカ、明頭来也、明ナル国から歟、コモノカムッリタル笠ニ不審カ候ヨ、ソレ天蓋トモ申ナリ、…).
612
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 271. (コモノカムリタル笠ニ不審カ候ヨ、ソレ天蓋トモ申ナリ).
613
Ibid., 271–274.
614
Ibid., 272.

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refers second-hand, which is an indication that the aim of the komusō was to find a suitable
origin that fit their purposes.
In the document written by Ishi Oshō of 1598 and in the “Kaidō honsoku” there is a mix
of names for the monks. In the former, the word komusō is used, but that word is not used in
“Kaidō honsoku.” The reason for not using komusō could be one of the following two: (1)
the monks were not in agreement about what to call themselves, or (2) after Hayashi
Razan’s text, the monks preferred to employ the words used in the reference by this highly
esteemed Confucian scholar to a work of high authoritative status, Yoshida Kenkō’s
Tsurezure-gusa. The second conclusion builds on my hypothesis that the content of Razan’s
commentary Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi was more or less publicly known in the 1620s.
The fact that the komusō were not generally known as such in Shichiku shoshin-shū of
1664 is indicative that they had not, at that time, become a larger and unified group of
samuari-monks, and even less so in the early seventeenth century. However, the fact that
Hayashi Razan had heard of komosō, and equated them with boro, indicates that they may
have been known within the governmental bodies of the early Edo period. We can only
guess what reasons Razan had to equate the boro and the komosō, but that the monks used
his text for their own purposes seems evident.
Razan does not refer to komusō, as in Isshi Oshō’s text from 1598. The word komusō
does not appear again until the 1664 Shichiku shoshin-shū and the 1677 memorandum –
apart from the short remarks in Keichō kenmon-shū of 1614 or 1624–1644 (cf. Section
4.5.3.2 above). These facts, thus, constitute a strong indication that the name komusō was
not clearly defined until the latter half of the seventeenth century. The extant documents do
not support a notion that the komosō developed into komusō, or that the komusō took over
the position of the komosō. It seems more plausible that the komusō adopted the activities of
the komosō, i.e., to play shakuhachi while begging, for their own purposes. Thus, the change
from komosō to komusō was not a fusion, but an appropriation of activities; the komosō lost
their livelyhood and became extinct. Chapter 6 contains a thorough analysis of the komosō,
which indicates that the komosō and the komusō had quite different characteristics.
Assuming that Nakatsuka’s thorough research constitutes historical facts, there seems to
be but one conclusive explanation to the legendary background of the komusō monks in the
latter half of the seventeenth century: already in the Azuchi-Momoyama period
(1568–1598), the number of rōnin increased, and in a quest for an existence, the masterless
samurai found a suitable position in presenting the appearance of outcast mendicant monks,
komosō. As I show in Chapter 6 below, the komosō cannot be said to have been serious,
devout Buddhists, and they were far more on the lower side of the contemporary society. In
order to carve out an existence, a way to support themselves, the rōnin began creating an
origin that would give them a more respectable position.
A possible interpretation of the force behind the creation of an origin, thus, is one of a
dire need. The circumstances that led to the writings by Isshi and the issuance of the “Kaidō
honsoku,” i.e., the Poietic Processes in the creation of a dynamic hearsay, could well have
been fed by earlier appearances, e.g., in Ikkyū Sōjun’s poems, of authoritative individuals,
who were too obscure or too far away in history to be traceable. Fuke, mentioned in
Rinzai-roku, and held in high esteem by Ikkyū, was perfect as a komosō model, but by using
the near phonetic-equivalent reading komusō, Isshi may have attempted to elevate the status
of the beggar-monks he probably knew first-hand. The Poietic Processes that resulted in the

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“Kaidō honsoku” are, on the other hand, more closely related to Razan. Even though a
Monk of Nothingness and Emptiness, i.e., a komusō, has the proper Buddhist connotations,
to use Razan as an identifiable but obscure source must have been of greater weight since
the group was yet not acknowledged or commonly recognized. The older written references
to Fuke and Hottō Kokushi should then be regarded as identifiable sources, but the
connection between them is still kept in obscurity, i.e., Type 2 of Morinaga’s classification.
The dynamic force of the Poietic Processes behind these texts did not materialize fully in
the Esthesic Dimension until the central authorities, in the latter half of the seventeenth
century (cf. Section 4.2.1), felt a need to recognize the komusō.

***

The komusō thus created an origin, with reference to boro and komosō, and it was not
until the twentieth century, more than sixty years after their abolition, that Nakatsuka
questioned their origin. Even though this process was initiated by Mikami Sanji, and
continued by Kurihara Kōta, Nakatsuka disclosed the width of the ‘betrayal.’
Interestingly enough, however, the notion of boro and komosō as the predecessors of the
komusō is still vividly alive today. In the two succeeding chapters I investigate the historical
material pertaining to these two types of monks. In most of the twentieth-century writings,
in works by both scholars and laymen, including the researchers mentioned above, the boro
and komosō are regarded as predecessors to the komusō, a development that supposedly
took place during the Edo period. I argue that this is part of the creation of a dynamic
hearsay. Intentional or not, the connections made are part of the Poietic Processes resulting
in the creation of an older indigenous origin of the komusō after the legendary background
had been proven false. I return to this issue in Chapter 7, after the analyses of the primary
sources that relate to the boro-boro in Chapter 5, and the komosō in Chapter 6.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

Chapter  5  –  Constructing  Tradition:  

The  boro  and  Shakuhachi  

 
… it seems that [the boro] were part of the various groups
of religious entertainers that were left undivided, and
there is still room for further examination of the path by
which the boro depicted in the “Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin
uta-awase” became separated from these groups.

Nishiyama Masaru, in Iwasaki Kae, et al., ed., Shin Nihon

koten bungaku taikei, 1999, 533.

In writings about the shakuhachi there appear different types of monks who supposedly had
connections to the shakuhachi or to the seventeenth-century komusō. As discussed in
Chapter 4 above, masterless samurai made use of the central government’s fear of uprisings,
and more or less forced through an official acknowledgement of their sect in the latter half
of the seventeenth century. It is highly likely that the komusō at an early stage – probably
already in the former half of the seventeenth century – used preceding appearances of
monks to create for themselves a position in society, connecting themselves to this older
‘tradition’ (cf. Chapter 4). In this chapter I study the supposed link between the shakuhachi
and one type of Buddhist monks in pre-Edo-period eras, the boro, 615 and discuss the
relevance the boro are given in twentieth-century historical studies. The boro did not play
the shakuhachi, and yet they are referred to as a predecessor to the komusō. The aim of this
chapter is to investigate what the boro – or boro-boro – had in common with other types of
monks that played the shakuhachi, e.g., the komosō of the sixteenth century and the komusō
of the seventeenth century onward.
In music-related lexica, neither ‘boro’ nor ‘boro-boro’ are index words. Under ‘komusō’
one reads, however, that the komusō probably were connected to the mid-thirteenth-century
beggar-monks boro, even though the boro did not play shakuhachi. The explanation
continues that the shakuhachi-playing was incorporated when the boro began to be called
komosō (cf. Chapter 6).616 This entry does not carry any literary references, but such can be
found in other Japanese lexica. The definition of boro, according to the Shōgakukan Kokugo
dai-jiten (Shogakukan Japanese Dictionary), is:

One kind of beggar monks without shaved heads. The boro were later also called komusō,
etc., who wore a braided straw hat that covered their faces and played shakuhachi, while
walking around begging. Boro-boro. Boron-ji.617

615
There are various ways of writing boro with kanji, but the most original seems to be 暮露. These characters for
boro are further discussed in Section 5.2.
616
HHJ, komosō: p. 409.
617
KOKUGO, Vol. 18, boro: p. 222. (有髮の乞食層（こつじきそう）の一種。のちには、深編笠をかぶって尺八を吹きながら
物乞いをして歩いた虚無僧などをいう。ぼろぼろ。ぼろんじ。).

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From both of the dictionaries it is clear that the boro did not play shakuhachi, but by
asserting that boro later turned into or became a name for the komosō and the komusō, a
connection to shakuhachi is implied. The references given in the Kokugo dai-jiten are from
(1) Episode 115 of Tsurezure-gusa (Essays of Idleness), written 1330–31 by Yoshida
Kenkō, 618 and (2) Pair forty-six in the 1500 scroll painting Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin
uta-awase (Poetry Contest Between Seventy-one Pairs of Artisans),619 as shown in Plate 14
below. In a commentary to the boro in one of the more recent publications of this scroll
painting, Nishiyama Masaru makes reference to the above-mentioned sources, as well as the
other primary sources discussed below in this chapter. Nishiyama remarks that whether the
boro constituted a separate body of monks, and whether the commonly accepted view that
the boro and the Fuke monks were one and the same, are two issues yet to be clarified,620 a
comment that coincides with the present study.
In the episode in Tsurezure-gusa we read about a duel between two “boro-boro monks,”
meeting at a gathering of prayers to Amida Buddha at Shukugahara. One of the monks was
seeking revenge for the death of his teacher. It ends with a duel where the two monks strike
each other down (ai-uchi) and both of them die. Yoshida Kenkō concludes the following
about what he refers to as boro-boro.

There were no boro-boro in the past. Their origin is the boron-ji, bon-ji, kan-ji and so
forth that we have heard of in recent times. They give the impression of having thrown
this world away, but are in fact highly self-conscious, they give the impression of wishing
to walk the path of Buddha, but make conflict and strife a matter of their concern. As
self-indulgent as they may seem, and though they break the laws of the monk with little
concern or regret, the way in which they take death easily and do not care about anything
gives a positive view of them. In all humbleness I have written down what people say. 621

When the boro-boro first appeared is not obvious from this passage, but “in recent times”
must mean that it was fairly close to the completion of Tsurezure-gusa. We find an earlier
appearance in Towazu-gatari.622 In Volume 4 the following episode is narrated.

Writing poetry I stayed many nights and many days at places where people admire
refinement, and [at such places], both in the capital and on the countryside, I met many
people talking about doubtful things. There were those who said they were practitioners
of Buddhism, resentful people who called themselves boro-boro, and I have heard stories

618
Tsurezure-gusa is a collection of short episodes, thoughts, and observations of contemporary society (徒然草).
Yoshida Kenkō (吉田兼好, 1283–1352).
619
The year 1500 seems to be the normally accepted year of completion. This is also mentioned in the program
notes to an exhibition of scroll paintings (e-maki) at Tokushima Museum, May–August 1999, at
http://www.museum.tokushima-ec.ed.jp/hasegawa/exhibition/shokunin.htm (accessed in March 2009). There are
several existing copies from the Edo period. Also in Ishida, ed., Nihon no bijutsu 5, 1977, 28.
620
Nishiyama Masaru, in Iwasaki Kae, et al., ed., Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase, 1999, 533.
621
Yoshida Kenkō, Tsurezure-gusa (ca. 1340), 115 concluding part, 1965, 183–184. (ぼろ々々といふものの、昔なかりけ
るにや。近（き）世に、ぼろんじ・梵字・漢字など云（ひ）ける者、その始めなりけるとかや。世を捨てたるに似て我執深く、佛
道を願ふに似て、鬪諍をこととす。放逸無慙の有様なれども、死を軽くして、少（し）もなづまざるかたのいさぎよく覚えて、人
の語りしまゝに書（き）付（け）侍りるなり。).
622
Towazugatari (問はず語り) is a diary assumed to have been written by Nijō (二条, 1258–?), concubine to the
retired emperor Go-Fukakusa (後深草, 1243–1304). Fukuda Hideichi, ed., Towazu-gatari, 1982, 3.

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about [women] who have been caught up in insincere relations [with them], but such
relations have I not, sleeping idly alone.623

Fukuda Hideichi, the editor of this annotated publication of Towazu-gatari, says that,
“[j]udged from the content, it is likely that Volume 4 begins in February year two in the
Shōō era (1289),”624 and in the introduction to Volume 5 he writes that, “Volume 4 ended
with the break that seems to be a missing section from a time several years after the first
year of the Einin era (1293).” The book was completed some time between 1307 and
1313.625
There is no remark about the boro-boro playing the shakuhachi, neither in the passage
from Tsurezure-gusa, nor in the quote from Towazugatari. Episode 115 in Tsurezure-gusa
is often reiterated in secondary literature on the shakuhachi. The connection is made
through the resemblance between the boro-boro in Tsurezure-gusa and other appearances of
boro, e.g., the second reference above, Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase. In the
succeeding sections I refer to other texts and types of monks, e.g., Boro-boro no sōshi
(discussed in greater detail in Section 5.2), and komosō (further discussed in Chapter 6). The
type of monk referred to as muma-hijiri is also known as uma-hijiri, half monk half layman
travelling by horse.

5.1 The boro in Shokunin uta-awase

The second reference, the scroll painting Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase, is
supposedly from 1500. In the preface to the edition of this scroll painting with poetry in the
late Edo period text Gunshoruijū 626 it is stated that the paintings were originally drawn by
Tosa Mitsunobu,627 and the text written by councillor Kazunaga-kyō, but that “for the
present publication … the paintings were drawn by a student [of Mitsunobu] … and the
poems and text come from the belongings of Arai Hakuseki … written by Yashiro
Hirokata.”628 Here, a boro takes part in a different type of duel: In pair forty-six (Plate 14), a
boro monk is facing a Chinese interpreter (tsū-ji) in a poetry duel. According to
Tsurezure-gusa the boro-boro originated from the bon-ji or kan-ji, the former referring to
Sanskrit letters and the latter to Chinese characters, implying a certain degree of reading
ability and cultivation. Hence, this boro should have no language problems (even less the

623 th
Nijō, Towazugatari (late 13 century), 1982, 279. (三十一字の言の葉をのべ、情を慕ふ所には、あまたの夜を重ね、日数
を重ねて侍れば、あやしみ申す人、都にも田舎にもその數はべりしかども、修行者と言ひ、梵論梵論など申す風情の者に行きあひ
などして、心の外なる契りを結ぶためしも侍るとかや聞けども、さるべき契りもなきにや、いたづらに独り片敷き侍るなり。).
624
Fukuda, ed., Towazugatari, 1982, 226.
625
Fukuda, “Kaisetsu,” in Towazugatari, 1982, 371, 411–412.
626
Gunshoruijū (1779–1819), (群書類従) (Classified Collection of Older Literature).
627
土佐光信, ?-1522.
628
Gunshoruijū in Shinkō Gunshoruijū (Classified Collection of Older Literature, Revised Edition), 1978, 2–3. The
diaries of Kazunaga (和長卿記), from 1487 to 1529, still remain (YHJ, kazunagakyōki (和長卿記), accessed on
February 9, 2011. Arai Hakuseki (新井白石, 1657–1725) was an Edo period Confucian scholar, and Yashiro Hirokata
(屋代弘賢, 1758–1841) was a scholar of National Studies (kokugaku). Also mentioned in Ishida, ed., Nihon no bijutsu
5, 1977, 28. (七十一番職人歌合).

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translator himself!); in the poems there is an allusion to a famous Chinese poem, “Feng qiao
ye bo,” which is further discussed below in the commentary to the second set of poems (cf.
Section 5.1.4.1). We are here presented with a person versed in the Classics.
As discussed above, boro-boro – or boro for short – is mentioned as a predecessor to the
komusō in modern lexica, but the connection between boro and komusō seems weak. Before
looking at the visual and textual content of this poetry duel, Section 5.1.1 adds a few words
about the shokunin uta-awase.

5.1.1 About shokunin uta-awase

The word shokunin uta-awase refers to scroll paintings of artisans with attached poems, and
this type of scroll painting has a history that goes back to the early Kamakura period. The
word shokunin refers in modern Japanese to craftspeople, but in medieval times the word
was used to denote a variety of low-ranking members of society, ranging from manual
labourers of all trades to monks, prostitutes, artists, and the like. I use the word ‘artisan’
here to denote all these kinds of people. There are two types of scroll paintings of artisans,
the shokunin tsukushi and the shokunin uta-awase. The former merely contain drawings or
paintings of various artisans, whereas the latter contain poetry contests relating to and
presented in the voice of the depicted artisans.
The uta-awase is a play in the form of poetry game, with two teams competing in poetry,
and a judge who decides which of the teams came up with the better poem. This was a
literary pastime of the aristocracy, but in the shokunin uta-awase scroll paintings the author
puts the words in the mouth of the people – the artisans – in the painting, in the form of a
31-syllable tanka poem,629 and then adds a judgement. In the Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin
uta-awase there are seventy-one pairs, thus a total of one hundred and forty-two artisans
depicted, and in the six years older Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase (Poetry Contest
Between Thirty-two Artisans), 630 there are sixteen pairs facing each other totalling
thirty-two people.
The oldest extant shokunin uta-awase is the Tōhoku-in Shokunin uta-awase from 1214,631
depicting people gathered for a prayer meeting, a nenbutsu-e, at the Tōhoku-in in Kyoto.
The Tsurugaoka hōjō-e Shokunin uta-awase 632 is influenced by Tōhoku-in Shokunin
uta-awase, and is from the Kamakura or Muromachi period. It depicts people gathered for a
hōjō-e633 at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū in Kamakura. The Tōhoku-in Shokunin uta-awase
consists of five pairs, and the Tsurugaoka Shokunin uta-awase contains twelve pairs and the

629
There are different types of Japanese poems, referred to as waka (和歌) to distinguish them from Chinese poems
or kanshi (漢詩), and tanka (短歌) – short poem – one kind of waka, which has five stanzas with 5-7-5-7-7 morae
each. See further Section 5.1.4 and footnote 660 below.
630
This scroll painting with poems from 1494 is discussed in Chapter 6, in relation to the deliberation concerning
komo or komosō, another supposed predecessor to the Edo period komusō. (三十二番職人歌合).
631
Tōhoku-in Shokunin uta-awase (東北院職人歌合). Shin-pen kokka taikan, 1993, 381–383. Ishida, Nihon no bijutsu 5,
23.
632
Tsurugaoka hōjō-e Shokunin uta-awase (鶴岡放生会職人歌合). Shin-pen kokka taikan 10, 1993, 384–385. Ishida,
Nihon no bijutsu 5, 24–25.
633
放生会, a Buddhist ceremony where animals are let free, based on the doctrine of not killing and not eating meat.

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judge, a total of twenty-five people depicted. The following two, the above-mentioned
Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase (abbreviated below as 32-ban) and Shichijūichi-ban
Shokunin uta-awase (abbreviated below as 71-ban) are from 1494 and 1500 respectively. 634
The 32-ban is influenced by the preceeding two Shokunin uta-awase, but does not contain
the same artisans, whereas the 71-ban duplicates many of the artisans that appear in the
Tsurugaoka paintings.
Tōhoku-in, Tsurugaoka, and the 71-ban all have the themes tsuki (moon) and koi (love),
but in the 32-ban the themes are hana (flowers) and jukkai (recollections).635 Each poetry
duel is evaluated by a hanja, a judge. The hanja of the uta-awase scroll paintings are: for
the Tōhoku-in scroll painting a sutra calligrapher, kyō-ji; for the Tsurugaoka scroll painting
a shintō priest, kan-nushi at Hachiman-gū; for the 32-ban scroll painting a fund-raising
monk, kanjin-hijiri; and a mass consensus, shūgi, for the 71-ban scroll painting. 636
There is of course much more to be said about the appearance of the shokunin uta-awase
scroll paintings from a sociological viewpoint (e.g., why did uta-awase become the theme
for paintings of low-ranking artisans?), but it is beyond the scope of the present study to
dwelve further into these matters. It is enough here to note that the monks referred to in
various shakuhachi-related material are depicted.

5.1.2 Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase: boro (Number Forty-six)

As mentioned above, the themes for this uta-awase are tsuki and koi, moon and love, stated
at the beginning of the scroll painting. Even though a ‘judge’ is mentioned, it is not a person
who passes judgement in this uta-awase, but rather a general consensus, shūgi.637 The boro
makes an appearance in pair number forty-six, in combination with a Chinese interpreter
(tsū-ji). Each combattant has two attached poems, one for each theme, with a commentary
added in between.
The boro is not playing the shakuhachi, but he is equipped with some other interesting
objects: a pair of geta wooden footwear, an umbrella, and some kind of tool stuck in his
kimono sash (obi). It looks as if it were either a short sword, waki-zashi, or a dagger,
tantō.638
In one of the publications of Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase in Gunshoruijū from
the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century, a comment is added regarding the colour
of the clothing and the items they carry with them. In the comment it says: “Shakuhachi [is]
yellow at the top, white at the end.” This is a mere assumption by whoever wrote the
comment about the colour of the painting, and in the 71-ban there are several other
paintings depicting items that are similar to what the boro has stuck in his sash. In these

634
From the program notes for an exhibition of e-maki at Tokushima Museum, May–August 1999, at
http://www.museum.tokushima-ec.ed.jp/hasegawa/exhibition/shokunin.htm (accessed in March 2009). Kurihara,
quoting Santō Kyōden, holds that the 32-ban is from before 1537 (Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 86).
635
述懐
636
Ishida, ed., Nihon no bijutsu 5, 1977, 94–102. (判者: 経師・神主・勧進聖・衆議).
637
衆議
638
geta (下駄), waki-zashi (脇差し), tantō (短刀).

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other paintings the comment gives the colour of “the short sword” (koshi-gatana).
Furthermore, in Nihon no bijutsu 5, with reference to pair number forty-six in 71-ban, Ishida
says that “the boro let their hair grow, wore a sword, had geta on their feet, and carried a
paper umbrella, indicating an image of the common man.”639 Also in the annotated edition
of Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase in the New Edition of Collected Classical Japanese
Literature Iwasaki Kae says that the boro is carrying a sword.640 From this we may assume
that the boro in pair forty-six in the Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase is in fact carrying
a sword rather than a shakuhachi or some other instrument.
As mentioned above, other artisans depicted in this scroll painting also wear similar cases,
for example a hōka, 641 street entertainer, in pair number forty-nine (Plate 15). One
possibility would be that it is a case for a flute. If it is a flute, the length of the case indicates
a short instrument, like a hitoyogiri, a shorter type of shakuhachi that was popular in the
Muromachi period. In the painting of the hōka a handle of a sword seems to be visible, and
the ornamental cloth at the end is similar to that which the boro has. In the quote from
Nihon no bijutsu 5 above, a sword, geta, and an umbrella were the normal belongings for a
commoner, which could imply that the hōka is carrying a sword.
Plate 14: Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase, Number 46.
Used by courtesy of the Tohoku University Library.

639
Ishida, ed., Nihon no bijutsu 5, 1977, 60.
640
Iwasaki Kae, ed., Shin Nihon koten bungaku taikei, 1999, 95. I have also consulted the image reproduced in Aoki
Kunio, et.al., ed., Edo kagaku koten sōsho, 1977, 102–103, without finding any reason to change the opinion that it
is a sword.
641
放下.

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From the evidence of these paintings alone, it is of course impossible to say what kind of
tool or instrument they are carrying, but we can conclude that the boro is not carrying or
playing anything that can be visibly identified as a musical instrument.642 In Tsurezure-gusa,
Episode 115, the two boro monks, Irooshi-bō and Shira-boji, have a duel that is described in
the following way by Yoshida Kenkō:

Irooshi said, “… to have a duel in here would be to dishonour this training hall. Let us go
outside to the river beach. And all you, curious onlookers, I beg you, do not take side in
this duel. If this incident caused much trouble [for the people involved in the prayers], it
would only disturb the [Buddhist] service in progress.” The two men went out to the river
beach, fought for all their powers, and pierced each other to death.643

The fact that the two boro monks in this episode without hesitation go out and have a
duel, even killing each other, implies that they were carrying a sword of some kind, rather
than the much less dangerous shakuhachi.644
Plate 15: Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin
uta-awase, hōka in Number 49.
Used by courtesy of the Tohoku University
Library.

5.1.3 Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase:

boro in Historical Studies of Shakuhachi

None of the historical studies that refer to the

Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase – some studies do
not even mention it – discuss the possibility that the
boro is carrying a shakuhachi; on the contrary, some
even explicitly state that there is no reference to the
shakuhachi in text or painting.
Nakatsuka Chikuzen connects boro with komosō (cf.
Chapter 6), by simply stating that, “komosō were from
the beginning boro. In ‘Kanrōji Shokunin-tsukushi
uta-awase’ it says ‘boro,’ and in that poem it also says
‘muma-hijiri’.” He continues by quoting Tsurezure-
gusa, concluding that the character of the boro is well
depicted, and also refers to the Boro-boro no sōshi (cf.
Section 5.2 below) to further expound on the character
of these monks.645 By alluding to various aspects of the appearance of the boro he gives an
impression of sameness, which would otherwise be difficult to achieve. Nakatsuka does not

642
In the 32-ban there is a painting of a komosō playing shakuhachi. I return to this scroll painting in Chapter 6.
Neither that nor any other painting of komosō indicate any weaponry, which demonstrates a difference between
boro and komosō.
643
Yoshida Kenkō, Tsurezure-gusa (ca. 1340), 115 middle part, 1965, 183.「【いろおし】… こゝにて對面し奉らば、道場
をけがし侍るべし。前の河原へ参り合はん。あなかしこ、わきさしたち、いづかたをもみつぎ給（め）な。あまたのわづらひにな
らば、佛事の妨に侍るべし。」と言ひ定（め）て、二人河原へ出（め）あひて、心行（め）ばかりに貫ぬき合ひて、共に死ににけり。
644
We do know that the shakuhachi was used with the root ends sticking out, like a spike club, in the early Edo
period, but it would hardly be advisable to have a duel even with a ‘spiked’ shakuhachi.
645
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 44–45.

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bring forth any factual connections between the shakuhachi-playing komosō (cf. Chapter 6)
and the boro. Nakatsuka may rely on Kurihara, who quotes the poems and comments of pair
forty-six in 71-ban in full, and then adds the following statement:

[T]he so-called boro-boro, boro, boron-ji, muma-hijiri, etc., are of course not followers of
the Fuke sect, like the komusō that appear in later times, and they do not belong to any
unified and named religious system. However, as one type of worldly Buddhist followers,
always playing shakuhachi and walking around to various places, it goes without saying
that there is no room for doubt that they are what we can call predecessors to the
komusō.646

For those two early twentieth-century writers, it seems to have been of keen interest to
construe a connection between the boro and the Edo period komusō. It is also plausible,
however, that both of them were influenced by Kiyūshōran from 1830, relying on that as
their source. 647 In Kiyūshōran the section relating to shakuhachi begins as follows:
“Komosō are called boro in ‘Kanrōji Shokunin-tsukushi uta-awase,’ and in the poem they
are also called muma-hijiri,”648 and then the text continues to the boro that appear in
Tsurezure-gusa. The direct connection between komosō and boro in Kiyūshōran, combined
with the fact that Nakatsuka refers to the 71-ban as Kanrōji Shokunin-tsukushi uta-awase, as
does Kiyūshōran, may indicate that Kiyūshōran is his reference.649
Ueno, on the other hand, combines the description of a boro-boro in Boro-boro no sōshi,
a text that was discovered in 1338 and which is assumed to have been written by Myōe
Shōnin (1173–1232),650 with the appearance of the boro in Tsurezure-gusa. Furthermore,
Ueno also refers to early Edo period texts with the following words, thus creating an
illusion of resemblance.

As it says in Wakan Shinsen kagaku-shū 651 (1714) (Vol. 1, Chapter 5, On Humanity),

“boro are called komusō in the Eastern Provinces. With another name they are also called
uma-hijiri,” and one can wonder if the boro and komosō really were the same. In Razan
bunshū 652 it states that, “it is said that they [the komosō] are of the lineage from
boro-boro,” and also in Yōshūfu-shi 653 it says that “in the Medieval Period there were
people called boro. They are of the same kind as komosō,” and it does seem that the boro
and the komosō were similar types of people.654

646
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 86. (所謂ぼろ、ぼろぼろ、ぼろんじ、むまひじりなどと云ふものは、後世に於
ける虚無僧の如く普化宗徒ならざることは勿論、別に一定したる宗名制度を有するものに非ざれども、亦一種の佛教的流俗の徒に
して、常に尺八を吹いて各所を徘徊したる者なれば、所謂虚無僧の前身たることは固より疑を容れざる所なり).
647
As shown in Section 5.3, Nakatsuka is using Kiyūshōran as source when discussing the text Shaseki-shū.
648
Kitamura, Kiyūshōran (1830), 1906, 37. The original has uma-hishiri, but by convention it is read uma-hijiri.
649
Kanrōji is either Kanrōji Chikanaga (甘露寺親長, 1424–1500) or Kanrōji Motonaga (甘露寺元長, 1453–1527),
indicating the author of the poems and the text.
650
明恵上人. The boro-boro in this text is discussed in Section 5.2 below.
651
Kagaku-shū is an anonymous lexicon, completed in 1444. (和漢新選下学集):
652
Hayashi Dōshun Razan (林道春羅山, 1583–1657, First name Nobukatsu (信勝)), a prominent Confucian scholar
who exercised a heavy influence on the Confucian doctrine during the Edo period Japan as a propagator of the
Neo-confucian shushigaku (朱子学), also writes about this in his Razan Bunshū (Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918),
1975, 22).
653
A compilation of texts relating to Yamashiro (山城) Province south of present day Kyoto. Written by Kurokawa
Dōyū (黒川道祐, ?–1691), and completed in 1684.
654
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 187.

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After this discussion he goes on to state that there is no connection to shakuhachi in

71-ban, which he also refers to as Meiō Shokunin uta-awase.655 He says that, “in pair
forty-six a boro is drawn, but this boro is … not playing the shakuhachi, and the poem and
text … do not mention anything about the shakuhachi.”656 He concludes that they should be
regarded as different types of monks, at least at the time around 1500, where quite diverse
types of monks appear: a boro in the 71-ban from 1500, and a komosō in the 32-ban from
1494.
Another writer, Takeda Kyōson, who has authored several books about Nobunaga, Ikkyū,
Zen Buddhism, etc., is also the author of the book Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi
(Komusō: Odd People of the Sacred and the Worldly). Takeda believes, without any
substantiating proof, that the boro disappeared during the Muromachi period; some became
uma-hijiri, some began to play shakuhachi and became komosō, and some became monks
following the armies.657

5.1.4 Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase: Analysis of Pair Number Forty-six

There are no indications of or references to music making or shakuhachi playing in the text
associated with the painting. However, to illustrate the character of the boro I analyse the
two poems and the comments by the judge. The pairs are seated with the (virtual)
commentator and judge located behind them. Therefore, left and right orientation is
opposite to the viewer’s standpoint. The themes are, as mentioned above, moon (tsuki) for
the first poem, and love (koi) for the second, and each set of poems has a comment added.
The original of the Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase is not extant, and there are not
even any copies left from the Muromachi period. In Nihon no bijutsu 5, Ishida Hisatoyo
makes use of the edition at the Tokyo National Museum, a copy by Kanō Osanobu and
Kanō Tadanobu from a 1632 edition.658 Ishida also states that the museum edition does not
differ in any major elements from the edition in the Gunshoruijū.659 I have used the edition
published in Nihon no bijutsu 5 in my analysis below. I list the poems and the commentaries
in Japanese, followed by an analysis of each part separately, with translations into English.
The poems are so-called tanka. A tanka consists of thirty-one morae – not to be confused
with syllables – distributed over five stanzas containing 5-7-5-7-7 morae each.660 The tanka
are normally not written in five separate lines in the original language, but in English
translations it is quite common to write the five stanzas in five separate lines. Since there is
no historical or literary foundation for this, and for reasons of convenience, I am using a

655
Meiō then denoting the era from 1492 to 1501, indicating the approximate year of completion of the 71-ban.
656
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 187.
657
Takeda, Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi, 1997, 198.
658
Ishida, ed., Nihon no bijutsu 5, 1977, 28, 102. (狩野養信, 1796–1846; 狩野雅信, 1823–1880).
659
Ibid., 28.
660
A mora (pl. morae) is “the minimal unit of measure in quantitative verse equivalent to the time of an average
short syllable.” (MW/OR, accessed on March 3, 2011). In Japanese phonology there is a distinction between
syllable and mora. “A mora is a unit that can be represented by one letter of kana (a Japanese pseudo-character used
in syllabic writing).” (Shibatani, “Japanese,” Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics, 2006, 103). This means that
the two-syllable word shinmyō has four morae: shi + n + myo + u (long vowel).

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two-line model in my translations. I separate the stanzas with commas in the original and in
the transliterations. The stanzas are explained in the analysis, but the translations are in a
more free form, without any clear divisions between the original stanzas.
The first poem is by the boro, the second by the tsū-ji. After that there is a comment by
the judge, followed by poem two by the boro and the tsū-ji, in that order, and then the final
comment by the judge.

Boro, 1 法の月、ひろくすまして、むさし野に
おきゐる暮露の、草の床かな
nori no tsuki, hiroku sumashite, musashino ni
okiiru boro no, kusa no toko ka na.
The moon of enlightenment shines widely over Musashino,
Where the Boro wakes from his bed of grass.

Tsū-ji, 1 すみよしの、いり江の月や、ふるさとの
姑蘇城外の、あきのおも影
sumiyoshi no, iri-e no tsuki ya, furusato no
kosojōgai no, aki no omokage
Alas, the moon over the bay at Sumiyoshi,
It reminds me of autumn in my hometown, outside the castle of Koso.

Commentary 1 暮露の心、月いかばかりの法の光をかひろめ侍べき信仰もなく覚ゆ、右、住の江の月に対
して、名だかき楓橋のわたりをも、わが故郷といひ出たる所、他人のをよばざる風躰、披
仲麿が三笠の山の月にもすみまさりてこそ侍らめ
boro no kokoro, tsuki ika bakari no nori no hikari o ka hirome haberu beki shinkō
mo naku oboyu, migi, sumi no e no tsuki ni taishite, nadakaki fūkyō no watari o
mo, wa ga furusato to ihidetaru tokoro, tanin no o yobazaru fūtei, ka no nakamaro
ga mitsukasa no yama no tsuki ni mo sumimasarite koso haberame.
The boro just wishes to spread enlightenment, but in reality he has no strong faith.
In contrast to the moon over Sumi no e [Sumiyoshi], the tsūji passes over the
famous Fūkyō bridge, thus relating to his hometown. This taken together with the
style and content, does not appear to imply that anyone else makes his moon
shine even brighter than the moon over Nakamaro’s Mikasa mountain.

Boro, 2 いとふなよ、かよふこころの、むまひじり
人のきくべき、あのをともなし
itou na yo, kayou kokoro no, mumahijiri
hito no kiku beki, ano oto mo nashi
Don’t bear a grudge towards the loving heart of the Muma-hijiri,
Nobody will hear, the sound when we meet.

Tsū-ji, 2 からやまと、しるべする身の、かひぞなき
おもふ中には、ことかよはさで
kara yamato, shirube suru mi no, kai zo naki
omou naka ni wa, koto kayowasade
Neither in China nor in Japan, helping people finding their way gives no reward.
So many feelings of love, yet, never reaching through.

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Commentary 2 右は、ただよのつねのことはりきこえたるのみ也、左の、馬ひじりは、あのをとせずゆか
む駒もといへる、万葉の古風もよりきたりて、神妙に侍り、尤可為勝
migi wa, tada yo no tsune no kotowari kikoetaru nomi nari, hidari no, mumahijiri
wa, ano oto sezu yukamu koma mo to iheru, manyō no kofū mo yorikitarite,
shinmyō ni haberi, motto kachi naru beki
The tsūji is just making things sound like the reason of everyday life, whereas the
muma-hijiri even refers to a horse that does not make any noise, drawing close to
the old Man’yō style gently and faithfully; thus he should be the winner.

5.1.4.1 The First Set of Poems

The First Poem of the boro (left)

In the first stanza, nori no tsuki, the bright moon, is used as a metaphor for Buddhism,
which will save all living creatures from darkness. The second stanza, hiroku sumashite,
links to the first. The word sumashi should be interpreted as meaning ‘clarifying reason,’
thus “the law of Buddha clarifies how things are for all living creatures.” Musashi was the
area around present day Tokyo, Saitama, and Kanagawa. The verb okii refers to ‘waking up
and sitting,’ thus ‘living’ or ‘being.’661 The last stanza alludes to the ‘home’ of the boro,
living outside, on a “bed of grass” (kusa no toko).

The First Poem of the tsūji (right)

Sumiyoshi is the old name for an area in present day Osaka, the Settsu no Kuni,662 partly
facing the sea, which is then referred to in the second stanza, iri-e, thus “Alas, the moon
over the bay of Sumiyoshi,” which connects to the stanza nori no tsuki in the poem of the
boro. The hometown (furusato) of the tsū-ji is Koso, 663 and the moon over Sumiyoshi
reminds him (omokage) of the autumn outside the Koso Castle.

Commentary to the First Set of Poems

The mindset (kokoro) of the boro is merely concerned with how much (ika bakari) the
moon can spread (hirome haberu beki) the light of the Buddhist law (nori no hikari), but he
does not seem to have any faith or belief (shinkō naku oboyu). The person to the right
(which is to the left from the viewer) contrasts the moon over Sumi no e, the old Nara
period name for Sumiyoshi, with the moon over Mikasayama in Nara. Fūkyō (C. Feng qiao)
is the Japanese name of a famous (nadakaki) bridge (watari), but the word watari can also
denote an area. Here it would be the area around Koso (present day Suzhou), thus, the
translator is alluding to the famous Chinese poem, “Feng qiao ye bo” (A Night in My Boat

661
起き居.
662
摂津国.
663
An old name for the district of Wu (呉), the Jiangsu Province (江蘇省) near the city of Suzhou (蘇州). KOKUGO,
Vol. 8, koso: p. 202. Koso is also the old name for the capital of the ancient State of Wu, Gusu in Chinese, present
day Suzhou.

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at Feng qiao), in which the poet tells of how he hears the bell of Kanzan-ji (C. Hanshan-si)
outside the Koso (C. Suzhou) castle:

The moon setting in the west, crows caw, and the frost filling the sky.
The maple trees on the river bench, shining in the light from the fishing boats,
A flicker in my sleepless eyes that have travelled so far.
The temple bell at Hanshan-si outside the Suzhou Castle tells of midnight,
The sound reaching to my boat.664

The commentator states that by referring to his own hometown (wa ga furusato to
ihidetaru tokoro), not letting it seem that he is referring to someone else’s (tanin no o
yobazaru fūtei), it makes (his) moon shine even brighter than the one that the well known
(ka no) Nakamaro wrote about, thus alluding to a poem by Abe Nakamaro (698–770)
included in the thirteenth-century poetry anthology Hyakunin Isshu,665 where the moon rises
over the mountain Mikasa in his homeland of Kasuga. Mikasa no Yama is also mentioned
in several poems in the eighth-century Man’yō-shū. 666
Obviously, the boro sleeps outside, and according to the commentator his religious
insights do not seem to be very deep. The translator, on the other hand, shows good ability
to refer to classical poetry, including both Chinese and Japanese verse.

5.1.4.2 The Second Set of Poems

The Second Poem of the boro (left)

The first stanza reads itou na yo, which could mean either “do not dislike me” or “do not get
weary of me.” The second stanza refers to the emotions of the boro: the lovesick heart
(kayou kokoro)667 of the boro-monk (referred to as muma-hijiri),668 implying his love for a
woman. A monk having a love affair would give rise to rumours, but what people then
ought to know (hito no kiku beki), the rumours, of these nothing is heard (ano oto mo nashi):
he is a careful lover who does not create rumours. It was customary not to give rise to
rumours in love affairs. For a monk, and his beloved, this would have been even more
important. What the monk is saying is: “There will be no problems for you so do not dislike
me”; and at the same time: “Do not get weary of me because I keep you waiting.” His
cultivation is shown by reference to poems in Man’yō-shū, number 2654 in Volume 11, and
3387 in Volume 14, which read in the following way:
664
“Fūkyō Ya-haku” in Japanese. By Zhang Ji (J. Chō Kei, 張継), an eighth century Tang dynasty poet.
(楓橋夜泊). (月落鳥啼霜満天、江風漁火對愁眠、姑蘇城外寒山寺、夜半鐘聲到客船).
Accessed at http://www.kangin.or.jp/what_kanshi/kanshi_A05_3.html on September 27, 2011.
665
Hyakunin isshu (Hundred Poems by Hundred Poets), poem no. 7. (安倍仲麿).
See http://etext.virginia.edu/japanese/hyakunin/ (天の原、ふりさけ見れば、春日なる、三笠の山に、出でし月かも).
666
E.g., poem no. 1295, in Takagi et al., ed., Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 5, 1973, 243.
See also http://etext.virginia.edu/japanese/manyoshu/ (春日在 三笠乃山二 月船出 遊士之 飲酒坏尓 陰尓所見管; 春日なる御笠
の山に月の舟出づ風流士の飲む酒杯に影に見えつつ).
667
In poetry, the verb kayou normally means to visit one’s beloved. Here kayou is used attributively to ‘heart,’
which could be interpreted as a wish to visit his loved one, or that this is all he has in his heart.
668
Horse-riding monks, read either as muma-hijiri or uma-hijiri (馬聖).

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2654: 君に恋ひ、寐ねぬ朝明に、誰が乗れる、馬の足の音ぞ、我れに聞かする 669

kimi ni koi, inenu asake ni, ta ga noreru, uma no anoto zo, ware ni kikasuru
I am in love with you, and in the morning of a sleepless night,
That sound, of somebody riding a horse, reaches my ears.

3387: 足の音せず、行かむ駒もが、葛飾の、真間の継橋、やまず通はむ 670

ano oto sezu, yukamu koma moga, kazushika no, mama no tsugihashi, yamazu kayowamu
I wish I had a horse that does not make any disturbing sounds when crossing the bridge
over Mama at Kazushika. Then, I would always come and visit you.

In his second poem, the boro shows his cultivation in yet another way. He seems well
aquainted not only with Man’yō-shū, but also with the poetic codes and conventions
established by the tenth-century poetry anthology Kokin waka-shū, maybe even inspired by
one poem in this collection: Number 226 in the section Autumn, Volume 1, by Sōjō Henjō.
The poem reads:
671
名にめでて、をれるばかりぞ、をみなへし、我おちにきと、人にかたるな （僧正遍昭）

na ni medete, oreru bakari zo, ominaeshi, ware ochiniki to, hito ni kataru na
Beguiled by its name Ominaeshi did I just pick a flower.
Do not let people know that I fell.

The word ominaeshi is the name of a plant, but it is often used in poetry referring to a
beautiful woman; the word is written with the Chinese characters 女郎花,672 where the first
two characters refer to a prostitute or female entertainer, jorō, and the last character denotes
the word ‘flower.’ The author of this poem, Sōjō Henjō,673 was a monk and a poet, and he is
here making fun of himself. Had it been a court noble, falling in love with a woman would
hardly result in a poem like this. Here, on the other hand, Henjō – a monk – has fallen in
love with a woman, so low has he fallen, but, admonishes Henjō, don’t tell anyone! Since
Henjō was an aristocrat he would naturally be riding a horse, and the fourth stanza, ochiniki,
may well refer to falling in love (falling for a woman), but also falling off a horse – maybe
while plucking the flower ominaeshi – thereby amplifying the comical aspects of the poem.
The boro, also a monk, makes a similar remark in his poem: I will make sure that the
rumour is not heard (ano oto mo nashi), and maybe this stanza also contains a reference to
the sound of someone falling off a horse. The beginning of the last stanza in the boro’s
poem, ano oto, meaning both ‘that sound,’ and ‘the sound of a foot/hoof,’ constitutes a

669
Man’yō-shū, in Takagi, et.al., ed., Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 6, 1973 (1960), p. 217. (君戀寝不宿朝明誰乗流馬足
音吾聞為). The ashi no oto in the fourth stanza is read anoto, alluding both to ano oto (that sound), and ashi no oto
(the sound of the horse’s hoof).
670
Man’yō-shū in Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei (Collected Classical Japanese Literature), Vol. 6, 1973, 417. (安能於
登世受 由可牟古馬母我 可豆思加乃 麻末乃都藝波思 夜麻受可欲波牟). The ashi no oto in the first stanza is here read ano oto,
again with the same connotations to both ‘that sound,’ and the ‘sound of the hoof.’ The ‘horse’ is indicated by
yukamu koma, ‘a forward-moving saddle,’ which is the same phrasing as used by the commentator.
671
Kokin waka-shū, in Saeki Umetomo ed., Nihon koten bungaku taikei 8, 1971, 145.
See also http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/kokinshu/.
672
KOGO, ominaeshi: p. 1462.
673
僧正遍昭, 816–890.

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direct allusion to the two Man’yō-shū poems quoted above, but it may also imply an
unspoken reference (that sound) to Henjō’s poem. The boro is referred to as a uma-hijiri, a
horse-monk, so when he falls (in love/off a horse) “that sound of falling off a horse/rumours”
is not heard, when picking the flower-woman he has fallen in love with. Maybe the boro
even finds himself cleverer than Henjō: I do not give rise to sounds (rumours) in love affairs
so do not dislike me. There is no explicit allusion to poem Number 226 in the boro’s poem,
but I would interpret the poem by the boro as containing indications that the boro knew both
Man’yō-shū and Kokin waka-shū.

The Second Poem of the tsūji (right)

The opening stanza locates the tsūji geographically: kara denotes China, Korea or another
foreign country, and yamato denotes Japan, thus implying either a translator, or that he is
used as a go-between, connecting to line two. The word shirube can be somebody who leads
the way, a pathfinder, a guide, but it also means an acquaintance or somebody with whom
one has an amorous relationship. The third stanza states that there is no meaning (kai zo
naki) in being a person (mi) who conducts the function of a shirube. The second stanza
refers to somebody he loves (omou naka), among the people he loves, or his emotions
towards somebody. The conclusion is that nothing has happened (koto kayowasade, 事通わさ
で), no love affair is developing, nor do his words (koto, 言) reach the person they are
intended for.

Commentary to the Second Set of Poems

The person to the right (left from the viewer’s
Plate 16: Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase,
perspective) just makes it sound like the reason biwa-hōshi in Number 23.
(kotowari) of the everyday world (yo no tsune), thus Used by courtesy of the Tohoku University Library.
implying less poetical qualities. The muma-hijiri to
the left (right from the viewer), however, alludes to
a horse (yukamu koma, also an allusion to a horse
since he is a uma-hijiri), without making sounds or
creating rumours (ano oto sezu), and according to
the commentator, by drawing closer to the old style
of Manyō poetry (manyō kofū mo yorikitarite), it
has a more graceful (shinmyō) touch and is
appointed the winner.

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5.1.5 Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase: Concluding Discussion

It was not an uncommon practice for wandering monks in the Muromachi period to both
preach the law of the Buddha, and also tell love stories in order to get an audience.674 To
recite poems of both the moon (the clear law of the Buddha) and love was likely quite a
common thing for monks of the social status that the boro seem to have had. In the image of
a biwa-hōshi in the 71-ban (Plate 16) there is an item that looks lite a vertical flute lying
near his knee. He also has a tuning pipe (the set of pipes that look like a pan-flute). The
biwa-hōshi probably played a shakuhachi, most likely the shorter hitoyogiri shakuhachi,
which was a very popular instrument in the sixteenth century, also used by both dengaku
performers and gagaku performers (cf. the discussion on Taigen-shō above, Chapters 3 and
4). The shakuhachi was probably also used to perform some popular tunes in order to gather
people. However, the only possible connection between the boro and shakuhachi that we
can find in this scroll painting is what the boro has stuck in his sash. We cannot be
absolutely sure whether it is a musical instrument or a dagger, but it seems most likely to
assume that it is the dagger, which the common man of the day would carry. We would
have to conclude from the visual aspects that the biwa-hōshi is more closely connected with
the (hitoyogiri) shakuhachi than is the boro.
The boro is well versed and witty, showing some of the abilities of a studied person. On
the other hand, both poems also show a fairly common disposition. If we are to believe the
commentator, there is no overwhelming inclination towards deeper religious emotions in the
first poem, and rather wordly considerations predominate in the second. The hanja, judge,
in the Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase is not an individual but a general consensus,
whereby we may conclude that the boro were seen as profane monks of common status
among ordinary people in the Muromachi period. There is no evidence to connect the boro
with any aspects of shakuhachi, neither in the text nor in the painting, and the contents of
the poems are not in line with the rather harsh attitude of the boro-boro that we encounter in
Tsurezure-gusa and the fierceness of the monks in Boro-boro no sōshi (cf. Section 5.2).
Yet another issue to be considered is that the boro-boro in Tsurezure-gusa are immersed
in kuhon nenbutsu, a practice of prayer to invocate Amida Buddha, which shows that they
are mainly concerned with Pure Land Buddhism, Jōdo-shū, and not Zen Buddhism, the
denomination to which the later komusō were connected. Max Deeg translates the two
poems by the boro in the following way:

The moon of the dharma dwells broadly and calmly above Musashino 武蔵野 – o, the
grass bed of the boro who has risen (from it)! The heart of the boro – the radiance of the
dharma at the origin of the moon should, alas, be spread. Being awaken without faith – o
do not forsake the world! Even the ‘horse-ascetic’ with his heart always returning – this
should be well known – does not utter such a sound.675

In Deeg’s translation, the theme ‘love’ is not accentuated; rather, he continues with the
notion of the boro’s (or the uma-hijiri’s) faith always returning to … what? Its origin,

674
One typical and well known example would be the story about Jōruri-hime.
675
Max Deeg, “Komusō and ‘Shakuhachi-Zen’,” 2007, p. 16, n 22. There seems to be a minor typing error in the
original, which I have corrected here.

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 Chapter 5 – Constructing Tradition: The boro and Shakuhachi

maybe, evoking an image of a truly devout monk. Even when he loses his faith, and
understands not to forsake the world, he does not utter such words. This interpretation
reflects poorly the theme of ‘love,’ and the common character of the boro that I find to be
explicit in the poems.
The writer Takeda Kyōson interprets the poems of the boro as well. He views the
commentator’s evaluation of poem number one as a description of a monk who thinks
himself to be a preacher (a 説法者 of the right way, one assumes), but in reality is no such
thing. Takeda also interprets the second poem of the boro: In his interpretation, however,
the boro is a uma-hijiri and then the uma-hijiri becomes a bashaku, a person who
transported gods by horse.

[The commentator] gives him a high evaluation. What we observe here is that a part of
the boro seems to have become “uma-hijiri.” One viewpoint says that the uma-hijiri
originated in the koma-hijiri [高麗聖], who came from Koma [kingdom] in Korea, and
became koma-hijiri [駒聖], which then was turned into muma-hijiri [馬聖], but, actually
they seem to have been what was called bashaku [馬借], people who used horses to
transport gods.676

In Japanese lexica, uma-hijiri is shortly defined as ‘komusō,’ with a reference to the

second poem of the boro in this 71-ban.677 This interpretation I also find to be inconsistent
with the text. It would be possible to conclude that the boro is using the fact that he has a
horse (or is viewed as an uma-hijiri by the commentator) to make a play on words. To
continue forward, as he does on his horse (yukamu koma), is the only way he can approach a
love affair. He does not stop, but he is sure not to stir up a fuss or let people hear the sound
of his horse (ano oto sezu). The boro looks like a common – but studied – man, concerned
both with religious and worldly affairs. This monk is not a beggar monk; he does not have
any bowl for begging among his belongings, as does the komosō of the 32-ban that I discuss
in Chapter 6.

5.2 Boro-boro no sōshi: The boro

The earliest use of boro may be in the Boro-boro no Sōshi (The Storybook of the
Boro-boro), which is attributed to Myōe Shōnin (1173–1232),678 and if this is correct, it is a
usage of the word that preceeds Tsurezure-gusa by at least a hundred years. The text is,
however, assumed to having been discovered in 1338. It is not historically proven that it
was Myōe Shōnin who wrote it, and not even that it was completed in the early fourteenth
century (cf. Iei Michiko below and Section 5.2.2). Kurihara quotes Boro-boro no sōshi,
without giving any bibliographical data of his source, in the following way.

676
Takeda, Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi, 1997, 197.
677
KOKUGO, Vol. 3, uma-hijiri: p. 23.
678
明恵上人, ぼろぼろの草紙.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

A long time ago, there was a woman who was selling oil for a living. Her appearance was
ugly, and she did not like to run into people during daytime. She would only go to the
679
market after the sun set, and was therefore called boro-boro. She had two sons: The
680
older was named Renge-bō, and wandered around to all the various regions in his
nenbutsu practice.681 The younger was named Kokū-bō,682 who learned the style of the
wild monks [kassō], and wandered to all the various regions in a fantastic and grotesque
way. 683

The meaning of the word kassō is unknown, but supposedly it refers to a wild or
684
uncontrolled kind of monk who would do things nobody expected.
One of the existing copies of this book is in the repository of Iwate University Library
Media Centre. Iei Michiko wrote a report in 2007 about the Boro-boro no sōshi, published in
an Iwate University Bulletin. According to this report, the book at Iwate University Library
contains only the last third, compared to published editions. The story begins with the
woman mentioned in the above quote. Iei Michiko also states that “the word boro-boro does
not appear,”685 which means that the quote above must come from a different copy of the
book. Takeda Kyōson has written the only interpretation of Boro-boro no sōshi that I have
been able to obtain. In his interpretation and explication of the text, he begins by stating that,
“[t]he tale begins with a woman, Kure (暮れ), who lives in the capital selling oil. She gives
birth to two sons with contrasting appearances, the wild-tempered Kokū-bō who has dark
complexion and ugly features, and the handsome and kind-hearted Renge-bō.”686 This quote
at least implies that the text Takeda has read is similar to the text at Iwate University
Library.
In 1830, Kitamura states in Kiyūshōran that Boro-boro no sōshi was written by Myōe
Shōnin, which is reiterated by Kurihara in 1918, 687 and Koida Tomoko 688 states that, in the
sample at Iwate University Library, “as a common trait in all the various copies of the book,
its history of transmission from Myōe is noted.”689 This common trait in the extant copies is
also connected to, for instance, temples to which Myōe had some relationship.690 The
chronology is, however, not confirmed, and Iei Michiko begins her above-mentioned report

679
After the sun sets (暮れ, kure) she would show up (露, arawa), therefore, with another reading, boro-boro (暮露暮露).
680
蓮華坊.
681
As mentioned above, nenbutsu is the practice of prayers to invocate the Amida Buddha, and it was the central
idea in Jōdo-shū, Pure Land Buddhism, a denomination according to which the invocation of Amida Buddha is the
way to salvation.
682
虚空坊.
683
Quote in Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 83. (むかし油を売りて業とせる一人の女ありけるが、其容貌醜くして
白晝人に遭ふを厭ひ、暮方のみ市に露れしを以て暮露暮露と云ひたりとぞ、二人の子あり兄の蓮華坊は念佛修行に諸國を巡り、弟
の虚空坊は活僧の風を學び、異形の風を以て諸國を巡り云々).
684
KOKUGO, Vol. 4, kassō: p. 703. In the lexical source it says: “Maybe referring to a monk who does things that
nobody would expect.” (人の思いもよらないことなどをする僧をいうか。).
685
Iei Michiko, a scholar of classical literature, “ ‘Boro-boro no Sōshi’ ni tsuite,” June 2007, 101. Transcript of
Boro-boro no sōshi, on pages 104–114. Also confirmed in a personal communication with Professor Iei on February
21, 2011.
686
Takeda, Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi, 1997, 183.
687
Kitamura, Kiyūshōran (1830), 1906, 38.
688
Koida Tomoko (恋田知子). researcher at the National Institute for the Humanities (Japanese Literature).
689
Koida Tomoko quoted in Iei Michiko, “‘Boro-boro no Sōshi’ ni tsuite,” 2007, 102.
690
In a personal communication with Professor Iei on February 21, 2011.

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by stating that “[a]mong the cluster of tales referred to as ‘otogi-sōshi’ 691 there is a tale
from the Muromachi period with the popular name ‘Boro-boro no sōshi’.”692 The notation of
the transmission from Myōe may also be a point of discussion, which I refer to in Section
5.2.2 below.

5.2.1 Boro-boro no sōshi: Its Content in Secondary Literature

Apart from the word boro-boro in the title there is no connection to shakuhachi. In
Kiyūshōran one reads that the younger brother, Kokū-bō, learned the style of monks
referred to as kassō,693 cut half of the hair on his head, wore a paper garment with pictures
painted on it, carried a sword (a tachi) that measured one shaku eight sun (corresponding to
one foot and eight inches, approximately 54.5 centimetres), and carried with him an eight
shaku (corresponding to eight feet, or around 242 centimetres) long stick of cypress.694
From there Kitamura comments that, “[t]he shakuhachi is the same length as the sword, and
therefore maybe it was later changed to [the shakuhachi].”695 This is of course no proof or
even circumstantial evidence that Kokū-bō was a boro monk and played the shakuhachi.
Nakatsuka also refers to this part and says that, “[t]his fits perfectly with the painting and
the style in the previously mentioned [Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase], and the boro
in the monk Kenkō’s Tsurezure-gusa is of this form, too.”696 There are some similarities,
but there is no stick or pole in the 71-ban, even if we have been able to conclude that the
boro in the 71-ban actually is carrying a sword, the only thing that in fact fits the
description.697
Nakatsuka explains the word kassō in relation to the Kassō branch of the Edo period Fuke
sect. The word used in Kiyūshōran for kassō is 活僧, and the character 活 (katsu) refers to
‘life,’ etc., and 僧 (sō) refers to a monk, thus, a vivacious monk. Nakatsuka uses the
characters 活惣 for the Kassō branch, which also appears in the Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai and

691
A type of fairy-tales, normally with images included, common in the Muromachi and Edo periods. (御伽草子).
692
Iei Michiko, “‘Boro-boro no Sōshi’ ni tsuite,” 2007, 101.
692
Ibid.
693
What kind of monks kassō refers to is not clear, according to KOKUGO, Vol. 4, kassō: p. 703. In the lexical
source one reads: “Maybe referring to a monk who does things that nobody would expect.” (人の思いもよらないことな
どをする僧をいうか。).
694
Kitamura, Kiyūshōran (1830), 1906, 38. (弟ハ活僧の風を學び頭髪を半にきりて繪がきたる紙衣をきて一尺八寸の太刀をは
き八尺の檜木の棒をつき諸国を行く【ありく】といへり).
695
Ibid. (尺八ハこの腰刀の寸法なれば後にこれにかへたるにや). In Kitamura’s comment, the sword is referred to not only
as a sword, but a koshi-gatana, normally a short sword. However, it was not until the Edo period that the length of
swords became regulated, and it is therefore conceivable that the sword was a short koshi-gatana, which literally
means ‘waist sword,’ referring to a sword that was carried at the waist, stuck in the sash. See also footnote 697
below.
696
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 45. (之れは前記職人盡の画と風俗ピッタリ合っているとの
事であり、又兼好法師の徒然草の暮露に亦此形であるとの事であります。).
697
The katana (sword for combat on foot; the common sword from the Edo period on) and the tachi (sword for
fighting from horseback; more common in the Heian and Kamakura periods) both have blades that measure above 2
shaku (more than approx. 60 centimetres), The waki-zashi (a side-arm) should be between 1 and 2 shaku (30–60
centimetres), and the tantō (literally ‘short sword’ and in reality a dagger) is less than 1 shaku, according to the
homepage of the sword smith Munechika Hyōe (宗近兵衛 ) at http://www.katanakazi.com accessed on August
20, 2011. A blade that measured 1 shaku 8 sun is therefore rather short to be referred to as a tachi.

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the Kinko techō, from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century respectively. The
character 惣 (sō) refers to an autonomous body in rural villages in the Kamakura and
Muromachi periods, that set up locally valid rules and regulations. No connection between
活僧 and 活惣 seems to have been established, and thus, no connection between the kassō
relating to boro-boro and the Kassō branch of the Fuke sect. The practice of using
phonetic-equivalent characters may explain the difference, but the inclination towards
finding similarities is still remarkable. In the historical overview by the musicologist
professor Kamisangō Yūkō, he refers to the boro as predecessors to the later komo or
komosō (cf. Chapter 6), with the following words:

[They] carried a straw mat [komo] on their wanderings and used it as bedding for sleeping
outside, and therefore they were called by this name [komosō], but they were earlier also
called boro ( 暮露 ), boro-boro, boronji, bonji, kanji, etc. In the older texts they are
mentioned in “Tsurezure-gusa.” 698

Christopher Yohmei Blasdel renders this part of Kamisangō’s text above into English in
the following way:

Their name derives from komo, a simple, woven straw mat worn on their backs to keep
out rain and cold. These beggar-monks were also referred to as boro, boroboro, boronji,
bonji and kanji, all words that have religious overtones yet convey the feelings of
mendicancy and poverty.699

The original text definitely states that the boro were predecessors to the komosō, who in
turn are said to be predecessors of the Edo period komusō. In Blasdel’s adapted version the
boro is also endowed with a religious connotation. The use of the words bonji and kanji,
which refer to Sanskrit and Chinese respectively, does of course indicate that they were
learned monks, but in view of the commentary to the 71-ban, the religious inclinations of
the boro in that scroll painting seem to have been rather shallow. The boro’s strong point is
his cultivation, his ability to refer to old Japanese poems, and most likely to understand the
references the tsūji is making (Chinese verse, Man’yō-shū). This depicts a man with literary
qualities more than with religious insight and depth.
The section above from Kamisangō’s text continues with a careful, but quite explicit,
construction on behalf of Kamisangō: “In the fifteenth century the name komosō was not in
use, and it seems that [the boro] were not necessarily connected to the shakuhachi, but
when they began to be called komosō the shakuhachi became an indispensable part.”700 In
Chapter 6 I discuss the komosō, and it is clear that there are no earlier references to komosō
than a scroll painting from 1494, in which the komosō plays shakuhachi. To say that the
boro do not seem to be connected to the shakuhachi by necessity allows too many doors to

698
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 74. (薦を持ち歩いて野宿の夜具としたので、この名で呼
ばれたが、それ以前には、ぼろ（暮露）、ぼろぼろ、ぼろんじ、梵字、漢字などとも呼ばれた。古いところでは『徒然草』に記さ
れている。十五世紀にはまだ薦僧の称はなく、尺八とも必ずしも結びついていないようであるが、薦僧となると尺八が付き物とな
る。).
699
Kamisangō translated in Blasdel, The Shakuhachi… (1988), 2008, 82.
700
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 74. (十五世紀にはまだ薦僧の称はなく、尺八とも必ずし
も結びついていないようであるが、薦僧となると尺八が付き物となる。). Emphasis added.

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be kept open in an interpretation of the older history of the shakuhachi. Kamisangō does not
give any substantiating references, or even a circumstantial proof, to support his view. To
keep the possibility of a connection between shakuhachi and boro open seems, rather, to be
a construed view of the shakuhachi tradition.

5.2.2 Boro-boro no sōshi: Its Content Explicated

In secondary literature on the shakuhachi there are only two sources that further expound on
the text Boro-boro no sōshi, by Takeda Kyōson and Ueno Katami. Neither of them are
academic scholars, but since they are the available secondary material I discuss them
separately below.

5.2.2.1 Takeda
Takeda Kyōson is a writer with his aim towards the general public. On the other hand, he is
one of only three of the writers I have studied, who comments on the content of Boro-boro
no sōshi. Takeda is quoted in the academic research conducted by Tsukitani Tsuneko,701 and
I find his comments to be of interest for the present study. Takeda refers to a publication of
the text in Series of Books on Eastern Buddhism in Japanese Language, published by
Meicho Shuppan.702 I have not been able to obtain a copy of the whole text, and I discuss
here the content of the text as described by Takeda Kyōson.703
Takeda characterizes Kokū-bō as a fierce and violent person, who cuts down anyone who
does not comply with his view on the right path of Buddhism, and a person who has no
sentiment for socially accepted behaviour. When their mother dies, the pious Renge-bō
wishes to bury her and give her a ceremonial service, but Kokū-bō would rather undress her
and sell the clothes. He also prefers to throw her corpse out on the field rather than pay for a
coffin and a ceremony. They sell the house, share the money, and Kokū-bō buys himself a
sword. Takeda quotes a passage where Kokū-bō has come to a place where about a hundred
followers of the Yūzūnenbutsu-shū, a branch of Jōdo-shū Buddhism,704 has gathered. He
becomes infuriated when the practitioners get excited, saying that flowers are falling from
the sky. Kokū-bō cuts down more than thirty of the monks and nuns gathered. He follows
his own law, and in a dialogue with his older brother, Kokū-bō claims that nenbutsu – the

701
In a footnote Tsukitani (Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 19) quotes Takeda as saying that “boro and
komosō were originally different beings, but they merged and the boro became extinct, and from the beginning of
the Edo period [the remaining komo, my remark] became komusō. (Takeda, Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi,
1997, 173, 181, 198).”
702
国文東方仏教叢書 published by 名著出版.
703
Searching the publisher’s website there are no items that correspond to the title of the series, but the title can be
found on Online Shopping sites, e.g., amazon.co.jp, as antiquarian books.
704
The Yūzūnenbutsu-shū (融通念仏宗) branch was established by Ryōnin (良忍, 1072–1132). Also known as
Dainenbutsu-shū (大念仏宗). The main idea is that each person’s prayers will benefit all other people. YHJ,
yūzūnenbutsushū (融通念仏宗), by Kiyohara Saneaki (清原實明), accessed on February 18, 2011.

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practice of ardent prayers in order to reach the Pure Land – is a vulgar practice, meant only
as an initial practice without any hope for progress. It is not the true teaching of Jōdo-shū.705
Whether the boro-boro that appears in Tsurezure-gusa should be interpreted as a
representative example of the boro-boro in Boro-boro no sōshi may be a point of discussion.
According to Iei Michiko (cf. above) the word boro-boro does not appear in the copy she
has investigated, but Takeda quotes Boro-boro no sōshi as stating that Kokū-bō was leader
of a thirty men strong gang of boro-boro, described in the following way:

Kokū-bō “was 7 shaku 8 sun tall [approx. 236 centimetres], he had the strength of
sixty-five men, he wore a painted paper garment and black trousers. He carried a 1 shaku
8 sun [approx. 54.5 centimetres] sword and an octagonal pole with coiled handle, and he
had 1 shaku 5 sun [approx. 45 centimetres] high wooden clogs. He brought with him
thirty boro-boro of the same token, going on pilgrimages around in the provinces, scaring
people who heard or saw them, and there was no-one who would even think they wanted
to run into them.706

In Tsurezure-gusa, the boro-boro do practice kuhon nenbutsu, the discipline of Jōdo-shū

– the Buddhist denomination for which Kokū-bō shows such distaste – but they are also,
apparently, inclined towards acts of violence. If it was Myōe Shōnin who wrote Boro-boro
no sōshi he must have had a reason for making up what most likely is fiction. Takeda’s
intended meaning is that the aim of the text was to admonish people to return to the older
schools of Buddhism, and the threefold training: virtue, mind, and wisdom.707
This may hold true regardless of whether or not it was Myōe who wrote the text, and
Takeda does also question whether Boro-boro no sōshi actually was written by Myōe, as
well as questioning the time of its completion. Firstly he makes the remark that writings did
not take the shape of sōshi, storybooks, until the Muromachi period.708 Considering that
there are several older texts with the suffix sōshi, e.g., Makura no sōshi completed in 1002,
his conclusion is at least questionable.709 On the other hand, Takeda also mentions that, as
described in an afterword, the book was discovered by accident, because a mouse had been
gnawing on the case in which the text was found. This afterword was, however, written by
the early Edo period court noble and poet Karasumaru Mitsuhiro.710 From this, Takeda
concludes that, “it is difficult to specify when it was completed. But, at least, the only thing

705
Takeda, Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi, 1997, 183–189.
706
Boro-boro no sōshi quoted in Takeda 1997, p. 186. (虚空坊は、「長【たけ】は七尺八寸、力は六十五人が力、絵かき紙衣
に黒袴きて、一尺八寸の打刀をさし、ひるまきの八角棒を横たへ、一尺五寸のたかあしだはきけり。同様なる暮露々々三十人引具
おそ
して諸国を行脚するに、見聞く人惶れて、かりそめにもゆきあはんといふものなし。」). Takeda is referring to the sword as an
uchi-gatana, which is a katana carried in the sash with the edge facing upwards and used for combat on foot. (YHJ,
nihontō, tachi (日本刀・太刀), by Ogasawara Nobuo (小笠原信夫), accesses on April 22, 2011). A tachi, on the other
hand, is carried with a special device in order to hang more loosely below the hip, with the edge facing downwards
and used for combat on horseback (http://www.katanakazi.com accessed on August 20, 2011).
707
Takeda, Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi, 1997, 192. The threefold training (sangaku, 三学): a higher virtue
(kai, 戒) to prevent evil; mind (jō, 定) that creates a peacefulness; wisdom (e, 慧) that makes it possible to reach
enlightenment and understand the truth.
708
Ibid., 182.
709
Professor Iei confirmed in a personal communication on February 21, 2011, that the Boro-boro no sōshi held at
Iwate University is not typical for the Kamakura period, and that it probably is from the sixteenth century, or at the
earliest, from some time after the Ōnin no ran (1467–1477).
710
烏丸光広, 1579–1638.

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that seems to be certain is that Myōe did not write it.”711 Takeda also begins his explication
by saying that Boro-boro no sōshi is an example of a type of fairy-tale, otogi-sōshi, “which
are stories intended for the general public, made from the Muromachi to the Edo period,”712
in principle paraphrasing Iei Michiko (cf. above). Takeda refers to Boro-boro no sōshi as an
example of a unique type of storybook.
If Boro-boro no sōshi was not completed during Myōe’s lifetime – and maybe much later
than the time of the recorded discovery in 1338 – it raises questions of the relevance of the
appearance of boro-boro in the text. If the text is much younger than expected, maybe even
from the early Edo period, it gains a higher relevance to the construed connection between
komo monks and boro-boro monks on the one hand, and the later komusō on the other (cf.
Chapter 4 above).

5.2.2.2 Ueno
Ueno Katami is another non-academic writer on the history of shakuhachi. As with Takeda,
Ueno is, however, also referred to in the academic research conducted by Tsukitani Tsuneko,
stating that, “[he] … presents a guideline for those who have just begun research on the
shakuhachi, with a wealth of quotes from the literature.”713
Ueno refers to Boro-boro no sōshi, citing a passage about Kokū-bō and his thirty
followers, which is similar but not the same as in the quote in Takeda above (5.2.2.1).

The older brother Kokū-bō, “carried a 1 shaku 8 sun [approx. 54.5 centimetres] sword,
wore a painted paper garment, a robe, and black trousers, and he became what is called
boro. … He brought with him thirty boro-boro of the same token, going on pilgrimages
around in the provinces, scaring people who heard or saw them, and there was no-one
who would even think they wanted to run into them. However, they did not commit any
immoral acts, but closed their doors at night and practiced za-zen.”714

There are several aspects of the boro-boro that need attention in this quote. Firstly, the
practice of za-zen is not mentioned anywhere else. According to other writers, the
denomination – if any – was Jōdo-shū. Ueno concludes this quote by asserting that, “[a]s we
could expect, they wore crude clothes such as kami-ginu, and even though they showed an
attitude of desiring the way of Buddha by practicing nenbutsu [invocation of Amida
Buddha] and za-zen, they seem to have been masterless warriors carrying a sword on their
pilgrimage in the various provinces.”715 Ueno evokes an image of warriors, even though the
quote states that they did not commit any immoral acts, such as slaying or raping. Takeda,
on the other hand, reports that slaying was a normal activity. From Towazu-gatari, quoted at
the very beginning of this Chapter 5, it may be understood that the boro-boro were involved

711
Takeda, Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi, 1997, 182.
712
Ibid.
713
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 24.
714
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 187. (兄の虚空坊が、「一尺八寸ありける打刀、絵かきたる紙ぎぬと衣とくろ
きはかまとをしたて、暮露といふ者に成て出にけり。… 同様なる暮露々々三拾人引ぐして諸国を行脚するに、見聞く人おそれて、
かりそみにもゆきあわんといふものなし。しかれどもひがごと〔僻事〕せず、夜はふすま〔衾〕を引かづき坐禅するなり。」).
715
Ibid.

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in several cases of “insincere relations.” The boro’s love relations, sincere or not, are also
referred to in Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase (cf. Section 5.1.4.2 above).
Finally, in the above conclusion that Ueno draws, he states that “they wore crude clothes
such as kami-ginu,” but it is questionable whether the meaning ‘worn out,’ or ‘shaggy’ was
a normal denotation of boro at the time, i.e., during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods.
The word boro is used in modern Japanese with the characters 藍褸 to denote a rag, scraps,
tattered clothes, a fault or defect, run-down or junky things. The word appears in the
Japanese-Portugese dictionary Vocabvlario da Lingoa de Iapam from 1603, in Japanese
called Nippo-jisho,716 and in the English book Self Help, translated into Japanese with the
name Saigoku risshi-hen by the Western scholar Nakamura Masanao in 1870–71.717 In the
former boroboroto is explained with the sentence “The kimono is torn,” and in the latter one
reads “torn clothes“ (ifuku ranru), with the comment that they are torn to rags (boroboro ni
yabureru).718
In a collection of commentaries, Saezuri-gusa, written from 1830–1863 by Fujiwara
Nagafusa (pen name: Jakuan), the author remarks that there were both biro and boro, but
that they probably were the same. Fujiwara refers to the boro as uma-hijiri, komosō, and
komusō in a way that is remarkably similar to as they appear in the Kiyūshōran. His final
comment is striking: “[T]he stained and torn garments of poor people used to be called ‘it
looks like a boro,’ and now it seems that boro has become a colloquial name for old clothes.
The book Kawa-bukuro by the priest Myōe is called with the old name Boro-boro no Sōshi;
in old times komosō were called boro-boro, but now, to wear torn garments is colloquially
often called boro-boro.”719
Thus, we can conceive today of three meanings of boro (or boro-boro): (1) rags (藍褸),
(2) a person who is not willing to show his or her face in daylight (暮露), and (3) a person
knowledgable in Sanskrit (梵論 ). Denotations (2) and (3) were apparently used in the
Medieval Period (Kamakura and Muromachi periods), but any reference to denotation (1)
seems to be a modern – or late pre-modern – construct, which does not carry any relevance
to the appearance of the boro monks until the end of the sixteenth century. The light paper
garment – called kami-ginu in Japanese – mentioned in various quotes, both above as well
as in the following section, is also referred to in Chapter 6. The kami-ginu was a common
garment in the Medieval Period among both rich and poor, and it was not until the
Momoyama and Edo periods that it began to connote poverty or shabbiness (cf. Section
6.1.2.2 below).
The connection between boro and the shakuhachi-playing komosō (cf. Chapter 6 below)
was first established by Hayashi Razan in the early seventeenth century, as discussed in
Section 4.5 above. Hayashi also quotes Boro-boro no shōshi in his commentary to Episode
115 in Tsurezure-gusa. In Hayashi we read the following:

716
日葡辞書.
717
西国立志編. 中村正直, 1832–1891.
718
KOKUGO, Vol. 18, boro-boro: p. 225. (着物が破れているさま・衣服襤褸).
719
Fujiwara Nagafusa, Saezuri-gusa, 1910–1912, 102. (いやしきもの々うづら衣、つゞれの衣着たるを暮露のやう也などい
ひしが、うつりて古衣の俗称とはなれるにやあらむ、明恵上人皮袋といふ書の古名をぼろ々々のさうしとよべるなど、昔はこも僧
をぼろ々々とよべり、今俗つゞれの着たる姿をぼろ々々したなどいへるもよくあへり)

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Shukugahara, located in the province of Settsu; boro-boro is said to be written 暮露, but it
should be written as 梵論, because there are names like bonji [梵字] and kanji [漢字]. There
is a text called Boro-boro no sōshi, and [in this text] it is told [about] a person called
Kokū-bō becoming a boro; he is 7 shaku 8 sun tall [approx. 236 centimetres] and very
strong, he wears a painted paper garment, and carries a 1 shaku 8 sun [approx. 54.5
centimetres] sword and an octagonal pole with coiled handle, he wears 1 shaku 5 sun
[approx. 45 centimetres] high wooden clogs, and has long hair and dark complexion. He
is married to a beautiful woman, and walks around the provinces with thirty men.720

As we can see, this quote is in essence similar to the qoutes from Takeda and Ueno above,
even if there are differences in detail, and it does not give any further clue as to how and
why the boro were linked to the komosō and the komusō. With reference to Hayashi’s
positive evaluation of the boro, as discussed in Chapter 4, the link between these three – as
far as I can see disparate – types of monks was established in Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi, and
this link has never been questioned in any of the secondary writings in modern times.

5.3 Shaseki-shū: The boro

Yet another reference to the boro – or boro-boro – comes from the Shaseki-shū (Collected
Stories of Stones and Pebbles), from 1283, 721 written by the monk Mujū Ichien. 722
Shaseki-shū consists of ten volumes. In the quote from Japanese lexica at the very beginning
of this chapter, the references to boro were from Tsurezure-gusa and Shichijūichi-ban
Shokunin uta-awase. The word boro-boro is a separate lemma,723 and it has its own entry in
lexica, saying that it is “[s]ame as ‘boro (梵論)’.” The references given for boro-boro are: (1)
from Tsurezure-gusa, the same Episode 115 as for the lemma boro, and (2) the Jōkyō
edition of Shaseki-shū, Volume eight, number fourteen.724 As reference to Tsurezure-gusa
the very beginning of Episode 115 is quoted: “Many boro-boro had gathered, and were
reciting kuhon nenbutsu [prayers to Amida Buddha],” and as reference to Shaseki-shū a
section in Volume eight, number fourteen is quoted: “Just like a boro-boro [he] wore a light
paper garment as clothing and even slept in it.”725 The same section is also quoted in the
1830 Kiyūshōran.

720
Hayashi Razan, Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi (1621), 1968, 124.
(宿河原 摂津國 ぼろ々々 暮露と書といへども梵論と書べきなり梵字漢字なといふ名もあれば也ぼろ々々の草紙一巻あり虚空坊
といふもの身の長七尺八寸力強し絵かきかみぎぬに一尺八寸の太刀をはきひるまきの八角棒をよこたへ一尺五寸の高屐をはき髪長
く色黒くしてぼろとい云者になり一人の美女を妻とし同行三十人諸国をありくといへり).
721
沙石集.
722
無住一円, 1226–1312.
723
Written with the Chinese characters 梵論梵論 or 暮露暮露.
724
Jōkyō period, 1684–1688. (貞享).
725
KOKUGO, Vol. 18, boro-boro: p. 225. (Tsurezure-gusa: ぼ ろ ぼ ろ 多 く 集 ま り て 、 九 品 の 念 仏 を 申 し け る に ;
Shaseki-shū: ひたすら暮露暮露の如くにて、帷に紙衣きてぬるに).

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“Shaseki-shū 8” A monk who had entered the Way of Buddha, ... after having been
relieved of his official position in the territory, just like a boro-boro he wore a light paper
garment as clothing and even slept in it. 726

The Shaseki-shū is problematic. There are several versions of the text, with different
disposition and content. In the following sections I first refer to how the Shaseki-shū is
treated and referred to in some twentieth-century secondary writings on the shakuhachi
(Section 5.3.1). Following that I refer to and discuss some modern research on the
Shaseki-shū, in order to clarify my point that it is at least likely that the boro-boro –
mentioned in the above quote – is a later addition (Section 5.3.2). Finally I discuss a
possible misinterpretation of a quote of Shaseki-shū in the Kiyūshōran (Section 5.3.3). It
may seem to be a lengthy discussion, but I find it highly relevant to clarify and problematize
the appearance of boro-boro in Shaseki-shū.

5.3.1 Shaseki-shū in Twentieth-century Writings

Shaseki-shū was written close to the appearance of boro-boro in Tsurezure-gusa and
Boro-boro no sōshi – if we accept 1338, the year of its supposed discovery, as its first
appearance. The boro-boro, as described in Tsurezure-gusa, had not been heard of in
‘recent’ times, maybe a couple of decades earlier, counting from around 1330. It thus seems
that the boro-boro had begun to be noticed by people in general at the beginning of the
fourteenth century. Ueno draws the same conclusion, that the boro-boro began to be
generally known in the early fourteenth century, but he also finds another time frame by
quoting the same section of Shaseki-shū as in Kiyūshōran above. Ueno describes the
situation and quotes the section with the following words:

Nevertheless, … in ‘14, About Driving Out Poverty’ … it is told that a long time ago, a
Buddhist priest, who was the official administator of provincial affairs in a small territory
had become weakened by illness. “After having been relieved of his official position in
the territory, … he became just like a boro-boro, wearing a light paper garment as
clothing and even slept in it, neither his feet nor his body got cold, he did not think any
food to be bad, and he found barley-mixed rice [cheap food, my remark] the nectar of his
meal.727

Ueno claims that Shaseki-shū was written in the 1280s, and states that, “we can say that
[the boro-boro] were known by the general public during the Kamakura period, in the latter
half of the thirteenth century,”728 thereby countering his own conclusion about the earliest
appearance of the boro-boro in the early fourteenth century, even if the difference is merely
around fifty years.

726
Kitamura, Kiyūshōran (1830), 1906, 38. (ある入道法師云々所領得替の後ハひたすら暮露々々の如くにて惟に
紙衣をきてねる).
727
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 186.
728
Ibid.

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The reference Ueno gives is from page 335 of an Iwanami Bunko paperback edition of
Shaseki-shū, but his footnote does not contain any further bibliographical data. Takeda
gives exactly the same quote, also without providing any further bibliographical information.
Takeda writes:

Mujū … belonged to Rinzai Zen, but in Shaseki-shū there are many Buddhist narratives
centered around true stories without leaning towards any specific denomination. Among
these stories there is a story about a monk who had entered the Way of Buddha [nyūdō
hōshi, my remark] in the episode ‘About Driving Out Poverty,’ and the description of
how the monk falls into poverty after having lost his territory is illustrated with a boro.729

The content is the same as in the quote in Kiyūshōran, and the quoted section should
then be from Volume 8 of Shaseki-shū. However, Section 14 of Volume 8 of Shaseki-shū
published in Nihon koten bungaku taikei, Volume 85, from 1973 (first printing 1966), does
not bear the title “About Driving Out Poverty,” or anything similar. The title of the above
quoted section – “About Driving Out Poverty” – is in Japanese hinkyū (alternatively read as
hingū or bingū) oidasu koto. In the Nihon koten bungaku taikei edition, Section 22 of
Volume 7 has the same title, “Bingū o oitaru koto.”730 Under this title, there is, however, no
remark about a monk or priest becoming like a boro-boro; the word boro-boro is not
mentioned, and the content is not similar.731

5.3.2 Shaseki-shū: Old and Popular Editions

Several versions of Shaseki-shū exist, old books and popular versions, with additions and
changes. 732 Tsuchiya Yuriko, who wrote her PhD thesis on Shaseki-shū at Waseda
University in 2006, follows the division in old editions, kohon-kei, and popular editions,
rufubon-kei, introduced by Kojima Takayuki.733 The old editions contain what is believed to
be the original text, whereas the popular editions are “transmitted copies and editions, which
have a new text after having been revised.” 734 The rufubon-kei contain several and
substantial additions and changes to the original text, as well as re-dispositions of the
content. One important point in the scholastic research on Shaseki-shū is the chronology
during Mujū’s lifetime. He began writing in 1279, laid down his brush, and then completed
the book in 1283. He later made two revisions, the first in 1295 and the second in 1308. One
729
Takeda, Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi, 1997, 190. Takeda uses the word meshi-agerareru in his
comment, which could mean ‘confiscated,’ but also ‘lost,’ and this meaning fits best with the word tokutai (change
of official position) used in other sources.
730
Mujū Ichien, Shaseki-shū (1283), in Watanabe, ed., Nihon koten bungaku taikei: Shaseki-shū, 1973, 320. The
words hinkyū and bingū are alternative readings of the same Chinese characters. In Ueno the title reads 貧窮追出事,
and in Nihon koten bungaku taikei the title is written as 貧窮ヲ追タル事, with the reading added: bingū o ohitaru koto.
731
Volume 7, Section 22 contains a story about a monk who talks about how poverty is the result of our karma in
previous lives, and that also in Shingon Buddhism they teach about how poverty and wealth are part of our lives and
depend on our deeds, etc.
732
Tsuchiya, “‘Shasekishū’ shohon no seiritsu to tenkai,” 2006, Summary, p. 1.
733
Retired as Professor from Tokyo University 2006, specializing in Japanese literature from the Medieval Period.
Professor Emeritus at Tokyo University. (小島孝之, 1943–).
734
Tsuchiya, “‘Shasekishū’ shohon no seiritsu to tenkai,” 2006, Summary, p. 1.

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of the most authoritative studies on the Shaseki-shū was conducted by Watanabe Tsunaya,
and published in Nihon koten bungaku taikei. According to Watanabe, the content of the
first five volumes does not differ so much between different editions. From Volume 6,
however, “[the content] has undergone such a complete change that they are almost
impossible to compare.”735 Watanabe is of the opinion that Mujū revised his own text, and
that his final revisions should be regarded as the version that Mujū self prescribed. All of
the existing texts are copies made at later dates, but by comparing notes in the texts
researchers have been able to reach some consensus concerning the chronology. Watanabe
holds that the editions with a wider content, kōhon, are older, and that Mujū gradually
revised and erased the content to what Watanabe refers to as ‘abbreviated versions,’
ryakuhon.736
It is of importance for the present study to place the various editions in a historical
perspective. Tsuchiya gives the following order – or development – of the different
editions:737

Shunkai-bon → Yonezawa-bon → Bonshun-bon → Seikidō-hon → Naikaku-bon (parts) → Chōkyō-bon

Watanabe, on the other hand, divides them in the following way:738

Older kōhon: Shunkai-bon, Yonezawa-bon, Naikaku-bon (partly), Bonshun-bon

Younger ryakuhon: Chōkyō-bon
Printed book: Keichō jūnigyō-hon ko-katsuji in-bon

No biographical data are available about

Plate 17: Shaseki-shū, Chōkyō-bon.
Shunkai, the monk that made the copy
Used by courtesy of the Kyoto University Library.
referred to as the Shunkai-bon, but Watanabe
holds that he was active at Gokuraku-ji in
1333. This means that there were 40–50
years between the completion of Shaseki-shū
and the copy. Watanabe concludes, however,
that the text and the signature by Shunkai
were not made by the same person, and he
therefore believes that it was not Shunkai
who actually made the copy, but that it was
in Shunkai’s possession. 739 Regarding the
Yonezawa-bon, Watanabe concludes that it
is impossible to date it. As a result of
analyzing the use of characters, however, he

735
Watanabe, Nihon koten bungaku taikei: Shaseki-shū, 1973, 17.
736
Ibid., 18.
737
Tsuchiya, “‘Shasekishū’ shohon no seiritsu to tenkai,” 2006, 202. (海俊本・米沢本・梵舜本・成簣堂本・内閣一類本・
長享本).
738
Watanabe, Nihon koten bungaku taikei: Shaseki-shū, 1973, 21–33. Watanabe lists also other editions, but they are
not important in the present study and I have therefore not included them in this listing. (慶長十二行本 古活字 印本).
739
Ibid., 21.

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believes that it is a copy from the late Muromachi or the early Edo period.740 The copy of
Naikaku-bon carries the year 1542 and 1543, and the Bonshun-bon was copied in the year
1597 by Bonshun,741 a Buddhist monk and Shintō scholar who lived 1553–1632.
The Chōkyō-bon, which is shown in Plate 17, was copied by the monk Kaishū at
Kōya-san in the year 1489, based on a copy made in 1392. It is important to notice that
Watanabe holds that this edition has “excessive discrepancies in all volumes,” compared to
other editions.742
As we can see from this historical line-up, time passed between the completion of the
original text, Mujū’s own revisions, and the copies that exist today. Tsuchiya carefully
states that, “by a continuous research of the copies that are existing today, we can, to some
extent, grasp what kind of changes ‘Shaseki-shū’ underwent through Mujū’s revisions, or
somewhat at the hands of later generations.”743 Watanabe uses the Bonshun-bon in Nihon
koten bungaku taikei, mainly because it contains vastly more stories of heterogenous
character, even though, in Watanabe’s words, it is not necessarily the best of the existing
editions. Watanabe alleges that several changes may have been added, “and while it was
copied here and there … until the time Bonshun copied it 314 years later it underwent
various transformations.”744 This is of course not only true for the Bonshun-bon, but for all
the various editions.
While Watanabe viewed Bonshun-bon as “the original draft that Mujū so often
mentions,”745 another perspective of the Bonshun-bon is voiced by the above-mentioned
Kojima Takayuki: “Considering the text in Bonshun-bon, it is closer to the popular editions
than the old editions, and it is possible to regard it as a text that has been extended to
include a vast amount of these kinds of preachings and narratives as a step on the way from
old editions to popular editions.”746 Kojima thereby invites the view that several revisions
have been made by people who have been involved in the process of copying the text, and it
would be more than natural to assume that this is not only true for the Bonshun-bon.
In the Chōkyō-bon of the late fifteenth century, Section 14 of Volume 8 reads in the same
way as the above quotes. A monk who had entered the way of Buddha had fallen ill, lost the
good life, and after he had been relieved from his official position (by the feudal authorities)
in a small territory, he changed his way of life.

[J]ust like a boro-boro, he wore a light paper garment as clothing and even slept in it,
neither his feet nor his body were getting cold, he never thought any food to be bad,
finding barley-mixed rice the nectar of his meal. He just left everything to destiny, and
with gloom he lived in a world of dreams, seeing phantoms, gathering karma for the next
life.”747

740
Ibid., 23.
741
Ibid., 25.
742
Ibid., 28.
743
Tsuchiya, “‘Shasekishū’ shohon no seiritsu to tenkai,” 2006, 202.
744
Watanabe, Nihon koten bungaku taikei: Shaseki-shū, 1973, 20.
745
Ibid., 19.
746
Kojima Takayuki, quoted in Kami Kōta, “Shashun-bon ‘Shaseki-shū’ no honbun-hyōgen to hensha,” 2008, 9.
747
Mujū Ichien, Shaseki-shū (1283), reprint of the Chōkyō-bon, Kyoto: Nishimura Kurōemon, 1897, Part 8 (pp.
465–517), 503–504; Shaseki-shū Chōkyō-bon, maki 8 “hingū wo oi-itaru koto”; Shaseki-shū Naikaku-bon, maki 8
“hingū oi-itaru koto.” The same text is found in the original (Plate 17).

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The Chōkyō-bon is the oldest among the rufubon, and it was published in the third year
of the Chōkyō period (1489).748 Watanabe regards this edition as the oldest of the shortened,
abbreviated editions, i.e., the editions that Mujū edited at an older age. Volumes 1–5 and 9
of the Naikaku-bon, mentioned above, belong to the kohon-kei, whereas Volumes 6–8 and
10 belong to the rufubon-kei.749
In the Meiji reprint quoted above, in the Chōkyō-bon, and in the Naikaku-bon the section
belongs to Volume 8. Naikaku-bon Volume 8 is part of the same popular editions –
rufubon-kei – as Chōkyō-bon. The sections are written as “14, hinkyū o oi-idasu koto,”
“hinkyū o oi-itaru koto,” and “hinkyū oi-itaru koto” respectively, and the comment about
boro-boro is to be found also in the Naikaku-bon.750
In the kohon-kei texts to which Watanabe Tsunaya refers in Nihon koten bungaku taikei,
i.e., Bonshun-bon, Yonezawa-bon (Plate 18), and Keichō ko-katsuji jūnigyō-hon, the title of
the section quoted above is written as “Volume 7, Section 22 hinkyū o oitaru koto,”
“Volume 9, Section 22 bingū oitaru koto,” and “Volume 8 2nd part, Section 3 hinkyū oidasu
koto” respectively, implying a diversity of the content, and none of them refer to boro-boro
or anything similar to the quote from the Chōkyō-bon. 751
As stated by Watanabe above, the volumes after Volume 6 are the most diverse. This is
valid also for the disposition, which is obvious from the position of the section discussed
here.
The fact that the monk in the story quoted drifted “as a boro-boro” indicates that that the
boro-boro were still known some 150 years after the Tsurezure-gusa. The secondary
literature from the twentieth century (and the twenty-first, counting Tsukitani and Ueno) all
cite what appears to be the rufubon-kei. It is possible that later researchers have used the
same earlier secondary literature, i.e., Kurihara or Nakatsuka – or even Kitamura – without
considering the possibility of different existing versions of the same text.

Plate 18: Shaseki-shū, Yonezawa-bon.

Used by courtesy of the Yonezawa City
Library.

748
Tsuchiya, “‘Shasekishū’ shohon no seiritsu to tenkai,” 2006, 183. Watanabe, Nihon koten bungaku taikei:
Shaseki-shū, 1973, 28.
749
Tsuchiya, “‘Shasekishū’ shohon no seiritsu to tenkai,” 2006, Material, p. 6.
750
Ibid., 6–12. (十四 貧窮ヲ追出事; 貧窮ヲ追出タル事; 貧窮追出タル事). The passage about the boro-boro can be found in
section 465 on page 152 in Tsuchiya’s thesis.
751
Mujū Ichien, Shaseki-shū (1283), in Watanabe, ed., Nihon koten bungaku taikei: Shaseki-shū, 1973, 8. The
differences in volumes depend on how many additions have been made to the various versions. (巻七二二 貧窮ヲ追タ
ル事; 巻九二二 貧窮追タル事; 巻八下三 貧窮追出事).

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5.3.3 A Possible Misinterpretation

In Kiyūshōran Kitamura quotes a section of Volume 8, which indicates that he probably
used one of the books of the popular editions, e.g., Chōkyō-bon. It is not unlikely that later
research has used Kitamura as a reference, and this seems especially true for Nakatsuka. In
Kiyūshōran the section referring to Shaseki-shū reads in the following way.

“Shaseki-shū 8” A monk who had entered the Way of Buddha, ... after having been
relieved of his official position in the territory, just like a boro-boro he wore a light paper
garment as clothing and even slept in it. At this time they did not as yet play the
shakuhachi, but the later komo got their name because they wandered around carrying a
straw mat. 752

The last sentence in this quote, from “At this time …,” is an explanation made by the
author Kitamura Intei. Nakatsuka quite obviously uses this part from Kiyūshōran.
Nakatsuka states the following.

In ‘Shaseki-shū’ it says: “Just like boro-boro he wore a light paper garment as clothing
and even slept in it. At this time they did not yet play the shakuhachi, but the komosō
got their name because they were carrying a straw mat.” I don’t know what period the
book ‘Shaseki-shū’ is from, but in either case, it is noteworthy that the komosō of the
early days, that is, in the Hōjō era or the era of the Southern and Northern Courts, did not
play shakuhachi. 753

There are some minor differences between the texts, but it seems highly likely that
Nakatsuka is mis-quoting Kitamura. To clarify my point I include the original text in
romanized version:

Kitamura: [shasekishū, hachi] aru nyūdō hōshi un-un shoryō tokutai no nochi wa hitasura
boro-boro no gotoku nite katabira ni kamiginu o kite neru sono koro imada
shakuhachi o fukazu sono go komo to iu wa mushiro o oite ariki kereba nari

Nakatsuka: shasekishū ni wa
“hitasura boro-boro no gotoku nite katabira ni kamiginu o kite neru sono koro imada
shakuhachi o fukazu komosō to iu wa mushiro o oite ari kereba nari”
to atte, …

In the emphasized segment, firstly, the word komo has been changed to komosō in
Nakatsuka, but they of course refer to the same thing. Secondly, the verbs ariki (Kitamura)
and ari (Nakatsuka) have quite different meanings: the former means to ‘walk around’ or
‘wander,’ and the latter means, here, to ‘live.’ Thirdly, the ending segment, kereba nari,
states a fact about how the komo got their name; kere-ba, ba meaning ‘when’ or ‘because’;
kere is used to state the fact; nari is a sentence-concluding copula. This shows that it is an
752
Kitamura, Kiyūshōran (1830), 1906, 38. (ある入道法師云々所領得替の後ハひたすら暮露々々の如くにて惟に紙衣をきてね
るその頃いまだ尺八をふかず其後薦といふハむしろをも負てありきければなり).
753
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 45. Emphasis added. (「沙石集」には『ひたすら暮露々々
の如くにて帷に紙衣を着て寝る、其頃未だ尺八を吹かず、薦僧といふは、むしろを負てありければなり』とあって「沙石集」とい
う書の年代は知りませんが、兎に角初期即ち北条時代や南北朝時代の薦僧は尺八を吹かなかった事は注意すべき事であります。).

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explanation of why the komo are called ‘komo’ that Kitamura has added, rather than a part
of the actual text by Mujū. In the Kiyūshōran there are no quotations marks or similar,
making it difficult to see where the quote actually begins and ends. Nakatsuka, on the other
hand, clearly includes this part as a quote from Shaseki-shū.754 In Kiyūshōran Kitamura
concludes that the boro-boro at that time, the time of Mujū, in the late thirteenth to the early
fourteenth century – or possibly much later – did not (as yet) play the shakuhachi, and that
the komosō appeared later, named after the straw mat that they were carrying when they
walked around. If this part is included in the quote, as in Nakatsuka’s case, it becomes an
explanation by Mujū, stating that the komo did not yet play shakuhachi at the time when
Mujū wrote the text, and that they got their name later because of the straw mats they used.
This would place the shakuhachi in principle in the hands of the boro-boro and the komo
around the turn of the thirteenth century; a connection that I argue is non-existent.

5.4 Concluding Remarks on the boro-boro

In Chapter 4, I argue that it is not unlikely that Hayashi Razan’s Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi
(1621) was instrumental in constructing a connection between the boro-boro and the
komosō, which may have led to the lexical definition of boro quoted at the beginning of this
chapter. As we have seen, the twentieth-century historical studies of the shakuhachi argue
for the similarity between the boro-boro and the komosō, and I have found only one study
that questions this. My examination is a philological study, analyzing the texts relating to
the boro, and it indicates that the boro were cultivated but simple monks. The dissimilarities
to the komosō are further clarified in Chapter 6, but I would conclude this chapter with an
analysis that builds on the religio-philosophical content of the boro’s activities.
The historian Hosaka Hirooki has written two texts relating to the emergence of komusō
in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries respectively. In Tsurezure-gusa of the fourteenth
century, Yoshida Kenkō explains the origin of the boro-boro with the following words:
“There were no boro-boro in the past. Their origin is the boron-ji, bon-ji, kan-ji and so forth
that we have heard of in recent times.”755 Hosaka argues that boronji is a word that relates to
Brahmanism, and that the activities, as described in Tsurezure-gusa and Boro-boro no sōshi,
indicate that they were monks related to the older schools of Buddhism in Japan, with an
emphasis on acts relating to the threefold training: virtue, mind, and wisdom.756 Hosaka’s
position is that the boro-boro was a completely different kind of monk than the komosō.
The connection to Brahmanism is also supported by the lexical definition of bon in the
words related to in the primary sources, bonji, boronji, and so on: “bon (梵) (Brahman) the
supreme principle in the thought of the orthodox Indian Brahmanism.”757

754
The quote is the same in both the 1979 publication of Nakatsuka’s research, and in the original article (Sankyoku,
Tokyo: Nihon Ongakusha, October 1936, 20).
755
Yoshida Kenkō, Tsurezure-gusa (ca. 1340), 115 concluding section, 1965, 183–184. ぼろ々々といふものの、昔なか
りけるにや。近（き）世に、ぼろんじ・梵字・漢字など云（ひ）ける者、その始めなりけるとかや。世を捨てたるに似て我執深く、
佛道を願ふに似て、鬪諍をこととす。放逸無慙の有様なれども、死を軽くして、少（し）もなづまざるかたのいさぎよく覚えて、
人の語りしまゝに書（き）付（け）侍りるなり。
756
Hosaka, “Jūnana seiki ni okeru komusō no seisei,” 1994, 167–171.
757
BKJ, bon: p. 484.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

Chapter  6  –  Constructing  Tradition:  

The  komosō  and  Shakuhachi  

  … the discourse that identified the boro with the

komosō (the Fuke sect) became generally
accepted in the Early Modern Period, but to clarify
this path is still a problem that is left for future
research.

Nishiyama Masaru, in Iwasaki Kae, et al., ed., Shin

Nihon koten bungaku taikei, 1999, 533.

In Chapter 5 above, “The boro and Shakuhachi,” I discuss the Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin
uta-awase in relation to the boro monks (cf. Section 5.1). The word komosō – sometimes
komo is used as an abbreviation – denotes another type of monk, who evidently played the
shakuhachi. These monks are often referred to as the predecessors to the Edo period komusō,
and in Japanese lexica they are even said to be the same. In the Hōgaku hyakka-jiten
(Encyclopaedia of National Music) the definition of komosō is: “An old name for
‘komusō’.”758 The Chinese characters used are 薦僧・菰僧・虚無僧, where the two first refer to
‘straw mat [薦・菰] monks,’ and the last one consists of the same characters as for komusō.
In the explanations one reads that the komosō were beggar-monks, and that it had become a
common activity for the komosō to play shakuhachi from the early sixteenth century.
Further, it is stated that after the establishment of the Fuke sect, which can only refer to
1677 when the komusō were acknowledged, the characters for komusō (虚無僧) were used,
but that the reading ‘komosō’ seems to have been retained for a while.759 This reference
definitely equates the komusō and the komosō, crossing over some 180 years, but in the
Hōgaku hyakka-jiten there are no references to primary sources to support this connection.
Some other lexica, however, provide such, e.g., the Shōgakukan Nihon kokugo dai-jiten
(Shogakukan’s Japanese Dictionary): “Komosō: (薦僧・虚無僧), … same as ‘komusō (虚無
760
僧)’.” The two characters used for komosō denote a straw mat (komo) and monk (sō),
whereas the characters in komusō denote emptiness (ko), nothingness (mu), and monk (sō).

こ む そ う
758
HHJ, komosō: p. 410. (<虚無僧>の古称。).
759
HHJ, p. 410. The time from when playing the shakuhachi became a common activity of the komosō (around
1500), to the official acknowledgement of the komusō (1677), constitutes the believed period of formation of the
tradition surrounding the shakuhachi (cf. Chapter 4).
760
KOKUGO, Vol. 8, komosō: p. 412. Also in Buddhology lexica, komosō and fukesō are mentioned as the same as
komusō (Nakamura Hajime, ed., Shin Bukkyō-jiten (The New Buddhist Dictionary), 1987. komusō: p. 180).

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 Chapter 6 – Constructing Tradition: The komosō and Shakuhachi

The references given that equate komosō with komusō are, however, all from the Edo
period, a time when the relation between boro, komosō, and komusō already had been
established as an invented tradition (cf. Chapter 4). The oldest references to komosō given
in lexica are: (1) A collection of rules and regulations locally selected and issued by the
Ōuchi clan under the name Ōuchi-ke kabi-gaki, also known as Ōuchi-uji okite-gaki, at the
end of the fifteenth century.761 Among the rules there is one article which states that,
“[r]egarding komosō, hōka [street entertainers], and saru-biki [street entertainers using
monkeys], they should be expelled from the area and its vicinities.”762 What this reference
shows is that the komosō were counted among street entertainers, and regarded as persona
non grata. (2) A scroll painting from 1494,763 depicting a poetry play between artisans – the
Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase, which I discuss in detail below (see Plates 19–22). Thus,
the komosō appear almost simultaneously in Ōuchi-ke kabi-gaki and Sanjūni-ban Shokunin
uta-awase, a scroll painting that is six years older than the Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin
uta-awase discussed above in Chapter 5.

Plate 19: The Kōsetsu-bon of Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase, Pair Number 6.

Used by courtesy of the Suntory Museum of Art.

761
Issued in 1486 (Bunemi 18) according to KOKUGO, Vol. 8, komosō: p. 412. Yahoo Hyakka-jiten states that it
was the Lord Ōuchi himself who edited and issued the law-book some time soon after 1495, but that it was largely
revised during the sixteenth century; YHJ, ōuchikekabegaki (大内家壁書), by Yamada Shō (山田渉, 1948–), accessed
on February 22, 2011.
762
KOKUGO, Vol. 8, komosō: p. 412. (薦僧、放下、猿引事、可払当所并近里事). The Ōuchi-uji okite-gaki is also
mentioned in Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 188, and Takeda, Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi,
1997, 202.
763
In Ishida, ed., Nihon no bijutsu 5, 1977, 28, it is placed before the 71-ban, in the fifteenth century. The year 1494
seems to be the normally accepted year of completion, which is mentioned in the program notes for an exhibition of
scroll paintings (e-maki) at Tokushima Museum, May–August 1999:
http://www.museum.tokushima-ec.ed.jp/hasegawa/exhibition/shokunin.htm, accessed on February 23, 2011. There
are many existing copies from the Edo period.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

6.1 Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase

In this earlier scroll painting with poems a komosō monk appears in pair number six. As
explained above in Section 5.1.1, the Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase (hereafter also
32-ban) has different themes than the other extant Shokunin uta-awase. The themes for this
uta-awase are hana, ‘flowers,’ and jukkai,764 meaning ‘reminiscences,’ ‘recollections,’ or
‘thoughts,’ which is stated at the very beginning of the scroll painting. In the foreword it is
stated that poetry is loved by all people, “those who have a house in the capital, beggars in
mountains and forests, nobility and outlaws,”765 and that the more than thirty people who
appear in the scroll painting would feel it regrettable not to leave their poems to the
afterworld, even though they are of a low status. To use ‘moon’ and ‘love’ as themes would,
however, make it difficult to avoid the anxiety of being compared to the poetry contests by
their predecessors, but in the foreword we read that: “To make a stop in front of the
peasant’s flower is a suitable style for us. We make ‘flower’ the theme, and add a poem of
thought.”766
Ishida Hisatoyo remarks that the Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase has several
peculiarities, that make it different from other scroll paintings of artisans: firstly, in contrast
to the other three shokunin uta-awase scroll paintings, there is almost no overlapping
between the 32-ban and the other three, and secondly, “there is a large number of rare
artisans,” among which Ishida lists the komosō.767 Another aspect that makes the 32-ban
special among the shokunin uta-awase scroll paintings is that the judge is a kanjin-hijiri,768 a
monk who is soliciting for funds to a temple (cf. Section 5.1.1), depicted at the end of the
whole scroll painting, but without a poem ascribed to him. These aspects, and the fact that
the themes are different from other scroll paintings of artisans, make the 32-ban unusual.
For the present study, it is interesting to note that Ishida mentions the komosō among the
less common artisans, implying that the komosō may have been a fairly new appearance in
society or at least a less common sight at the time. In this scroll painting, pair number six
contains the painting related to shakuhachi, a komosō seated with a diviner, with the set of
poems number six (hana) and number twenty-two (jukkai).
There are several existing copies of the 32-ban. The most notable are the Kōsetsu-bon,
which is oldest, the Ishii-bon, and the Tenri-bon,769 all from the Muromachi period. Among
these, the Kōsetsu-bon (Plate 19) has the poems written among the paintings, similar to the
Tsurugaoka scroll painting, but it lacks the second set of jukkai poems.770 The Ishii-bon and
Tenri-bon have a listing at the beginning of the artisans who make an appearance, followed
by the paintings, and then the poems in numbered order: 1–16 for poems with the theme
hana, and 17–32 for poems relating to jukkai (Plates 21 and 22). Each set of poems has a

764
述懐.
765
Ishida, ed., Nihon no bijutsu 5, 1977, 26.
766
Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase in Gunshoruijū (1779–1819). Shinkō Gunshoruijū, 1978, 39. (いはゆる田夫の花の
前にやすむハ、我家の風体なり。まさに花を題として、又おもひをのぶる一首をくはふ).
767
Ishida, ed., Nihon no bijutsu 5, 1977, 27.
768
勧進聖.
769
幸節静彦氏蔵・石井柳助氏蔵・天理図書館蔵.
770
Ishida, ed., Nihon no bijutsu 5, 1977, 27.

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 Chapter 6 – Constructing Tradition: The komosō and Shakuhachi

commentary added. In Nihon no bijutsu 5, Ishida Hisatoyo uses the Tenri-bon for the text,
rather than the Kōsetsu-bon, since the latter is lacking the second set of poems. The quotes
below are mainly from the Tenri-bon published in Nihon no bijutsu 5, but I have also
consulted other sources: Gunshoruijū, Shin-pen kokka taikan, and the edition at Tohoku
University Library (the latter in Plates 20–22).

6.1.1 Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase: The komosō

In this scroll painting the depicted komosō is explicitly playing the shakuhachi, obvious
both from the painting and the text. The komosō is paired with a diviner, san-oki, who is
using flower stalks to tell the future (Plates 19 and 20). The divination follows the Chinese
Book of Changes (C. I Ching; J. Eki-kyō), and it is worth noting that, also in this scroll
painting, a low-ranking monk is paired with a Chinese or a person who is involved in an
activity with a Chinese origin.
There are two tanka poems each for Plate 20: Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase, Pair Number 6.
the duellants, but unlike the 71-ban, Used by courtesy of the Tohoku University Library.
the numbering differs as explained
above: the ‘flower’ poem is number
six, and the ‘recollection’ poem
number twenty-two. As in the
71-ban the judge is positioned
behind the duellants as seen from
the viewer, and the left and right
orientation is therefore reversed.

6.1.2 Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase: Analysis of Pair Number Six

This pair depicts a diviner, a san-oki, sitting in a shed, and a monk, a komosō, playing a
shakuhachi. The word komosō is written with different Chinese characters in various
editions of the 32-ban. In most of the twentieth-century secondary writings on shakuhachi,
and in some examples of the source material, the characters 虚妄僧 appear in the title, but in
the commentary the word is written as 薦僧. The latter refers to a straw mat monk, the straw
mat used for sleeping, which can be seen lying on the ground behind the komosō. The use of
the characters 虚妄 is of central interest, and is discussed in greater detail in Section 6.1.3.1
below. The themes are, as mentioned above, flower (hana) for the first poem, number six
(Plate 21), and recollections (jukkai) for the second, number twenty-two (Plate 22). Each set
of poems has a comment added.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

Below I list the poems and the commentaries in Japanese, followed by separate analyses
of each part and translations into English. The poems are so-called tanka, with thirty-one
morae distributed over five stanza with 5-7-5-7-7 morae each (cf. Section 5.1.4, and
footnotes 629 and 660). As elsewhere, I
use a two-line model in my translations, Plate 21: Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase, Poem Number 6.
the stanzas separated by commas in the Used by courtesy of the Tohoku University Library.
original and in the transliterations. I
explain each stanza in the analysis, but the
translations are in a more free form,
without clear divisions between the
original stanzas. The first poem is read by
the san-oki, the second by the komosō.
After that there is a comment by the judge.
Poem number twenty-two has the same
order, first the san-oki and then the
komosō, followed by the judge’s
comment.

6.1.2.1 Analysis of Poems Number Six, hana

There is one tanka poem each for the duellants. As mentioned above, the judge is positioned
behind the duellants as seen from the viewer, which means that the reader/viewer should
understand ‘left’ as right, and vice versa.

The First Poem, Number Six

左 算をき
おくさんのさうしやうしたる花の時風をはいれぬ五形なりけり

hidari san-oki
oku san no, sōjō shitaru, hana no toki, kaze o ba irenu, gogyō narikeri.
Left diviner
In divination, reading the implications of the elements in spring time,
The wind I do not allow in, that is the way divination with (flower-)stalks should be
conducted.

The duel begins with the san-oki, a diviner or fortune-teller.771 The san-oki would use
sticks of bamboo or grass to tell a fortune. Here, there is a play on words: he may be using
sticks of the hahako-gusa.772 This herb is also known under the name o-gyō or go-gyō,
written as 御形.773 Here go-gyō is written with the non-standard characters 五形, and the
pronunciation alludes to another go-gyō, 五行, the five elements as they appear in the
771
The san-oki (算置き) is a fortune-teller who uses stalks to make a divination of the state of affairs, in accordance
with the Chinese classic I Ching (易経, J. Eki-kyō). KOKUGO, Vol. 9. sanoki: p. 201.
772
Gnaphalium affine D. Don, a form of Chrysanthemum, belonging to the family of Asteraceae. (母子草). Also
known in Japan as one of the seven spring herbs (春の七草).
773
KOKUGO, Vol. 10, hahakogusa: p. 399; 1976 (1974), Vol. 7, gogyō: p. 684.

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Chinese classics: wood, fire, soil, metal, and water. 774 The word sōjō denotes the
constructive relation between these five elements,775 in contrast to sōkoku, the destructive
relation between the elements,776 a term that appears in the commentary to this poem.
The word gogyō alludes to the theme hana (the spring herbs hahakogusa or gogyō),
which is also used to set the time of the event, the season of flowers, hana no toki, thus
spring. It also suggests the activity of the fortune-teller: sōjō, reading the constructive
relation between the five elements, go-gyō. The first stanza, oku san no, connects to the
flower (hana): oku means to ‘lay,’ and san refers to the counting of flower-stalks in
fortune-telling. The stanza sōjō shitaru is an attribute to hana no toki, referring to the point
in time when the diviner sets in place (oku) his stalks of the flower (hana), by which he can
count (san) to tell the fortune through a ‘reading’ of the constructive elements (sōjō shitaru),
i.e., when the flower is used for divination by the diviner. But it is only by not letting in the
wind (kaze o ba irenu) that it is possible to establish the way of the five elements (gogyō
narikeri); the wind would ruin the position of the stalks, and thereby make it impossible to
read the stalks correctly.777 The monk responds to his poem in the following way:

The Second Poem, Number Six

右 こも僧
花ざかりふくとも誰かいとふべき風にはあらぬこもの尺八

migi komosō
hana-zakari, fuku tomo tareka, itou beki, kaze ni wa aranu, komo no shakuhachi
Right komosō
With the flowers in full bloom, who would mind even a spring breeze?
It is not the wind, but the shakuhachi of the komo.

The poem of the komosō begins by picking up the theme ‘flower’ with the stanza
hana-zakari – meaning “flowers in full bloom” – and then relating to the wind that the
fortune-teller does not like. The hana-zakari fuku tomo could be rendered as “even a spring
breeze,” and the question is put in the next stanza with the words “who would mind” (tareka
itou beki), implying that the spring breeze is a pleasant thing that people normally would not
dislike. The continuation twists things around: it is not the wind that blows (kaze ni aranu),
but rather the komosō who plays on (blows) his shakuhachi. Thereby, the san-oki could not
retort, since he is not disturbed in his activity.

774
KOKUGO, Vol. 7, gogyō: p. 684.
775
KOKUGO, Vol. 12, sōjō: p. 277. In the original text one finds sōshō, but the common reading is sōjō. The mark
used to indicate a voiced sound, dakuten, is left out. Also read sōsei. The explanation of the constructive circle of
the elements says that wood yields fire, fire is the necessary element to (re-)create soil, the soil is the repository for
metal, metal gives birth to water drops on its surface, and water is necessary to make a tree grow. (相生).
776
KOKUGO, Vol. 12, sōkoku: p. 260. Wood surpasses soil, soil defies water, water endures fire, fire wins over
metal, and metal excels wood. In other words: trees suck up the nourishment contained in the soil; wood can be used
to stop the flow of water; water will put out a fire; fire can melt metal; metal (in the form of an axe or other tool) can
be used to cut down trees. (相剋, also written as 相克).
777
According to lexica, the word gogyō also denotes five ways of practice (五行) as prescribed in the Nirvana Sutra.
This may be a possible connection to the supposedly Buddhist komosō. It would be an interesting link between the
two combattants, if we were to regard the san-oki as challenging the komosō. It is, however, beyond the topic of this
thesis to discuss this point further here. KOKUGO, Vol. 7, gogyō: p. 684. (聖行・梵行・天行・嬰児行・病行).

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6.1.2.2 The hanja’s Commentary to the First Set of Poems, Number Six
The commentary follows immediately after the first set of two tanka poems.

算道の指南五形の相尅相生を本體にて、一切の吉凶を判定する事なれば、花のときの相生に
風をばいれぬ五形と勘あけぬるはいと興あり、 薦僧の三昧紙きぬ肩にかけ面桶腰につけ、貴
賤の門戸によりて尺八ふくほかには別の業なき者にや、さればふくとも誰かいとふべきとい
ひて、風にはあらぬこもの尺八とよめるに花盛とをける五文字、風なき花の時節ふく尺八の
興は一しほなるべく、いひいたせる尤よろし、算をきの五形よりもこも僧の一曲やさしくき
こゆるにや

sandō no shinan gogyō no sōkoku-sōjō o hontai nite, issai no kikkyō o hantei suru
koto nareba, hana no toki no sōjō ni kaze o ba irenu gogyō to kan akenuru wa ito
kyō ari, komosō no sanmai kamikinu kata ni kake mentsu koshi ni tsuke, kisen no
monko ni yorite shakuhachi fuku hoka ni wa betsu no waza naki mono ni ya, sareba
fuku tomo tareka itou beki to iite, kaze ni wa aranu komo no shakuhachi to yomeru
ni hana-zakari to okeru gomoji, kaze naki hana no jisetsu fuku shakuhachi no kyō
wa hitoshio naru beku, ii-itaseru motto yoroshi, san-oki no gogyō yorimo komosō no
ikkyoku yasashiku kikoyuru ni ya.
The teaching of the mathematician-diviner has its origin, its true form, in telling the
destructive and constructive relations between the five elements, and from there to
judge all aspects of good and bad fortune. Therefore it is all the more interesting
that intuition dawns on him if he does not let in the wind when reading the stalks in
the time of spring.
The samādhi of the komosō, is it not wearing paper garments over their shoulders
and a begging bowl at their waists, visiting the houses of rich and poor, playing
their shakuhachi, not having any other things they can do? Well, the poem reads
“who would mind even if it blows,” and then continues “it is not the wind but the
shakuhachi of the komo.” Thanks to this phrasing, adding the five syllables
hana-zakari, in the midst of spring, the interesting aspect of the poem, the blowing
shakuhachi in the windless season of the flowers, is strongly enhanced. The
phrasing is at its best, and it is the better poem. Is not a piece by the komosō more
pleasing than the stalks of the fortune-teller?

Firstly there is a reference to the activity of the san-oki, beginning with sandō no shinan,
literally “the teaching of the arithmetician,” which has as its true form or origin (hontai) the
sōkoku sōjō, meaning the interplay between the destructive and constructive aspects of the
five elements (gogyō),778 but again gogyō is written with the Chinese characters referring to
the plant hahako-gusa. To be able to judge (hantei suru koto) the fortune as a whole in all its
good and bad aspects (issai no kikkyō), is what is contained in the teaching of the
mathematician.
The relationship between the fortune-teller and the mathematician may sound somewhat
curious. In the Tsurugaoka hōjō-e Shokunin uta-awase, there is a painting of a sandō (pair
two, right), written as 笇道.779 The sandō in the Tsurugaoka hōjō-e Shokunin uta-awase is
not sitting in a hut, but he is using stalks in a similar fashion as the san-oki in the
Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase painting. There is an obvious connection between the
sandō and the san-oki, for whom counting is an essential part of the divination. They are

778
See above, Section 5.1.2.1.
779
笇 has the Sino-Japanese reading san, and the Japanese reading kazoeru, same as 算道.

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also using the same type of stalks, and wear similar kinds of garment and hat.780
The commentary continues: since the work of the sandō consists of judging the fortune, it
is all the more interesting (ito kyō ari) that by not letting the wind in (kaze o ba irenu) when
reading the stalks (gogyō) in spring (hana no toki no sōjō ni), his intuition (kan, the thinking
about and perception of the stalks) dawns (akenuru) on him.
The hanja then continues to discuss the poem of the komo. Firstly, the commentary
explains what the religious activities of the komosō consist of (komosō no sanmai). The
word sanmai, samādhi in Sanskrit, refers in Buddhist terminology to a mental concentration,
the composition of the rightful mind, or a perfect state of spiritual concentration, and it is a
central concept in Buddhism. I interpret the word in this context as referring to the religious
activities of the komosō: the religious mind of the komosō. The monks are said to wear a
light paper garment, carrying a begging bowl at their waist. The commentary also states that
“the komosō visit the houses of both rich and poor, playing the shakuhachi – that is all they
can do” (kisen no monko ni yorite shakuhachi fuku hoka ni wa betsu no waza naki mono).
The word waza translates as ‘art,’ ‘ability,’ and ‘work,’ but it can also be translated as “acts
with a deep meaning or intention.”781 Hence, the word waza in this context could be
interpreted as referring to both their acts and deep intention in these acts. The word is then
negated (naki), which gives the sense of people who have no other abilities, and no deeper
intentions with their playing. This sentence ends with the particle ya, which shows that it is
a question, but in a more rhetorical, and I would even say ironical, sense: Isn’t it so that their
religious activities consist of wearing light clothing and a beggar’s bowl, playing shakuhachi
when begging at people’s doors, without any other deeper thoughts or intentions?
Kamisangō holds that the use of the word sanmai (三昧), taken together with the use of the
characters 虚妄僧 for komosō, indicates that these monks “were not simple beggars, but had a
Buddhist nuance.” 782 In Blasdel’s translation this is rendered as, “[they] were actually
involved in Buddhist disciplines.”783 As mentioned above, the combination of characters 虚
妄僧 for komosō is not a common usage, and I discuss this point in greater detail in Section
6.1.3.1 below. I argue that the use of these characters indicates an ironical or even
derogative way of writing the name of the monks, rather than implying sincere religious
activities or motives.
However, presupposing that the characters 虚妄 are to be interpreted as having deeper
religious implications, a token of sincere Buddhist activities, and that sanmai (三昧) should
be read in its Buddhist denotation,784 Kamisangō’s interpretation of this section is not fully
comprehensible. If the komo monks ‘absorbedness’ consists in visiting the houses of rich
and poor, the religious implications of sanmai seem slightly vague. The commentary asserts
that their religious activity consists of visiting the houses of rich and poor, but it is obviously
an ironic, or even derogatory, comment. Their appearance and begging is not in accordance

780
KOKUGO, Vol. 9, sandō: p. 286; san-oki: p. 201.
781
KOGO, waza: p. 1428.
782
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 75.
783
Kamisangō translated in Blasdel, The Shakuhachi… (1988), 2008, 82.
784
The word sanmai can be used as a suffix, read as -zanmai, meaning an indulgence in something, or that one does
things as one likes. This usage, going back to Medieval times, does however require that -zanmai is a suffix to a
noun. In the text it reads komoō no sanmai, i.e., with the particle no inserted, and the reading -zanmai is thus not
possible.

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with the normal concept of samādhi, a state of high spiritual concentration. I would interpret
this word here to mean that they are devoted to begging, or even that begging is all they do,
since they are poeple with no other abilities and without deeper intentions, hoka ni wa betsu
no waza naki mono.
As mentioned above, begging is also obvious from the fact that they were carrying a
begging bowl (mentsu) by their waist. They were wearing a light paper garment, kami-ginu,
which could imply a slightly shabby image, but the kami-ginu was a common robe up to the
latter half of the sixteenth century, when its cheap price made it the preferred robe for poor
people.785 The komosō in the painting is not shaved, his hair is tied in a knot, and he wears a
moustache. This may give an impression of shabbiness, and a lesser degree of engagement
in true Buddhist religious activities. The straw mat, komo, is obviously part of his
belongings. It would be used for sleeping outdoors, which indicates a rootlessness; the
komosō were probably mendicant monks, maybe not having become proper monks (shukke)
but more of a commoner or civilian monk conducting their own activites. They visit the
houses of rich and poor (kisen no monko ni yorite) and play the shakuhachi, and that is all
they are good for, all that they have an ability to do; they are people with no other skills
(hoka ni wa betsu no waza naki mono). This part of the commentary seems to relate not only
to the komosō depicted, but to komosō in general, as an explanation of the kind of people
they are, in the same way as the first part of the commentary describes the activity of the
san-oki.
The continuation of the commentary begins with sareba, which could mean either “that is
so and therefore …,” connecting to what has been said, or simply “Well then,” and the
remaining part of the commentary is concerned with the tanka at hand, rather than with the
komosō and their appearance in general. The commentator quotes the tanka: “‘even blowing,
who would mind’ it says, and [the poem] continues with ‘it is not the wind but the
shakuhachi of the komo’.” Because of this wording (to yomeru ni, i.e., to yonde iru node),
adding the five-syllable hana-zakari, the interesting aspect (kyō) of the blowing shakuhachi
(fuku shakuhachi) in the windless season of the flowers (kaze naki hana no jisetsu) is
enhanced (hitoshio).786 The commentary continues with the evaluation: the word itaseru
should here be interpreted in the meaning ‘reaching the peak,’ ‘being on the top of,’ etc. The
word ii is a noun, in this context denoting ‘wording’; the phrasing of the poem is at its best
(motto yoroshi). The final comment is that a piece by the komosō (komosō no ikkyoku)
sounds more amiable (yasashiku kikoyu) than the stalks of the diviner.
The komosō wins the battle, but the commentary leaves an impresson of the komosō as
monks with less serious views on the religious aspects. Poetically, the wit of the komo wins
him the first ‘flower duel,’ but the impression that “only visiting houses is all they can do,”
taken together with the mushiro (straw mat) behind him, and the mentsu (beggar’s bowl)
with which they would beg for food, relates an image of a shabby beggar, witty as he may
be, but with little or no cultivation.

785
The kami-ginu (also read kami-ko) is a garment made of paper and glue, treated with persimmon. Originally used
by monks of the Heian period Risshū sect, and a popular garment among both rich and poor. Due to its low price it
became the garment of poor people from around the Momoyama period through the Edo period. (紙衣). KOKUGO,
Vol. 5, kamiko: p. 127. This is the same paper garment that the boro-boro is reported to have worn.
786
The word hitoshio means ‘conspicuously,’ or ‘all the more,’ and I interpret it here as an enhancement of the
phrasing “blowing shakuhachi.” KOGO, hitoshiho: p. 1124. (一入).

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6.1.2.3 Analysis of Poems Number Twenty-two, jukkai

None of the Japanese studies, i.e., Kamisangō, Nakatsuka, Kurihara, nor the English studies,
e.g., Lee or other shakuhachi-related English language writings on Sanjūni-ban Shokunin
uta-awase, discuss the second jukkai poem. Neither of the two poems refers to the
shakuhachi in any way, but the poem by the komosō gives a varied image of the late
sixteenth-century shakuhachi-playing monks. As a reference, I have also included the poem
by the san-oki and the commentary to the poems below.
Regardless of whether the sanmai in
the commentary to poems number six Plate 22: Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase, Poem Number 22.

above should be interpreted as having a Courtesy of the Tohoku University Library.

greater or smaller relevance for how we

perceive the religious activities of the
komosō, the second set of poems –
number twenty-two – definitely gives an
image of a less religiously inclined
person. The jukkai poem is related in
Kiyūshōran, where Kitamura compares
what he calls the komo with the boro in
71-ban by saying that, “they look
similar to the previously quoted
‘shokunin-tsukushi’ [71-ban], but they
don’t have any headband [i.e., hair
flying], wear a sleeveless paper garment
thrown over their shoulders, a beggar’s bowl and a rolled-up straw mat by their waist,
showing that they are prepared to sleep outside, beggars with no place to stay,”787 thus
conveying an image of a monk of simple standard.

The First tanka Poem, Number Twenty-two:

左 算をき
こし程の、かり屋のうちに、身を々ける、さん所のもの々、うらめしの世や

hidari san-oki
koshi hodo no, kari-ya no uchi ni, mi o okeru, sanjo no mono no, urameshi no yo ya
Left Diviner
The palanquin size, temporary lodging in which I dwell,
Even though the place for divination, alas, it is a reproachful world.

The first stanza, koshi hodo no, could translate either as “not taller than the waist [腰],” or
“the size of a palanquin [輿],” but the shape and size of the hut in the painting looks more
like a palanquin than a hut that is no higher than up to the waist. The character for palanquin
(輿) is also used in the commentary. The second stanza, kari-ya no uchi ni, refers to a

787
Kitamura, Kiyūshōran (1830), 1906, 38. (前に引る「職人尽」のさまと似たれども鉢巻せず紙ぎぬハ袖なくて放ちて着たり
腰に面桶と薦の巻きたるを付たり薦ハ野外露宿の用意なり今宿なしの乞食をこもといふ…).

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temporary lodging, as in 仮屋, thus implying that the san-oki lives in this little hut, where he
also conducts his divination. The third stanza, mi o okeru, connects both to the second stanza
and to the following one, stanza four: kari-ya no uchi ni mi o okeru, meaning that he “puts”
his body (mi) in the hut, thus lives there. The word okeru also connects to okeru sanjo,
where sanjo is the place for divination, and okeru sanjo would thus refer to the place where
divination can be conducted – a place where you can put the stalks for divination. The word
mono could refer either to the thing (物) of divination, but also to the person (者) doing the
divination, the san-oki himself. In the last line, urameshi no yo ya, the word ura could refer
to divination (占), but urameshi is an adjective meaning ‘regrettable,’ ‘reproachful,’ ‘bitter,’
or ‘hateful’: he, the diviner, reproaches this bitter existence of having to live a life of
divination in a small hut.

The Second tanka Poem, Number Twenty-two:

右 こも僧
さし入も、みそやさかやの、かすほうし、声をかへても、こふは茶がはり

migi komosō
sashi-iri mo, misoya sakaya no, kasu-hōshi, koe o kahete mo, kou wa cha-gawari
Right Komosō
Just inside the door, at miso and sake shops, a dreg-monk
In whatever voice, just begging for left-overs.

The komosō, on the other hand, begins his poem with the stanza sashi-iri mo, where
sashi-iri means ‘entering,’ or ‘just inside the door.’ The second stanza relates to the
miso-ya788 and saka-ya, the bean paste shop and the sake shop, thereby alluding to the
kari-ya in the san-oki’s poem. The third stanza, kasu-hōshi, is a key phrase. The word kasu
could mean the residues (糟・粕・滓) when making miso and sake, the lees, thus implying a
‘dreg-monk,’ but with the pronunciation kazu, used as a prefix, it can also mean ‘many,’ as
well as ‘cheap’ or ‘crude.’ The fourth stanza relates to the kasu-hōshi, who begs, but
changes his voice, i.e., plays the shakuhachi instead of verbally asking for alms. It also
connects to the last stanza, where what is begged for (kou) is merely tea-money
(cha-gawari).

788
A note on the word misoya in the different editions: Kitamura in Kiyūshōran has みるや (miruya), Ishida in Nihon
no bijutsu 5 (reprint of the Tenri-bon) has 見そや (misoya). Neither of these seem to make sense. In the 1651 copy in
Plate 22, it is みそや (misoya) in sōsho writing. In the Gunshoruijū reprint it also reads みそや. In the commentary,
both Kiyūshōran and Nihon no bijutsu 5 have みそにも酒にも (miso ni mo sake ni mo), and in the 1651 copy it appears
to read the same. Maybe the miru ya in the 1906 publication of Kiyūshōran was a mis-set of the types (る and そ
look similar), but the 見そや in Nihon no bijutsu 5 is more problematic. I will understand this part as みそや (misoya),
and my belief is that 見 has been used phonetically.

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6.1.2.4 Analysis of the Commentary to the Second Set of Poems, Number Twenty-two

算をきの述懐輿ほどのかりやのうちさぞとをしはかられ侍りがうなの貝かたつぶりの家もみ
なをのが身にあはせては不足なきにや五尺の身三尺のかりやにてひねもすとふ人を侍ゐたり
一生涯の果報をも自身にかんがへぬらんをけるさん所といひさん所のもの々卜とつづけぬる
いとよくいひくさりぬるにやこも僧の歌かずほうしに乞食の愁吟をゆづりてわづかなる竹の
ふしに世をわぶるこゑをきりいだしけんもわりなき方便とこそおぼえ侍れみそにも酒にもは
なれぬ詞にて此糟法師いひしりてきこゆ此つがひ持にて侍るべし

san-oki no jukkai, koshi hodo no kari-ya no uchi sazo to oshihakarare haberi ga,
una no kai katatsuburi no ie mo minawo no ga mi ni awasete wa busoku naki ni ya
go-shaku no mi san-shaku no kari-ya nite hinemosu tofu hito o haberi itari isshōgai
no kahō o mo jishin ni kangaenuran okeru sanjo to ihi sanjo no mono no ura to
tsuzukenuru ito yoku ii-kusarinuru ni ya komosō no uta kazuhōshi ni kojiki no
shūgin o yuzurite wazuka naru take no fushi ni yo o waburu koe o kiri-idashiken mo
wari naki hōben to koso oboe habere miso ni mo sake ni mo narenu kotoba nite kono
kasu hōshi ii-shirite kikoyu kono tsugai mochi nite haberu beshi.
The thoughts of the diviner: A temporary dwelling, the size of a palanquin, we can
well understand that it is narrow, but like the houses of the shellfish in the sea and
the snails, as long as it is fit to the inhabitant there should not be any insufficiency.
The diviner, sitting in his small hut the whole day, waiting for people to come by,
must be thinking about what good fortunes will come to him. Writing “the place to
conduct divination” [okeru sanjo], and continuing with “the divination by the
person at the place for divination” [sanjo no mono no ura] is indeed a very good
linking of words.
The poem by the komosō: There are many of the crude dreg-monks, walking the
path of the Way of Hell, who have taken over the grief-stricken lament of the
beggars. They express their feelings towards this wretched and miserable world
through their bamboo flutes, but this is just a means of arranging the words, with no
reason or deeper thought. However, by using a word that is so strongly connected
to the residues of miso and sake making, the dreg-monk does show that he has
mastered a good way of expression. The contest of this pair is a draw.

Here the commentator uses the character for a palanquin (輿), saying that anyone could
understand it is small. However, even the houses of the shellfish in the sea (here una no kai
means umi no kai), and the snails (here katatsuburi means katatsumuri), are small, but if
everyone fit themselves in their houses (ono ga mi ni awasete wa) nobody need ask for
anything more (busoku ga nai), thus, there is no need to feel reproach towards one’s
dwelling. The san-oki (go-shaku no mi refers to a grown man, five foot tall) lives in his
small dwelling (san-jaku no kari-ya, a three foot dwelling), where he waits the whole day
(hinemosu 終日, from morning to evening) for customers asking for divination (tou hito). He
spends his whole life thinking about his luck and good fortune (isshōgai no kahō o mo jishin
ni kangahenuru). The commentator continues by stating that using the words okeru sanjo in
combination with the divination at the sanjo (sanjo no mono no ura) is a very clever turn of
phrase, chaining it together (ito yoku ihikusarinuru). The Chinese character 卜 can be read
either as boku, uranai or, for short, ura. To make a connection between uranai (boku) and
urameshi, I assume the reading to be ura. The word ii-kusari should be interpreted as ‘say’
combined with ‘chain together,’ thus “chaining the words” (ii-kusari).
As for the poem by the komosō, the commentator uses kazu-hōshi, which could mean ‘a
great number of hōshi’ but also a ‘cheap and crude hōshi,’ as mentioned above. Since kasu

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is used in the actual poem, kazu here also would allude to the residues of miso and sake
making. Another interpretation would be that kazu refers to one of the ways one has to pass
at the sanzu no kawa (like the river Styx); the word kazu (火途) refers to hell or jigokudō (地
789
獄道). The effect is a four-fold allusion: “a great number of crude dreg-monks walking the
path to hell.” The word shūgin means to worry and lament, and the kazu-hōshi are said to
take over the grief-stricken lament (shūgin) of the beggars (kojiki). They are further said to
express their feelings toward this wretched and miserable world (yo o waburu koe o
kiri-idashikemu) through the nodes of their bamboo flutes (take no fushi ni). But, says the
commentator, this is just a manner of speaking, mere words with no reason or thought
behind them (wari naki 理なき), and should be seen only as a means of expression (hōben to
koso habere). However, the commentator continues, by using a word that is so strongly
connected to miso and sake, it does sound as if these kasu-hōshi (here written as dreg-monks,
糟法師) really know how to express themselves (ii-shirite). The result of the uta-awase is a
draw (mochi).

6.1.3 Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase:

Pair Number Six in Historical Studies of Shakuhachi
Authors of late twentieth-century secondary writings on the shakuhachi, e.g., Kamisangō,
Ueno, Takeda, and Tsukitani, make slightly different comments about the scroll painting.
Kamisangō, probably referring to Kurihara, writes that the scroll painting is said to be from
before 1537, but does not give any references to who created it.790 Ueno writes that the
scroll painting was made by Tosa Mitsunobu and that the text was written by Kanrōji
Motonaga.791 Mitsunobu passed away in 1515, and Motonaga in 1527. He also refers to
“other sources” as stating that the Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase was completed before
1539 (thereby adding two years to the sources referred to by Kurihara, as mentioned below
in Section 6.1.3.1).792 Takeda dates the scroll painting to 1494, but he does not give any
indication as to who drew and wrote it. 793 Tsukitani also gives the year 1494 as the
completion of Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase, and gives Tosa Mitsunobu as its creator
without mentioning anything about the author.794 Nakatsuka refers to Santō Kyōden as
asserting that Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase was created before 1537.795

789
KOKUGO, Vol. 4, kazu: p. 571. The other two places to cross, or pathes to wander, are tōzu (刀途), which refers
to the gakidō (餓鬼道) or the Way of Demons, and kechizu (血途), which refers to the chikushōdō (畜生道) or the Way
of Beasts.
790
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 75.
791
甘露寺元長, 1453–1527.
792
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 183–184.
793
Takeda, Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi, 1997, 199.
794
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 19.
795
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 46.

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6.1.3.1 A Discussion on the Use of Chinese Characters for komo

As mentioned above in Section 6.1.2, twentieth-century secondary literature uses the
Chinese characters 虚妄僧 in the title of this poem, e.g., Kurihara 1918.796 In the various
copies of Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase that I have studied, however, the Kōsetsu-bon
(Plate 19), the above copy from 1651 (Plate 20), and the transcription of the Tenri-bon in
Nihon no bijutsu 5, the word komo is written with the syllabic system hiragana as こも.797
Only in one Edo period publication, from 1782, have I found the Chinese characters 虚妄僧
being used (see below).
Chinese characters carry a meaning, and the use of standard versus non-standard
characters is a way to make implications, create new connotations, etc. The Japanese
language makes it possible to write a word either phonetically, with hiragana or katakana,
or to use a Chinese character. There is a conventional use of Chinese characters, but
applying non-standard or non-conventional characters, ate-ji, is a commonly used way to
give a certain, consciously intended connotation to a word. The non-standard characters are
not necessarily phonetic-equivalent. Since shakuhachi is made of bamboo, the character for
bamboo (竹 read take) can be used to denote the instrument shakuhachi (尺八). In that case,
in the right context, the character may be read either take or shakuhachi, but in both cases of
course referring to the instrument shakuhachi. Especially in pre-modern texts, it is also
common that the phonetic value – the reading – of a Chinese character is used, without
implying any reference to the character’s semantic meaning. An example of this is found in
the Tenri-bon as it is reproduced in Ueno, where the word komosō is written phonetically
using the Chinese characters for ‘old,’ ‘fur,’ and ‘monk’ (cf. page 201 below).
Kurihara refers to Santō Kyōden 798 as his source for deciding when the Sanjūni-ban
Shokunin uta-awase was created, namely “before Tenbun 6 [1537].”799 Immediately after
that Kurihara quotes the first set of two poems and their commentary, using 虚妄 in the title
but the Chinese character for straw-mat, 薦, where the word komo appears in the poem and
commentary. He does not give any bibliographical data, which may indicate that Kurihara
used Santō Kyōden as his source without explication. Kurihara does not comment on the
different characters used. Nakatsuka quotes the first poem by the komo and gives the same
reference as Kurihara, i.e., Santō Kyōden, but Nakatsuka uses the characters 薦 and 薦僧 all
through his text.800
The text to 32-ban is, however, also published in Gunshoruijū, and in that edition, from
1782, the word komosō is written as 虚妄僧 in the titles of both poem number six, and poem
number twenty-two. In the listing of artisans at the beginning of the scroll painting, in both
commentaries, and in poem number six, the word komo is used, written with syllables as こ
801
も.

796
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 87.
797
Ishida, ed., Nihon no bijutsu 5, 1977, 98, 101.
798
An Edo period writer, poet and artist. (山東京傅, 1761–1816). His real name was Iwase Samuru (岩瀨醒), also
known as Kyōya Denzō (京屋伝蔵),
799
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 86.
800
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 45–46.
801
Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase in Gunshoruijū. Shinkō Gunshoruijū, Vol. 22, 1978, pp. 39, 41, 45, 48.

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More recent writers, Ueno, Takeda, Tsukitani, and Kamisangō make slightly different
comments about the use of the characters 虚妄, but the only explication of the use of the
Chinese characters 虚妄 that I have found is in Kamisangō. He uses 虚妄 in the title, but 薦 in
the text. He also states that the komosō were called komo, and there he uses the syllabic こも.
Kamisangō’s comments require some attention, since his explication and comments are
often referred to in the English speaking community (both academic and non-academic).
This is presumably due to the fact that Kamisangō’s text is the only text that has been
translated in full.802
Kamisangō holds that the use of the (near) phonetic-equivalent characters 虚, emptiness,
and 妄, illusion, rather than the more shabby image of a 薦, straw mat monk, “tells us that
there was a foundation for the later use of the characters 虚無僧 [read as komusō] from early
on.”803 I would assume that Kamisangō refers to the close phonetical equivalence between
komosō and komusō, but in Blasdel’s translation this is rendered in the following way:

Originally, the Chinese characters for komosō were written with komo (薦) straw mat and
sō (僧) monk; ideographs that conveys a feeling of mendicancy and shabbiness. The title
for the above poem [number six in 32-ban] is written with characters ko (虚) emptiness,
mo (妄) illusion and sō (僧) monk, and this combination of characters conveys a more
serious, religious feeling.804

The use of 虚妄 is also referred to by Riley Lee, and he too states that the use of these
characters convey “a much greater sense of other-worldliness and spirituality than the
original word komo,”805 which is perfectly in line with Blasdel’s adaptation of Kamisangō’s
words.
On the other hand, the word kyomō (虚妄) is part of the standard vocabulary, with the
meaning ‘falsehood’ or ‘delusion,’ which makes the interpretation a little more difficult; the
idea of a ‘monk of empty illusions,’ or even ‘monk of untruthfullness’ does not give a strong
sense of serious religious activity. As noted above, the characters 薦僧 are used in the
commentary, which makes the title more intriguing when written as 虚妄僧. As I mention
above, my investigation of various copies of Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase does not
support this interpretation. There may be other secondary sources from the sixteenth and up
to the early twentieth century, but I have not found any such sources. None of the
twentieth-century studies that I use in the present research report any such secondary
sources. The earliest appearance of these characters that I have been able to find is in the late
eighteenth-century edition published in the above-mentioned Gunshoruijū.
The fact that most existing twentieth-century secondary studies of the shakuhachi use the
Chinese characters 虚妄 without any further discussion, may have the result that readers and
researchers take the interpretation put forward by the scholar Kamisangō for granted, as the
established theory. Likewise, Blasdel’s and Lee’s renderings may become the standard
interpretation of the komosō in Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase in the English speaking

802
Adapted and translated by Christopher Yohmei Blasdel in The Shakuhachi: A Manual for Learning, 1988, pp.
37–132. New revised edition published in 2008, pp. 69–128.
803
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 75.
804
Kamisangō translated in Blasdel, The Shakuhachi… (1988), 2008, 82.
805
Lee, Yearning for the Bell …, 1993, 104.

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community. In an article discussing the komusō and ‘Shakuhachi-Zen’ in Japanese

Religions, Max Deeg states that “[i]n the title of this poem the name of the monk is written
as komō-sō 虚妄僧, literally meaning: ‘monk of voidness and idleness’ connotating at the
same time the meaning of ‘monk of lies, of betrayal’.”806 Deeg makes the same point as my
discussion above, but even if 虚妄 is used as an employment of so-called ate-ji, the use of
non-standard characters for a word, the pronunciation should still be phonetic-equivalent,
thus komo, not to be confused with the word kyomō, ‘delusion, untruthfulness, falsehood.’
The reading should either be kyomōsō, which would unequivocally mean “monks of lies and
delusion,” or komosō, in which case the double meaning Deeg refers to may be a conscious
play on word by the person who first used these characters.
Ueno also uses the characters 虚妄 in the title of poem number six. He refers to the
Tenri-bon, but in the caption of an image of the komosō, specifically from the Tenri-bon, he
uses hiragana syllables. In the drawing that he has attached to the text, though, the ‘komo’
part is written with completely different non-standard Chinese characters, namely 古毛,
meaning ‘old’ and ‘hair’ or ‘fur’.807 As mentioned above, the Tenri-bon published in Nihon
no bijutsu 5 does not carry the chararcters 虚妄, and in the explanatory text Ueno uses 薦.808
Here, the use of the characters for ‘old fur’ must of course be understood as a
phonetic-equivalent way of writing the word komo, i.e., using Chinese characters
phonetically instead of the phonetic syllables hiragana. This is common in pre-modern texts.
It is, however, of interest that Ueno does not discuss any use of phonetic-equivalent
characters; rather he finds that the characters 虚妄 should be understood semantically, not in
the normal meaning of modern Japanese (‘falsehood,’ ‘untruth’), but in a transferred and
rather unnatural meaning of ‘empty illusion.’
Among the other writers, Tsukitani employs 薦, or the syllabic こも, except in a footnote,
where she puts the characters 虚妄 within brackets. Takeda uses either the Chinese character
809
薦, or the syllables こも, but he refers to Honda Masazumi, a Momoyama and Edo period
feudal lord, as talking about “suspicious-looking komosō” – using the characters 虚妄 –
indicating that these characters were used with disdain in a derogatory way.810 Even if this
shows that the use of 虚妄 goes back to the early seventeenth century, there is no other
source using the characters 虚妄 except for the edition of Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase in
Gunshoruijū from 1782. This places Kamisangō’s explication above of the religious
implications of 虚妄 in a different light.
Most of the secondary texts give no comments as to which copy of the Sanjūni-ban
Shokunin uta-awase they are quoting, and like Ueno, even with the data given there is no
discussion about the various uses of charcters. As mentioned above, Kurihara refers to
Santō Kyōden, according to whom the Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase was completed
before Tenbun 6 (1537). Santō Kyōden wrote two historical books, the Kinsei kiseki-kō (A
Study of Miracles in Recent Times) in 1804,811 and the Kottō-shū (A Collection of Curios)

806
E.g., Deeg simply reiterates previous research (“Komusō and ‘Shakuhachi-Zen’,” 2007, 15).
807
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 183.
808
Ibid., 183–184.
809
Takeda, Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi, 1997, 199–200.
810
Ibid., 149. (胡乱な虚妄僧). Honda Masazumi (本多正純, 1565–1637).
811
近世奇跡考.

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in 1813. 812 In the Kottō-shū there are some remarks about the Sanjūni-ban Shokunin
uta-awase, but none that discuss pair number six,813 and in Kinsei kiseki-kō the Sanjūni-ban
Shokunin uta-awase is not mentioned at all.814 We may assume that Kurihara quoted either
some other source by Santō Kyōden815 or a completely different text, e.g., Gunshoruijū.
In the Edo period Kiyūshōran, published in 1830, the word komo, written both as こも and
816
薦, is used without the addition of the Chinese character for ‘monk,’ 僧, except in the
direct quotes. To perceive the characters 虚妄僧 as the original way of writing komosō around
the turn of the sixteenth century seems highly unlikely and questionable, especially if the
characters are supposed to be interpreted as revealing a sincere Buddhist attitude.
Furthermore, it does not seem to have become the conventional way of writing komosō in
the early nineteenth century. I believe that a misinterpretation of how these characters were
used may give rise to a misunderstanding and misconception of the position that the komosō
had in society during the Muromachi period, and possibly also the Edo period. Takeda states
that various non-standard characters were used in the Edo period: “komusō 虚無僧 was, in the
early days of the Edo period, written as komosō 薦僧 or komosō 虚妄僧, komosō 籠僧 [籠
meaning ‘seclusion’], komosō 菰僧 [菰 is another character denoting ‘straw mat’], komusō 古
無僧 [古 means ‘old’ and 無 ‘nothingness’] or komusō 普化僧 [the characters 普化 are normally
read fuke, the name of the monk Fuke],”817 indicating that a variety of non-standard – not
necessarily phonetic-equivalent – characters were in vogue. The reading komu did, however,
not appear until the Edo period, when the group of samurai that began acting as komosō or
komusō first appeared (cf. Chapter 4). There was no standard way of writing these words, so
different writers used different characters, whether meaning ‘delusion,’ ‘seclusion,’ or
‘straw mat.’ I would argue that this might imply that the first komusō preferred certain ways
of writing, but that their preference was not always accepted by the contemporary society.
A further study of the Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase may give an answer to these
questions. Takeda does not state where the other characters are used, but we know that the
character compound 古無僧, for example, was used in the 1614 Keichō kenmon-shū (cf.
Section 4.5.3.2). To delve any deeper into this matter here is beyond the scope of the present
study, but I find the issue interesting and important, and my hope is that future studies will
give a more straightforward answer.

812
骨董集.
813
Santō Kyōden, Kottō-shū (1813), accessed in April and May 2009.
814
Santō Kyōden, Kinsei kiseki-kō (1804), 1994.
815
As a writer of popular novels in the Edo period, Santō Kyōden is known to have used a vast array of allusions, to
a degree where it might be possible to say that witty allusions were his trademark, or at least an important and
integral part of his literary skills. To assume, unless proof is found, that Santō Kyōden ‘invented’ the use of the
characters 虚妄僧 to give the double connotation of ‘religiously inclined liars,’ would not be in contradiction of the
style in Santō Kyōden’s writing.
816
Kitamura, Kiyūshōran (1830), 1906, 37–43.
817
Takeda, Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi, 1997, 27. Takeda is using the incorrect “Fuke Zenji.”

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6.1.3.2 Concerning Poem Twenty-two

Of the secondary sources that I have studied, Takeda is one of only two who quotes the
komo’s poem number twenty-two. The other is the historian Hosaka Hirooki, mentioned in
the concluding discussion of Chapter 5, and further discussed in Chapter 7. Takeda
expounds on the appearance of a rather shabby figure, without any evident connections to
Buddhist practices. “[P]robably they used the shakuhachi as an instrument to entertain, and
thereby establishing a relationship with ordinary people to perform for money, but it is hard
to believe that they should have had any Buddhist doctrine as the later komusō did, however
vague it was.”818 What connected the komosō to Buddhism was, according to Takeda, street
entertainment. The shorter hitoyogiri shakuhachi was popular among ordinary people, and
shakuhachi – most likely the same hitoyogiri shakuhachi – was also used in Nō, dengaku,
and sarugaku, according to Takeda, and the use of shakuhachi for entertainment made it
also known by the nobility, connecting it to Zen Buddhism (cf. Chapter 3). Takeda also
infers that the begging by street entertainers came to overlap with the religious activity of
begging for alms.819

6.1.3.3 The komosō: Beggars or Monks

Hosaka Hirooki argues along similar lines. He too quotes poem number twenty-two,
concluding that the komosō were “good-for-nothing dreg-monks,”820 but he also refers to a
Muan, who was the teacher of a friend of a poet, Sōchō (1448–1532).821 In Sōchō’s diary it
says that his friend studied shakuhachi with Muan, and that he stayed four to five years at
the temples Higashi-yama Reizan of the Jishū sect, 822 and Daisen-in of Rinzai Zen
Buddhism. The dengaku Nō performer Zōami supposedly copied the shakuhachi
illustrations of the Toyohara family at Higashi-yama Reizan, and from this Hosaka
concludes that it is possible that the friend of Sōchō did become a komosō after his stay at
these temples, and that, “[a]t least, the Schema of how he converted to become a komosō,
and made playing the shakuhachi a special occupation, from having been a monk under the
Jishū and Rinzai sects, is evident.”823 Hosaka assumes that Muan had a teacher, that the

818
Ibid., 202.
819
Ibid., 204–205.
820
Hosaka, “Jūnana seiki ni okeru komusō no seisei,” 1994, 173. (役に立たない糟法師).
821
宗長; 夢安; I have not been able to confirm the reading of the friend’s name, 紹崇. Based on the normal reading of
the characters it may be Shōsū.
822
The founder of the Jishū (時宗) sect of Jōdo-shū, Ippen (一遍, 1239–89), is referred to both as yugyō-shōnin (遊行
上人), the wandering holy man, and sute-hijiri (捨聖), the thrown-away commoner monk. He propagated the idea that
even a single recitation of the Nenbutsu would take all people to the Pure Land. He was trained in the Tendai
Buddhism, but became a second generation disciple of Hōnen (DAIJIRIN, ippen), and also had affiliations with the
esoteric Shingon Buddhism and Zen (YHJ, ippen (一遍), by Hirokami Kiyoshi (広神清), accessed on March 19, 2009).
At age 36 he confined himself in the Kumano Hongū Shōjōden (熊野本宮証誠殿), where he received a divine
message.
823
Hosaka, “Jūnana seiki ni okeru komusō no seisei,” 1994, 176. (少なくも、時宗・臨済宗下の僧侶から、尺八吹奏を専業
とする薦僧に転身した図式が明らかである。). I assume that Hosaka refers to the Kantian notion of Schema with the word
zushiki. A Schema is the procedure of associating a non-empirical concept with an image of the object, i.e., that we
can envisage the way in which this turnover from monk to komosō happened.

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various groups of entertainers (assumably dengaku and sarugaku) maintained and

controlled the techniques designed for the shakuhachi, and that they withdrew from, or lost
their position within, these groups (including the Jishū sect according to Hosaka) and made
shakuhachi their speciality. Even though the komosō were abolished from the provinces,
together with other entertainers as mentioned above, from that position of exclusion the
knowledge about the monk Fuke spread among them, and eventually they changed into a
new existence, the komusō.824
I have found remarks about komosō in three Muromachi period dictionaries that to some
extent support the argument put forward by Hosaka. Ueno Takami mentions that in the
so-called Kuromoto-bon, a Muromachi period dictionary (setsuyō-shū),825 komosō are said
to be the same as Fuke.826 Ueno claims that this edition was compiled by the Rinzai Zen
Buddhist Ō sen Keisan (1429–1493), which would position the komosō as Fuke monks in
the fifteenth century. According to Nakada Norio, a scholar on literature and old
dictionaries, there is, however, no evidence that Ōsen compiled the Kuromoto-bon. Nakada
refers to the research conducted by Hashimoto Shinkichi, a twentieth-century scholar on the
Japanese language,827 who concludes that the extant copy of the Kuromoto-bon is from
somewhere between the Ōnin period (1467–1468) and the Tenmon period (1532–1554).828
In the facsimile edition of the Kuromoto-bon dictionary, the reading komo is added to the
characters for Fuke.829 Nakada compiled a comprehensive index covering six dictionaries
from the Muromachi period (kohon setsuyō-shū), and among these the word komosō appear
in three, including the Kuromoto-bon. In the Tenshō jūhachi nen-bon of 1590,830 the word
komozō appears written both as 薦僧 and as 普化僧 , i.e., komo-sō and fuke-sō. In the
Manjūya-bon,831 probably from around the same time as the Tenshō jūhachi nen-bon, i.e.,
the end of the Muromachi period, the word komozō is written as 薦僧, without any reference
to Fuke.832
The development from dreg-monks to religiously inclined monks outlined by Takeda and
Hosaka is of course not inconceivable. Muan, the teacher of a friend of the poet Sōchō
mentioned above, could well have been an example of religiously inclined
shakuhachi-playing monks, which are referred to in the Muromachi dictionaries as both
komosō and Fuke monks. Even if we acknowledge this possibility, there is no conclusive
evidence that this would have been a common occurrence in the Muromachi period.
Contrary to Takeda and Hosaka, I find no evidence in the texts in Sanjūni-ban Shokunin
uta-awase that would support the notion of such a development.
824
Hosaka, “Jūnana seiki ni okeru komusō no seisei,” 1994, 177–181. Hosaka is using the incorrect “Fuke Zenji.”
825
黒本本節用集.
826
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 191.
827
橋本進吉, 1882–1945.
828
Nakada Norio, Kaitei shinpan Kohon setsuyō-shū roku-shu kenkyū narabi ni sōgō sakuin, sakuin-hen, 2009, 7.
829
The Kuromoto-bon is given in facsimile, Kaitei shinpan Kohon setsuyō-shū roku-shu kenkyū narabi ni sōgō
sakuin, eiin-hen, 2009, 378.
830
天正十八年本節用集.
831
饅頭屋本節用集.
832
Nakada Norio, Kaitei shinpan Kohon setsuyō-shū roku-shu kenkyū narabi ni sōgō sakuin, sakuin-hen, 2009, 6.
The Manjūya-bon is given in facsimile, Kaitei shinpan Kohon setsuyō-shū roku-shu kenkyū narabi ni sōgō sakuin,
eiin-hen, 2009, 268. The mora zo (ぞ) is the same as so (そ), but with a diacritic mark added to indicate that the
consonant part of the mora is voiced. Thus, the difference between komosō and komozō relates to how the Chinese
characters were pronounced in the Muromachi period.

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As I argue in Chapter 4, I find it more likely that the people who first began using the
name komusō made use of the earlier existence of shakuhachi-playing monks, some of
whom may have been influenced by Fuke through the writings of Ikkyū and the Rinzai-roku.
By connecting their activities to Fuke, Ikkyū Sōjun, Hottō Kokushi, and the boro that
appear in the widely circulated and highly valued Tsurezure-gusa, the masterless samurai of
the late Muromachi and early Edo periods were able to carve out a social footing for
themselves. Without any steady job, by playing the shakuhachi they were able to travel
freely, support themselves by begging, and still keep their position as samurai.

6.2 The komosō in Other Visual Material

The komosō also appear in the screen painting Rakuchū-rakugai-zu byōbu,833 depicting the
central and surroundinging parts of Kyoto in the sixteenth century. Ishida Hisatoyo states
that Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase, Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase and this screen
painting are closely related to each other, both in time and content.834

Plate 23: Rakuchū-rakugai-zu byōbu, Machida-bon.

Detail of the right side, third fold, below (洛中洛外図屏風・右隻第 3 扇下 妙覚寺，二条通，町通).
Used by courtesy of the National Museum of Japanese History.

833
洛中洛外図屏風.
834
Ishida, ed., Nihon no bijutsu 5, 1977, 33.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

Tosa Mitsunobu began this screen painting in 1506, when he depicted central parts of
Kyoto on a screen. Unfortunately, these early originals are not known to be extant. The
oldest existing example is the Machida-bon (Plates 23 and 24), depicting Kyoto in the 1530s.
The second oldest edition is the Uesugi-bon (Plate 25), supposedly presented to Uesugi
Kenshin by Oda Nobunaga.835 An abundant number of screens with the same motives were
produced during the Edo period. The only additions in those Edo period versions are Nijō-jō
castle and Gion that were added in the first half of the seventeenth century.836
The komosō in this screen painting is
Plate 24: Rakuchū-rakugai-zu byōbu, detail of Plate 23.
30–40 years later than the komosō in
Courtesy of the National Museum of Japanese History.
Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase, but they
have a similar appearance: carrying their
straw mats, unshaven heads, probably a
beggar’s bowl by their waist, and not
fancily dressed.
The Uesugi-bon is approximately thirty
years younger than the Machida-bon, at the
latest it must have been made before 1582,
the year that Oda Nobunaga died. In the
Uesugi-bon I have not been able to locate
any komosō in the same area as in the
Machida-bon, but close by, there are two
people that appear to be komosō, carrying
straw mats by their waist, and playing
shakuhachi (Plate 25).

Plate 25: Rakuchū-rakugai-zu byōbu, Uesugi-bon.

Detail of the right side, fourth fold (右隻第 4 扇部分).
Used by courtesy of the Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum.

Neither of these visual examples of

komosō discloses any new information, but
they confirm the standpoint that the komosō
did not undergo any major changes, at least
not until the late sixteenth century. They
appear as beggars with an established
position in contemporary society.
As mentioned above, Ishida Hisatoyo
regards the scroll paintings and this screen
painting as closely related, and he has listed
the artisans that appear in both the scroll paintings and the screen painting. According to
Ishida’s list, there are fifteen artisans from the thirty-two that appear in Sanjūni-ban
Shokunin uta-awase, and sixteen from among the one hundred forty-two in Shichijūichi-ban
835
上杉謙信, 1530–1578. 織田信長, 1534–1582.
836
NIPPONICA: rakuchūrakugaizu, accessed on February 26, 2011.

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Shokunin uta-awase. There is no overlapping of artisans between the two scroll paintings
under discussion here,837 which means that among the one-hundred seventy-four artisans
depicted in these two scroll paintings, thirty-one have been selected to appear in the screen
painting. Among them we find the komosō. If the komosō were a rare existence it is highly
unlikely that they would appear in the screen painting, considering that it seems likely that
Tosa Mitsunobu, “[around 1506] had more or less established the motif of the screen
painting.”838
If so, and if it was a conscious choice to select the artisans depicted as the motifs, then we
must conclude that the komosō had established themselves as an element in the
contemporary society. This neither confirms nor contradicts any assumption about their
religiosity, but it does, however, indicate that they acted as beggars or entertainers and not
as monks. In the screen painting there are also what appear to be uma-hijiri and nenbutsu
practitioners (like the boro), Zen practitioners, yama-bushi, biwa-hōshi, practitioners of the
Hokke sect (Nichiren Buddhism), as well as a number of street entertainers, e.g., saru-biki.
This implies that the komosō were a different kind of personage, thus, not to be confused
with these monks or lay practitioners. The fact that the komosō are begging by playing
shakuhachi, indicates the general view of the komosō in the Japanese society towards the
close of the sixteenth century.

6.3 Concluding Remarks on the komosō

The imagery of religiously active and devoted shakuhachi playing komosō monks in English
and secondary Japanese literature seems to be drawn mainly from the usage of the Chinese
characters 虚妄 in some Edo period editions of Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase. The same
characters are used in Kurihara Kōta’s 1918 Shakuhachi shikō and in most of the later
historical studies of the shakuhachi. The poetic quality of poem number six has been used to
convey a fairly positive view of the komosō – it is not the wind that blows, but the
shakuhachi of the komo – together with the interpretation of the characters 虚妄 for komo and
the word sanmai as implying serious religious activities. The lack of any deeper discussion
of poem number twenty-two also helps in creating a more positive image of a devout
Buddhist monk. My analysis of pair number six in Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase yields a
more varied image of beggar-monks with a low status in society, hardly inclined to any
strict and severe practice.
During the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, from the late twelfth to the late sixteenth
centuries, the lower social strata were fluid and flexible. Artisans, street entertainers, and the
like, were not simply of one kind, and most likely they influenced each other. The
ceremonial female dancers at temples and shrines were often prostitutes; the biwa-hōshi,
monks who preached and played the lute biwa, were also storytellers.

837
Ishida, ed., Nihon no bijutsu 5, 1977, 26–27.
838
KOKUGO/OR: rakuchūrakugaizu, accessed on February 26, 2011. (洛中洛外図については、1506 年（永正 3）土佐光
信（とさみつのぶ）が「京中」を屏風に描いたことが『実隆公記（さねたかこうき）』の記事で知られ、ほぼこのころまでには画
題として成立していたとみられるが、残念ながらそこまでさかのぼる遺品はない。).

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Tsukitani Tsuneko remarks that the earliest historical record asserting that the komosō
became komusō of the Fuke sect is Kiyūshōran of 1830.839 In a footnote to this passage she
does, however, accept Takeda Kyōson’s view that the boro and komosō were originally
different groupings, that they later melded together, that the boro became extinct, and that
the komosō became komusō in the early Edo period. Furthermore, she states that the studies
conducted by the historian Hosaka Hirooki, where he argues for the lack of continuity
between the boro and the komosō and the existence of continuity between the komosō and
the komusō, are “highly suggestive” when investigating the formation of the komusō.840
Based on my analyses, however, I argue that there is a lack of conclusive evidence of any
connection between the boro and the komosō, and with respect to the komosō, to move from
the lowest level of society to become an Edo period komusō would include a tremendous
social climb, probably not seen since Zeami went from a low-ranking artist to become the
protege of the shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. The komusō were samurai, and for a simple
komosō to rise to the ranks of a komusō would be a very hard thing to achieve. Hosaka
assumes that the komosō, as a group of entertainers, turned to Fuke and his Zen doctrines to
become komusō.841 Regardless of the appearance of the word komozō identified as Fuke
monks in the Muromachi dictionaries discussed above, I find this highly unlikely. Even if
there were some monks who had a liking for Fuke, or maybe even regarded Fuke as a kind
of komosō, the other primary sources relating to komosō reveal a different picture. I argue
against the viewpoint put forward by Takeda and Hosaka for at least the following reason: if
there were masses of komosō roaming around in the country, eventually becoming monks of
some undefined denomination, who then became members of the group of komusō, there
must have been cadres of people taking the role of new rōnin/samurai. Furthermore, the
komosō depicted in Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase does not appear to be a kind of person
one would assume to pick up the doctrines of Fuke, or read the poems by Ikkyū, even if it
was out of pure necessity in order to survive. The visual sources from the sixteenth century
also include the screen paintings mentioned above. If monks of noble birth had begun to
take the role of komosō, or the komosō had begun to appear as studied monks, they would
hardly conduct their religious activities, i.e., begging, dressed as they apparently were. One
finds no doctrine, no verbal or visual elements in the primary sources that relate to Fuke or
the views Ikkyū develops in relation to Fuke. This, too, would be an argument againt the
assumption that there was an early changeover, where komosō became followers of Fuke.
Hosaka is, however, not clear as to whether he regards the komusō as komosō turned into
monks, or whether laymen and monks began to appear as komosō. He argues that people
from different groups of entertainers became komosō after they had left the group they
originally belonged to, and that these komosō learned the teachings of Fuke. He also states
that some of the komosō did not originate from entertainers, but had belonged to some
Buddhist denomination before turning into komosō.842 His argument of how this happened is,
however, based on association or visualization of possible connections.

839
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 12. (薦僧が普化宗の虚無僧となる話は『嬉遊笑覧』を始まりと
する).
840
Ibid., 19. (きわめて示唆的である). Tsukitani refers to Hosaka Hirooki, “Jūhachi seiki ni okeru komusō no mibun
keisei,” 1990, and “Jūnana seiki ni okeru komusō no seisei,” 1994.
841
Hosaka, “Jūnana seiki ni okeru komusō no seisei,” 1994, 181.
842
Ibid., 176, 177, 181.

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There is no reference in the text to a denomination to which the komosō may have
belonged. The boro in the Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase is a practitioner of nenbutsu
(Jōdo-shū, or older schools of Buddhism), he is a preacher, half monk half layman, but with
a certain level of cultivation and classical studies. In contrast to this, the komosō appearing
in the Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase is not cultivated, he does not make any references to
classical poetry or Zen Buddhist thought, but according to the commentary simply shows
that he has learned how to use words in a witty way. Wit would of course be an important
personal trait for a successful beggar: even if he changes his voice, whether he begs with
words or with his shakuhachi, even if he talks well and in a witty fashion, or plays well, he
is still not doing anyhing more than begging for left-overs.
Yet another aspect which must be noted is that the commentary to the komo’s poem
number six reveals that a piece played by the komosō is much more pleasant than the sound
of the diviner’s stalks. Maybe not a good comparison, but the musical qualities of the
komo’s playing are evaluated and, to some extent, praised. In the Shichiku shoshin-shū from
1664 the playing of the early Edo period komusō is evaluated in the following way:
“Recently there are these komusō … [and they] have different pieces, but whatever they play
it doesn’t sound as something that is tuned to the standard tones.”843
Without being able to establish any connection with the content of the religious activities
or to a specific denomination, and without any references to the musical aspects of the
shakuhachi playing, the connection between the komosō and the komusō must be evaluated
as extremely vague. They also differ widely in respect to their social status: the komosō
were mendicant beggar monks, in the lowest strata of the contemporary society, whereas the
komusō had a social status as samurai.

843
Nakamura, Shichiku shoshin-shū (1664), 1976, 4. (近き此不人といふこむ僧有て、…さまざまの手有之、いづれも律呂の
調子にあはせたる物とは聞えず).

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

Chapter  7  –  (Re-­‐‑)Constructing  Tradition:  

Discussion  and  Conclusions  

The main topic of Chapters 4–6 was to investigate, analyse, and discuss some historical
aspects of shakuhachi. One aim of this study is to prove my hypothesis that the assumed
connections between the different types of monks in older history – boro, komosō, and
komusō – are construed, for reasons of creating authenticity. The Edo period komusō
constructed tradition; they created an origin and invented a tradition for socio-political
reasons. In the twentieth-century historical studies of shakuhachi a partly new shakuhachi
tradition has been constructed, after the original invention of a tradition had been disclosed.
The re-constructed or re-created tradition places the ‘shakuhachi tradition’ much further
back in history than – I argue – can be substantiated by the investigated primary sources.
Section 7.1 contains a discussion of these aspects from the three dimensions of Nattiez’s
tripartitional model (cf. Section 1.6): the Neutral, Esthesic, and Poietic Dimensions
respectively. As mentioned in Section 1.6, I regard these words as theoretical terms. I
capitalize them to avoid confusion with any other ordinary usage of the words: the Poietic
Processes are processes in the Poietic Dimension, i.e., the dimension of creation, that result
in a physical object, the Neutral Trace, which can be experienced by a receiver – listener or
reader – on the Esthesic Level.
Ikkyū is a symbolic figure in the Zen tradition. It is likely that the komusō, or even their
supposed predecessors komosō, were inspired by Ikkyū’s poems, but the komusō never
mention him. In some of the twentieth-century writings he is, however, given a more overt
position in the alledged ‘tradition’ as a possible ‘first komosō.’ Another important symbolic
figure in the history of Japan is Shōtoku Taishi, the revered Prince and regent of Empress
Suiko, who supposedly played shakuhachi around the turn of the seventh century according
to some historical sources. References to historically significant names in the cultural field
is one way of giving authenticity to the tradition, and Section 7.2 contains a discussion of
the shakuhachi’s purported connection to these imposing historical characters – Ikkyū and
Shōtoku Taishi – from the Neutral, Esthesic, and Poietic Dimensions. I believe that a
discussion of the impact these historical persons have had on the shakuhachi tradition
indicates the ease with which a connection is, or can be, created.

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7.1 Re-creating Tradition: boro, komosō, and komusō

7.1.1 The Neutral Dimension

The Neutral Dimension in Nattiez’s tripartitional model constitutes the concrete physical
facts, whether it is written texts, sounds, or images.
In Chapter 4 I discuss the hypothesis that the secondary sources indicate that the komusō
of the Edo period were inspired by, or drew on, the writings by Ikkyū and most likely the
Rinzai-roku. The general consensus in the academic world is that the komusō falsified
documents in order to give themselves a firm position in the contemporary society. What
has not been given closer attention so far is the timeline from the first document issued by a
komusō in 1598, to the commentary Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi by Hayashi Razan in 1621, and
further to the first ‘doctrine,’ the “Kaidō honsoku” in 1628. These three texts precede the
1677 official recognition of the komusō by 50–80 years, a time-span during which the
monks probably increased in numbers. Even though the seventeenth-century documents
indicate quite a strong factionalism among the komusō, it is likely that they became more
closely bound together for reasons of survival. They needed to convince the authorities that
they constituted one formally unified religious sect, i.e., having a doctrine. The first thirty
years seem to have been crucial in the formation of the tradition. Based on my analyses of
the material I argue that what seems to have been a gradual change from komosō to komusō,
was rather a forced appropriation of the komosōs’ activities by the newly-formed komusō.
In Chapter 5, I argue that there is a lack of evidence and conclusive connections between
the boro and shakuhachi or any contemporary or later forms of monks, the boro and komosō
being partly contemporary. In the older, fourteenth-century texts I have not been able to find
any elements that yield such a conclusive connection, and the image portrayed in the scroll
painting Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase is of a monk with cultivation, versed in the
classics, even if according to the commentary he has a rather simple view and shallow
knowledge of Buddhism. I also indicate a possible misquotation by one of the leading
twentieth-century studies into the history of the shakuhachi, and question the idea that there
was a conceptualization of shakuhachi as being used by boro monks – or komo monks
according to Nakatsuka – at the turn of the fourteenth century. The link is not drawn from a
historical remark, but rather as a conclusion from what seem to have been similarities in
appearance. My analysis, however, does not indicate any such similarities, except for the
robe, but the kami-ginu robe was a common garment of the time, and it does not constitute a
sufficient condition for similarity.
In Chapter 6, I argue that the komosō were a very different type of person from the
preceding boro and the succeeding komusō. My analysis indicates that an interpretation of
the komosō as being involved in serious Buddhist practice is an oversimplification. The
komosō were beggars, and had little or no education. Their name, komo, was written in a
variety of ways, most likely out of scorn or a depiction of their shabby appearance with a
straw mat tied to their waists, and their religious concentration, samādhi, is mentioned
rather sarcasticly in the Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase.

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There is no conclusive evidence of any connection between the boro and the komosō in
the source material quoted in the secondary literature on the shakuhachi. As I conclude in
Chapter 5 and Chapter 6, the boro and the komosō were highly different in the way they
appear around the turn of the sixteenth century, the only time frame when we can establish
their simultaneous existence. I argue that the connection between these different types of
monks cannot be established from available sources, and that the lexical definitions of boro,
boro-boro, uma-hijiri, and komosō are weak and too simplified.

7.1.2 The Esthesic Dimension

The Esthesic Dimension in Nattiez’s tripartitional model constitutes the intellectual
experience and interpretation of the physical entitites in the Neutral Dimension.
From the writings in the twentieth century it is sometimes too obvious what conclusions
should be drawn. On the Poietic Level this may or may not be intentional on behalf of the
researcher and author of the text, but on the Esthesic Level, it is difficult not to make a
one-sided interpretation. As an example of this, In Chapter 1 of his book Kinko-ryū
shakuhachi shikan, where Nakatsuka outlines the older history of the shakuhachi, he creates
the simplest possible connection between the three types of monks. In Section 12 of the
chapter he discusses komosō. The foundation on the Neutral Level in Nakatsuka’s argument
is what I analyse in Chapters 5, the boro in Tsurezure-gusa, Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin
uta-awase, Boro-boro no sōshi, and Shaseki-shū. From there Nakatsuka makes a leap from
boro to komosō, stating that, “[t]he evasive komosō made some little progress, and suddenly
they began to play the shakuhachi,”844 and then he continues by quoting the first poem by
the komosō in Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase (cf. Section 6.1.2). Without establishing any
connection between the boro and the komosō, he gives them not only equal position, but
also refer to them as originally the same: the boro developed into the shakuhachi-playing
komosō.
As shown in my analyses, I have not found any connection between the boro and the
komosō before Hayashi Razan’s Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi in the early seventeenth century,
where he concludes that tradition has it that the shakuhachi-playing komosō follow the
tradition of the boro-boro (cf. Section 4.5.3). I assume that the comment by Razan was
widely spread, but, based on the diverse character of these historical figures, which my
analyses point out, I argue that the historical accuracy of Razan’s equation is
questionable.845 It is also worth noting that Razan wrote his Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi in 1621,
but that he does not make any similar remarks in other, later writings on the shakuhachi. In
an article written in 1623, with the title “Shakuhachi-ki” (Chronicle of the Shakuhachi), he
does not mention the komosō or boro-boro. The article begins with the observation that the
shakuhachi is a musical instrument, that it is very popular among ordinary people, and that
844
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 45. (此不得要領な薦僧が聊か進歩してイツの間にか尺八を
吹く事になった。)
845
Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi was written in 1621, published in 1648, and printed in 1667. Considering the facts that
(1) Hayashi Razan was one of the most influential Confucianists connected to the central authorities (bakufu), and
(2) Tsurezure-gusa was one of the most influential books of the early Edo period, it seems highly unlikely that
Razan’s commentary to Tsurezure-gusa should not have been known before 1648.

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the music from old times is the same as the music played at his time. He does, however,
mention that, “there are people who play [it] to repel an enemy,”846 which could be an
implied allusion to the boro-boro, or a foresight of the “Keichō okite-gaki” (cf. Section 4.2).
In another article, “Yoin shakuhachi-ki” (A Trailing Note to the Chronicle of the
Shakuhachi), written in 1625, again there are no remarks about komosō or boro-boro, but
Razan states that: “In recent years, there has been a person called Ōmori Sōkū, who plays
the shakuhachi well.”847 Ōmori Sōkū is probably Ō mori Sōkun, a well-known player of
hitoyogiri shakuhachi, who was contemporary with Razan.848 Nakamura Sōsan, the author
of the 1664 Shichiku shoshin-shū (cf. Section 3.2.3), refers to Ōmori Sōkun as his teacher of
hitoyogiri shakuhachi.
These two articles by Hayashi Razan, short as they may be, are more thorough studies of
the history of the shakuhachi, referring back to Lu Cai and his revival of the shakuhachi
instrument in the Tang dynasty China (cf. Chapter 3). As the Confucian scholar he was,
Razan devotes plenty of space in his articles to the connection with ancient China. I argue
that Razan’s commentary to Episode 115 of the Tsurezure-gusa was first of all a
commentary on the boro-boro, whom he evaluates highly, but he does not give any
references that furnish conclusive historical evidence of any connection between the
boro-boro and the komosō. In his more comprehensive articles on the shakuhachi, the
connection was apparently not substantiated. The “Kaidō honsoku” was written in 1628, but
Razan’s commentary Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi had probably already had a strong impact on
the contemporary society, and on the early komusō.849 This aspect does, of course, relate to
the Poietic Level for the komusō who created their origin in the early seventeenth century,
but it is also an important factor on the Esthesic Level in the re-creation of the tradition. The
early connections between the three, as I see it widely different agents, have not been fully
analyzed in contemporary studies, and this has given rise to an interpretation that is based
on a notion of similarity, whether it be in character, activities, or just as a matter of fact.
An an example of this ‘assumption of similarity’ can be seen in Ueno’s reference to the
tradition invented by the komusō in “Chapter 5 Fuke Shakuhachi” of his book. In the first
section, “Fuke to Kakushin,” he discusses the lack of religious content in the writings
relating to the Fuke sect, e.g., Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai, the absence of historical references
to substantiate that Kakushin (or Gakushin, i.e., Hottō Kokushi) brought the shakuhachi to
Japan, and so on. He ends this first section with the following words: “[R]egarding the
history of the fuke shakuhachi played by the komusō, besides what the komusō themselves
say, and their transmission, I assume that we must re-examine it based on reliable historical
records.”850 This is in line with the findings by Kurihara and Nakatsuka, and offers nothing
new. It is, however, interesting to read the beginning of the second section, “The
Appearance of Komosō,” which follows directly after the above quote. There Ueno says
that: “The monks who had Fuke as their revered progenitor, and played shakuhachi at

846
Hayashi Razan, “Shakuhachi-ki” (1623), in Hayashi Razan bunshū, 1930, 217. (有吹而却敵者).
847
Hayashi Razan, “Yoin hakuhachi-ki” (1625), in Hayashi Razan bunshū 1930, 218. (頃年有大森宗空者善吹尺八).
848
大森宗勲, 1570–1625.
849
As mentioned in Section 4.5.3, it is highly unlikely that Razan’s commentary was not circulated during the 1620s,
even though it was not published until the middle of the seventeenth century.
850
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 182. (… 虚無僧の吹いた普化尺八の歴史については、こうした虚無僧たちの側
の伝承と言い分とは別に、改めて確かな史料に基づいてこれを尋ねなおさねばならないだろう。).

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people’s doors, were in old times not called ‘komusō,’ but as in Yōshūfu-shi they were
called ‘komosō’,”851 thereby establishing the development from Fuke to komosō and further
to komusō, a line that he intended to examine in a more critical way. On the following pages,
he relates to the first poem by the komosō in Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase, referring to
the samādhi of the komosō as “concentrating on freeing themselves from worldly thoughts.”
From there he quotes Hayashi Razan’s comment on Episode 115 in Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi,
taking Hayashi’s comment at face value, that the komosō were following the line of the
boro-boro, and then Ueno continues to expound on the boro-boro.852 These pages explicate
the shakuhachi history as an unbroken tradition. In the Esthesic Dimension, the shakuhachi
seems to be an entity moving between different agents in history, who appear to be carriers
of a unified and unique shakuhachi tradition. The point I want to make is that even if Ueno
talks about a re-examination based on reliable historical sources, he is not undertaking a
critical study of the older history, but rather, by implying similarity between the boro-boro
and komosō he puts emphasis on an unbroken line of development. Thereby, intentional or
not, he helps in re-creating a tradition that goes back to and beyond the komusō of the Edo
period.
A similar tendency is seen in some English language studies. For example, Lee in his
PhD thesis connects the komosō with the komusō in the following words:

The term 'komusô' (虚無僧, priest of nothingness) seems to have evolved quite naturally
from the earlier, more earthy term 'komosô' (薦僧, straw mat priest) and is even closer in
meaning to the characters used in the 16th century poem Sanjûniban shokunin uta awase
for the word 'komosô': 虚妄僧 (priest of emptiness and illusion). In this reference, the
word komosô was written with the characters ko 虚 (emptiness) and mo 妄 (illusion),
conveying a much greater sense of other-worldliness and spirituality than the original
word komo 薦 (straw mat). In the book Keichôkenbunshû (慶長見聞集, Collection of
information of the Keichô era, completed in 1614) the word komusô is written with the
characters 古 無 僧 (literally 'old nothingness priest') (Ueno 1984:206). Ban Kôkei
(1733-1806) wrote, "People who play the shakuhachi and beg for rice are called komusô
(虚無僧, priest of nothing) nowadays, but in the collection of poetry Kanjinshô Uta Awase
( 勧進聖歌合 ) the characters komosô ( 薦僧 , straw mat priest) are used" (Kamisangô
1974:11). These sources indicate that in the early 17th century, the komosô (薦僧, straw
mat priest) and komusô (虚無僧, priest of nothingness) were one and the same group of
people.853

The conclusion from the sources cited in the above quote is not supported in my analysis.
Again, on the Esthesic Level, it clearly binds the two very different types of monks together.
A connection to an older, indigenous tradition is thereby established; a connection that I
argue is construed from a vague notion of similarity, and ‘as a matter of fact.’

851
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 183. (普化を祖と仰ぎ尺八を吹いて門付けをする僧たちは、古くは「虚無僧」
ではなく、『雍州府志』にあるように「薦僧」と呼ばれていた。).
852
Ibid., 183ff.
853
Lee, Yearning for the Bell …, 1993, 105. The Kanjinshō Uta Awase that is referred to in Lee’s quotation of
Kamisangō is the same as Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase. The characters 勧進聖 should more likely be read
kanjin-hijiri rather than kanjinshō as in Lee’s quote, and the judge (hanja) in the Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase is
a half monk half layman, a hijiri, soliciting for funds, a kanjin, thus Kanjin-hijiri Uta-awase. Regarding Ueno, Lee
gives the publication year as 1984. The first publication is from 1983, but it was reissued four times between 1983
and 1988, when the original publisher Kabushiki-gaisha Kyōwa Shuppansha (renamed to Shimada Ongaku Shuppan
Kabushiki-gaisha in October 1983), was dissolved.

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7.1.3 The Poietic Dimension

The Poietic Dimension in Nattiez’s tripartitional model constitutes the creative processes
that result in the physical formation of the entitites in the Neutral Dimension.
There seems to be an intentional attempt to establish the above-mentioned connection to
an older indigenous tradition, both in the Japanese and the English language secondary
writings that I have studied. With reference to Hayashi Razan’s equation of boro-boro and
komosō, Riley Lee arrives at the following conclusion:

Ueno (1984:206) points out that Hayashi's description of the komosô (薦僧, straw mat
priest) is identical to that in a mid-16th century collection of poetry, Sanjûniban shokunin
uta awase (三十二番職人歌合 ca. 1539), except that in the later reference, they were
carrying swords, while in the earlier reference they were not. The implication of Ueno's
observation is that the ranks of the later komosô (薦僧, straw mat priest) of the early Edo
period had evolved from the low class beggar monks of the previous centuries to persons
still of a rough look, but presumably from the higher class of the bushi or samurai, since
they alone had the right to carry swords.854

The “later reference” is the boro-boro that appears in Tsurezure-gusa, and the “earlier
reference” is the komosō in the Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase. The implication to which
Lee refers assumes that the komusō had evolved from beggar-monks. Firstly, the komosō of
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were not forbidden to carry a weapon. In the
Muromachi period it was a common thing to carry a blade of some kind, and we see that the
boro-boro in Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase, as well as other entertainers or artisans
of low rank, did in fact carry weapons. It was not until the ‘sword-hunt’ (katana-gari)
proclaimed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1587 that the right to carry weapon became a
privilege of the warrior class.855 The notion of a ‘development’ from low-ranking komosō to
a komusō of samurai status in the early Edo period is also debatable. In 1585 and 1586
Hideyoshi issued decrees in order to establish rules for a strict division of classes.856 At least
from the late sixteenth century on, it would have been very difficult to change social status
in such a way that is suggested by Lee. Even if this change appeared before the mid 1580s,
the number of komosō transforming into komusō must have been in such figures that it
would not have passed unnoticed. An individual here and there may have slipped by, but I
find it hard to imagine that a whole sect with quite a number of temples was populated by
outcasts who had turned into samurai. This is regardless of the fact that the monks were not
officially acknowledged until 1677, and that the temples were probably more like lodges for
the wandering monks.
The historian Hosaka Hirooki argues that the komosō changed from having been
knowledgeable about entertainment, carrying a bowl for begging and a straw mat for
sleeping, to become begging entertainers, with shakuhachi-playing as their speciality, in the
fifteenth to the sixteenth centuries.857 There are no historical records of komosō before the

854
Ibid., 104.
855
Sansom, Japan: A Short Cultural History (1931), 1985, 433.
856
Ibid., 432–433.
857
Hosaka, “Jūnana seiki ni okeru komusō no seisei,” 1994, 208.

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fifteenth century, which makes Hosaka’s statement at least problematic. What did they do
before the fifteenth century? Hosaka says that the komosō can be regarded as outcasts in the
Medieval Period, excluded from a society with permanent, settled residents. The society
was structured around a feudal lord, its residents constituting the population of the fief, and
other groups of people – like the komosō – were regarded as outsiders and strangers. Hosaka
argues that the important connection these outcasts made was to relate themselves to the
sayings and conduct by Fuke, and to Ikkyū Sōjun who introduced Fuke to the komosō. Then,
in the beginning of the seventeenth century, the komusō appeared, as monks devoted to
Fuke. For Hosaka, the difference between the two is “the shift over from a phase where
‘begging’ activities were an attribute of ‘Fuke Zenji,’ to a phase where it became the real
nature [of the komusō].”858 As shown in Chapter 4, the real nature of the komusō was,
however, rather that of a samurai. The character of the komosō as described in the scarce
primary material does not support an assumption that the komosō ‘took up’ Chinese learning.
It seems highly unlikely that they would have been able even to read the poems by Ikkyū.
My analysis indicates that the komusō samurai-monks appropriated the playing of the
shakuhachi that the komosō beggar-monks had made their means of livelihood, and that
neither of these groups were seemingly interested in the Zen thoughts of Fuke or Ikkyū. A
counter-argument would be that the Kuromoto-bon character dictionary does mention
komosō written both as ‘straw mat monks’ and ‘Fuke monks’ (cf. Section 6.1.3.3), but I
argue that the possible referents of these straw mat ‘Fuke monks’ can only be understood as
a very limited number of persons. The reasons for this, I argue, are: (1) There is only one
single reference from the late fifteenth or the early sixteenth century (the Kuromoto-bon).
(2) The next appearance in a character dictionary is from the late Muromachi period, i.e.,
near in time to the document of 1598, in which the compound word komu (虚無) appears for
the first time in connection to Fuke. (3) If there had been a great number of monks from
other denominations turning into komosō, or komosō beggar-monks turning into samurai,
this would have been noticed in society. (4) My analyses of other primary sources, e.g.,
Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase and the folding screen paintings of the late sixteenth
century, do not support an interpretation of the komosō as perceived in the contemporary
society as anything more than – probably illiterate – beggars at the bottom of society.
The komusō were samurai, and part of the upper strata of society, thus most likely
literate, whereas the komosō seem to have been similar to outcasts, and most likely not close
to being able to read or write.859 Hosaka’s conclusions imply an indigenious tradition
connecting the komusō with the komosō, whose origin he places to a time before the
fifteenth century. It should also be noted that while Fuke quite often is referred to as a Zenji
(Zen Master) in the secondary literature, he never held this title. This is, again, an indication
of how the Poietic Processes behind the writings of the history of the shakuhachi result in an
authorization of the past: even if the shakuhachi tradition is regarded as a legend, the
possible connection – directly or indirectly through Ikkyū – to Fuke as an officially
acknowledged Zen Master gives the shakuhachi a more authoritative position in history.

858
Ibid. Apart from when Fuke asks for a monastic robe (cf. Section 4.5.1), I have not found any instances where
Fuke is begging, or that it is an explicit attribute.
859
In the Edo period society they would have been hinin (‘non-humans,’ or ‘outcasts’), but this social classification
did not exist during the Muromachi period.

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As discussed above, and in Chapter 4, I argue that Hayashi Razan was instrumental in
connecting the boro-boro and the komosō, and by extension the komusō. Hosaka Hirooki
reaches the following conclusion regarding the author of the “Kaidō honsoku” (cf. Section
4.1), the comment by Hayashi Razan in Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi (cf. Section 4.5.3), and the
possible incentives they may have had:

The author of this text [“Kaidō honsoku”] calls himself “boro” [暮露], implying that the
name was connected to boro-boro [ぼろぼろ], in order to make the fact that the komusō of
the time were Buddhists a persuasive one, and I would assume that the records of Razan
… were also based on a remark related to the same intention.860

Regardless of the fact that the boro-boro and komosō are not mentioned in the short
historical studies Razan wrote in 1623 and 1625, his Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi was published
in 1648 and printed in 1667, without any revisions of his commentary to Episode 115 in
Tsurezure-gusa.
I regard the historical writings in the twentieth century as partly an attempt – whether
intentional or not – to establish an older indigenous history, after Nakatsuka’s study
questioned and problematized the myth of a unified and unbroken shakuhachi tradition from
the Tang dynasty Zen monk Fuke. Kamisangō creates a connection between the Edo period
shakuhachi-playing ruffians and the boro and komosō by alluding to their fierceness.
Relating to the stories about how the root-end shakuhachi became more common (cf.
Section 3.2), he writes that it is quite plausible that the root-end shakuhachi was introduced
by the so-called kyōkyaku, originally chivalrous people who became known ruffians.

According to Tsurezure-gusa, is seems that the boro made conflict and strife a matter of
their concern, accepted life and death easily, and they were monks who were
self-indulgent and broke the laws of a monk, and therefore there might have been some
kind of connection between the komosō and the kyōkyaku.861

Blasdel translates this as: “According to the Tsurezure Gusa … the boro komosō monks
were debauched, merciless fighters; not caring whether they lived or died. Perhaps the Edo
period rogues so given over to fighting with their instruments took hints from the earlier
komosō who had similar natures.” 862 Blasdel may stress the seeming similarity, but
Kamisangō makes the same connection, put slightly less bluntly. It would not, however,
have been the common pastime of the rogues to fight with their shakuhachi. There are only
a few references to these activities in the Edo period writings, most notably to Karigane
Bunshichi, a shakuhachi-playing rogue, who was executed in 1703. 863 In the Poietic
Dimension this indicates an inclination towards making a possible similarity of appearance
a common trait; the slightest detail in common is taken as an evidence of sameness.

860
Hosaka, “Jūnana seiki ni okeru komusō no seisei,” 1994, 195. (この文書の作者は、当該期の虚無僧が仏教者であること
を説得的なものにするために、「暮露」を名乗り、ぼろぼろに連なる者であることを含意したのであり、羅山や季吟の記録もこの
作為につながる言説をふまえていたと推定されるのである。).
861
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 85. (… 『徒然草』によれば、暮露は闘争を事とし、生死
をかえりみない、放逸無慙の徒であったようだから、薦僧と侠客の間には何らかの関連があったかもしれない。).
862
Kamisangō translated in Blasdel, The Shakuhachi… (1988), 2008, 92.
863
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 85. Cf. Section 3.2 fuke shakuhachi.

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The connection between boro and komosō is clearly stated and emphasized by
Kamisangō and in the English adaptation and translation by Blasdel, based on an
assumption that the komosō were rogues with the same or a similar character as the boro. In
the older texts that I have consulted I have not been able to obtain substantiating proof of
this, even if there is circumstantial evidence that some boro may have been rogues. This
may be a possible interpretation of Tsurezure-gusa, although I would argue against this. In
my view, however, it is definitely not a viable interpretation of the boro that appears in the
Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase. A rogue is a dishonest and worthless person, maybe
implying a character inclined towards indiscriminate fighting, but Razan does not evaluate
the boro-boro in Tsurezure-gusa as merciless rogues: he views them as monks of a noble
character who assume the duty of revenge.864
The impact that the imagery of the boro and the komosō has had is quite evident from the
usage of the paintings of the boro and the komosō. In the 1975 republication of Kurihara
Kōta’s book Shakuhachi shikō there is a painting of Shōtoku Taishi (carrying a sword but
no shakuhachi), and on the inside of the front and back covers there are images of the court
musician playing shakuhachi in Shinzen nyūdō kogaku-zu (cf. Section 3.3.1, and Plate 12),
an Edo-period komusō wearing a tengai basket-type of headgear and playing the shakuhachi,
a person with a sword playing what appears to be a hitoyogiri shakuhachi, and, finally, the
boro that appears in the Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase.
Another more recent use of these images is from a New Year’s newsletter of the
Association of Kinko-ryū Shakuhachi, issued January 1, 2010. In this newsletter, the
komosō in Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase is depicted. There is no direct reference to the
image, but the greeting by Aoki Reibo II, the chairman of the Association of Kinko-ryū
Shakuhachi, ends with a message to all the members of the association: “My hope is that
you will contribute to a further activation of this precious traditional music.”865 Whether the
connection between the image and the ‘precious traditional music’ is a conscious intention
or not is of course difficult to say. The greeting also refers to the sound of bamboo with the
following words: “The sound of bamboo, as a music culture that melts together with nature
delicately crossing over humble simplicity, has been transmitted thanks to the essential
sensitivity of the Japanese people.”866 This essentialistic view of shakuhachi and its music
seems to be an integral part of the Poietic Processes within the secondary sources I have
studied. I do not argue against the general aim of the text – to promote the shakuhachi music.
Nevertheless, the reference to the shakuhachi as a ‘tradition,’ connected with an image that
goes beyond the music culture of the Edo period, implies an older, unbroken line of
development. It suggests both the existence of a tradition with its origin in pre-Edo Japan,
and a quest for a genuinely Japanese essence, by which this music tradition has been able to
transcend time.
In the next section I develop this aspect of the Poietic Dimension in twentieth-century
studies of the shakuhachi. I examine at the shakuhachi in its description as an instrument

864
Shira-boji is seeking revenge on the person who killed his master, a boro called Irooshi-bō, who lightly, and
without hesitation, accepts the request of a duel. Yoshida Kenkō, Tsurezure-gusa (ca. 1340), 115, 1965, 183.
865
Aoki Reibo II, Chairman’s New Year’s greeting in “Kinko-ryū kyōkai-dayori” issued January 1, 2011. (… 貴重な
伝統音楽の一層の活性化に寄与していただきたいと願っております。).
866
Ibid. (…竹韻は、まさに自然空間にとけこんで機微に渡るわび・さびの音楽文化として、日本人の本質的な情感により伝承され
てまいりました。).

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related to Zen Buddhism, more exactly to the Zen thoughts of Ikkyū, and as an instrument
with origins in the Asuka period Japan.

7.2 Creating Tradition: Ikkyū, Zen, and Shōtoku Taishi

As stated in the beginning of this chapter, there are no references to Ikkyū or Shōtoku Taishi
in the writings by the komusō of the Edo period. Both Ikkyū and Shōtoku Taishi are
mentioned in the court music treatise Taigen-shō of 1512 (cf. Section 4.5.2), which should
have been a known text in the early Edo period. It is possible to trace a link to Fuke through
the poems by Ikkyū, or through the Rinzai-roku, works that presumably would have been
well known by any Zen monk of the time. Whatever reasons the komusō had not to refer to
either of them, the references nevertheless appear in twentieth-century secondary literature
on the shakuhachi.

7.2.1 Shakuhachi, Ikkyū, and Zen

Ikkyū is discussed in Section 4.5.1 with reference to the possible impact he had on the
connection between Fuke, shakuhachi, and the komusō. I now turn to a discussion regarding
Ikkyū’s appearance in secondary literature, as a possible progenitor of the komosō, and as a
foundation for the Zen ideal of later shakuhachi practices.

7.2.1.1 Shakuhachi and the Zen of Ikkyū: The Neutral Dimension

We know that Ikkyū was keen on the shakuhachi, partly from his Chinese poems, but also
from his poems in Japanese, dōka.867 In one of the Japanese poem ascribed to him it is
possible to interpret the shakuhachi he was using as the kind that was cut with only one
node, the so-called hito (one) - yo (node) - giri (cut) shakuhachi (cf. Section 3.2.3).
868
尺八は、ひとよばかりと、思ひしに、いくよか老いの、友となりぬる

shakuhachi wa, hito-yo bakari to, omoishi ni, iku-yo ka oi no, tomo to nari nuru
I thought the shakuhachi would be a friend for just one night,
But now it has stayed with me for many nights, until old age.

867
Didactic poems in the Japanese style waka, often with a Buddhist content. (道歌).
868
Quoted in Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 66; Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no
ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 77; Tsukitani, “Shakuhachi: Bungakuteki imēji no Shinpuku,” 1989, 114. Tsukitani has:
“shakuhachi wa, hito-yo to koso, …” and is using the character for one node (hito-yo, 節) here, but the character for
one night at the end (iku-yo, 幾夜). The number of morae does not, however, fit with the requirements of a tanka:
there should be seven in the second stanza, but hi-to-yo-to-ko-so only make six morae. There seems to be slightly
different versions available, and a more thorough research of the original may be required in the future.

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Nakatsuka includes the Chinese characters for the phonetic-equivalet ‘one night’ (一夜)
and ‘one node’ (一節) in his interpretation, whereas Kamisangō connects this poem with the
more obvious allusion to a hitoyogiri shakuhachi in a poem from a much later date. In the
Ryūtatsu kouta,869 a collection of kouta, or short songs, that was very popular around the
turn of the seventeenth century we find this poem:

尺八の、ひとよぎりこそ、音もよけれ、君とひとよは、寝も足らぬ 870

shakuhachi no, hito-yo-giri koso, ne mo yokere, kimi to hitoyo wa, ne mo taranu

The tones of the single node shakuhachi is, indeed, a pleasant sound,
But a single night with you is not enough.

Here, there is an obvious play on word. The hito-yo-giri in the second stanza may refer
both to the hitoyogiri shakuhachi, but also to a one-night love affair, hitoyo kiri, with the
near phonetic-equivalent hitoyo-giri creating this allusion: hitoyo means one night, and kiri,
or giri, means literally a ‘cut,’ but it can also mean something like ‘and that’s it.’ The word
ne in the next stanza denotes the ‘sound’ of the hitoyogiri shakuhachi, but it also alludes to
ne in the last stanza, which denotes ‘sleep.’ The sound is evaluated as ‘good’ (yokere). The
second and third stanzas, hitoyo-giri koso and ne mo yokere, thus create the double-meaning
of ‘the sound of the hitoyogiri shakuhachi is good,’ and ‘a one-night affair gives a pleasant
sleep.’ The hitoyo in the fourth stanza means ‘one night,’ together with the beloved (kimi to),
and the ne in the final stanza means ‘sleep,’ which is not enough (taranu).
Referring to both of the above poems, the Ryūtatsu kouta and the poem by Ikkyū,
Kamisangō concludes that even if the term hitoyogiri shakuhachi did not become common
until the seventeenth century, these songs/poems show that the word hitoyogiri, in a broad
definition, had been used since old times.871
I have not found any other historical records from Ikkyū’s time in which the word
‘hitoyogiri shakuhachi’ is used, and the interpretation seems a little far-fetched unless the
word hito-yo has any other meaning, e.g., referring to another type of shakuhachi. The
presumed allusion to a hitoyogiri shakuhachi does not seem to have any poetic or aesthetic
effect, and no religious implications. In his poems in literary Chinese (kanshi), discussed in
Section 4.5.1, Ikkyū refers to shakuhachi as well as different types of flutes, but I have not
found any poem where he mentions hitoyogiri. I would argue that the above poem by Ikkyū
does not include a reference to the hitoyogiri shakuhachi, and it does not have any
implications of a one-night love affair. Rather, the word hitoyo in Ikkyū’s poem refers to ‘a
short time,’ and that the tomo (friend) in his poem above has the same referent as in another
often quoted poem by Ikkyū, to which I return below.
In the Ryūtatsu kouta the double-meaning ‘night’ and ‘node,’ with its erotic allusions, is
obvious, but this collection of songs is of a considerably later date: it gained popularity in
the early Edo period, when the hitoyogiri shakuhachi was a popular and commonly known

869
Written by a Nichiren Buddhist monk by the name Takasabu Ryūtatsu (高三隆達, 1527–1611). The collection
Ryūtatsu kouta gained vast popularity in the Bunroku and Keichō eras, 1592–1615, especially in the area around
Kyoto and Osaka (kamigata). Sanseidō Daijirin, ryūtatsukouta, p. 2542. (隆達小歌).
870
Quoted in Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 78.
871
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 78. (【一休の歌と隆達小歌を引用して、そこに】 … はっ
きり出てくるから、広義では古くから用いられたらしい。).

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instrument. Even though Ikkyū had bohemian ways, indulging in drinking and meeting
women, his religious agenda never seems to have left his writing, whether it was the heavier
Chinese poetry or the more colloquial poems in Japanese.
In another poem in Japanese, often quoted in secondary literature, Ikkyū lets the word
tomo, ‘friend,’ denote the only thing that equals him. In the first poem above, the ‘friend’ is
the shakuhachi, and in the poem below it is the sound of the shakuhachi (shakuhachi no
koe).
872
なか々々に、われに如かざる、人よりも、只尺八の、声ぞ友なる

naka-naka ni, ware ni shikazaru, hito yori mo, tada shakuhachi no, koe zo tomo naru
Rather than people who are not my equal,
Only the voice of the shakuhachi will be my friend!

Here the reference to the shakuhachi is clear, and again we find that Ikkyū had a keen ear
for this instrument. Ikkyū is probably also referring to a saying of Confucius in Chapter 1,
Xue Er, of the Analects:

The Master said, “If the scholar be not grave, he will not call forth any veneration, and
his learning will not be solid. Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. Have no
friends not equal to yourself. When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.” 873

The crucial part, “have no friends not equal to yourself,” is rendered in Japanese as onore
ni shikazaru mono o tomo to suru nakare.874 Ikkyū takes this advice. The first stanza of
Ikkyū’s poem above, naka-naka ni, can be translated either as ‘rather,’ or ‘half-measured,’
‘incomplete,’ ‘halfway.’ The second stanza means ‘not equal to me,’ and the third ‘even
compared to (such a) person.’ Thus, rather than trying to find someone who will not be my
equal anyway, it is just (tada) the voice of the shakuhachi (shakuhachi no koe) that will be
my friend (tomo naru). The particle zo after koe is a strong affirmative. Here, Ikkyū puts the
shakuhachi at the level of a master: there exist no (living) person that can equal him, and
only the shakuhachi will stay his friend. My analyses of Ikkyū’s Chinese poems indicate
that Ikkyū may have regarded the shakuhachi as a means of reaching enlightenment, or that
sound contained elements of a true Zen doctrine (cf. Section 4.5.1).
Ikkyū was not the typical Zen Buddhist monk. He appears to have been a bohemian, with
a liking for the Chinese Zen monk Fuke (cf. Section 4.5.1). The shabby image of Ikkyū,
paired with the witty wildness of Fuke, as he is portrayed in the Rinzai-roku, may well have
been a formative image for the early Edo-period komusō – as I discuss in Section 4.5.1
above – even though Ikkyū is not explicitly mentioned in any of their writings. Most of the
secondary literature on the shakuhachi refers to a person who was a supposed comrade of
Ikkyū, playing shakuhachi and appearing to be “a Japanese style Fuke.”875 His name was

872
Quoted in Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 66.
873
The Analects (論語, C. Lun Yu; J. Rongo), Chapter 1, Section 8. Translation at http://ctext.org/analects/, accessed
March 15, 2011. (學而８: 子曰：“君子不重則不威，學則不固。主忠信，無友不如己者，過則勿憚改。”). Emphasis added.
874
KOKUGO/OR. (己に如かざる者を友とするなかれ).
875
A quote from Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 262 of Miyako meisho-zue (都名所図絵),
published in 1780. (和朝の普化と称す).

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Rōan, and he is mentioned, probably for the first time, in Yōshūfu-shi of 1686,876 which is
about two hundred years after Ikkyū passed away. In Yōshūfu-shi Rōan is described as a
foreign monk of unknown origin, playing the shakuhachi, and appearing as a follower of
Fuke. 877 Another record is from Shichiku kokin-shū, written in 1805, saying that the
hitoyogiri genealogy was transmitted from Rōan, Sōsa, and Takase Bizen no Kami, but that
there is no basis for this assumption.878 Kamisangō summarizes two legends about assumed
epigones of Ikkyū in the following words:

One holds that Ikkyū, together with a person called Ichirosō, had thrown away the
worldly life, living in a hut in Uji. The two of them cut their own bamboo and made
shakuhachi, and played all the time. The other says that a foreign monk, Rōan, lived in a
hut called Kyūean in Uji, and that he was well acquainted with Ikkyū of Murasakino [the
area in Kyoto where the Daitoku-ji temple is located], and that he liked to play
shakuhachi. He called himself Fūketsudō-sha [The Follower of the Way of Wind and
Holes], and this was the beginning of the komusō. Both legends seem to be variations of
one and the same theme. It is possible that they were the same person, but we know
absolutely nothing about what kind of persons they were.879

The reference to Ichirosō is older than the reference to Rōan mentioned above. In his
“Chronicle of Shakuhachi” (1623), Hayashi Razan mentions that Ikkyū – referred to with
his alias Kyōun-shi – as the owner of the hermitage at Uji, had together with Ichirosō
averted this world, and that they played the shakuhachi together. Even though Razan puts it
in “modern times,” his remark is at least one hundred and fifty years after the assumed
event.880 As mentioned above, Razan does not incorporate boro, komosō, or komusō in any
way in his short articles on the history of the shakuhachi, written in 1623 and 1625 (cf.
Section 7.1.2).

7.2.1.2 Shakuhachi and the Zen of Ikkyū: The Esthesic Dimension

Stories about Ikkyū were very popular in the Edo period, and a possible connection to a
historical person of his status would have been of interest for those who invented the
komusō tradition. As I mention above, it is noteworthy that the komusō do not refer directly
to Ikkyū.
One may argue that, according to the medieval character dictionary (setsuyō-shū) called
the Kuromoto-bon (cf. Section 6.1.3.3), there were komosō around the late fifteenth or the

876
Yōshūfu-shi (雍州府志) is a local text consisting of 10 volumes published in 1686, mainly concerned about the
local area, the Yamashiro-kuni, an old name for the area south of present day Kyoto. Authored by Kurokawa Dōyū
(黒川道祐, d. 1691).
877
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 262; Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 152.
Both indicate that Yōshūfu-shi is the oldest reference.
878
Ueno, Shakuhachi no rekishi (1983), 2002, 151.
879
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 73. (一つは、一休は一路叟という者とともに、俗世間を
捨てて宇治の庵に住み、二人は、自ら竹を切って尺八を作り、常に吹いた、というものであり、他の一つは、朗庵（朗菴、蘆安と
もいう）という異僧が宇治の吸江庵にあり、紫野の一休和尚と親交があり、尺八を好んで吹き、自ら風穴道者と称したが、これが
虚無僧の初まりである、というものである。両説は同じ所伝の変化したもので、一路叟と朗庵は同一人物かとも推測されるが、ど
ういう人物か、皆目わからない。).
880
Hayashi Razan, “Shakuhachi-ki” (1623), in Hayashi Razan bunshū, 1930, 218. (吾国近代有宇治庵主狂雲子一路叟者
並避世之徒也 吹尺八).

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early sixteenth century who were referred to as Fuke monks. This could support the legends
about Rōan and Ichirosō, but it does not constitute conclusive evidence for their existence,
nor does it supply any concrete material for evaluation or interpretation. The remark appears
around the time of the Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase (1494), which contains a much
broader range of material for an analysis of the character of the komosō. There seems to
have been one, or some, komosō, influenced by Ikkyū’s notions of shakuhachi and Fuke, but
to my knowledge, there is no historical material that provides a notion about the substance
of their thoughts. The only secondary writer who even mentions the Kuromoto-bon is Ueno,
but he only refers to it in one single sentence (p. 191) without any further explanation.
Nakatsuka states that we know nothing about the import of the thoughts of Fuke. He
assumes that Ikkyū was influenced by Rōan in this respect, presumably because Rōan is
mentioned as a foreign monk, and that it was through the exchange with this legendary
character that Ikkyū developed a deeper understanding of the Zen of Fuke.881 On the other
hand, Fuke is known from the Rinzai-roku, and it would seem plausible that Ikkyū read
about Fuke in this work. Nonetheless, Ikkyū’s bohemian appearance, his liking for music in
general – there are several poems in Kyōun-shū that relate to other instruments and music –
and his appreciation of Fuke, have inspired notions that he was at least like a komosō, a
wandering monk playing the shakuhachi. This is a mere fraction of Ikkyū’s world, but
interpretations of him as a shakuhachi-playing monk create an image of a monk with a deep
understanding of Zen – especially the Zen of Fuke – paired with shakuhachi. Based on
Ikkyū’s activities and his playing of the shakuhachi, Takeda argues that “even if we can not
say that he became a komosō, it is evident that he had the ability to act as something similar
to them.” 882 This implies nothing more than a loose similarity, and, with reference to my
analysis of the komosō in Chapter 6, I do not find any support for this interpretation. It does,
however, create the necessary background for the creation of a tradition. Timewise, Ikkyū
and the scroll painting of a komosō more or less coincide, but the implications of a
continuum obfuscate critical examination. The implications are that there is purportedly a
line of development of Zen-related content in the shakuhachi music that was played by
Ikkyū and others. The images of those practitioners is supposed to be similar to that of the
medieval boro-boro, who later turned into komosō and began to play the shakuhachi, as
Ikkyū supposedly did, and then the komosō transformed into the komusō. This assumed line
of a conceptualized ‘shakuhachi’ that passes through various points in history constitutes a
creation of a tradition that I argue is not supported by extant historical sources. With Ikkyū
the shakuhachi becomes a deeply Zen-inspired tradition of indigenous origin, which it
lacked in its connections to the komusō.

7.2.1.3 Shakuhachi and the Zen of Ikkyū: Poietic Dimension

To interpret Ikkyū as a progenitor of komosō, and by extension of the komusō, is akin to the
notion that Kusunoki Masakatsu was the first komusō, as stated in the “Kyotaku denki.”
Ikkyū’s references to Fuke and shakuhachi are, as we have seen both in his Chinese poetry

881
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 264–265.
882
Takeda, Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi, 1997, 209, 211. (彼は薦僧になったとはいえないにしても、それらしい
職能になっていたことは明らかである。).

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in Chapter 4, and his Japanese poetry above, quite evident. The foundation for using Ikkyū
as the carrier of a defunct Fuke tradition, seems to be a wish for a re-spiritualization of the
shakuhachi. After the Meiji restoration in 1868, and the abolition of the Fuke sect in 1871,
the secular music took precedence over the Zen-related aspects of the shakuhachi.
Especially after the end of World War II, the shakuhachi lost more and more ground. A
further secularization of the music culture, and the strong emphasis on imported Western
music, put the shakuhachi in an even more crucial situation than at the time of the abolition
of the Fuke sect.883
The shakuhachi became a part of the creation of a national identity in the Meiji period, as
an old musical instrument, with supposed connections all the way back to Shōtoku Taishi
(cf. Section 7.2.2 below). The Japanese musicologist Kikkawa Eishi argues that the special
character of Japanese music is that it does not change, as Western music does. Greek music
passed on the ‘relay stick’ to Roman music, Roman music handed the stick over to medieval
music, which in turn handed it over to pre-modern music. Kikkawa terms this
“revolutionary development” or “development that negates the preceding culture.” In
comparison, Japanese music development does not negate preceding music forms, but
different kinds of music coexist in such a way that the music “not only transmits the oldest
forms even now, but it is performed and appreciated as elements of the present day.”884
This describes a notion of Japanese music as fixed in its forms, preserved in and only in
Japan, with fictive lines of transmission going back to before the Ancient Period. During the
Meiji period, the shakuhachi became part of the secular context, even if there re-appeared
practitioners of shakuhachi as a religious implement around the middle of the Meiji period.
As one sample of an ancient, indigenous tradition – in Kikkawa’s sense of a
‘non-revolutionized music tradition’ – the Buddhologist Max Deeg holds that the perception
of shakuhachi contributed to the creation of a national identity during the Meiji period.
Deeg comments further on the development of the shakuhachi after WWII in the following
words:

Such a musical tradition could eventually enter into a new, second period of
spiritualisation in the postwar period of Zen-enthusiasm in the West. Paradoxically, in
Japan this assumed spirituality was lost in the more and more secularised and formalised
world of Japanese shakuhachi practice of the main schools. It seems, however, latterly, to
be more and more the case that shakuhachi practice is constructed in terms of a
consciousness of it, “re”transferred as this has been from the West, as a spiritual
Zen-instrument.885

To establish a Zen doctrine relating to both Fuke and the shakuhachi in the writings of
Ikkyū, creates a bridge over the activities of the Edo period komusō, from the present time
and at least back to the fifteenth century, thereby connecting to a suitable older origin.
Furthermore, whatever the komusō might have done wrong, no matter how far they went
astray from the right path, through a connection from Fuke – via Ikkyū – to shakuhachi, and

883
As an implement of the komusō the shakuhachi was doomed to be abolished with the sect, but the Meiji
government decided to accept the shakuhachi as a musical instrument (cf. Section 8.1).
884
Kikkawa, Nihon ongaku no seikaku, 1980, 19–20. (最も古い形を今もなお伝えているばかりでなく、現在のものとして演
奏され、鑑賞されている).
885
Deeg, “Komusō and ‘Shakuhachi-Zen’,” 2007, 35. Emphasis in the original.

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in the extension to the Edo period komusō, a line of a spiritual movement is maintained.
This line of spirituality can be seen as a Poietic Process in the notion of sui-zen,886 often
translated as “blowing Zen.”887 This notion has gained perhaps a greater popularity in the
West than in Japan, in line with the ‘retransfer’ to which Deeg refers, or a reimport.888
Kamisangō’s text from 1974, reprinted in 1995, carries the original Japanese title
“Shakuhachi-gaku ryakushi – suizen no rikai no tame ni,” which means “An Abbreviated
History of the Shakuhachi Music – For the Understanding of suizen.” The origin of the
word sui-zen is to be found in a four-character expression displayed at the temple Myōan-ji
in Kyoto, one of the main komusō temples during the Edo period.889 The four-character
expression reads suizen ichinyo, alluding to another well-known expression, kenzen ichinyo.
The latter expression means that by practicing Zen it is possible to reach a state of mind
where the handling of the sword (ken) is one expression of Zen, and not that the sword and
Zen are the same.890 This expression is similar to the Buddhist monk Takuan’s expression
kenzen itchi,891 which states that the ultimate state of the Way of the Sword, kendō, is the
same (itchi) as the Zen Buddhist ideal state of being free from worldly ideas and thoughts,
munen-musō.892 The difference between itchi, unity, and ichinyo, oneness, is a matter of
nuance rather than essence. Thus, suizen ichinyo should be interpreted as saying that by
practicing Zen, the act of playing the shakuhachi (sui, literally ‘blowing’) becomes one
expression of (a) Zen (mind). Accordingly, suizen is not a practice of Zen, but the playing of
the shakuhachi can be one expression of a Zen-like state of mind: it is not a matter of
‘blowing Zen,’ but rather of playing the shakuhachi and playing it well.

7.2.2 An Indigenous Origin: Shōtoku Taishi and Shakuhachi

7.2.2.1 Shōtoku Taishi and Shakuhachi: The Neutral Dimension

There are several comments in historical documents about the revered prince Shōtoku
Taishi (574–622) supposedly performing a piece called “Somakusha,” which is still

886
吹禅.
887
Kamisangō translated in Blasdel, The Shakuhachi… (1988), 2008, 93. In the original, Kamisangō does not use
the word suizen, but rather states that the komusō were engaged in shakuhachi suisō, shakuhachi playing, which was
their Buddhist practice.
888
One shakuhachi performer told me that his activities as a performer of what he holds to be religious content were
enhanced when he became known outside of Japan as a performer of hotchiku, the ‘Buddha bamboo’ (法竹).
889
Myōan-ji is still regarded as the main temple for those inclined towards komusō activities, Japanese and
non-Japanese alike, and it was from this temple that the Myōan Kyōkai was established. Myōan-ji is located within
the premises of Tōfuku-ji, and the komusō activities were re-established in gathering money to rebuild a part of
Tōfuku-ji that had burned down in the late nineteenth century.
890
吹禅一如／剣禅一如. Personal communication with the shakuhachi master Kurahashi Yōdō (倉橋容堂) in July 2009.
Kurahashi also confirmed his opinion in an e-mail to the author on January 25, 2011. (たいへん有名な「剣禅一如」とい
う言葉【は】 「剣を極めることは禅に通じる」という意味です。決して「剣イコール禅」ではありません。). In an e-mail on January
11, 2012, Kurahashi clarifies that his comment is his personal opinion, and not based on scholarly research.
891
Takuan (沢庵和尚), a Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk who lived 1573–1645. (剣禅一致).
892
KOKUGO, Vol. 7, kenzen itchi: p. 328. (剣禅一致).

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incorporated in the court music, gagaku, repertoire.893 The Somakusha is also depicted in a
twelfth century scroll painting, the Shinzei nyūdō kogaku-zu (Plate 26).894
To support the connection between the shakuhachi and Shōtoku Taishi, Kurihara quotes
the early sixteenth-century gagaku treaties Taigen-shō and Maikyoku kuden,895 both written
by Toyohara Sumiaki, 896 and Nakatsuka quotes “Taigen-shō and other [texts].” 897 In
Taigen-shō the reference to Shōtoku Taishi reads as
follows: Plate 26: Somakusha depicted in the
twelfth century Shinzei nyūdō
kogaku-zu.
A long time ago, it is said that Shōtoku Taishi used the
shakuhachi to play “Somakusha” at Ikomayama. Among the Used by courtesy of the Tokyo
University of the Arts.
treasures of Hōryū-ji there is one shakuhachi, and this is [the
one he played]. It is said to be from old times.
Further, the mountain god came out, dancing. Ōmine is said
to be Somakusha’s mountain, and it still exists.898

According to present-day explanations of the piece

“Somakusha” there are two legends about its origin. One
has it that, in accordance with Taigen-shō and Maikyoku
kuden, the mountain god came out dancing when Shōtoku
Taishi was at the mountain Shigisan, located in the
southern part of Ikomayama, and that a court musician
(gakunin) created a dance based on the dance of the
mountain god. Nakatsuka refers to one of Japan’s leading
musicologists during the twentieth century, Tanabe
Hisao, 899 stating that Tanabe holds that some court
musician(s) (gakunin) of later generations at Tennō-ji
created the dance either from the legend that the founder of the esoteric sect Shugendō, En
no Gyōja,900 played the flute and the mountain god danced to the music, or the legend that
Shōtoku Taishi played the dōshō (shakuhachi) sitting on a horse when the mountain god
came out dancing.901 There is also a legendary belief, which holds that Shōtoku Taishi is
that very same En no Gyōja.902
893
The piece has been transmitted at Tennō-ji. It consists in present form of a performer of the transverse flute
ryūteki (竜笛) and a dancer in a golden mask portraying the mountain god or an aged monkey. A photo of a modern
Somakusha can be found at http://o-gagaku.com/kyoku/somaku.html. (蘇莫者 or 蘓莫者).
894
Shinzei Nyūdō kogaku-zu (信西入道古楽図), supposedly drawn by Fujiwara no Michinori (藤原通憲, ?–1159).
Shinzei is an alias for Michinori, and the word nyūdō refers here to a person who has entered into religious practices.
The word kogaku-zu means “illustrations of ancient music.”
895
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 38
896
As mentioned above, the first name is in some sources read as Muneaki. (豊原統秋, 1450–1524). Taigen-shō is
discussed above in Section 4.5.2. (体源抄, 1512; 舞曲口伝, 1522).
897
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 14.
898
Quote from Taigen-shō, Vol. 5, “Shakuhachi.” (昔聖徳太子生駒山ニシテ尺八ヲモテ蘓莫者ヲアソハストイヘリ即法隆寺
ノ宝物ノ中ニ尺八一管コレアリ昔ノ物ト云ヘリ。 又山神出テ舞大峯ニ蘓莫者ノタケト云テ今モアリト云…).
899
田辺尚雄, 1883–1984.
900
Also En no Ozuno (役小角). According to Gorai Shigeru, there is a note in the Shoku Nihongi (続日本紀) about En
no Gyōja being banished to Izushima on May 24, 699. YHJ, en no gyōja (役行者), by Gorai Shigeru (五来重),
accessed on March 10, 2011. Shugendō (修験道), En no Gyōja (役行者).
901
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 17–18.
902
YHJ, somakusha (蘇莫者), by Hashimoto Yōko (橋本曜子), accessed on March 8, 2011.

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Tanabe’s supposition seems to refer to a remark in the Kyōkun-shō of 1233, where the
story is told in the following words:

Somakusha … About this dance, there is a legend saying that a long time ago, when En
no Gyōja descended from Ōmine playing the flute, the mountain god enjoyed the sound
and came forth dancing. He was discovered by the Gyōja and the mountain god bit his
tounge. The ridge where this happened was named the Somakusha mountain, and it is
said still to exist. Furthermore, when Shōtoku Taishi passed through Kame no se at
Kawachi, sitting on his horse, he played the shakuhachi. The mountain god liked the
sound and danced, and in recent times this was pictured in [wall paintings in] the Eden at
Hōryū-ji.903

Yet another occurence of the shakuhachi as related to Shōtoku Taishi is a record in the
thirteenth-century Hōryū-ji kokon mokuroku-shō (Recorded Annals of the Hōryū-ji Temple):

Shōtoku Taishi played the Chinese bamboo flute shakuhachi as he walked the honourable
way from Hōryū-ji to Tennō-ji, and at Shiisaka, the mountain god heard the revered flute
and came out dancing after him.904

If the accounts of Shōtoku Taishi playing the shakuhachi are viewed as viable, they
would have occured sometime between 593 at the earliest, the year that the temple Tennō-ji
was built, and at the latest 621, the year of the death of Shōtoku Taishi. If we believe the Lu
Cai theory (cf. Chapter 3) – which states that the Tang dynasty court musician Lu Cai
revived a type of flute, using a one shaku eight sun long flute as its standard pitch – it seems
however highly questionable whether Shōtoku Taishi actually did play what was referred to
as ‘shakuhachi’ at that time as discussed above. Lu Cai was active around 627–649, which
is after the death of Shōtoku Taishi. From the extant sources that I have consulted, we
cannot gain knowledge about whether Shōtoku Taishi played any instrument at all, but since
all the remarks about Shōtoku Taishi are from much later sources, the time gap may indicate
that the use of Shōtoku Taishi is of a more socio-political character: using historically
significant names is one way of creating a solid base for the tradition.

7.2.2.2 Shōtoku Taishi and Shakuhachi: The Esthesic Dimension

Nakatsuka quotes the program notes of a performance in 1933 in which “Somakusha” is
referred to as “the oldest shakuhachi piece,”905 whereby a connection between Shōtoku
Taishi and shakuhachi is established. This should, however, be viewed from the standpoint
of the socio-political situation in the 1930s. Behind such a statement, there seems to be an
agenda of giving weight to the older history of the shakuhachi. Riley Lee states that “[t]he
903
http://o-gagaku.com/kyoku/somaku.html, accessed on March 8, 2011. Koma Chikazane, Kyōkun-shō (1233),
1973, 79–80. (昔役行者大峯ヲ下給ケルニ、笛ヲ吹給ケルヲ、山神メデ給テ舞ケルヲ、行者ニ見付ラレテ、舌ヲクヒ出シタルト申
伝タリ。件出現ノ峯ヲバ、蘇莫者ノタケト名付テ、今ニ在ト云。而聖徳太子河内ノ亀瀬ヲ通ラセ給ケルニ、馬上ニシテ、尺八ヲア
ソバシケルニ、メデ々山神舞タル由、近代法隆寺ノ絵殿説侍ベル。).
904
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, p. 7 (尺八漢竹也、太子此笛を法隆寺より天王寺へ御啓の道、
椎坂にて吹給ふ、之の時山神御笛を聞き出で御後にして舞ふ。), and Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 38 (尺八漢竹
也、太子此笛自法隆寺より天王寺ヘ御啓ノ道椎坂ニテ吹給、之時山神御笛ヲ自出御後ニシテ舞フ。).
905
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 18. (尺八最古の曲).

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association of Prince Shōtoku and the shakuhachi is an example of the frequent occurrence
of important historical figures having been given central roles in their origin myths, in
traditional Japanese musical genres and other traditional Japanese arts.”906 With reference to
Shōtoku Taishi a 1,400 years long ‘tradition’ is created.
More recent studies, e.g., that of Kamisangō, refer to the Hōryū-ji shakuhachi,
presumably used by Shōtoku Taishi, and the 1233 Kyōkun-shō, but Kamisangō concludes
that it is questionable whether the instrument owned by Hōryū-ji actually did belong to
Shōtoku Taishi, and that it is difficult to accept the legend which says that Shōtoku Taishi
played the piece “Somakusha.”907 With reference to a remark in the Zoku Kyōkun-shō of
1370, with similar content as the above quotes, Ueno notes that from this we understand that
it has been said from old times that the shakuhachi at Hōryū-ji was a favourite item for
Shōtoku Taishi. Ueno does not conclude that this is the case, but rather that it is
questionable whether the shakuhachi did in fact exist in Japan during Shōtoku Taishi’s era.

7.2.2.3 Shōtoku Taishi and Shakuhachi: The Poietic Dimension

The Hōryū-ji kokon mokuroku-shō was written in 1238 by the Hōryū-ji priest Kenshin,908
and should not be regarded as a necessarily reliable source because of the time span
between the report itself and the reported event. Kenshin’s aim could well have been to
create a connection to Shōtoku Taishi, the founder of the temple. The other sources
mentioned above are even later, with the plausible agenda of re-establishing the court music
in a wartime Japan, i.e., the Taigen-shō and the Maikyoku kuden, and to increase the status
of the Toyohara family through a connection to Shōtoku Taishi.
There is a shakuhachi among the Hōryū-ji treasures, which is said to have belonged to
Shōtoku Taishi.909 In Amano Masanori Zuihitsu, Essays by Amano Masanori,910 probably
written in 1844, Amano writes that in 1843, he had seen and held the flute of Shōtoku Taishi
in his hands.911 He reports that the flute was slightly less than thirty-eight centimetres, which
is also the length that Kurihara mentions as the length of the Hōryū-ji shakuhachi.912 Amano
was a retainer of the central authorities, and a scholar of National Studies, kokugaku.913
906
Lee, Yearning for the Bell …, 1993, 63.
907
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 70.
908
顯真.
909
According to Kamisangō, this shakuhachi is on display at Tokyo National Museum (Kamisangō,
“Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 70. There is a drawing of the Hōryū-ji shakuhachi in Kurihara
(Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 39), which indicates an instrument with five fingerholes on the front, and a total
length of 1 shaku 2 sun 5 bu.
910
天野政徳, 1784–1861.
911
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 39; Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 11–12.
912
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 19. (1 shaku 2 sun 5 bu in kane-jaku, i.e., 37.875 cm).
913
The kokugaku movement (kokugaku: National Studies) was a textual and interpretive study of Japanese classical
literature and ancient writings, which began in the seventeenth century. The term kokugaku was, however, not
established until the Meiji period. The kokugaku movement elaborated on a ‘pure’ and more essential or original
Japanese mind, in literature, morality, and religion. Within the realm of literature the view was that “previous to the
absorption into Japanese culture of Buddhist and Confucian influence, waka poetry had been composed to express
straightforwardly the feelings of the ancient poets. The poetry of later times he found artificial and false. This view
constituted an important aspect of the ideological basis of Kokugaku.” In regard to morality, one of the four main
scholars, Motoori Norinaga (本居宣長, 1730–1801), stated that, “because the ancient Japanese acted correctly without
moralizing, ancient Japan had been superior to Confucian China.” (ENCYCLOP, accessed on May 29, 2011).

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Another contemporary kokugaku scholar and historian, Konakamura Kiyonori,914 refers to

purportedly the same shakuhachi in his Kabu-ongaku ryakushi (Historical Outline of Song
and Dance Music). He reports, however, the length to be approximately six centimetres
greater, i.e., around forty-four centimetres.915 Obviously Amano and Konakamura refer to
different instruments, but as kokugaku scholars, both would embrace the idea of Shōtoku
Taishi playing the shakuhachi. Nakatsuka does remark that there must have been at least two
shakuhachi in the belongings of Hōryū-ji, and that we cannot be sure of which of those, if
either, in fact belonged to Shōtoku Taishi.916 Nevertheless, based on the remarks by Amano
and Konakamura and the above quotes, Kurihara and Nakatsuka both conclude that Shōtoku
Taishi did in fact play the shakuhachi.
Furthermore, Nakatsuka asserts that there were musicians from Silla performing at the
funeral of Emperor Ingyō in 453,917 and that it is not unthinkable that there were one or two
shakuhachi musicians among them.918 Of course, this does not represent any substantiating
evidence, but gives an overt image of the Poietic Processes of Nakatsuka. With reference to
the story quoted above concerning Shōtoku Taishi playing shakuhachi on his way from
Hōryū-ji to Tennō-ji, Nakatsuka states that the reason why he imagines such a historical
background is that “if the shakuhachi did not come to Japan in this era, before the crowning
of Empress Suiko, the fact that Shōtoku Taishi played the shakuhachi at Shiisaka in Yamato
must be a lie.” 919 The historical records that report that Shōtoku Taishi played the
shakuhachi were written at least 600 and even up to 900 years after the event described, and
the historical truth of these texts cannot be verified.
Nakatsuka wrote his Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan in the late 1930s, when nationalistic
tendencies were strong, which may have induced him to place emphasis on this connection
to the ancient Japanese culture. Building on the ideas of the movement of kokugaku,
National Studies, a national identity was created during the Meiji period (cf. above and in
Section 7.2.1.3). According to the kokugaku movement, there was a superior and more
essentially Japanese culture that originated in the era before the Chinese influences, and to
imagine that the shakuhachi tradition in Japan developed from Shōtoku Taishi would imply
a more genuinely Japanese aspect to the shakuhachi. As an indication of the temporal period,
Nakatsuka is using either the era names to indicate years, or the Japanese way of counting
from the mythical first emperor Jinmu (660 BCE).
In regard to the creation of an indigenous origin, with its roots in the Ancient Period,
several aspects of the society have changed during the twentieth century, especially after
the second World War. The socio-political environment was different in the pre-war era
when Nakatsuka and Kurihara wrote their studies, and this does of course affect the Poietic

914
小中村清矩, 1822–1895.
915
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 12; Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 39–40.
Konakamura also states that the hitoyogiri shakuhachi, used solely by Fuke monks until recently, was 1 shaku 8 sun.
(歌舞音楽略史, Iwanami Bunko 1888). (In kane-jaku Konakamura reports the length in kane-jaku to be 1 shaku 4 sun
5 bu, i.e., 43.906 cm).
916
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 12.
917
允恭天皇, r. 412–453. The nineteenth Emperor after Jinmu (神武), r. 660–585 BCE, in the mythical imperial
genealogy. NELSON, p. 1018.
918
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 7.
919
Ibid. (若しも此時代に、推古天皇御即位以前に尺八が日本に渡来して居なければ、聖徳太子が大和の椎坂で尺八を吹かせ給うた
という事が嘘になる).

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Processes. The sociologist Itō Kimio states that the image of Shōtoku Taishi was worshiped
by artisans, but despised by the nationalist intellectuals at the end of the Edo period. The
interest in the prince increased at the beginning of the twentieth century, and there was a
peak in published works relating to Shōtoku Taishi from 1903 to 1921. In the 1930s the
patriotic image of him as an embodiment of the national spirit became stronger.920
The fact that the notion of Shōtoku Taishi playing the shakuhachi has been persistent
during the centuries does, however, remain intact. Even the possibility of such a connection
may attach a different value to the shakuhachi tradition.

7.3 Conclusions
My analyses indicate that the komusō created an origin from writings they knew, and from
the activities of the low-ranking beggar-monks komosō. Already at the end of the sixteenth
century some samurai had gathered together, and begun to call themselves komusō. They
were not officially acknowledged, but kept conducting their begging activities, claiming to
be Rinzai Zen Buddhists. They built lodges all over the country, calling them komusō
temples. To show their intentions as monks they fabricated references to Hottō Kokushi,
and the obscure monk Fuke. To show their status as samurai they invented references to the
fourteenth-century general Kusunoki Masakatsu.
When Hayashi Razan wrote his commentary to Tsurezure-gusa in 1621, he connected the
boro-boro with the komosō, but he did not make any references to the komusō. Razan was
directly connected to the central authorities. His Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi was a commentary
on the Tsurezure-gusa, which was highly valued and was probably one of the most
well-known books of the day. When the samurai-monks wrote down their ‘doctrine’ in 1628,
rather than insisting on the name komusō, it seems plausible that they based it on the
connection Razan had made between boro-boro and komosō. The word komusō (emptiness
– nothingness – monk) does, however, have more ‘Buddhist sounding’ connotations, and
until 1664, when Shichiku shoshin-shū was published, this name was probably introduced
into society little by little, until the official acknowledgement of the komusō was issued in
1677. This change does not – I argue – contain any elements of the komosōs’ activities or
status, except for the use of the shakuhachi.
The twentieth-century studies that I have examined connect the komosō and the komusō,
and except for the historian Hosaka, similarities are drawn between the komosō and the
boro-boro, thereby connecting the boro-boro with the komusō. The poems by Ikkyū have
created an image in which he is regarded as a prototype for the komosō, without any
discussion about Ikkyū’s religious notions or thoughts. The twentieth-century studies build
a doctrine around the shakuhachi tradition, and could from that viewpoint be regarded as
constituting something akin to Foucault’s qualifying ritual for entering a discourse on the
history of the shakuhachi (cf. Section 1.3.3). The means of constructing the doctrine include
obscure citations of identifiable sources (Morinaga’s Type 2 citations), e.g., the partial
920
Itō Kimio, “The Invention of Wa and the Transformation of the Image of Prince Shōtoku in Modern Japan,” 1998,
42–43.

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interpretations of the poems in the scroll painting of artisans, and assumptions of similarity.
The doctrine is established by an authoritative body of established researchers, and the
doctrine itself precludes any other utterances. Foucault asserts that a doctrine “binds the
individuals with certain types of utterances and, thereby, prohibits all other.”921 On the other
hand, the utterances bind individuals together, and differentiate them from other individuals.
An individual who is aligned with the doctrine is also part of the group of individuals who
hold it for truth. Thereby, the individuals who give voice to a doctrine become subjects of
the doctrine, and the doctrine itself is subjected to the group of individuals. The doctrine
becomes locked within the group, and is only subject to change by the authoritative body
regulating it.
The komusō referred to themselves as komosō or boro for a short period of time during
the process of creating a social footing, rather than during the process of creating an origin,
even if these two processes partly overlap. During the Edo period, at least from the middle
or end of the seventeenth century, the common view of the shakuhachi tradition was in
connection to Fuke, Hottō Kokushi, and komusō. Thus, the process of re-creating a tradition
during the twentieth century may be better understood as an invention of a new tradition.
Based on my analyses of the primary sources referred to as the origins of the komusō in the
twentieth-century studies, I conclude that this tradition is a fabrication of the Modern Period
Japan, i.e., an invented tradition. The connection between shakuhachi and Ikkyū, and
between shakuhachi and Shōtoku Taishi, are constructs created during the twentieth century.
Neither was referred to by the komusō, and they should thus be regarded as examples of
newly invented traditions.

921
Foucault, Diskursens ordning (L'ordre du discours) (The Order of Discourse), translation into Swedish by Mats
Rosengren, Brutus Östling, 1993, 31. (Foucault, L’ordre du discours, Leçon inaugurale au Collège de France
prononcée le 2 décembre 1970, Éditions Gallimard, 1971, 45).

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

Chapter  8  –  Transmission  of  Tradition  

In this chapter I investigate the notion of ‘tradition’ as something that can be transmitted. In
order to transmit a ‘tradition,’ that which is being transmitted must contain elements that
have been classified as carrying or containing ‘traditional’ material by the participants
involved in the act of transmission. If it is possible to define elements in the shakuhachi
music that are in some respect representative of – or characterized by – a tradition, it would
be possible to conclude that the shakuhachi music is traditional in respect to the definition
of these elements. I examine the transition of shakuhachi music, focusing on the period
from the middle of the eighteenth century through the twentieth century, and discuss some
aspects of the transformation that this transition led to. I also discuss the canonization of
repertoires, and elements pertaining to the acts of transmission. I am convinced that some of
the aspects discussed below are also valid for other kinds of music, in Japan or other music
cultures, but I do not intend to make any sort of comparison.
There are a large number of various schools and lineages in the world of shakuhachi
music, ranging from the meditation practices of the followers of komusō activities, to
musicians who perform jazz and contemporary avant-garde music. Since the focus of the
present study is on ‘tradition,’ I have limited the investigation of transmission to that within
the oldest extant of the formalized schools: Kinko-ryū. Section 8.1 is a discussion of the
development of this and other schools. Here I also discuss the canonization of repertoires,
and since canonization is based on written material, I include a discussion of aspects
relating to orality and literacy in the process of transmission. Section 8.2 contains an
analysis of the notion of kata, or prescriptive form, as a defining element of ‘tradition’ in
the music. Finally, in Section 8.3, I discuss the actual acts of transmission, based on
Georges’s theory of Events (cf. Section 1.3.3.4) and Abrahams’s theory of Enactment (cf.
Section 1.4.2), as well as field studies by myself and others: how it is conducted, and what
forms surround it.

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 Chapter 8 – Transmission of Tradition

8.1 Lineages and Notation

8.1.1 The Development of Lineages

During the Edo period, the pieces performed by the komusō were transmitted either at local
komusō temples, or centred on the main temples of the Fuke sect around Edo (Ichigetsu-ji
and Reihō-ji) and in Kyoto (Myōan-ji). In the eighteenth-century Edo, a komusō by the
name of Kurosawa Kinko (1710–1771) was the main instructor at both Ichigetsu-ji and
Reihō-ji, and he became probably the most influential of all individual shakuhachi
practitioners in history.922 The Kinko-ryū was, however, not the first school to develop;923
most likely the Kinko-ryū was established during the time of Kinko II (1747–1811) or
Kinko III (1772–1816), to contrast the Kurosawa Kinko style of playing to the then
contemporary Ikkan-ryū. Miyaji Ikkan 924 was a student of the first Kurosawa Kinko, and,
according to Kamisangō, it was at the time of Kinko II that first the Ikkan-ryū, and then the
Kinko-ryū were established.925 Tsukitani Tsuneko, who has conducted a thorough research
on the shakuhachi lineages, states that Miyaji Ikkan formed the Ikkan-ryū, but that the
Kinko-ryū was not established as a school until the time of Kinko II. In the Kinko techō
(The Kinko Notebook), of unknown date, but which is probably a compilation by Kinko III
from the teachings and notes that he received from his father Kinko II, the word tōryū,
meaning “our school,” is used. Thus, there seems to have been at least a notion of a Kinko
lineage or style at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Tsukitani reports Kamisangō as
stating that based on historical material from 1792, the name ‘Kinko-ryū’ was used at the
end of the eighteenth century. Tsukitani does, however, conclude that ‘Kinko-ryū’ was not
firmly established as the name of the lineage until the Meiji period.926 The exact dates or
years of establishment are of less importance for the present study, and it is sufficient to
note that two partly competing styles had begun to develop around the turn of the nineteenth
century.
Ikkan-ryū was, however, not strictly separated from Kinko-ryū. In one Kinko-ryū
shakuhachi notation from the twentieth century that I have studied, there appear parts with
phrases for Kinko-ryū or Ikkan-ryū: some of these phrases are marked, “Not in Kinko-ryū,
but in Ikkan-ryū” (kinko-ryū ni nashi, ikkan-ryū ni ari) as shown in Plate 27, or vice versa,
and at some places there are two similar but different phrases written side-by-side with the
words “ikkan-ryū” and “kinko-ryū” respectively, as in Plate 28,927 to indicate which phrase

922
Lee asserts that, “there has been no single performer of the stature and lasting influence of Kinko I” (Yearning
for the Bell …, 1993, 154).
923
Here I use the word ‘school’ to denote a lineage, both as an aesthetic standard and as an administrative unit. The
sect itself was supposed to be the only organisational body to control and manage the activities of the komusō. As
time passed, the practice of monks teaching shakuhachi to commoners emerged, and the monks and their groups of
students acted as semi- or sub-organisational entities, without the overt consent by the authorities.
924
宮地一閑. Biographical data are not known.
925
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 103.
926
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 41, 42.
927
See Plate 30 in Section 8.3.1 below, for a brief explanation of how the scores are written.

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to play for performers of each school. This indicates that at the time when this notation was
written, in the late 1920s, there was a difference, but no sharp and exclusive line, between
the two lineages. The Ikkan-ryū is no longer extant,928 and it probably more or less merged
with Kinko-ryū already during the nineteenth century (see below). No other ‘school’ – as an
organisational unit – developed during the Edo period, even though there was some
turbulence within the Kinko-ryū during the nineteenth century.

Plate 27: From “Shizu no Kyoku.” The first half of a section

with the added comment: “Not in Kinko-ryū, but in Ikkan-ryū.”
Miura Kindō notation, first volume (ken, 乾), 1928–29. Tokyo:
Chikumeisha, 1971.

Plate 28: From “San’ya Sugagaki.” Two alternatives:

“Ikkan-ryū” left, and “Kinko-ryū” right.
Miura Kindō notation, second volume (kon, 坤), 1928–29.
Tokyo: Chikumeisha, 1971.

The transmission within the Kinko-ryū began as a blood-lineage transmission, a heritage

that was (secretly) transmitted from father to son, isshi sōden,929 but this lasted only for
three generations. Nishiyama Matsunosuke refers to the heredity within a family
blood-lineage, isshi sōden, as a mode of transmission that has prevailed mainly within the
court music (gagaku) and Nō theatre. The fourth generation Kinko, the younger brother of
Kinko III, quit of his own accord. Since then there has been no Kurosawa as the head of the
Kinko-ryū, and the isshi sōden was thereby disrupted.930 Hisamatsu Fūyō (1791–1871)
became the fourth leader of the lineage. Yamada Nyodō belonged to the Ikkan-ryū and was
contemporary with Kinko III. He took the name Kinko but was later forced to leave the
school.931 Hisamatsu Fūyō severly critized Nyodō, saying that Nyodō, over time, confused
people, stole the name from preceding teachers, but could not avoid punishment for his
crime, leaving the sect without a shadow, like a fleeing mouse. The poison he had spread
did, however, still linger, writes Hisamatsu in his text.932
Later on, the Ikkan-ryū and Kinko-ryū would merge. One of Nyodō’s students was
Toyoda Kodō. Toyoda Kodō became the second teacher of Araki Kodō (cf. Section 8.1.2),
the most prominent Kinko-ryū player in the early Meiji period. Araki Kodō first learned to
play the ensemble pieces (gaikyoku) through studies with Yokota Goryū. After that he
became a komusō and a student firstly of Toyoda Kodō, from whom he received the name
Kodō. Then he studied under the guidance of Hisamatsu Fūyō, from whom he learned the
928
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 30.
929
一子相伝.
930
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 106.
931
Kurosawa Kinko III, Kinko techō (The Kinko Notebook), in Tsukamoto, ed., Kinko techō (1937), 1999, 41.
932
Hisamatsu Fūyō, Kaijō hōgo (1835), in Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 216–217.

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Kinko-ryū honkyoku.933 Thereby the circle of the two Edo period lineages was closed.934
This is also indicated by the two plates of notation above: Kinko-ryū and Ikkan-ryū had
merged, but there were still those who followed the Ikkan style of playing in the Shōwa
period (1926–1989). Even Yamaguchi Gorō played several of the parts noted as “only in
Ikkan- ryū,” which is an indication that there has not been any strict division between the
two lineages in the Modern Period. 935 The father and teacher of Yamaguchi Gorō,
Yamaguchi Shirō, worked with Miura Kindō to complete the 1928–29 notation.936 There
can have been no misunderstanding in this transmission, and the choice to include the “in
Ikkan-ryū only”-parts must have been made deliberately.
With reference to Section 4.3 above, the development of the Kinko-ryū should be
regarded as an expression of an urban culture. The blood-lineage transmission ended, and
became what Nishiyama refers to as kanzen sōden, ‘complete transmission,’ in which the
teachers acknowledge prominent students to continue the transmission.937 The development
of yūgei geinō (cf. Section 4.3.2) in which the nobility, among which Nishiyama includes
samurai, developed art forms for their own pleasure, gave way to an increasing number of
leaders within various art forms, so-called iemoto. Nishiyama talks about a “revolutionary
phenomenon of cultural transmission” when describing how the ‘complete transmission’ in
various art forms spread and laid the ground for the hierarchical system known as the
iemoto seido, a system with a head of each school constituting the fundament of the art.938
The iemoto is administrative, executive, and aesthetic leader, and sets the norms to which all
members should adhere. Since no other schools developed apart from the two closely
related Kinko-ryū and Ikkan-ryū, the ‘complete transmission’ did not seem to have had the
same revolutionary effect in the world of shakuhachi during the Edo period, probably
because the monks were – in principle – regulated by their own provisions, and by
regulations from the central authorities. The situation changed, however, in the early Meiji
period.
The Fuke sect was abolished in 1871, the fourth year of the Meiji period (1868–1912),
and the komusō lost their source of income from begging. The Kinko-ryū had already
established itself in the city of Edo, and thanks to the monks’ activities of teaching
shakuhachi to townspeople it was fairly easy for the ex-komusō living in the new capital
Tokyo to adapt and become musicians. 939 Already in the Edo period, it had become
common to produce instruments marked with the name of the maker, so a qualitative

933
Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 229–230. (横田五柳／豊田古童).
934
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 106. Kamisangō holds that some players still
claimed to belong to Ikkan-ryū in the Meiji period.
935
For example, in the part of “Shizu no Kyoku” shown in Plate 27, as well as similarily short parts, normally not
more than one phrase, in “Yoshiya Reibo” (吉野鈴慕), “Uchi-kae Kyorei” (打替虚霊), and “Namima Reibo” (波間鈴慕)
Yamaguchi Gorō plays the “in Ikkan-ryū”-parts. At places where the “in Ikkan-ryū”-part constitutes a repetition of
the previous phrase, or where there is a choice between Ikkan-ryū and Kinko-ryū, as in “San’ya Sugagaki” (三谷菅
垣), Yamaguchi Gorō does not play the “Ikkan-ryū”-part; he skips the repetition and chooses the “Kinko-ryū”-part.
(Recording: Yamaguchi Gorō, Ningen-kokuhō Yamaguchi Gorō, shakuhachi no shinzui: shakuhachi honkyoku, CD
set, 1999. Score: Miura Kindō, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi honkyoku gakufu: kenkon (1928–29), 1971.)
936
Kishibe Shigeo, “Ko- Yamaguchi Gorō-shi o omou,” 1999, 7.
937
Nishiyama, “Kinsei no yūgei-ron,” 1972, 615–616.
938
Ibid., 618.
939
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 109.

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hierarchy of the instruments was established.940 Other ex-komusō established their own
institutions or schools, with suffixes like -ryū, -ha, -kai, or -sha, meaning ‘school,’ ‘faction,’
‘association,’ and ‘society,’ respectively. Most of them were associated with a certain
komusō temple, and normally centred on a person who operated from that temple.941
People who were inclined towards the meditative aspects of the komusō activities were
drawn to the temple Myōan-ji in Kyoto, which became the centre for what is known as
Myōan-ryū. This is not a unified school or institution of shakuhachi playing, but rather a
term that denotes the assumed activities of the komusō, which by definition was not music
but a religious practice, i.e., Myōan-ryū is a generic term for what could be described as
‘non-musical shakuhachi activities.’ I will employ the term here denoting this kind of
activities, but I would like to stress that Myōan-ryū does not denote one unified style or
school of shakuhachi playing. In 1883 the Myōan Kyōkai was established, and in 1890
Higuchi Taizan (1856–1914) became an instructor within the association. Higuchi collected
pieces from various parts of Japan, various transmitters and temples, and not only the pieces
transmitted from the temple Myōan-ji. He established the Myōan-ryū Taizan-ha, i.e., the
Taizan faction of the Myōan style of shakuhachi playing, which invigorated the activities
surrounding the Myōan Kyōkai.942
Some of the new institutions were more concerned with new compositions and the
musical possibilities of the shakuhachi, e.g., the Tozan-ryū, established in 1896 by Nakao
Tozan (1876–1956). Nakao Tozan had been a member of the Myōan Kyōkai, but in 1904 he
began composing his own music. The new compositions became the Tozan-ryū honkyoku,
the fundamental repertoire of Tozan-ryū, but these pieces have no relation or connection to
the honkyoku played by the Edo-period komusō. 943 Other schools are Chikuho-ryū,
transmitting honkyoku, Edo-period ensemble pieces, gaikyoku, as well as new music,944 and
Ueda-ryū, which broke off from Tozan-ryū. Both of these latter schools were established in
1917.
The first decades of the Meiji period thus saw what I would regard as a gradual diffusion
of what had been more of a unified tradition during the Edo period, leading to a clearer
division between various schools and styles. If we count the first appearance of the term
komusō in 1598 (cf. Section 4.5) as the origin of this tradition, two centuries passed before
the first diffusion appeared: the establishment of the Kinko-ryū. Yet another century later, at
the end of the nineteenth century, the diffusion increased, with a number of schools and
lineages competing for a position in the world of ‘traditional’ music, leading to a division of
the existing tradition and the establishment of new lineages. The Myōan style developed,
concentrating on transmission of the Edo period honkyoku. The Tozan-ryū was established,
discarding the Edo period honkyoku and instead concentrating on the musical possibilities
of the shakuhachi in the Edo-period secular ensemble pieces (gaikyoku), and new
compositions. The Kinko-ryū changed, putting an emphasis on playing the gaikyoku, which

940
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 32.
941
Lee, Yearning for the Bell …, 1993, 154. Typically, a -ryū is a larger unit, with -ha, -kai, or -sha subdivisions.
942
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 110. (樋口対山／明暗流対山派).
943
Ibid., 114–115. (中尾都山).
944
Ibid., 116–118. (竹保流).

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had been part of the pastime of the urban komusō, while maintaining the thirty-six
Edo-period honkyoku it had canonized (cf. Section 8.1.3 below).945
During the Edo period, the “Kaidō honsoku” of 1628 (cf. Sections 4.3.1 and 4.5.3.2)
already suggests that there were a number of factions within the komusō tradition, which
makes it questionable whether it should be regarded as one unified tradition. We do not,
however, know enough about the differences and similarities between these factions to draw
any conclusions solely from their existence. This outline of the eruption of various schools,
lineages, or styles of shakuhachi in the first three decades of the Meiji period does, however,
indicate a very abrupt change, which I argue should be regarded as a sudden disruption, a
discrete leap, rather than as a continuous development of one single tradition.

8.1.2 Shakuhachi: From Implement to Instrument

As discussed in Chapter 3, the shakuhachi has appeared in the course of history, and in
historical discourse, both as a musical instrument and as a religious implement. During the
Edo period, the shakuhachi became known as an implement only allowed to be used by the
komusō, and the pieces they played are called honkyoku, fundamental pieces.
Tsukitani Tsuneko differentiates between musical and nonmusical (or rather amusical)
purposes in what I prefer to call actual ‘sound-making activities’: “Honkyoku have existed
to our time, closely connected with the Zen practices of the komusō, and these pieces did
not belong to the world of the so-called performing arts.”946
Religious implements are of course meant to be used in religious practices. From the
contents of the “Keichō okite-gaki” (cf. Section 4.2) and the fact that the Kinko-ryū did
develop as an urban culture, it might be easy to get the impression that the komusō were not
ernestly involved in any religious aspects of shakuhachi playing. However, in the early
nineteenth-century writings by the komusō Hisamatsu Fūyō (1791–1871), who became the
de facto head of the Kinko-ryū after Kinko III, we find sincere thoughts about how the
shakuhachi should be regarded as a Zen implement. In one of Hisamatsu’s texts, the Hitori
Mondō (A Solitary Dialogue) of 1823, he replies to his own question about the way in
which the shakuhachi is a Zen implement:

No beings of the three worlds [i.e., past, present and future] can be void of Zen qualities,
and therefore there are no events that do not have Zen qualities. In particular, shakuhachi
is not like other musical instruments; using your breath it becomes your Zen practice. If it
was not a Zen implement, then what would it be? Though this is the way it is, the
essential point goes beyond reason, and it is therefore difficult to understand for lay
people.947

945
Lee, Yearning for the Bell …, 1993, 154–155.
946
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi Koten-honkyoku no Kenkyū, 2000, 13. (本曲は虚無僧たちの禅的修行の一環として存在してきた
ものであり、いわゆる歌舞音曲の世界に属すものではなかった。). The word used by Tsukitani for ‘performing arts’ is
kabuongyoku, which literally means ‘song, dance and music performances.’
947
Hisamatsu Fuūyō, Hitori mondō (1823). In Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 209. (三世ものとして禅味な
らざるはなく事として禅味ならざるはなし、就中尺八は余の鳴物とおなじからず気息について己れを修行す、禅器ならずして何ぞ
や、然りといえども理をはなれたるをもって要とすれば、俗人に対して解事かたし).

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Nakatsuka also discusses the aspect of honkyoku as being Zen-like, stating that one of the
advantages that the official document “Keichō Okite-gaki” brought with it, in limiting the
shakuhachi to the use as a religious implement, was that it “refined the shakuhachi [in]
Zen-like [aspects].”948 A disadvantage of the “Keichō Okite-gaki” that Nakatsuka discusses
is that the exclusion of the shakuhachi from the rest of the society led to the fact that “the
shakuhachi hid under the name of being a religious implement [hōki], and its musical
progress was neglected.”949 These two aspects are of course connected, two sides of the
same coin. On the other hand, already Hisamatsu Fūyō wrote in the above quoted Hitori
mondō that, “[t]here are many people who
enjoy themselves by playing the shakuhachi
as an instrument for amusement, but those
who study shakuhachi as a Zen implement
are rare,” 950 implying that the number of
‘true’ followers of Kinko-ryū, which
presumably was at the core of the komusō
tradition for Hisamatsu, was on a decline,
whereas the number of townspeople who
played shakuhachi as entertainment were
Plate 29: The string instruments koto and shamisen in
increasing. Thus, the development into
ensemble. From the Didrik Bildt Collection. Meiji period. various schools in the Meiji period was
Used by courtesy of the Etnografiska museet, Stockholm. already prepared for during the Edo period.
In order to differentiate between Edo-
period (or possibly earlier) ‘sound-activities,’ and music composed in alignment with the
new music that developed from the Meiji period (or possibly earlier), Tsukitani uses the
term koten honkyoku to denote the corpus of pieces that are related to the Edo period, or of
the same origin. The term translates as Fundamental Pieces for Shakuhachi from the
Classical Repertoire, and it was originally coined by one of the great shakuhachi players of
the twentieth century, Jin Nyodō (1891–1966),951 in an album from 1964, Shakuhachi koten
honkyoku.952 The notion of a corpus of pieces original to the tradition existed during the Edo
period. The term honkyoku is not used by Nakamura Sōsan in his 1664 Shichiku shoshin-shū,
but it does appear in the regulation issued to the komusō from Myōan-ji in 1694 (cf. Section
4.3 above).953 It was then used more or less as a vague definition of the activities in which
the komusō should engage: they were supposed to conduct their religious practice by and
through “the shakuhachi pieces honkyoku.”954

948
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 237. (尺八を禅的に精練した事).
949
Ibid. I employ a passive form in my translation even though the verb okotaru is a transitive verb. (尺八が法器なる
美名に隠れて、音楽的進歩を怠った事).
950
Hisamatsu Fuūyō, Hitori mondō (1823). In Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 213. (遊戯の尺八をもて遊ぶ
者多くして、禅器の尺八を学ぶ者稀なり).
951
Jin Nyodō (神如道) studied with both Kawase Junsuke I and Miura Kindō, but also with transmitters of other than
Kinko-ryū pieces, e.g., Konashi Kinsui (小梨錦水, 1861–1931), and others.
952
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi Koten-honkyoku no Kenkyū, 2000, 14. (古典本曲).
953
See also the discussion below of its contrasting term, gaikyoku.
954
The 1694 regulation quoted in Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 169. (尺八の手本曲を可
為修行).

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In contrast to these fundamental pieces, performances of secular ensemble pieces had

been an ongoing activity from early on (cf. the 1694 regulation to the komusō discussed in
Section 4.3). These ensemble pieces belonged to a genre of chamber music that developed
during the Edo period, enjoyed both by the newly rich merchant class, as well as the
samurai class. The ensemble consisted of the court-music instrument koto and the widely
popular shamisen (see Plate 29), two instruments that were connected with each other in the
early seventeenth century by the hands of blind monks (cf. Section 2.1, footnote 226), who
were also the transmitters of this new genre of chamber music during the Edo period.955
Today, this genre is referred to as jiuta-sōkyoku or sankyoku. 956 From a shakuhachi
perspective, the genre is also designated gaikyoku. The term gaikyoku, literally “outer
pieces,” denotes music that is outside of, external to, the true and original music, honkyoku.
This notion of an ‘inner’ or ‘insider’ culture, a true core of pieces with an external group of
surface pieces, did not emerge until the Meiji period.957 The word used during the Edo
period to denote pieces other than honkyoku was rankyoku,958 literally “disorderly pieces.”
The honkyoku were regarded as the true and fundamental pieces, conducted as part of the
religious activities, and any ‘disturbance’ of these activities was regarded as a disorder. In
the beginning of the Meiji period, when the shakuhachi regained a position as a musical
instrument, a concept emerged of pieces that were external to the fundamental shakuhachi
tradition.
In Edo, Kinko-ryū was more or less in control of the two main temples, Ichigetsu-ji and
Reihō-ji, and the practice of performing secular music was common. In Kyoto, Myōan-ji
was not as influenced by the secular music as its Edo counterparts, but the genre of
jiuta-sōkyoku had its very origin in that area, and the practice of performing with ensembles
was common also in Kyoto. Several shakuhachi pieces were performed on the string

955
The blind monks used the biwa (a lute) as their main instrument. They belonged to the tōdō-za, a state supported
guild of blind monks who played heikyoku, self-accompanied recitations of the Tale of Heike. The tōdō-za has a
history that goes back to the early fourteenth century. YHJ, tōdōza (当道座), by Ōtani Sadao (大谷貞夫, 1938–2003),
accessed on November 7, 2011. The tōdō-za was abolished in 1871. Today there are more women than men who
play the instruments, whether for pleasure, or as performers and teachers.
956
The term sōkyoku-jiuta was coined by Hirano Kenji to describe this genre, which consists of songs accompanied
by the three-stringed shamisen – often referred to as sangen within the jiuta genre – and in many cases the
13-stringed koto (sōkyoku: 箏曲, the koto used here is the so-called sō-goto, i.e. 箏, in contrast to the kin-goto, 琴,
which is a different instrument). Today, the term is often used with the characters reversed: jiuta-sōkyoku. The genre
grew from (initially) locally composed songs in the Kansai area around Kyoto and Osaka, accompanied by the
shamisen and referred to as jiuta, into a full-fledged chamber music with the establishment of the Ikuta-ryū, founded
by Ikuta Kengyō (生田検校, 1656–1715). The koto was in most cases added later. In the late eighteenth century, an
ensemble style in which the koto became the main instrument, and the shamisen has more of a percussive and
rhythmical function, developed in Edo by the hands of Yamada Kengyō (山田検校, 1757–1817). This style is called
Yamada-ryū. (Hirano, Sōkyoku-Jiuta no Kashi …, 1990, 10–12).
The word sankyoku (三曲) means ‘music for three (instruments),’ and was used during the Edo period for ensembles
with koto, shamisen, and the bowed kokyū (胡弓). Ensembles with only koto and shamisen were at times referred to
as nikyoku (二曲). The designation sankyoku was kept when shakuhachi became part of the ensemble. The term is
used to denote the genre, the pieces performed within the genre, and the performance style. It is used even when
there is no shakuhachi or kokyū. (Tanabe Hisao, Kikkawa Eishi, Fujita Shunichi, Sankyoku-hen, Gendai-hōgaku
meikan 1, 1966).
957
The term gaikyoku (外曲) normally denotes the Edo period chamber music, i.e., jiuta-sōkyoku, but by extension it
also denotes pieces from the Meiji, Taishō, and early Shōwa periods, composed in a ‘traditional’ style. Modern
compositions would be referred to as gendai ongaku (modern music), gendai-kyoku (modern piece) etc., but in a
broad definition gaikyoku denotes everything that is not honkyoku for a specific lineage or school.
958
rankyoku (乱曲).

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instruments, and Kondō Sōetsu (1821?–1867) made his own shakuhachi parts for the koto
and shamisen ensemble pieces. Eventually a lineage called Sōetsu-ryū developed, but it did
not survive to present time. Several of the schools that originated in the area around Kyoto
and Osaka from the Meiji period onward were, however, influenced by it,959 and the present
iemoto of the Chikuho-ryū (situated in the Kansai area) claims to be the successor of
Sōetsu-ryū. 960 The string performer Hayashi Mieko comments on the appearance of
shakuhachi in ensemble playing in the following way:

In this third period [referring to the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th century],
the shakuhachi was a religious implement and any ensemble playing was forbidden.
However, behind the official policy, the liberation of shakuhachi as a musical instrument
for entertainment had progressed considerably. There are several examples of scroll
paintings including shakuhachi in sankyoku performances. Already in the “Kashizu”
from Tenmei 2 (1782), we find a picture of shakuhachi in an ensemble. 961

With reference to the development of shakuhachi notation for the ensemble pieces, and
the activities in the area around Osaka and Kyoto, Hayashi Mieko further comments that:

[Kondō Sōetsu] revealed his most major activities within sankyoku ensemble playing. He
himself performed both sangen and koto, transposed the notation for the shakuhachi and
spread it among his disciples. The very establishment of the Sōetsu-ryū shows clearly
how the position of the shakuhachi changed at the end of the Edo period to be only the
name of a religious implement, without any essence. 962

We will probably never know whether the composers of the jiuta-sōkyoku pieces ever
embraced the concept of having shakuhachi in the sankyoku ensemble, but since a part for
the bowed instrument kokyū was added by either the composer, or a person standing close to
him, they at least had a notion of using an instrument with a sustained tone in the ensemble;
in contrast, both the koto and the shamisen are played with plectra, which give a short
percussive sound.
The real breaking point for shakuhachi was its near-abolition in the early Meiji period.
As a religious implement of the Fuke sect monks, the authorities wished to abolish not only
the sect, but also all the items connected to it. Two komusō, Araki Kodō II, the leader of
Kinko-ryū during the transmission from the Edo to the Meiji period, and Yoshida Itchō,

959
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 106–107. (近藤宗悦).
960
On the Homepage of Chikuho-ryū one finds, in English and Japanese: “With regard to performance style,
Chikuho Ryu’s was derived from Kansai Soetsu Ryu. The unique arrangement of Jiuta Sokyoku demonstrates the
Kansai taste of Chikuho Ryu, and is regarded as a special characteristic of Chikuho Ryu that no other school shares.”
(http://www.chikuhoryu.jp/English01.html). The Chikuho-ryū also claims to be the most authentic and direct
succession of shakuhachi honkyoku playing: Myōan Shinpō-ryū (明暗真法流). According to Sagara Yasuyuki, the
name of the lineage (the True Law of Myōan) was introduced by Katsuura Seizan ( 勝浦正山 , 1856–1942),
presumably in order to demonstrate a contrast to and resistance against Higuchi Taizan (cf. Section 8.1.3.3); the
name was probably intended as a statement of authenticity. (Sagara Yasuyuki, “Shinpō-ryū ni tsuite,” 2008, 14).
961
Hayashi Mieko, “Jita-sōkyoku no gassō no kenkyū: sangen to koto o chūshin ni,” 1984, 148. (この III 期［18 世紀後
期∼19 世紀中期を指している］においても、尺八は、普化宗の法器として、合奏を禁じられていた。しかし、表向きの政策とは裏
腹に、娯楽用楽器としての尺八の解放はかなり進んでいた。尺八入り三曲合奏が描かれた例も少なくないのである。すでに、天明 2
（1782）年の『歌糸図』にも尺八入り合奏図が見える。).
962
Ibid., 150–151 (［近藤宗悦が］三曲合奏を主にした活躍を見せた。彼自身、三弦・箏を演奏し、その採譜をもとに尺八に移し
て、門人に広めたという。宗悦流の成立そのものも、幕末における法器としての尺八の有名無実化を、顕著に示している。).

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convinced the Meiji government that the shakuhachi had an older and more ‘original’
foundation as a musical instrument.963 Yoshida was summoned to the new Ministry of
Religious Affairs in May 1870, 964 to reply to the inquiry concerning the ways the
shakuhachi was used, and was asked to reply in writing as to the origins of the shakuhachi.
In his response, Yoshida wrote that the shakuhachi had its origin in the Tang dynasty China,
where it had been used as a musical instrument, and that it was used as a musical instrument
at the present time also in Japan. He was summoned again within a few days, and he then
gave the following explanation:

At this time, [I told them that] the shakuhachi cannot be abolished. Nowadays, it goes
without saying that we play this instrument for our well-being and happiness. … As I
have said before, if the Fuke-shū is abolished, the shakuhachi of today is no longer a Zen
implement, and if it is restored as a musical instrument, I understand that there seems to
be no need for the original honkyoku. There are many people who have thrown away the
honkyoku and only learn to play the gaikyoku ensemble pieces with strings and vocals,
but they can hardly be said to be skillful. … 965

Yoshida continues by explaining how poor some of the players are, only thinking about
the ensemble but missing the essentials of playing shakuhachi, the breath. He concludes:
“[I]f the honkyoku are not related to the strings and song, then the voice of the bamboo
really hits your ear, [the sound] approaching perfection. … [The honkyoku are] essential for
beginners, and should not be discarded.”966 Thereby he leaves room for using honkyoku as a
kind of etudes. Yoshida was of course arguing for the survival of the shakuhachi at a time
when it was threatened, but nevertheless, his argument that the shakuhachi was originally a
musical instrument indicates that he was knowledgeable about the older history of the
shakuhachi, apart from its legendary origins.
Kurihara comments on Yoshida’s views on the position the shakuhachi ought to have,
and gives high esteem to the musical activities of the Meiji and Taishō periods.

We must say that [Yoshida’s comments] very well clarify the nature of present-day
shakuhachi. The transition of this remarkable nature should be given its proper place in
the history of the shakuhachi, and when commenting on the shakuhachi from this
viewpoint, the present-day shakuhachi, i.e., after having been restored, has now reached a
point where it displays its original nature for the first time.967

Both Kurihara and Nakatsuka refer to the seclusion of the shakuhachi within the Fuke
sect in less positive terms. For Kurihara the shakuhachi could eventually show its “original

963
Araki Kodō II (二世荒木古童, 1823–1908); Yoshida Itchō (吉田一調, 1812–1881).
964
The Kyōbushō (教部省) was established in 1872, instead of the Jingishō (神祇省), which in turn was established in
1871, as a continuation of the Jingikan (神祇官). Yoshida writes that he was summoned to the Kyōbushō, which
indicates that he wrote his notes after 1872.
965
Yoshida Itchō’s notebooks, in Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 192–193. (此際尺八の号廃せられざる事、今
時この器を弄ふ我輩の幸福といはんか、（中略）前に言ふ如く普化宗廃せられたれば、今時の尺八は禅器にあらず楽器たれば元来
の本曲は用なきものに似たりと心得、本曲を捨専ら糸唄合奏の外曲をのみ学ぶ者多し上手の境に入難し).
966
Ibid., 194. (また本曲は糸唱歌に係はらざれは、唯竹声のみに心ととまるが故に、徹底するに近し、…、初心の肝要とするが如
し、本曲は捨へからず。).
967
Ibid. (是れ能く現代尺八の性質を闡明ならしめたるものと云ふべし此の顕著なる性質上の變遷は實に尺八の歴史に特筆せさる
べからずして此の點より云ふときは現代の尺八は乃ち復古して始めて本來の性質を發揮するに至りしものなり).

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nature” after the Meiji restoration, and in the quote at the beginning of this section
Nakatsuka says that the musical development was neglected, even if the honkyoku did
contribute some Zen-like aspects to the music culture.
I argue that the transition described in Yoshida’s diary, and the comments by Kurihara
and Nakatsuka, do not indicate a gradual development of the shakuhachi’s position in
society, but rather a discrete leap from a position of being an implement to the position of a
musical instrument. Within the Kinko-ryū, the iemoto system was already, in practice,
founded in the Edo period, even though it did not develop as such due to the sectarian
environment in which it was established; the komusō of the Kinko-ryū were primarily
komusō of the Fuke sect, and secondly they were followers of the Kinko-ryū tradition.
The transition is also one from a honkyoku-based shakuhachi tradition, to a gaikyoku
(ensemble pieces) -based one. As mentioned above, Araki Kodō, the de facto head of the
Kinko-ryū at the beginning of the Meiji period after the death of Yoshida Itchō in 1881,
learned the ensemble pieces before he became a komusō and began studies under the
guidance of Hisamatsu Fūyō. With the transition of the shakuhachi from an implement to an
instrument, the transition from honkyoku to gaikyoku also became a necessary step: from the
Meiji period onwards, students of Kinko-ryū first learn a vast number of ensemble pieces,
before being allowed to study the honkyoku.

8.1.3 Transmission: Literacy and Orality

8.1.3.1 Shakuhachi honkyoku as Oral Tradition

The komusō played their pieces from memory, when they were on pilgrimage, and the
shakuhachi tradition is normally regarded as an orally transmitted tradition.968 Even though
there are notated scores extant from the late eighteenth century, the shakuhachi tradition
during the Edo period was, presumably, centred on the religious activities of the komusō.969
They would wander the country, come to new places where they learned new pieces, and
they taught the pieces they knew to the komusō they encountered, very much like an oral
folklore tradition.
As with oral folklore traditions, these activities were not focused on a written tradition.
The pieces were mainly transmitted by playing together and through direct one-on-one
transmission, which invariably includes a measure of change. Tsukitani lists a number of
reasons for this inevitable mutability: (1) There were almost no prescriptive elements in the
learning process at the temples, and no custom of writing down the pieces or performance
techniques. (2) The tradition of not notating the performance techniques continued after the
abolition of the Fuke sect. The standard was to play from memory, in the spirit of the
komusō. (3) The temples regulated the activities and behaviour of the komusō, but they did
not prescribe how to play. The exchange between komusō from various places led to a
variety and mix of techniques and pieces. The komusō were not regulated by the iemoto
968
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 80, 163.
969
Ibid., 60–61.

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system, so there was no need to adhere to one performance style. (4) There was no custom
of including information about from whom the piece was transmitted, or in what way it had
changed. (5) The honkyoku are solo instrumental music, and there was no need to adjust the
playing to a song text or other instruments.970
With reference to (1) above, Tsukitani makes an exception for Kinko-ryū which, she
asserts, changed quite early on into a tradition of entertainment.971 Nishiyama Matsunosuke,
on the other hand, counts “Fuke shakuhachi” as a general concept among the art forms that
developed into entertainment by and for the nobility (yūgei). 972 The position of the
Kinko-ryū is an interesting aspect in the discussion of orality and literacy in the shakuhachi
tradition. If we regard the Kinko-ryū as a non-religious lineage – an entertainment art form
– of the shakuhachi tradition, contrasted to the assumed religious activities of other komusō,
we would have to draw a line within the Edo-period shakuhachi tradition. On the other hand,
if we regard the Edo-period honkyoku as one tradition, i.e., that of koten honkyoku, a
problem of canonization and literacy arises. Item (2) precludes the need for notation, which
is only partly true. Even if the aim might be to play the pieces by heart, the use of notation
in the process of transmission would be a requirement if the transmission is within a certain
lineage or school. I return to this issue in the discussion about canonization below. However,
it should be noted that playing from memory is not a requirement unique to the komusō
tradition: in most music cultures, genres, and styles it is the common practice to play from
memory. Even if it is not a requirement, it would often be the result of many years of
practice.
With reference to the discussion in Section 1.3.3.4, in which I discuss the postulates put
forward by the folklore scholar Robert A. Georges, the sounds that are transmitted cannot
be regarded as things with an origin, things that are being transmitted as entities with an
existence independent of the context in which they are uttered. The content of an Event, an
‘act of artistic communication,’ does not have an existence outside of the Event. The
existence of linguistic or audial entities relies solely on the small group interaction, within
which the entities are being transmitted. It is of course possible to talk about a repertoire of
classical pieces, koten honkyoku, which is not notated or recorded in any form, but there is
no way in which we could know anything about the content of such a repertoire, except for
in actual performances or acts of transmission, i.e., in concrete enactments. Information
concerning the affiliation between pieces, their interrelated diffusion over time and
geographical space, the temples at which they originated, and so on, is only known through
the canonization of repertoires and records of transmission, i.e., through literate aspects of
the tradition.

970
Ibid., 80, 164.
971
Tsukitani is referring to the shakuhachi-playing as an activity in which the shakuhachi was used as the most
important implement to reach enlightenment instead of chanting sutras. She refers to a regulation issued by the
Myōan-ji temple to the komusō in 1852, a time when the Fuke sect had more or less lost its privileged position in
society, in accordance with the official proclamation of 1847 (cf. Section 4.3). (In 1852 the “Sōmontei-chū e
mōshi-watasu okite-gaki” ( 總門弟中江申渡掟書 ) (Regulation Issued to All Disciples), was issued by Myōan-ji.
Nakatsuka, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan (1936–39), 1979, 176).
972
Nishiyama, “Kinsei geijutsu shisō …,” 1972, 590. Here Nishiyama includes the samurai among the ‘nobility.’
(Cf. Sections 4.3.2 and 8.1.1).

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8.1.3.2 The Canonization of Kinko-ryū

Within the Kinko-ryū, a repertoire of honkyoku developed from the time of Kinko II
(1747–1811) and Kinko III (1772–1816), as described in the Kinko techō, and by extant
Kinko-ryū and Ikkan-ryū notation. The actual number of pieces, the precise identity of the
author of Kinko techō, and whether Miyaji Ikkan studied with both Kinko I and Kinko II,
are points of debate. In the present study, these aspects are of minor importance. What we
do know, from the research conducted by Kurihara, Nakatsuka, Kamisangō, Tsukitani and
others, is that: (1) Kinko techō was probably written and revised by Kinko II and Kinko III,
i.e., in the early nineteenth century.973 (2) By the time of Hisamatsu Fūyō (1791–1871),
Kinko-ryū had canonized a repertoire of thirty-six honkyoku,974 among which the first
eighteen pieces are still more or less the same today,975 and the remaining eighteen are not
very distant from the present repertoire, with a few exceptions. (3) Ikkan-ryū was a branch
of Kinko-ryū, probably breaking away after or during the time of Kinko II (1747–1811), but
then again merging when Kodō II (1823–1908) became a student of Hisamatsu Fūyō, i.e.,
probably around the middle of the nineteenth century. Ikkan-ryū was a separate lineage for
not more than a couple of decades, and the older notation from Ikkan-ryū, late eighteenth to
early nineteenth centuries,976 can in effect be said to be part of the early canonization of, if
not of Kinko-ryū, then at least of the urban honkyoku, amongst which both Ikkan-ryū and
Kinko-ryū should be counted.

8.1.3.3 Subsequent Canonization

One of the major bearers of the komusō tradition – if it is at all meaningful to talk about
such a unified entity – was Higuchi Taizan (1856–1914),977 who canonized the Myōan-ryū
Taizan-ha, also referred to as the Taizan-ryū, in the 1890s. In the history of the shakuhachi,
Tsukitani ranks him at the same level as Kinko I in regard to the formation of a new
repertoire of more than thirty pieces; Higuchi Taizan canonized thirty-two honkyoku.978 His
endeavours included division of pieces, merging of pieces, changes in rhythm, and melody
lines. The general structure of the pieces induces Tsukitani to suggest that “even if [the
pieces] are regarded as Higuchi’s creations, they do not lose their value as classical

973
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 69.
974
Hisamatsu Fūyō states that, “Kinko III told me that it is said that there are thirty-six pieces, outer and inner
[honkyoku] pieces together, and that these, with the three secret pieces, were settled by Kinko I, but since they are
not in my possession I do not know.” (Hitori mondō quoted in Kurihara, Shakuhachi shikō (1918), 1975, 213). (三代
目琴古予に語て表裏三十六曲秘曲三曲共初代琴古定めたりといへり是等は予が預る所にあらざれば知らず). I assume that the
pieces were in the possession of the fourth generation Kinko (d. 1861), who eventually left the shakuhachi world. It
is, however, not clear when and how the official leadership was handed over from Kinko IV to Fūyō.
975
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 65. Tsukitani argues that it was at the time of Hisamatsu
that the number was settled at thirty-six.
976
The oldest notations to which Tsukitani refers are one piece from 1769, and thirty-five pieces in Ikkan-ryū
notation from 1797. (Ibid., 61).
977
樋口対山.
978
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 103.

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honkyoku.”979 After Higuchi, several new lineages of Myōan style appeared during the
Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa periods. Most of them studied with several different teachers,
incorporating different techniques and pieces, and even though their common ground was
the meditative nature of shakuhachi playing, they placed emphasis on different aspects of
the playing, and held different opinions about the pieces and consequently about the sound
production.980
The teachers of the different schools, or factions, within the Myōan style of playing
developed their own notation, based on their own perception of the music. The diffusion
makes it difficult to trace the pieces, even if most of them have a generally agreed origin at
a certain temple, or as transmitted through a certain person.981 Tsukitani says that even those
who claim to adhere to the various local techniques for the different pieces, i.e., the
techniques used at the temple from where a certain pieces originates, developed their own
idiosyncracies. She takes Jin Nyodō (1891–1961) as an example, noting that even though he
consciously attempted to follow the hereditary performance practice for each piece, some
people evaluated him as playing the ‘Jin-ryū,’ i.e., playing in his own style.982

8.1.3.4 A Comment on Transmission and Diffusion

In this section I briefly refer to some of the findings and conclusions drawn by Riley Lee in
his doctoral thesis Yearning for the Bell: A Study of Transmission in the Shakuhachi
Honkyoku Tradition. Lee discusses the attitude towards the shakuhachi tradition held by
three central shakuhachi transmitters and performers: Inoue Shōei, Aoki Reibo II, and
Yokoyama Katsuya. These three shakuhachi masters have very different approaches and
views concerning transmission and the (inevitable) diffusion that this entails, and I include
Lee’s findings here as a comment on transmission and diffusion. In 2009 I conducted
interviews with the main transmitters within Kinko-ryū today: the above-mentioned Aoki
Reibo II of Reibo-kai, Araki Kodō V (b. 1938), head of the Kodō-kai guild of Kinko-ryū,983
Kawase Junsuke III (b. 1936), head of the Chikuyū-sha guild of Kinko-ryū,984 and Tanaka
Kōmei and Matsuyama Ryūmei of the Chikumei-sha guild of Kinko-ryū.985

979
Ibid., 116. Tsukitani acknowledges the presence of contending discussions about orthodoxy within the repertoires,
e.g., that Higuchi’s creations are not honkyoku, and that the Araki II scores constitute the orthodox transmission of
Kinko-ryū. Tsukitani states that in her study, orthodoxy is not a central issue. Orthodoxy is, however, an important
question in a discussion about tradition.
980
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 111–112.
981
Tsukitani lists the number of pieces that she counts as koten honkyoku, i.e., the classical repertoire: Kinko-ryū 36,
Nezasa-ha Kinpū-ryū (根笹派錦風流) 10, Myōan Shinpō-ryū (明暗真法流) more than 20 but with notation for 62,
Fudai-ji (普大寺) in Hamamatsu incuding Seien-ryū (西園流) 11, Myōan-ryū Taizan-ha (明暗流対山派) 32, Itchō-ken
( 一朝軒 ) in Hakata 9, Echigo Myōan-ji ( 越後明暗寺 ) 2, and Futai-ken Ōshū-kei ( 布袋軒奥州系 ) more than 10.
(Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 6).
982
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 16.
983
Araki Kodō V (五世荒木古童), Kodō-kai (古童会). Kodō V retired from his activities in 2010, and took the name
Chikuō (竹翁). That means that he would in fact be Chikuō II.
984
Kawase Junsuke III (三世川瀬順輔). Chikuyū-sha (竹友社).
985
The head of the Chikumei-sha branch of Kinko-ryū, Yamaguchi Gorō, passed away in 1999. After his death the
guild has been managed as an association, with a board of trustees rather than an iemoto. The two main teachers
within the guild are Tanaka Kōmei (田中康盟), and Matsuyama Ryūmei (松山龍盟).

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Inoue Shōei (b. 1922), head of the Kōun-kai sub-branch to the Chikuyū-sha guild of
Kinko-ryū, also claims heredity to the Kinpū-ryū, one of the styles within Myōan-ryū.986
According to Lee, Inoue asserts that he received a specific instrument as a symbol of
authority in the Kinpū-ryū, and that this instrument, “symbolizes both the successful
transmission of the honkyoku repertoire from his predecessor to himself, as well as the
authority and responsibility he has as iemoto to define and preserve the authenticity of that
repertoire.”987
In contrast to Inoue, Aoki Reibo II (b. 1935), head of the Reibo-kai guild of Kinko-ryū,
regards honkyoku not as means for spiritual training, but as music.988 According to Lee, he
views shakuhachi performers who stress the connection between honkyoku and Zen
Buddhism as “spiritual charlatans.” Aoki considers himself to be the current absolute
authority on honkyoku within his lineage, and students must accept his authority
unconditionally. Aoki’s absolute authority is based on his own professional skills, and this
authority may be challenged at any time. Therefore, honkyoku is not perceived by Aoki as
something unchanging, it is not an ‘object’ that should be transmitted in an unchanged,
original, and pure form, but rather, “honkyoku … is a repertoire of music that might indeed
change over time, depending upon the interpretation of the ‘best’ performer, that is, the one
in the position of authority.”989
Yet another attitude towards the shakuhachi tradition is expressed by Yokoyama Katsuya
(1934–2010), former head of the guild Chikushin-kai.990 Yokoyama studied with his father
Yokoyama Ranpō, a teacher of Kinko-ryū, Fukuda Randō, who was also a composer of new
music, and Watazumi.991 Yokoyama’s affiliation is therefore more complicated than an
assertion that he belonged to one single lineage or tradition. Lee regards this as an example
of the way the komusō would transmit their pieces, crossing over between different styles.
Yokoyama believed that, “honkyoku constantly change as they are transmitted from one
generation to the next.”992

***

When it comes to technical aspects, i.e., the how-to of the learning process, different
teachers have different approaches even within the same lineage. For example, Kawase
Junsuke III talks of the finger attack technique atari as the most central and important
technique in Kinko-ryū shakuhachi playing, a technique that gives the style (Kinko) its
particular character. Araki Kodō V (Chikuō II), on the other hand, says that he feels that
many people use the finger-attack techniques too much, without discrimination.993 In my
own learning experience, when I had reached a more advanced level of playing it happened
that my teacher, Yamaguchi Gorō, would at times stop me during a lesson if I played

986
Inoue Shōei (井上照影); Kōun-kai (江雲会); Chikuyū-sha (竹友社); Kinpū-ryū (琴風流).
987
Lee, Yearning for the Bell …, 1993, 289, 290. Words in italics underlined in the original.
988
Aoki Reibo II (二世青木鈴慕); Reibo-kai (鈴慕会).
989
Lee, Yearning for the Bell …, 1993, 292, 293.
990
Yokoyama Katsuya (横山勝也); Chikushin-kai (竹心会).
991
Yokoyama Ranpō (横山蘭畝, 1911–1988); Fukuda Randō (福田蘭童, 1906–1976); Watazumi (海童, 1911–1992).
992
Lee, Yearning for the Bell …, 1993, 298. Words in italics underlined in the original.
993
Personal communications with Araki Kodō V (May 27, 2009) and Kawase Junsuke III (May 29, 2009).

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something that was different from his own playing, for example in regard to the finger
attacks. Then he would ask if I had played it that way on purpose. If my answer was
affirmative he would go on playing, but he would ‘correct’ me if I showed hesitation or said
that I had not planned to play it the way I did. Since I have not studied formally with any
other teacher than Yamaguchi Gorō, I cannot comment on how, when and if other teachers
would correct a student who plays something differently, on purpose or by mistake. I find
the approach that Yamaguchi Gorō took to be open-minded and challenging in relation to
the interpretation of the music; it presupposes a perception of music as in constant change.

8.1.3.5 Concluding Remarks

As indicated by the research conducted by Tsukitani, Kamisangō, and others, there is a
noticeable diffusion among those who claimed heredity to the assumed komusō tradition of
playing for the purpose of Zen enlightenment, which has led to the division into different
lineages. The canonization was not one single endeavour: several simultaneous or
consecutive processes of canonization have been conducted over the years. From the
notation, and in the present time from recordings, it is possible to compare any performance
of a piece with the master, and analyse whether it is within the boundaries to be designated
as the same piece. However, this comparison is only valid within a sub-group of a larger
lineage or school, and it would be very difficult to conclude that any essential parts of any
arbitrary piece is in compliance with a ‘shakuhachi tradition.’ It may even be difficult to
find this compliance between two factions of the same ryū (school). The same is valid even
for the more closely-knitted Kinko-ryū. In present time, there are at least four, perhaps five,
different factions within Kinko-ryū depending on who is regarded as a Kinko-ryū player:
Chikumei-sha, Reibo-kai, Chikuyū-sha, Kodō-kai, and Chikushin-kai. Each of the leaders of
these factions individually uses (or used) highly idiosyncratic performance techniques that
are followed by their students. For an ‘insider’ to the tradition, it is normally not difficult to
hear what teacher a certain performer has, to which lineage and faction s/he belongs. Still,
within the Kinko-ryū, the transmission has continued outside the blood lineage of the
Kurosawa family since Hisamatsu Fūyō, and no one has ventured to assume the name
Kinko since Yamada Nyodō made his unsuccessful attempt (cf. Section 8.1.1).994
The diffusion of pieces, repertoire, and performance techniques since the beginning of
the Meiji period indicate that the ‘shakuhachi tradition’ was broken up into a diversity of
‘sub-traditions,’ each and every one invented, based on the idiosyncracies and preferred
performance techniques, opinions about the origin of the shakuhachi and its musical
repertoire and so on, of the instigator of each faction. If we assume that the repertoire was
canonized in the early Meiji period, and that each faction or sub-group has adhered to its
canon, there seems to be room for a ‘tradition’ only within each sub-group, based on the
originator’s playing techniques, attitude towards the tradition s/he is transmitting, and other
factors that are instrumental in the formation of a preconceived and – often tacitly –
accepted cultural context. In the longest surviving Kinko-ryū sub-lineage, counting from the

994
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 32.

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Meiji period, we are currently at the fifth generation.995 If we go back to Kinko I, we are at
the ninth or tenth generation. To conclude that current players belong to the same ‘tradition’
as their great-great-grandfathers, or twice or thrice that, there has to be not only the canon of
pieces, but there must also be some aspects of the music, some aspects of the pieces, that
make it possible to evaluate the pieces performed long ago and determine whether those
performed today are identical.
Following Georges’s Event theory (to use my term; cf. Section 1.3.3.4), the
communicative act (for the purpose of X) contains continuous interaction between the
sender and the receiver, or in Nattiez’s terms, between the Poietic Processes that result in a
code (audial, linguistic, paralinguistic, and kinesic), and the perception and interpretation
through the Esthesic Processes on the part of the receiver. The participants behave in
accordance with the social setting, and assume the roles prescribed by it. The Event is a
unique occasion, with irreversible effects. Finally, the Event exhibits certain aspects of
similarity, by which the participants can identify a type of event (performance, lesson, etc.),
and these aspects of similarity are, by their very nature, different from group to group.
Accordingly, a deviation from the notation in a performance by a student-performer would
be evaluated as a ‘mistake’ by listeners belonging to the same sub-group, but not necessarily
so by listeners who belong to another non-affiliated sub-group. The same deviation from the
notation, in the same social setting, by a teacher-performer, i.e., the artistic and aesthetic
leader, would be perceived as the ‘right way’ of playing, or maybe as a ‘development’ of
the tradition, since the Event has irreversible effects on the group and the surrounding
society. If there are physical entities – existing uniformly with, and independently from,
actual Events – that we evaluate as ‘traditional’ elements, and that are supposed to be
reproduced with accuracy in order to follow the tradition, then we would have to conclude
that there can be no diffusion and no change of the music; even the teacher-performer would
be evaluated as having made a mistake. The existence of such prescriptive entities would
indicate a rigidly fixed form, which each and every performer is supposed to follow.

8.2 Kata: Means of Transmission

Nishiyama Matsunosuke expounds in detail his notion of prescriptive forms as the very
basis for traditional arts, as discussed in Section 1.3.4 above. He holds that the Way of Art,
geidō, is something that differentiates Japanese traditional art forms from art forms in all
other countries or cultural areas. The prescriptive elements of an art form are contained in a
number of stylized forms, kata, which are what a student will learn.
The well-known musicologist Kikkawa Eishi holds that kata is a unique feature of
Japanese arts, but his notion of kata differs from Nishiyama’s: Kikkawa views kata as a
995
At the time of writing, Araki Kodō V, the great grandson of the Meiji period Araki Kodō II (Chikuō I), has
retired and handed over to his son Araki Kodō VI. At the same time, Kodō V took the name Chikuō II (Araki Kodō
II Chikuō I – Kodō III – Kodō IV – Kodō V Chikuō II – Kodō VI). Aoki Reibo II is still active, and he is the forth
generation (Kodō II – Kawase Junsuke I – Aoki Reibo I – Aoki Reibo II). The followers of Yamaguchi Gorō
constitute the fifth generation (Kodō II – Kawase Junsuke I / Miura Kindō – Yamaguchi Shirō – Yamaguchi Gorō –
present transmitters within Chikumeisha).

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structural element, which has kept the form of the music, and other kinds of art, intact. Also
Tsukitani Tsuneko uses the term kata in her analyses of shakuhachi honkyoku, and in
Tsukitani’s writing the term seems to denote structural patterns within musical phrases. I
believe there are strong similarities in the way Kikkawa and Tsukitani employ this term in
relation to the structure of a piece. Kikkawa, however, places emphasis on kata as an
unchanging element, whereas Tsukitani’s conception of kata does not seem to go beyond
the factual existence of patterns in the notated score.
The aim of this section is to consider these concepts of kata, firstly Kikkawa’s and
Tsukitani’s structural forms, and secondly Nishiyama’s concept of prescriptive forms, and
examine whether they are related to the act of transmission and, if so, in what way they are
related. Furthermore, I investigate the characteristics of kata as a central concept in
Nishiyama’s notion of geidō, which he in turn asserts is the qualifying characteristic of
Japanese traditional arts. Does the existence of kata define the shakuhachi music as a
Japanese traditional art form? I discuss kata as structural elements in Section 8.2.1 below,
and in Sections 8.2.2 and 8.2.3 Nishiyama’s notion of kata and their function.

8.2.1 The Notion of kata as a Structural Element

Kikkawa refers to Western music as ‘revolutionary’ (cf. Section 7.2.1.3), supposedly
putting less emphasis on structural form, and contrasts this to music cultures in which there
is a spirit of adhering to form. Kikkawa asserts that it is the special characteristic only of
“countries that have not experienced revolutions” (kakumei no nai kuni) to have a spirit of
obeying form; he is using the expression generically, but it is understood from the context
that he is mainly and foremost concerned with Japan. The revolutionary cultures have as a
preamble that they negate preceding cultures, regardless of whether these are political or
religious. In such cultures, a “traditional spirit” or “respect for old ways of thinking” are not
excused, and, according to Kikkawa, Japanese art differs from the art in the Western world
and China in this respect.996
Kikkawa argues in response to what he refers to as the “common view among 99 percent
of all Japanese in modern time,” namely that Japanese music is uninteresting because it has
a monotone melody and is lacking in change of the rhythm. He regards this monotone
melody and lack of change in rhythmical patterns as a feature of Japanese music, but he
argues that the adherence to stylized patterns should not be regarded as a lack of creativity
among Japanese artists.997
Rather, Japanese artists have kept the forms, actively trying to adapt to the structures
created by their predecessors, rather than too lightly making up new patterns. The forms are
not constraining shells that they have been trying to escape from, but ideal forms that they
have been able to achieve through painstaking endeavours. The patterns or forms that the
artists may achieve is a crystallization of the artistic spirit of their predecessors, which they
inherit in “the most correct way,” and these become the forms that they transmit in “the

996
Kikkawa, Nihon ongaku no seikaku, 1980, 175. (【そしてこのような】型を遵奉する精神は革命のない国だけが有すると
ころの特性である。… 伝統精神や尚古思想が許されるはずはない。).
997
Ibid., 153. By ‘Japanese music’ Kikkawa is referring to musical genres that developed prior to the Meiji period.

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most correct way” to their followers. I believe that Kikkawa’s notion of art can be
summarized in a rhetorical question he puts forward: “is it not so that [the Japanese artists]
always have shown absolute respect for the art of their teachers, adhering to the spirit of the
ancient masters, and actively trying to let themselves melt into the ‘forms’ with which they
have been presented?”998 The creativity, thus, lies in the process of adapting oneself to the
forms that constitute the art in question. The conclusion must, therefore, be that the forms
exist independently of any execution of them, i.e., they exist independently from any
enactment of the art. In other words, the forms, kata, are tangible structural elements of the
music.
Kikkawa gives a large number of examples of kata in Japanese music, ranging from court
music, Nō, and the popular art forms of the Edo period, e.g., the music in Kabuki and the
puppet theatre.999 Since the present study is centred around the instrumental shakuhachi
music I omit his discussion of order of performance in Nō, the vocal parts of recitation in
Nō, the order in which music and dancers appear in the court music, and so on. In direct
relation to music, Kikkawa asserts that there are identifiable kata in the melody lines of the
song and the instruments. For example, in the epic genre Gidayū-bushi, there are forty to
fifty different kinds of kata. From this limited number the composer would “select and
arrange” kata so that they blend musically with the instruments and the vocal lines. The
performer should attempt to blend him- or herself with the kata, and “what should be
respected is not the outer form, but the spirit of the kata.”1000
Kikkawa’s generic discussion of kata relates to the research on shakuhachi music
conducted by Tsukitani Tsuneko. Tsukitani uses her own term, onku, to denote the smallest
melodic unit. I suggest the translation “sound phrase,” as she differentiates between these
onku, and the larger units gakku. The latter is a common musical term in Japanese, denoting
a musical phrase. A gakku can consist of one or several onku, where each onku is ideally
performed in one breath.1001 In her analyses, Tsukitani at times implicitly uses the notion of
‘form’ or ‘pattern,’ and also at times talks about kata. For example, she states that: “In
Kinko-ryū … the number of different individual sounds and variation of pitches within a
sound phrase is small. Occasionally there are sound patterns that contains a greater number
of individual sounds, but even in these cases the sound patterns are performed divided into
several [smaller units] (by adding breathing spells), and the whole piece will sound as a
succession of sound phrases of equally long duration.”1002 She also refers to patterns at the
end of pieces, in which case she uses the word kata.1003 It seems as if she envisages a unit,
sound patterns, that are bigger than sound phrases (onku), but smaller than musical phrases
(gakku), although sometimes it seems that ‘sound patterns’ and ‘sound phrases’ are used
more or less as synonyms. My own analyses indicate the existence of ‘intermediate size

998
Ibid., 154. (【日本の芸術家は】 … 常に師の芸術を絶対に尊び、古人の精神を守り、積極的に、与えられた「型」の中に自己
を溶かし込もうとしたのではなかったか。).
999
Ibid., 155–160.
1000
Ibid., 167. (その型の選択と配列／尊重すべきは、型の外形ではなく、型の精神なのである).
1001
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 128. (音句／楽句). Tsukitani uses the words ‘motif’ for
onku, and ‘phrase’ for gakku (p. 137), but the word ku refers to a ‘phrase’ or a ‘clause’ and I would prefer to refer to
onku as ‘sound phrases.’
1002
Ibid., 133. Emphasis added. (琴古流では … 音句内の音数も音高の種類も少ない。時たまたくさんの音数を持つ音型があっ
ても、それらはいくつかに分割して（息継ぎを増やして）演奏されるので、全曲が時間的に平等な音句の連続と聞こえる。).
1003
E.g., Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 135.

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units’ in the music, and units that are smaller than Tsukitani’s ‘sound phrases.’ I believe that
these smaller units are an important aspect when analyzing the transmission of the honkyoku
tradition, and I return to this discussion in Section 8.3.
Tsukitani’s thorough and comprehensive research indicates the existence of a limited
number of ‘sound phrases.’ Analyzing thirteen of the thirty-six Kinko-ryū honkyoku,
Tsukitani found a total of 1,078 sound phrases, consisting of 356 different kinds. That
means that, on the average, one in every third phrase was of the same kind. The number is
greater than the forty to fifty kata to which Kikkawa referred as being used in Gidayū-bushi,
but the idea of arranging a number of fixed forms in a certain order is the same.1004

8.2.2 Nishiyama’s Notion of kata and its Relation to Transmission

The notion of kata is not a central concept in the learning process as I have experienced it,
or in any of the material I have studied, but this does not of course exclude the feasibility of
using kata as a concept in the analysis of the music.
For Nishiyama, the kata prescribe the bodily movements inherent in the art. Nishiyama
argues that kata, the prescriptive forms, exist as intangible forms, but not as physical
patterns. He argues that kata can be seen in Zeami’s notions of various levels of mastery of
the Nō art:1005 they constitute a certain principle of action, which each individual has to find
for him- or herself. By repeating the kata, one has to discover one’s own principle of action,
in accordance with the kata.1006 This would, of course, imply that one’s own principle of
action is not by necessity exactly the action prescribed by the kata, but rather an action that
is to a certain degree in accordance with the kata, yet at the same time not inconsistent with
one’s own natural acting out of the kata. To learn the forms of an art is, however, not the
only thing that is required. Nishiyama holds that within the kata there is also kokoro, i.e.,
‘heart,’ ‘spirituality’ or ‘mindfulness,’ which makes the kata come alive, to become great
art: “[T]he kata actually contains also kokoro at its depth. If one really masters the kata, the
kokoro, together with the kata, will be in one’s own bodily possession.”1007 Nishiyama does
not specify how and when the spirituality or artfulness, kokoro, of the art develops, and I
assume that it would be a question of sensitivity, and aptitude for the art, and much less to
the ability to learn the patterns that are prescribed. Nishiyama holds that one of the
advantages with kata is that, by learning the intangible patterns, anyone will be able to bring
forth a minimum requirement of a fair reproduction of the piece, play, or whatever art form
it is. Nishiyama discusses the notion of kata in relation to Nō, but he concludes that it does

1004
Ibid., 133–134. Because of the relatively limited number of kinds of sound phrases, it is almost impossible to
hear what piece, or what part of a given piece, is being performed at any given moment, something that Tsukitani
also concludes. I believe that this is also a reason why the pieces tend to be long: it takes time to create the right
atmosphere of the piece with the relatively limited number of building blocks.
1005
Nishiyama enumerates the terms an’i (安位), ran’i (闌位), and shigoku no kyō (至極の境), which according to him
are the quintessence of mastery of the Nō art. (Geidō to dentō, 1984, 46).
1006
Nishiyama, Geidō to dentō, 1984, 46.
1007
Ibid. (その「型」というものは、実はその奥に「心」が封じ込まれている。だから「型」をほんとうに体得すれば「心」は「型」
み
とともに、躬をもって所有することになる。).

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not matter what Way of Art, what geidō, the case might be, the principle is exactly the same
even if there are differences in regard to names and ways of doing it.1008

8.2.3 Nishiyama’s Notion of the Function of kata

Nishiyama argues that the shortest and most reliable way to make the principle of action
one’s own thing is to follow kata. For a learner to understand what the kata means, s/he has
to comprehend that art is nothing but somatic action, and the understanding has to be by and
through this very action. The kata, therefore, have to be indicated as action, or as denoting
action, in such a way that there are no faults or misunderstandings. This is the work
conducted by the transmitter. The transmitter is, according to Nishiyama, a person who has
accumulated the art, a practitioner of the art, and the transmitter also has to be a manager of
the art, a person who controls the physical movements that the learners make.1009
Perceived from this angle, kata takes the form of a means of instruction, rather than the
aim of the instruction. The aim is to reach an artful re-actment, which would constitute a
work of art, by means of the instruction. The kata denotes certain movements, articulated by
the transmitter, but it is not the kata that constitute the art (geidō); the art is constituted by
the somatic actions, the physical movements conducted by a practitioner, and the kata is a
way to articulate these movements. In respect to music, shakuhachi music, the actions taken
are finger movements, lip movements, neck movements, and breathing/blowing. These
movements result in sounds of different quality, but the sounds are physical entities that
constitute a work of art; the art – in Nishiyama’s definition – is the movements resulting in
sound.
The musicologist Ter Ellingson makes a distinction between articulatory and acoustic
notation systems, where the latter denotes sounds as the result of actions, and the former the
actions as the cause of sounds.1010 If we regard the word ‘notation’ in a wide sense,
including non-notated prescriptive elements, kata becomes a kind of articulatory notation,
or articulated prescriptive elements employed in the course of transmission resulting in
physical sounds, i.e., a work of art.
In my opinion, to use forms or patterns as a mode of transmitting an art form can hardly
be said to be something unique to Japan or its traditional art forms. Fingering patterns,
scales, chord progressions, and so on, are used in a variety of music styles and cultures. The
use of aural elements is not limited to Japanese music. To regard a transmitter as someone
who has accumulated a tradition, and as a manager or controller, is nothing that strikes me
as peculiar to Japan. In folk music that would rather be the normal situation, whatever
culture we talk about. To articulate, in writing or words, the correct actions in order to
produce the wished or required sound, or to acoustically indicate the correct or required
sound, is probably more common than rare in any music culture of choice.
As in the above-mentioned cases, and in the case of Nishiyama’s concept of kata, if the
transmitter is the accumulator of the tradition, the prescriptive elements relate only to the
1008
Ibid., 47.
1009
Ibid., 48.
1010
Ellingson, “Theory and Method: Notation,” 1992, 158.

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accumulated art of that person, i.e., there are no elements in the form, kata, that can relate to
anything outside of the transmitter, other than by means of allusion: transmitter B was the
student of transmitter A, hence, transmitter B has accumulated the art, i.e., the physical
movements, of transmitter A. But, there is nothing in the kata that would substantiate this.
Even with exquisite recordings of both transmitters, we could, at the most, conclude that
they move exactly in the same way. They have been able to re-create exactly the same work
of art: B is a perfect copy of A. Even if we find such strong similarities, what we see is a
work of art, it is not the art in itself, and we would still be adrift in seeking a standard for
determining how divergent they could be, and yet still be considered as transmitting the
same kata. Based on Nishiyama’s notion of kata, I believe that it would be difficult to claim
and substantiate that Yamaguchi Gorō was following the same kata as Kurosawa Kinko I;
doubtful, even, to assert that the art of Yamaguchi Gorō is the same as the art of his father,
who was also his teacher. Still, they are all counted within the tradition of Kinko-ryū.
I believe that Nishiyama’s concept of kata can be summarized in the following four
points: (1) The defining quality of Japanese traditional arts is something called geidō. (2)
Geidō is the way of practicing an art form. (3) Art is the workings, actions, of the body, i.e.,
somatic activities. (4) The somatic activities are governed by prescriptive elements, called
kata.1011 From this and the above discussion it seems that Nishiyama’s notion of kata
indicates a means of instruction from one transmitter to one student. Furthermore,
Nishiyama holds that the kata are created from an original idea of a genius, and many
people have found this a great way of performing an art. The kata becomes the safest, most
splendid, and the fastest way to improve in the art.1012 This implies a blue-print, a scheme to
follow, akin to the structural elements to which Kikkawa and Tsukitani refer, but Nishiyama
holds that the kata are intangible entities.
There certainly seems to be some other essential quality implicit in Nishiyama’s theory
on kata. He does not explicitly link his notion of kata to his concept of ‘tradition,’ but there
seem to be related aspects between the two. Nishiyama’s idea of ‘tradition’ can be summed
up in the following postulates: (i) Tradition is the transmission of tangible and intangible
assets, and the way in which they are transmitted, i.e., in my understanding, partly kata. (ii)
Tradition belongs to society and history, and it is not something that belongs to individuals.
(iii) Tradition always returns to its original occurrence, and from there it is re-experienced
or re-evaluated. (iv) Tradition is transmitted and preserved, and therefore it can be
re-experienced and re-evaluated by the consciousness of contemporary people. (v) Tradition
is combined with a uniform situation, and is therefore not transmitted from one direction
into another direction. (vi) Tradition is something personal, and at the same time it coexists
with the whole affiliated cultural sphere, from ancient times. By ‘personal’ I assume that
Nishiyama wishes to assert that it can be re-experienced and re-evaluated by an individual.
(vii) Tradition is a huge accumulation from past to present, and as such it keeps its classical
form, but it is also the formation of a fixed format, which lives and fulfils its purpose in
present time. (viii) Tradition also builds on an individual volition. If a tradition is no longer
seen as something positive, something we want to have, it will become extinct.1013

1011
Nishiyama, Geidō to dentō, 1984, 141–143; Nishiyama, “Kinsei geijutsu shisō …,” 1972, 585–586.
1012
Nishiyama, “Kinsei geijutsu shisō …,” 1972, 586.
1013
Nishiyama, Geidō to dentō, 1984, 454–457.

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The essence of tradition is that which is transmitted, and it can be understood if the
receiver re-interprets and re-evaluates it. I believe that Nishiyama’s idea is that this process
is conducted by means of the prescriptive forms.

8.2.4 Concluding Discussion of kata

My understanding of Kikkawa and Tsukitani on the one hand and Nishiyama on the other is
that they are using the same word, kata, for different entities.
Nishiyama’s notion of ‘tradition’ gives an air of something essential that is never lost,
unless we choose to let it die out, but otherwise lives on by and through our re-experiencing
of these values that are inherent in the tradition. The values we can gain in the realm of
music must be inherent in the prescriptive elements, i.e., the actions prescribed that lead us
to the safest and fastest development in the art form. In Section 1.3.3.1, I quoted Eric
Hobsbawm on the essence of inventing traditions: “a process of formalization and
ritualization, characterized by reference to the past, if only by imposing repetition,”1014 i.e.,
the repetition indicated by Nishiyama’s re-experiencing and re-evalutation of tradition. The
postulate (v) above implies, contrary to the actual situation, that it is not conceivable that
several different traditions occur: tradition becomes static. On the other hand, if we view a
tradition as a sub-tradition, e.g., one lineage or school of shakuhachi performances, it holds
as long as a ‘genius’ breaks away from that tradition, and creates a new tradition with its
own kata. This new tradition would be another sub-tradition amongst others. If we regard
Nishiyama’s notion of ‘tradition’ in this way, a ‘tradition’ becomes more akin to a
‘customary practice’ of shakuhachi playing. A customary practice, again, is more akin to
Georges’s Event theory, or Abrahams’s Enactment theory, discussed in 1.3.3.4 and 1.4.2
respectively. Abrahams holds that an item in an expressive culture is a tool of persuasion:
the expressive elements have to be aligned with something that the participants can accept
to be within the boundaries of the Enactment. If we substitute ‘tradition’ for ‘customary
practice’ in Nishiyama’s explication of tradition, the notion of kata as the prescriptive
elements seems to make more sense.
Based on Nishiyama’s discussion, my conclusion of the function of kata is that these
prescriptive forms are means by which an individual teacher transmits modes of action to
his or her students, which result in music. There is nothing that would substantiate a notion
of a rigid form that transcends time in such a way that one tradition, stretching over more
than one generation, can be said to be inherent in Nishiyama’s notion of kata, but rather, I
argue, kata is a formalization of an individual transmitter’s interpretation of the tradition,
revealed in his or her idiosyncracies of performance practice and technique. The formation
of kata can be seen in the canonization of a repertoire, e.g., Kurosawa Kinko and Higuchi
Taizan, who made several changes to the pieces they incorporated into their respective
repertoires. Another example of deviation from a fixed form can be seen in the expression
shu-ha-ri,1015 which means “abide, destroy, and leave.” The ideal is to abide by the rules,

1014
Hobsbawm, “Introduction: Inventing Traditions,” 1992, 4.
1015
Nishiyama, Geidō to dentō, 1984, 70.

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following the prescribed forms in order to learn the art. Then comes a time when the forms
are to be destroyed, distorted, or changed. After that the learner is supposed to leave the
realm of the art, and create it anew. The first two stages both include the preceding art form,
the kata which is obeyed or destroyed. In the final stage, the learner leaves the kata s/he has
learned, and creates something new from this.
At the entrance level, where adherence to the forms are required, the Poietic Dimension
of the Enactment – the processes that lead to a physical object – must be aligned with the
expectations in the Esthesic Dimension in order to make sense for the participants, i.e., here
the learners of a tradition, and the boundaries of understanding are the boundaries of the
teaching of an iemoto, within his or her guild.
Tsukitani discusses kata on the level of musical phrases, and representative kata for a
complete piece, and she holds that the formation of phrases is related to how these phrases
are performed, in terms of rhythm, tempo, and dynamics,1016 i.e., in my understanding on
the level of ‘sound phrases.’ Thus, the canonization of the repertoire within the various
sub-divisions of schools included major changes in how the pieces were performed. On the
other hand, the structural elements of the pieces, as they were written down, are not
prescriptive per se; the structure indicates identity, but a discrete realization of a piece is
part of an enactment, and as such, it is dependent of the surrounding context.
Kikkawa and Tsukitani, on the one hand, seem to regard kata as structural and tangible
elements that constitute the building blocks of an art form, and here I firstly and primarily
regard kata as structures in music. The music is created by arranging the limited number of
kata in a certain order. The order in which the kata unfolds are of course the structure of the
music, giving a certain piece a context-independent existence, but the kata also contain
certain prescriptive elements: a certain form should be performed in the prescribed way.
On the other hand, Nishiyama seems to regard kata as prescriptive and intangible
elements that guide a learner of a tradition: once incorporated in the being of the practitioner,
their prescriptive function ends and the somatic actions, the workings of the performer,
become natural movements that no longer need guidance. Nishiyama refers to the artfulness
in terms of kokoro, ‘heart’ or ‘spirituality,’ and Kikkawa talks about makoto, ‘truth,’
‘fidelity,’ or ‘devotion.’ For Kikkawa, makoto is nothing that you can attach to the art form,
as an ornament, but something that comes from within, and Nishiyama views kokoro as
something that makes the kata come alive.

8.3 The Act of Transmission

The shakuhachi tradition is partly an oral tradition, as discussed in Section 8.3.2 below.
Even though much of the music is notated, the notation is very rudimentary: it normally
omits, to a greater or lesser degree, ornamentations, accentuation, dynamics, etc., as well as
techniques that result in changes to both pitch and timbre, and to some extent phrasing. The

1016
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 145.

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following sub-sections under this Section 8.3 build on my own fieldwork experience, as
well as comments by some other non-Japanese learners.
Yamaguchi Gorō (1933–99) was one among a handful of transmitters within the
Kinko-ryū.1017 In the present research, the main material in the study of transmission at the
present time is based on my fieldwork. I studied with Yamaguchi from 1985 until his
premature death in 1999. Between 1993 and 1997 I also had lessons with Yamaguchi, and
other teachers, at the Traditional Music Conservatoire of Tokyo University of the Arts,
commonly known as Tokyo Geidai.1018 Yamaguchi Gorō was the head of one of the guilds
within Kinko-ryū, and in 2009 I conducted interviews with the leaders of the three other
main Kinko guilds: Aoki Reibo II (b. 1935), Araki Kodō V (b. 1938), and Kawase Junsuke
III (b. 1936). There was nothing in these interviews that made me change my perception of
actual acts of transmission: they are conducted in similar ways by other teachers, even if
there may be details that differ. I have also consulted writings by Christopher Yohmei
Blasdel, who began studying with Yamaguchi Gorō in the 1970s, and Riley Lee, who
studied with Sakai Chikuho II (1933–1992) from the early 70s until 1980, and with
Yokoyama Katsuya from 1984.1019 Blasdel has written a book about his experiences as a
non-Japanese in the cultural context surrounding the acts of transmission,1020 and in his
1993 PhD thesis Lee refers in part to his experiences as a learner.

8.3.1 General Discussion of Notated Aspects of Transmission

The canonization of the shakuhachi music in the beginning of the Meiji period, and already
in the Edo period for the Kinko-ryū, was made possible due to the development of notated
scores. The notation consists of syllabaries from one of the two syllabic writing systems in
the Japanese language, katakana. There are some variations in the notation systems between
different schools, but in general terms, the notated scores constitute a tablature.1021 There are
five fingerholes on a shakuhachi (cf. Section 3.1), and each syllable represents a defined
position of the fingers, i.e., whether the fingerholes should be closed or kept open.
According to Tsukitani Tsuneko, the Kinko-ryū honkyoku notation written by Miura
Kindō (1875–1940) between 1928 and 1929 is one of the most influential, both for
performances and research.1022 This notation is based on the teaching Kindō received from

1017
His lineage is: Kinko I – Kinko II – Kinko III – Hisamatsu Fūyō – Yoshida Itchō – Araki Kodō II – Kawase
Junsuke I / Miura Kindō – Yamaguchi Shirō. Yamaguchi Gorō was the youngest person ever to be designated
Living National Treasure in 1992, at age 59.
1018
東京国立芸術大学. In English, formerly known as Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.
1019
Sakai Chikuho (二世酒井竹保); the Chikuho-ryū is mentioned in Section 8.1.1, and Yokoyama Katsuya is
discussed in Section 8.1.3.4.
1020
Christopher Yohmei Blasdel, The Single Tone: A Personal Journey into Shakuhachi Music, (first ed. 2005),
Tokyo: Printed Matter Press, 2008.
1021
A tablature is a system of musical notation in which symbols and signs are used to indicate fingerings, rather
than pitches as in Western staff notation.
1022
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, p. 24. (三浦琴童).

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his teacher, Araki Kodō II (1823–1908),1023 and it is the notation used within the guild of
Yamaguchi Gorō.
I will not explain the notation system in detail, but there are some general aspects of the
notation that need clarification with reference to the example in Plate 30. (1) As mentioned
above, the notation is rudimentary; it constitutes a simplified representation of the basic
structure of the piece, e.g., the two syllabic characters pronounced tsu and ro in the example
in Plate 30. (2) Apart from the basic structure, notated with the syllabic characters,
repetitions are marked with auxiliary symbols, e.g., a tone-bending repetition (nayashi) as in
the example. (3) The Kindō notation is one of the most detailed, and some ornaments are
notated, such as passing microtonal ornaments and phrase ending ornaments, e.g., the
tone-bending ornament at the end of the phrase in the example.1024 These ornaments are not
always played by Yamaguchi as they are written; at times they may be excluded, or
exchanged for other ornaments. Even if there is no ornamental mark, Yamaguchi would, at
times, add an ornament. (4) The rhythm is notated with dots on the right and left side of the
vertically written notation, and the time elapses from side to side, like a pendulum.1025
In the example, the phrase begins on the left side, where the tone with the fingering tsu is
played.1026 The tone is held, while adding a pitch-altering ornament, until one reaches the
right side. On the right side the tone with the
fingering ro is played. Each right-left, or Plate 30: Kinko-ryū notation. Based on the Kindō notation.
left-right, move represents half a beat. Calligraphy by Satō Ryōko in Linder, Kinko-ryū Shakuhachi
Honkyoku, 2011, p. 223.
The next symbol represents a type of
repetition, where the pitch is slightly bent. First structure sound (tsu).
In the example there is no mark on the left
side after the second right-side mark, which
is positioned immediately to the right of the Left-side beat-mark.
Tone-bending ornament.
nayashi repetition. In such cases a virtual
left-side mark is imagined, the pendulum Second structure sound (ro).

swings to the left side and then flows back to

the right side. Right-side beat-mark.
The phrase ends on the left side, after the
Type of repetition (nayashi).
third and last right-side beat mark. There is a
phrase ending ornament notated, indicating a
bending of the tone: the pitch is lowered and Right-side beat-mark.

the tone is cut-off.

Right-side beat-mark.

Phrase-ending ornament.

1023
荒木古童. The leader of Kinko-ryū during the transmission from the Edo to the Meiji periods, i.e., from the Early Modern
Period to the Modern Period (cf. Section 8.1).
1024
A microtone is a pitch that does not have an exact definition. A passing tone (note) is a sound that is added
between two structural tones.
1025
See also Plates 27 and 28 in Section 8.1.1 above, for a visual illustration of what the actual scores look like.
1026
This tsu is actually a tsu with a lowered pitch, a so-called meri. The indication to lower the pitch is often
omitted.

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This is a standard phrase, and even without the marks for pitch-altering ornaments, i.e.,
the ornament between the two structure sounds tsu and ro, and the phrase ending ornament,
a student who has studied for some time will understand this aspect of the phrase. It is,
however, more or less impossible to learn the details of the phrase, even from the relatively
prescriptive notation we see here. Measuring the time the ‘pendulum’ swings in a recording
of Yamaguchi Gorō, playing the phrase in the example above, yields the following
result:1027 The first half beat, from the left side to the right side, is four and a half seconds.
The second half beat, from the first right-side beat mark to the unmarked left side (the
virtual left-side beat mark), is five and a half seconds. There he takes a breath for two and a
half seconds, and begins from the unmarked left side to the end of the phrase. The phrase
ends on the left side, after the last right-side beat mark, thus, counting four half beats. This
part totals ten seconds, i.e., two and a half seconds per half beat.

Figure 6: Analysis of example phrase.

“Hi-fu-mi Hachi-gaeshi no Shirabe” performed by Yamaguchi Gorō. Victor, 1999.

Left side (tsu) Right side (ro) Breath Repetition begins Phrase ends

This indicates a time value that is not uniform, and the addition of a seemingly arbitrary
breath. Both of these aspects are, however, an integral part of the performance style of
Yamaguchi Gorō, and in a learning situation they constitute important prescriptive elements.
In other notation systems, e.g., the notation written by the shakuhachi performer Yokoyama
Katsuya (1934–2010), the rhythm is not indicated by dots. Instead, the length of a tone is
indicated graphically with a vertical line: the length of the line is indicative of the length of
the tone, relative the length of other lines. There is no exact and pre-determined ‘correct’
time value, but the time value will change with the discrete enactment of the piece being
performed. With reference to Yokoyama’s perception of time, Riley Lee remarks that each
musical event – like a note, pause, ornament, or attack – is given its correct temporal value,
“[which] is determined … by the events leading to and following the note, pause, etc., in
question.”1028 The rhythmic aspects of the piece are not prescribed by the notation, but
rather, certain relationships are implied through the notation; the actual enactment, how the
piece should be performed, is prescribed in elements that are external to the notated score,
and implicit only in that actual enactment of the piece.

1027
Measured with reference to the waveform display in the recording software GarageBand on May 30, 2011.
1028
Lee, Yearning for the Bell …, 1993, 284.

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8.3.2 General Discussion of Non-notated Aspects of Transmission

The core aspect of the teaching, the act of transmission, is that it is conducted in one-on-one
lessons. The mode of transmission is normally referred to as kuden,1029 oral instruction. In
the old texts, some pieces are referred to as hikyoku (secret pieces),1030 which implies that
they will only be taught to those who are at a level, or in a position, to receive them. The
term kuden denotes ‘oral transmission,’ but most of the instruction does not contain verbal
explanations, as would be expected from this term. Since the greater part of a lesson
consists in playing the pieces, ‘audial instruction’ might be closer to the actual situation: the
student is supposed and admonished to learn what s/he hears, not what s/he might be told.
This is of course true with some reservations; the basic techniques will be explained in
words and sound, and on rare occasions the transmitter may also comment on certain parts
or aspects of a piece. Words are also used to give acclamation or critique of the students
playing.
Riley Lee argues that the terms ‘aural’ and ‘non-notated,’ “would be more appropriate in
the case of instrumental music that is transmitted primarily without recourse to written
notation.”1031 However, following the canonization of repertoires, each transmitter would
normally use his own notation, or the notation prescribed within his style or school, as a
standard for the canon of pieces and as an indication of the general structure of these pieces.
During the actual acts of transmission the most central aspects are the audial elements, the
actual sounds produced by the transmitter. The sounds relate to the notated scores, even
though the notated scores are simplified symbolic representations of the actual sounds
produced, and the transmitter’s sounds override any discrepancies between audial elements
and notated elements. When called for, e.g., when the student has misunderstood a
technique, verbal explanations may be added. In the case of an obvious mistake on behalf of
the student, it is not uncommon that the transmitter would stop and have the student play the
same part once again. If the mistake is repeated, the transmitter may expound on the
technique verbally. Regarding the verbal elements of transmission, Christopher Yohmei
Blasdel gives the following description: “Words were never an important part of
[Yamaguchi’s] teaching method …, and he never attempted to analyze or critically examine
the music. … [Yamaguchi’s generation of musicians] were trained by rote from childhood,
and the music remains deeply connected with their bodies, internalized and fluent as their
native tongue.”1032
The form of transmission may thus be better understood as a semi-aural, semi-notated,
and partly oral type of transmission. Here, I use the term ‘oral transmission’ as including all
these aspects. Blasdel’s connection between the musical activity and the body, i.e., a
physical dimension of music as somatic activity, is close to Nishiyama Matsunosuke’s
definition of geidō, the Way of Art. Nishiyama argues that the way of art is defined in the
somatic activity, hataraki, by which art is created. For Nishiyama, the Way of Art is art put
into practice; art is using the physical body to dance, act, paint, speak, pull strings, or

1029
口伝.
1030
Kurosawa Kinko III, Kinko techō (The Kinko Notebook), in Tsukamoto, ed., Kinko techō (1937), 1999, 8. (秘曲).
1031
Lee, Yearning for the Bell …, 1993, 224.
1032
Blasdel, The Single Tone: A Personal Journey into Shakuhachi Music, 2008, 19.

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whatever activity the art form in question requires. The things, however, that are created
through the somatic activities are works of art, “but a completed product or an objectivized
artistic object has no relation to geidō.”1033 The art is the activity, but the result of the
activity is not related to the Way of Art. This viewpoint is closely related to the Event that
Robert A. Georges stipulated, i.e., the interaction (kinesic, audial, paralinguistic, etc.)
between sender and receiver in a social context, where all parties have assumed their
respective roles.

8.3.2.1 Non-verbal Elements of Oral Transmission

Still regarding ‘oral’ in its wider definition above, generally speaking, the verbal messages
conveyed in the transmission of shakuhachi are of little importance. To implement this
aspect of the transmission, there are other witnesses to the ‘lack’ of verbal teaching by
Yamaguchi Gorō, that he would play rather than enter into the realms of explanations, or
that both himself and his father, Yamaguchi Shirō, were people of a reticent nature.1034
I have been using the word ‘notation’ with the denotation of a written, graphical
representation of various music events, such as fingerings and rhythm. Certainly, the
tablature of shakuhachi is a written, graphical representation, where a syllabic character
represents a certain fingering, which results in a sound with a certain pitch. The
musicologist Ter Ellingson offers a broader notion of ‘notation,’ denoting non-graphical
representations of musical communication. These systems include (1) aural systems, (2)
visual systems, (3) kinesic or choreographic systems, and (4) tactile systems.1035 Below, in
Section 8.3.4, I argue that all four of these systems are employed in the process of
transmission. I do not employ Ellingson’s expanded definition of ‘notation.’ I prefer to refer
to his four non-notated systems as ‘prescriptive, non-notated elements of transmission,’ and
let the word ‘notation’ denote the written score.

8.3.3 Discussion of Notated and Non-notated Elements in Enactments

The notated score is a description of a piece, a kind of map that divides pieces from each
other. At the same time it contains normative elements, at least to the extent that it offers a
minimal schematic representation of the unfolding of musical events, in order to define two
separate Enactments, whether Performance or Transmission, as Enactments of the same
structure, i.e., that it is the same piece that is performed or transmitted. Following Georges’s
line of argument, no Event exists external to its enactment, but we still refer to various
performances of the same piece, and different students learn the same piece on different

1033
Nishiyama, Geidō to dentō, 1984, 142. 「こういうはたらきで創りだされるものは、芸術作品であるが、それが作品として
完結してしまったものとか、客体化してしまった芸術品には、芸道は無関係である。」
1034
Gunnar Jinmei Linder and Mizuno Kōmei in Tokumaru Yoshihiko, et.al., ed., Yūgen naru hibiki: ningen kokuhō
Yamaguchi Gorō no shakuhachi to shōgai, 2008, 221, 258.
1035
Ellingson, “Chapter 6 Notation,” in Helen Myers, ed., Ethnomusicology, An Introduction, 1992, 154.
In my Master’s thesis I also referred to Ellingson’s expanded concept of notation, but there I excluded (3) from
being used within Kinko-ryū. (Linder, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi no gaikyoku ni kansuru kenkyū …, 1997, 28–29).

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occasions, thus, there is a need to identify what musical event is being enacted. To borrow a
concept from the American philosopher Robert Stecker, which he refers to as
‘structure-in-use’: we may regard the notated score as a basic structure of a certain piece,
and an Enactment is a discrete and concrete use of this more or less rigidly fixed
structure.1036 To define a piece in terms of its structure, the development of musical events
over time, would seem to imply that the piece of music does exist external to its enactment,
i.e., independent of the context of the Event. I would, however, argue that the normative
aspects of the structure relate to the process of identifying two separate enactments, and in
this respect it is context-independent. On the other hand, if we consider a Performance-type
of Enactment, the Event is context-dependant, and two separate enactments do not exist
external to their respective enactments. The normative aspects of the structure as identifiers
do not necessarily have any bearing on the expression of the piece in an actual enactment,
i.e., it does not contain any prescriptive elements of expression.
It is necessary here to clarify the difference between creating a piece of music in terms of
composing music, and re-creating it in a Performance-type of Enactment. The intention of
creation, i.e., the Poietic Processes of making up sounds, putting it on paper, deciding on
who is to perform it, etc., is different from the intentions of a performer, who in a real-time
performance is re-creating the piece of music that has been composed, acting upon more or
less explicit instructions from the composer in the notated score. To borrow the words from
the British philosopher R.G. Collingwood, any composer would understand that it is
impossible to give clear and unambiguous prescriptions to all aspects of how a piece should
be performed, i.e., transformed into sonorous reality, and there, according to Collingwood,
the composer “demands of his performer a spirit of constructive and intelligent co-operation”
and goes on to say that “[e]very performer is co-author of the work he performs.”1037
In the case of music that has a composer who has created the music being performed, we
would arrive at a flow of the tripartitional dimensions as in Figure 7. The intentions of the
performer are such as, e.g., give a rendition of the piece that is true to the original, which
would be one example of intention in the creation of art.

Figure 7: The tripartitional flow. Example 1, the relation between Composer – Performer – Audience.

Poietic processes Esthesic processes Poietic processes Esthesic processes

Composer Score Performer Sound Audience

Physical reality Physical reality

In the above figure we can of course also find a more complex combination of Esthesic
Processes on behalf of both the performer and the audience. The performer will interpret not
just the score, but also other aspects about the composer, the time of composition, and so on.
The audience can of course likewise interpret composer intentions, and the experience may
in turn change depending on who the performer of the piece is. The notated score is one

1036
Robert Stecker, Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art: An Introduction, 2005, 119–121, 124.
1037
Collingwood, The Principles of Art (1938), 1958, 320–321. Collingwood is referring to Western Classical
music.

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way of controlling a Performance-type of Enactment, and the level of prescriptive elements

in the score will depend on how closely the composer wishes to control the enactment.
If we turn to oral traditions we would have to take the cultural background into
consideration. The music that is the subject of the present research, the shakuhachi tradition,
belongs to an oral tradition of anonymous music, i.e., music that does not have a known
composer and consequently lacks prescriptive elements given by a composer.1038 The lack
of a composer does not of course mean that there are no prescriptive elements. Instead,
these prescriptive elements are not decided by a single creator, but rather by the cultural
context surrounding the tradition: the performance style of the transmitter contain the
prescriptive elements of the tradition s/he adheres to. In other words, any given
performer/transmitter within a culture or tradition is legitimized in terms of being
acknowledged by other members of the same group. The prescriptive elements are, thus,
determined by the cultural context surrounding the performer/transmitter. The tripartitional
flow could then be visualised as in the following Figure 8.

Figure 8: The tripartitional flow. Example 2, the relation between Cultural Context – Performer – Audience.

Esthesic processes Poietic processes Esthesic processes

(Cultural Context) Performer Sound Audience

Physical reality

The composer is replaced by the ‘cultural context.’ I have gray-marked it and put it
within parentheses to indicate that in a performance situation, the aim of the performer may
not be to draw on the whole cultural background, but to create music in the actual
performance situation: an enactment within a given community for the purpose of X. A
listener could of course interpret the performance either in terms of the performer as
belonging to a cultural context, or not belonging to that context.
On the other hand, if we turn to a situation where the purpose of the activities is not to
give the audience an aesthetic experience, but rather to indicate the authenticity or level of
belonging to the cultural context in questions for an informed audience – a given
shakuhachi tradition for example – we arrive at a slightly modified tripartitional flow, as in
Figure 9 below. Here the cultural context becomes central, as it would constitute a major
part of the prescriptive elements. The intention of the transmitter might be different from
that of the performer. The transmitter could well have intentions in the creation of art, i.e.,
intentions relating to the transmission of a musical tradition. The performer could well have
intentions of creation in the art, e.g., the intention of creating something beautiful, or
creating something completely new, or any other intention of creation. In the present study I
will focus on the intention in the transmissive creation of art, rather than intention in
performative creation.

1038
The shakuhachi music is assumed to be anonymous, but within the Kinko-ryū there are some pieces that have
known composers. The canonization conducted by Kinko I–III probably also included certain aspects of
formalization, in the same way as with Higuchi Taizan, i.e., the pieces were most likely changed to fit the
performance style of the person who canonized them.

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Figure 9: The tripartitional flow. Example 3, the relation between Oral Tradition – Transmitter – Learner.

Esthesic processes Poietic processes Esthesic processes

Sound
Cultural Context Transmitter Written notation Learner
Oral teaching
Other acoustic tools
Physical reality

If we consider a Transmission-type of Enactment, the Event is context-dependant within

the oral (audial, non-notated) sphere of its enactment. To talk about an abstract structure,
however – existing independently of any enactment – is not in conflict with Georges’s
context-dependant Event theory, or Abrahams’s Enactment theory. The ‘structure’ and its
‘use’ are two separable and mutually independent aspects. A musical piece exists as a
structure, and its enactment is the structure-in-use. To use the terminology of Ter Ellingson,
the notated score is an articulatory aspect of the piece, and its use in transmission is the
fundament for the acoustic possibilities it contains.

8.3.4 The Transmission-type of Enactment

The notion of oral transmission is at the heart of many Japanese traditional art forms, the Nō
theatre, tanka poetry, chadō tea ceremony, kadō flower arrangment, music entertainment, to
name only some; it is not rare for these to include a set of secret teachings, hiden.1039 The
notion of secret transmission evolved from estoric Buddhism in the ninth century, and was
incorporated in the body of artistry from medieval times.1040 In the Edo period the system of
a head of the school, iemoto,1041 developed against the backdrop of the increasing number of
townspeople who were interested in the arts, and had gained enough economic
independence in the more peaceful urban life of the Edo period to take part in artistic
activities, as discussed in Sections 4.3 and 8.1 above. The iemoto is the head of an
institutionalised body, or guild, and s/he retains either the secret teaching, or, at least, is the
proprietor of the accumulated artistic and aesthetic assets that belong to a group within any
given art form (cf. Nishiyama’s notion of the function of kata in Section 8.2.3). The
aesthetic assets are partly identifiable by the canon of the art form, i.e., in the case of
shakuhachi, the written notation, the order of transmission, and so on. Since the written
aspects are only one part of the transmission, the non-verbal aspects of the oral transmission
become a matter of correct interpretation of both the written aspects and the prescriptive,
non-notated elements of that transmission.
As discussed in Section 1.6.2, Nattiez’s model is a combination of analyses of the
physical and objective material (the Neutral Dimension), the creative processes that ‘mark’
the work of art (the Poietic Dimension), and the experience of these ‘marks’ in the work of

1039
秘伝.
1040
Morinaga, Secrecy in Japanese Arts …, 2005, 3.
1041
家元.

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art by a receiver (the Esthesic Dimension). I argue that in a Transmission-type of Enactment,

the ‘marks’ correspond to the prescriptive elements inherent in the process of transmission.
The ‘marks’ are the physical and objective realisations of an intention of transmitting
certain aspects of the music (the Poietic Processes). Through the experience of the ‘marks,’
a receiver is able to gain somatic understanding, and by force of an intellect, also cognitive
understanding of the music (the Esthesic Processes). The somatic understanding and the
cognitive understanding do not, however, necessarily coincide. There is no connection of
necessity between the two; neither does a somatic understanding necessarily lead to a
cognitive understanding of the material. The receiver needs only to gain enough somatic
understanding of the music to be able to reproduce it.

8.3.4.1 Enactment of Transmission

I use the lesson style of Yamaguchi Gorō as a case study of how the transmission may be
conducted. There were some changes during Yamaguchi’s lifetime, and I give a short
account of these changes as well.
Christopher Yohmei Blasdel recounts how lessons were conducted when he first began
studying with Yamaguchi in the 1970s. The lessons were not held by appointment, but on a
first-come first-served basis. The students would gather as they came, while lessons were in
progress. The students would arrive, and could stay as long as they wanted after the lesson.
A typical lesson was approximately twenty minutes, during which time the student played a
part of the piece s/he was studying together with Yamaguchi. Then the student would play
the same part over again, while Yamaguchi sang the syllabic notation, clapping the beat on
his own knees, left side, right side. Most of the time spent at Yamaguchi’s house included
waiting, listening to other students’ and Yamaguchi’s playing, and observing the lessons.
Blasdel concludes that he gradually came to realize that “patience and, above all, listening
were important parts of the learning process.”1042
When I began studying with Yamaguchi in 1985, this system had changed a little,
probably due to the growing number of students. The students arriving would gather in a
preparation room, where one of Yamaguchi’s two most advanced students would conduct
preparatory lessons (below I refer to these advanced students as ‘sub-teachers’). The
first-come first-served system had not changed, and a lesson often included waiting for a
couple of students to finish their preparatory lesson. These preparatory lessons were
conducted in the same way as described above: first the student played the designated part
together with the sub-teacher, then the sub-teacher would sing the syllables and clap the
rhythm while the student played the same part again. The difference was that most students
seemed to have been more apt for asking questions. The sub-teacher would be more open to
discussion and explanations about techniques, including Yamaguchi’s own idiosyncracies.
After the preparatory lessons, the student would wait his or her turn to enter the adjacent
room, where Yamaguchi was conducting the lessons. There the same part was played twice
in the same fashion as described above. Yamaguchi would hardly ever comment on the

1042
Blasdel, The Single Tone: A Personal Journey into Shakuhachi Music, 2008, 17.

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playing, except in rare cases.1043 After each lesson Yamaguchi would simply say that it was
good, which in many cases was an overstatement of the student’s ability.
Each piece was taught over a one-month period, i.e., four lessons. The first three lessons
comprised a third each of the piece, and during the fourth lesson, the student would play the
piece through, from the beginning to the end, first together with the sub-teacher, and then
once more with Yamaguchi. During the fourth lesson, Yamaguchi would not sing the
notation or clap the rhythm, but just play the piece together with the student. Each piece was
taught only once, but when a student had learned a certain, unspecified number of pieces, it
was possible to bring a piece that s/he had previously learned. In those cases, the lesson
consisted of playing through the piece, in the same way as lesson four when the piece was
taught. This suggests that Yamaguchi’s notion of ‘teaching’ a piece consisted of singing the
notation and clapping the rhythm.
At times when Yamaguchi was not satisfied with the student’s playing, he would stop
playing and ask the student to play a certain section one more time. Then Yamaguchi would
sing that part, and if he was satisfied, the playing would continue. In rare cases, if this
repetition did not do the work, he would comment on a technique or rhythmical aspect.
The fourth lesson was referred to as age-geiko, which means ‘lesson of reception.’ At the
end of the fourth lesson, if the student’s playing of the piece was to Yamaguchi’s content,
he would end the lesson by saying that the student was given the piece, i.e., the piece was
thereby transmitted, but also that the student should “polish it off.” The reception of a piece
was not the end of the learning process, rather the beginning of an even longer process of
internalizing the piece. This aspect is even stressed in the licence that is finally given to the
student, when finishing the basics and becoming a shihan, a master of the art. In the shihan
licence the receiver is again admonished to polish his work.
Based on this short description of lessons with Yamaguchi, I find two separate but linked
contexts of the Transmission-type of Enactment to be of main interest: internal and external
contexts.

8.3.4.2 Internal Context

By ‘internal context’ I mean a system of logical connections between the separate parts of
the Enactment of Transmission. Using Ter Ellingson’s four systems of non-notated aspects
of prescriptive elements, based on the style of teaching, I believe it is possible to discern six
discrete elements of transmission, which are connected in the internal context of
transmission.

(A) Notated structural elements of transmission.

The basic structure of the pieces is represented in the notated score. Thus, the score gives
a basic understanding of the general outline of how the sounds develop, the different
sections of the piece, and other structural characteristics. This basic structure is also an
identifier of the piece, which gives it an independent existence.

1043
I can remember only three occasions when I received a word from Yamaguchi: once when my playing was not
up to par, and I had to do the same part again at my next lessons, and twice I was told that my sound had changed,
presumably to the better, but that was not clearly stated.

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(B) Non-notated structural elements of transmission.

As mentioned above, the notation is a basic structure for identifying the piece. Some
notes are not played by a certain teacher, ornaments are omitted or added, and so on. These
structural elements of transmission are normally explained verbally, if required. At a higher
level, when the student has learned a number of pieces, certain structural patterns become
visible, and the verbal explanations may be omitted, but included in the aural elements
discussed below.

(C) Ellingson’s system (1): aural elements of transmission.

Not limited to shakuhachi, most of the musical genres in Japan, with origins before the
Modern Period, have a system of singing the written notation, including also prescriptive
non-notated elements. There are extant so-called shakuhachi shōga-fu, or shakuhachi
notation for singing, from the late eighteenth century.1044 The syllabic characters used for
the tablature do of course facilitate the singing, but there are several aspects to this. Firstly,
the same syllabic characters are used regardless of the length of the instrument used.
Depending on the length the pitch will change. For example, the character pronounced ro
represents a fingering with all holes closed. The pitch for ro will, however, differ: with the
standard length shakuhachi the sonorous product will be a D, but for each sun (approx. three
centimetres) longer or shorter instrument, the pitch will change half a step (cf. Section 3.1).
Secondly, while singing the transmitter reproduces pitch variations of the basic fingering
employed, halftones, microtonal ornaments, and so on. If for example a pitch alteration is
added to the fingering called tsu, this will be represented in the singing of the syllable tsu:
the transmitter would continue to sing ‘tsu,’ but with the voice lowered or raised to the
required pitch. Thirdly, the pitch alterations often include changes of the timbre, and these
changes are also represented in the singing. Fourthly, variations in dynamics, vibrato, and
other timbral aspects of the tone may also be represented in the singing.
By using shōga, the transmitter is given an efficient tool to implement all aural aspects of
the music. Singing has a different voice – a different tonal quality – than the shakuhachi,
and it is therefore easier for the receiver to notice subtle changes of the tone compared to
when the transmitter plays along with the student.
Yet another aural aspect is related to (E) and (F) below. When the transmitter claps the
beats on his or her knees a sound is, of course, produced. This is another sounding
component, besides the tonal elements.

(D) Ellingston’s system (2): visible elements of transmission.

By using the hands to (i) clap the rhythm, and (ii) indicate pitch alterations, the
transmitter can give a visible account of what is happening in the music. Normally the
transmitter would be clapping the beats. In doing so, the transmitter would raise for example
his or her right hand when clapping the left-side beat, as a preparation for the following
right-side beat. When s/he is raising the right hand, the fingers on this hand are sometimes
used to give a visual indication, together with the aural indication, of an ornamental rise of
the pitch between the beats.

1044
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, 39.

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(E) Ellington’s system (3): kinesic elements of transmission.

This element is closely related to (F). The movements of the hands when clapping the
beats is not only a visible aid. It gives a sensation of movement. The students also often clap
the beats when practicing a piece, especially in rhythmically complicated parts. This gives a
sense of movement, and is also related to the tactile system in (F). When learning
rhythmically difficult parts, students may try to swing the body while playing, in order to
obtain a kinesic sensation of the flow of the music.

(F) Ellington’s system (4): tactile elements of transmission.

The tactile elements are not part of the actual act of transmission, but the clapping of the
beats can give a physical sensation, and even more so when the student claps (and sings) the
notation while practicing. Another aspect of this physical sensation of the music is that
while the kinesic aspect of swinging the body is only for practice (it does not look good on
stage), the big toes can be used to create a similar effect (if sitting in Japanese style on
stage). By practicing this way, even if one does not move one’s toes or swing one’s body in
a performance situation, the physical sensation still remains.

***

By applying these aspects to convey the prescriptive elements in the act of transmission,
the transmitter can more easily transmit his or her intentions, i.e., give clear indications of
the prescriptive ‘marks’ in the final sonorous product. For example, in transmitting a certain
ornament that is not notated in the score, there would be a logical relation between elements
of type (A), (B), (C), and (D): the transmitter, Yamaguchi, would explain the ornament, the
student, or Yamaguchi himself, would write the ornament in the score, thus using element
(A). To write down the change in structure would be an aid for the student to reach a higher
level of understanding of similar phrases in other pieces, thus, supporting elements of type
(B). During the lesson, Yamaguchi would make more evident aural and visible indications
of this ornament with his voice and fingers, i.e., elements of type (C) and (D). During a
subsequent lesson, if and when the student had learned this pattern, the same would not
necessarily occur, except for element type (C): the singing (shōga) would always
correspond to the actual sound, even if they are not always accompanied by the visual
elements of type (D).
That means that the logical connection between the elements (A) to (F) is part of the
internal context for an individual at a certain point in his or her learning process. In a similar
way, the transmitter may exclude a visible element if it is clearly beyond the comprehension
of the student, even if the same aspect of the music is included in elements of type (C): the
transmitter might sing an ornament, but avoid making it clearly visible to the student, not
because it is understood, but on the contrary, because this ornament is not yet conceivable
for the student.

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8.3.4.3 External Context

By ‘external context’ I mean the social setting surrounding the act of transmission, external
to the individual and direct learning process, but constituting an important part of the Event
as a whole. The ‘social setting’ contains, but is not limited to, the ‘total musical fact,’
referred to in Section 1.6.4. The ‘total musical fact’ contains both the individual and direct
learning process, and other musical aspects, i.e., the period of waiting for a lesson, listening
to the playing of others, and observing the teacher. The external context is also related to the
notion of a tradition, within the social group surrounding the Event, and as such it is part of
Molino’s ‘total social fact’ (cf. Figure 1 in Section 1.6.4, and Figure 10 below).

(a) The aspect of waiting.

Blasdel writes that he came to realize that patience was one important aspect of the
learning process, during a lesson day and also with regard to the pace of progress in the
repertoire: a beginner student would be looking ahead to many years of training.1045 At the
pace of one piece per month, and approximately seventy ensemble pieces before the
thirty-six honkyoku to be learned, a simple calculation gives nine years of learning the basic
repertoire in an ideal situation. Due to the teacher’s absence for concerts or other
engagements, the student’s absence due to illnesses, vacations, holidays, and so on, the
actual time required is maybe ten years or more. Furthermore, the shortest pieces are seven
to eight minutes in length, but the majority of pieces are fifteen to twenty minutes long, and
there are several pieces that last up to half an hour. There is even one piece in the Kinko-ryū
honkyoku repertoire that takes one hour to play. To learn these long pieces, one piece per
month, does not mean that you are learning the pieces thoroughly. The first step in the
learning process is to get acquainted with techniques and to learn a repertoire. A student is
not explicitly told to go to concerts, but this is also an integral part of the learning process,
and implicitly assumed. Apart from individual practice, it would be very difficult to learn a
piece well without having heard it performed on numerous occasions.
For these reasons, I would interpret the system of ‘lesson days,’ rather than having an
appointment at a specified hour, to be part of the external context in getting used to a long
wait for the results to show.

(b) Listening to other students, the sub-teacher, and the transmitter.

By letting the students wait their turn, they are in reality ‘forced’ to listen to other
students playing, exemplified by student 3 (S3) in Figure 10 below. This provides an
opportunity to hear a variety of pieces in the repertoire, played by a variety of students at
different levels in the learning process. It is a chance to learn by other people’s mistakes,
and a chance to study and learn from good examples of sound production, techniques,
posture, and so on. Of course, the sound of the sub-teacher is also audible, and is part of the
context.
In the case of the later Yamaguchi Gorō, he would conduct his lessons ‘out of sight’ from
other students, sitting in the adjacent room. Japanese houses are, however, not very well

1045
Blasdel, The Single Tone: A Personal Journey into Shakuhachi Music, 2008, 17, 21.

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insulated, and the sound is clearly audible through the thin walls. When there are no other
students in the preparation room playing with the sub-teacher, the sound of the transmitter,
here Yamaguchi Gorō, would be part of the external context for S3 in the illustration.

(c) Observing the teacher.

This element is partly related to (b), but presumably the sub-teacher is at a higher level
than even the more advanced students. A student, e.g., S1 or S2 in Figure 10, will have
plenty to think about during his or her own lesson, and in many cases it is not possible to
look at the sub-teacher or transmitter while s/he is playing. At the fairly high pace at which
the pieces are taught, the student will often have enough problems finding his or her way in
the score, remembering aspects of technique, rhythm, and so on. While waiting, on the other
hand, the student, e.g., S3, is given plenty of opportunities to watch how the sub-teacher
employs various techniques.
Since none of these three aspects of the learning situation (waiting, listening, observing)
relates directly to the individual (S3 in the illustration), I count them as part of the external
context for this individual learner. They are still, of course, part of the Event, and therefore
constitute an important and integral part of the social setting in which the transmission is
being conducted. The relation between internal and external contexts can be visualized as in
the following illustration, Figure 10.
By observing and listening, the student will interpret the ‘marks’ produced, i.e., the
Esthesic Processes. This gives the student S3 enough time to try to translate these
interpretations of a technique into the Poietic Processes of reproducing the technique. Either
by imagination, or by playing ‘air-shakuhachi,’ the student S3 is able to apply what s/he
hears and sees directly into practice. The period of waiting thereby becomes an important
bridge from the Esthesic Level to the Poietic Level, through the Neutral Traces heard and
seen.

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Figure 10: Relation between internal and external contexts.

Total social fact: the social context

Total musical fact

T

St

Internal context between

Transmitter and Student 1.

Internal context between

Transmitter and Student 2.
S1 External context
for Student 3.

S2

S3

Possible effects in the

Poietic Dimension.

8.3.5 Concluding Discussion of Transmission-type of Enactments

By applying the supporting theory of Ter Ellingson, dividing the prescriptive elements of
transmission into four different systems, my analysis of one sample of Transmission-type of
Enactment indicates the existence of a complex web of internal and external contexts in the
learning process, to which the learner is supposed to align his or her playing.
Each Transmission-type of Enactment will have outer boundaries, limited by the school
or lineage, or a subdivided guild within a larger framework, with an iemoto as the aesthetic
leader and norm. In relation to the external context, the Poietic Processes on behalf of the
transmitter or a sub-teacher is mainly directed to a third party of the same grouping. Thus,
the individual learner is primarily left to his or her Esthesic Processes in learning the
repertoire, i.e., finding the outer boundaries of the lineage, but also with respect to a deeper
understanding of various techniques employed by the transmitter. In relation to the inner
context, the Poietic Processes of the transmitter and sub-teacher would normally embody an
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intention of conveying a correct understanding of the somatic activities required in order to

master the art, and the learner is thus in direct contact with these processes through the
‘marks’ indicated by the available systems. I argue that the processes that a learner
undergoes constitue a highly complex web of interpretations and attempts at re-enactment,
far from what is sometimes referred to as mechanical repetition or imitation. Francis Hsu,
for example, states that, “the disciple learns not by receiving explicit instruction but by
unconscious imitation of the master.”1046 The instruction may not be explicit verbally, but I
would argue that it is explicit in terms of the elements discussed above, e.g., audial, visual,
and so on. To refer to the learning processes as “unconscious imitation” is perhaps a better
description of the situation the author would prefer to be in, if he was to learn an art form,
than it is an explanation of the actual situation of the learner.
The Transmission-type of Enactment is a series of activities aimed at an understanding of
the music, in such a way that any reproduction of the transmitted material would recreate a
sonorous reality that authoritative agents would regard as ‘similar’ or ‘same’ as the one
being transmitted. The basis for any evaluation of ‘similar’ or ‘same’ will be subject to the
transmitter’s own Esthesic Processes in regard to his or her interpretation of precedent, i.e.,
the transmitter’s teacher and the learning process s/he underwent.

8.3.6 A Suggested Definition of Phrases, Patterns, and Idioms

Based on the above discussion, and Tsukitani’s division of pieces into ‘sound phrases’ and
‘musical phrases,’ I believe that there are two levels that can be added to this analysis,
namely what I will refer to as ‘sound idioms’ and ‘sound patterns.’ If we accept as a
hypothesis that an individual transmitter evaluates similarity based on his or her own
Esthesic Processes, then the expression of each note, the addition of ornaments, timing, and
so on, constitute a mixture of learned behaviour (somatic activities) and individual
idiosyncracies.
Tsukitani uses the term ‘sound phrase’ almost synonymously with ‘sound pattern’ (cf.
Section 8.2.1), but in either case, she is referring to structural elements, i.e., notated signs in
the musical score, which constitute the smallest melodic unit. Ornaments that are not
prescribed in the notation, or ornaments that are prescribed but omitted by an individual
transmitter, are part of what I would refer to as the individual transmitter’s idiomatic
expressiveness. If we look at Plate 30 in Section 8.3.1 above, I would, for example, perceive
any ornament or ornaments before the first sound (named tsu), between the first two sound
(named tsu and ro), and on the second sound (named ro), as partly individual. The timing,
the execution in respect to the strength of the ornament, and variation in dynamics, also
constitute ornamental aspects of the expressiveness of the phrase. Further, the repetition
(named nayashi) should begin at a pitch that is lower than the previous tone (in this case the
ro), but how low one begins is partly determined by the style (it could begin half a tone step
below the previous tone, or a full step), and partly individual. These ornamental aspects
would then be – at least partly – particular to an individual transmitter, i.e., part of the

1046
Francis Hsu, Iemoto: The Heart of Japan, 1975, 63.

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transmitter’s idiomatic expressiveness. I will refer to these idiomatic aspects as ‘sound

idioms.’ Tsukitani uses the words ‘sound phrase’ (onku) and ‘sound pattern’ (onkei) more or
less as synonyms,1047 but they would refer to the whole phrase in Plate 30. I suggest the
word ‘phrase’ (kyokusetsu) for the smallest melodic unit, or, as I would express it, the
smallest units carrying musical meaning, which then would correspond to Tsukitani’s onku
or onkei. I regard the part of the phrase from the first tone (tsu) to the second tone (ro) as a
pattern of sounds, an onkei or ‘sound pattern.’ The sound pattern, being smaller than the
‘phrase,’ does not carry musical meaning. Furthermore, the ‘sound pattern’ can consist of
one or more ‘sound idioms’ (onku), which are the smallest unit of expression, consisting of
one tone or a tone and a cluster of ornaments. I summarize my terminology, in comparison
with Tsukitani’s in Figure 11.1048
Figure 11: Definition of terms denoting structural elements.

Sounds Idioms Patterns Phrases Larger units

Motifs:
Linder oto (音) onku (音句) onkei (音型) kyokusetsu (曲節) gakusō (楽想)

Passages:
1049
Tsukitani oto (音) onku (音句) gakku (楽句)
onkei (音型)

Phrases, which Tsukitani refers to as onkei (or onku) and I call kyokusetsu, are structural
– and ontologically of course important – aspects of a piece. As Tsukitani states, the phrases
are the smallest musical units, but I argue that it is possible to analyze these units at the
level of idiomatic expressiveness and as reoccurring patterns, in my terminology at the level
of ‘sound idioms/onku’ and ‘sound patterns/onkei.’ The ‘sound idioms/onku’ are, as
mentioned, not independently meaningful musical units, but purely units on the level of
analysis. Phrases, ideally but not necessarily played in one breath, constitute the smallest
musically meaningful units, but they consist of one or several ‘sound patterns/onkei,’ which
in turn normally would consist of one or more ‘sound idioms/onku.’ To give one simple
example of this, we can again look at Plate 30. The shakuhachi covers normally a little more
than two octaves, the low register, the high register, and the extra high register (which is not
a complete octave). Supposing that the phrase is played in the higher of the two complete
tonal registers (octaves), the first tone (tsu) can be given an ornament commencing in the
lower register (octave). An attack can be added to give the sound more accentuation.
Normally a bend of the tone is inserted between the first and the second tone (between the
tsu and the ro), but the timing and the actual change of the pitch can vary. An attack can

1047
Tsukitani uses the Japanese words 音句 for ‘sound phrase’ (onku), and 音型 for ‘sound pattern’ (onkei).
1048
The words I suggest here are 曲節 for ‘phrase’ (kyokusetsu), 音型 for ‘sound pattern’ (onkei), and 音句 for ‘sound
idiom’ (onku). The word fushi (節) is commonly used in other indigenous music forms to denote approximately a
phrase. Thus, I find a word that is related to this term, i.e., kyokusetsu, to be better than the words gakku (楽句) or
gakusetsu (楽節), which are Japanese translations of the corresponding terms ‘phrase’ and ‘passage’ in Western
music theory.
1049
Tsukitani, Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 2000, pp. 128, 133–136, 145–148.

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also be added when arriving on the second tone, the ro. Whether these ornaments are added
or not is part of the idiomatic expressiveness on behalf of the individual performer/
transmitter: they are what I would call ‘sound idioms/onku.’ It is technically significant if
one is told, for example, to add an attack; but the attack has no musical significance on its
own. In a phrase it becomes musically significant. My notion of ‘sound patterns/onkei’
builds on the fact that sometimes the same ‘sound idioms/onku’ are used in various ‘sound
patterns/onkei.’ For example, the whole cluster of sounds from the initial tone, tsu, to the
second tone, ro, can be viewed as a ‘sound pattern/onkei.’ A phrase can consist of just these
two tones, without the repetition (nayashi) in Plate 30. The sound developing from the tsu to
the ro can be learned as a pattern, used in different phrases. Still, different phrases of a
similar pattern, tsu – ro, may include different ‘sound idioms/onku,’ e.g., the initial attack
on the first tone tsu may be excluded.
The most important and the most difficult aspects of the music and its transmission are
not conducted on the ‘visible’ level, but rather within the idiomatic expressions applied
inside various patterns by individual transmitters. This level of understanding does include a
considerable amount of creative work on behalf of the receiver. The ‘sound idioms/onku’
within the ‘sound patterns/onkei’ that are not always notated, their possible omission, the
timing of adding the ornaments, and so on, are all part of the mixture of the audial, visual,
and to some extent kinesic elements of the learning process.
From this viewpoint, kata – as structural elements – are more or less equivalent to
‘phrases’ or ‘sound patterns.’ On the other hand, I argue that Nishiyama’s notion of
intangible prescriptive elements extends to the level of ‘sound idioms/onku.’ The difference,
however, seems to be that the individual aspects are emphasized if we talk of ‘sound
idioms/onku’ as an individual transmitter’s idiosyncratic or idiomatic expressiveness. I
would argue that changes within the music will most often appear firstly as changes on the
level of ‘sound idioms/onku,’ and in some cases, maybe later they are indicated in the
notated structural patterns, or they reach a level of tacit knowledge and understanding
among the practitioners: by no means all ornaments and techniques are notated, but they are
still performed.

8.4 Concluding Discussion on Transmission of Tradition

The early Meiji period saw a rapid spread of lineages or schools under the umbrella of what
is often called Myōan style of shakuhachi, which soon canonized their own repertoires. The
oldest canonized repertoire is within the Kinko-ryū, but also within this school there was
dispersion at the beginning of the Meiji period. The honkyoku pieces partly lost their
position as the main repertoire to learn, and became more of an esoteric repertoire that the
advanced students learned after having studied the external repertoire of ensemble pieces.
The Kinko-ryū placed an emphasis on the external repertoire, the ensemble music, which
had developed during the Edo period, even though the honkyoku were kept at the core.
The iemoto system developed during the middle of the Edo period within the popular arts.
The earliest records relate to samurai families and temples, and the first appearance in

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popular art forms dates from 1757; in the first half of the nineteenth century there is a record
of thirty-one iemoto in the same number of genres of popular arts.1050 This development was
delayed within the shakuhachi world until the beginning of the Meiji period, partly due to
the fact that the shakuhachi was controlled within the framework of the Fuke sect. Even
though the shakuhachi became popular among townspeople in the major cities, these
activities were not overtly acknowledged.
The “Kaidō honsoku” of 1628 mentions sixteen branches, and even though neither
Kinko-ryū nor Ikkan-ryū were firmly established schools, there were probably a number of
divergent playing techniques in use during the Edo period among practitioners, i.e., the
komusō. Therefore, we cannot really define one single shakuhachi tradition during the Edo
period. The considerable changes during the first decades of the Meiji period, however, led
to the establishment of numerous schools and lineages. Kamisangō comments that the scope
of this development engendered a situation where “we can say that there were as many
lineages as there were shakuhachi performers.” 1051 Even if licences were handed out
individually from the three main temples during the Edo period, it was one tradition only in
respect of the fact that there was one administrative and governing body, the Fuke sect. The
development of an iemoto system, thus, did not occur until the Meiji period. My analysis
demonstrates that the dispersion of the shakuhachi honkyoku during the Meiji period, and up
to modern times, indicates the establishment of a very large number of ‘sub-traditions,’
invented for the benefit of each individual lineage, and that the transmission activities
conducted are aligned according to the idiosyncracies of each iemoto, both in regard to the
origin of that lineage, and in regard to its sonorous content.
The folklore scholar Roger Abrahams, whom I discuss above, refers to Enactments as,
“any cultural event in which community members come together to participate, employ the
deepest and most complex multivocal and polyvalent signs and symbols of their repertoire
of expression thus entering into a potentially significant experience.”1052 He writes about
different ontological realms such as ‘pure performance’ and ‘pure festivity,’1053 depending
on the social context of the enactment. The social context is dependent on the attitude,
expectations, and ability of the participants. A ‘pure performance’ differs from a ‘pure
transmission’ with regard to the expected outcome of the enactment, both from the
standpoint of the transmitter and of the participant, an audience or a student, their attitudes
towards the material and the situation. I argue that Abrahams’s Enactments are, in several
ways, similar to the social context that develops within a school, lineage or guild, i.e.,
within the social framework of one iemoto; a tradition develops within this framework, for
aesthetic, social, and socio-economical reasons. Whatever standard is set, as regards the
repertoire, the correct way of performing, the historical background, and so on, this standard
becomes the fundament of the lineage; it becomes a tradition, invented and protected by the
iemoto of that lineage. Any interpretation of the tradition, its music, and performance
techniques, i.e., the Esthesic Dimension, must be in accordance with the standards set out by
and through the prescribed rules, i.e., the Poietic Processes on behalf of the iemoto, in order

1050
Nishiyama, Iemoto no kenkyū (1959), 1982, 7–14.
1051
Kamisangō, “Shakuhachi-gaku no ryakushi: ...” (1974), 1995, 112.
1052
Roger Abrahams, “Toward an Enactment-Centered Theory of Folklore,” 1977, 80.
1053
Ibid., 102.

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to be potentially significant experiences. These rules are visible in the Neutral Traces: the
writings, the notation, and the actual performances and transmission activities conducted
within the lineage.
It is not uncommon that a single learner would like to study another style. To do this, the
consent of the iemoto is normally required. To go behind the back of one’s master may
result in exclusion from the school, and in the worst case, a blacklisting. It is, however,
uncommon to hold a position within two separate schools at the same time. The
master-disciple relation is normally a relationship that builds on mutual responsibility and
duty: the master supports and protects the disciple, and the disciple fulfils his or her
responsibility of faithful service to his or her master.1054 This leads to a certain amount of
inertia in the system. New approaches, changes of modes of expression, and so forth, will
take on a comparatively slow pace.
Music that was composed before the Meiji period (here I refer to shakuhachi honkyoku)
consists of a limited number of fixed forms, clusters of sounds or ‘sound phrases’ to use the
terminology of Tsukitani. These patterns constitute the structure of a specific piece, and as
such they do, to a certain extent, contain prescriptive elements. Still, even within one
lineage, e.g., the Kinko-ryū, a person who is acquainted with the tradition would, in most
cases, be able to tell to which guild within the Kinko-ryū a certain performer belongs. This
indicates that the prescriptive elements of ‘how-to’ are determined by the transmission
process that the performer has undergone.
There are, however, some aspects of the learning/transmission process that are under
present and rapid change, namely the aspect of modernity in transmission. I believe that
there are two aspects of modern times that are directly related to transmission: Virtual
Context and Time Efficiency.

Virtual Context
Modern technical equipment is becoming more and more commonly used, and several
transmitters also produce their own material, presumably in order to supply a ‘correct’
understanding of the prescriptive forms.
The most comprehensive honkyoku learning material within the Kinko-ryū is to my
knowledge Yamaguchi Gorō, kinko-ryū shakuhachi honkyoku shinan (Yamaguchi Gorō,
Manual of Kinko-ryū Shakuhachi Honkyoku),1055 which contains a set of CD’s, two videos,
written explanations of some of the more complicated phrases in the pieces, and musical
notation. In the audio recordings Yamaguchi explains some of the difficult phrases or
patterns in the piece (or a couple of lines at a time), then he sings the notation while one of
his top students plays. After each piece, there is a “model performance” of the piece, played
by Yamguchi Gorō himself. In the two videos (each approx. 30 minutes), Yamaguchi
explains and shows how to play some central phrases. The notation is given on the screen,
with colouring as the phrase proceeds, and the fingers, lips, etc., are shot from different
angles shown in split screen. The written explanations contain basically the same material

1054
Hsu, Iemoto: The Heart of Japan, 1975, p. 64. As a comparison, there are non-Japanese practitioners of
shakuhachi who hold master licenses from teachers of different lineages. To my knowledge this is not a common
practice in Japan, and Hsu’s description would be the normal case.
1055
Yamaguchi Gorō, Yamaguchi Gorō, kinko-ryū shakuhachi honkyoku shinan, 1991.

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as the audio and the video material. The material is of course very comprehensive, and of
great help for those who are not able to take lessons directly. I would, however, argue that it
creates a fixed form: the prescriptive elements are easily accessible, and easily confirmed by
watching and listening to the material.
Other recordings also help to create a perspective of correct interpretation that is not
aligned with change or diffusion: anyone can at any time confirm how a certain part of a
piece should be played, by listening to a CD. I argue that this may lead to a more rigid way
of interpreting the music, and especially so a more rigid interpretation of the art of the
departed great masters. The recordings constitute a standard, an audio canon, against which
all succeeding practitioners are evaluated. It is as if the iemoto never disappeared or never
changed: a virtual omnipresent iemoto.

Time efficiency
The issue of time efficiency is, I think, related to the issue of virtual context. There is, I
believe, a tendency in Japan to move away from the idea of having ‘lesson days,’ and
instead the students will make appointments with their teachers. This may of course be due
to an increasingly busy society, but I do not believe that this is the sole reason; additionally,
the available material makes it possible for a learner to prepare lessons in a way that was not
possible not so long ago. This can be compared to the teaching of the gaikyoku repertoire up
until the former half of the twentieth century. At this time, there was no standard notation
for the shakuhachi part of the ensemble pieces. The teacher would write approximately three
lines worth of music during each lesson, and the student would come for more frequent
lessons than is the case today. Since the part to be taught during the lesson was written and
given to the student during the lesson, there was no way for the learner to prepare the
lesson.1056
Of course, the idea of having twenty minutes with your teacher may sound inefficient in a
cost-time ratio, compared to the normal one-hour lessons conducted more frequently today.
On the other hand, in the act of transmission that I discuss above, the actual ‘contact-time’
can be much more than an hour, eventhough it may not feel as efficient as a one-hour lesson,
since the external context takes precedence over the internal context. Thus, the time
efficiency relates to the notion of virtual context, i.e., the possibility of being in touch with
the teacher through the means of pedagogic self-study material. In this way, I believe that
there is a shift from external context to virtual context in modern teaching practices.

***

My analysis of actual transmission enactments indicates that the intangible prescriptive

elements constitute very complex relations between both the internal and the external
contexts for the learner. These prescriptive elements could be understood in terms of what
Nishiyama refers to as kata, but I believe that this concept is either too narrow, or too
ambiguous, to give full recognition to the complex web of elements that are implicit in the
learning process. Unless we accept that there is an essence in historical events that we can
1056
Personal communication with Yamaguchi Gorō on September 19, 1996. See also Linder, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi
no gaikyoku ni kansuru kenkyū …, 1997, 16.

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experience regardless of time passed since their occurrences, I have not found any items in
these kata that go beyond the individual transmitter and his or her Esthesic Processes in
regard to precedent. To adhere to form, the insistence on following precedent, which is an
important factor in the so-called ‘traditional arts,’ is, however, not an essential quality
inherent in these forms. Based on my analysis, I argue that we may regard the insistence on
following precedent, to follow one’s teacher, as a characteristic of the cultural context, not
of the art form itself. Thus, kata is something that we can decide to follow, and in doing so,
we also add a value to this activity.
My analyses of kata, both as a structural unit, and as a kind of prescriptive form, have led
me to the definition of two layers in the actual execution of the music that have not been
explicit in previous studies of shakuhachi honkyoku. Tsukitani refers to phrases or patterns
(onku/onkei), as constituting the “smallest melodic units.” I argue that the phrases, which I
call kyokusetsu, can be further divided in the individual idiosyncrasies on the level of ‘sound
idioms/onku,’ and a single or a cluster of such ‘sound idioms/onku’ that constitute ‘sound
patterns/onkei,’ as indicated in Figure 11 above (Section 8.3.6).

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Chapter  9  –  Summary  &  Implications  

In the previous chapters I have made concluding remarks and discussions. Here I
summarize the central issues and findings of my analyses, and proceed to a discussion of
more general implications of these findings.

9.1 Summary of Findings

The aim of Chapters 4 to 6 was to study the twentieth-century research relating to the
history of the shakuhachi that precedes the Edo period, and in Chapter 7 I have discussed in
detail the conclusions we can draw from these analyses. My hypothesis was that the
connection that was assumed between the monks of the Medieval Period and the Edo period
monks was construed. By analyzing the material on the three levels inherent in Nattiez’s
tripartitional approach – the Neutral Level, the Esthesic Level, and the Poietic Level – the
conclusion drawn in Chapter 7 was that, in the Neutral Dimension, there are reasons to
question the development from boro-boro to komosō and eventually to the Edo period
komusō. Furthermore, in the Esthesic Dimension, I have indicated that the existing research
has given rise to a commonly accepted view of such a development. Finally, in the Poietic
Dimension, my analyses indicate a possibly intentional wish to create such a perception of
the shakuhachi tradition.
The aim of Chapter 8 was to investigate the notion of traditionality in the actual process
of transmission, based on the notion of kata, as defined by Nishiyama, and the Enactment
theory presented by Abrahams. My conclusion was that kata is a formalized interpretation
of precedent, by the bearer of the tradition, i.e., a result of the transmitter’s own Esthesic
Processes, which result in Poietic Processes during an Act of Transmission. Any variation
that occurs with respect to the actual sonorous reality within a given cultural context is
therefore part of an intentional and deliberate change, which is prescribed by the transmitter:
it becomes part of the kata. My hypothesis was that kata is a fluid concept that does not
correspond to a definable, structural unit of the music, and that it is only definable in terms
of individual variations. My analysis indicates that this way of perceiving kata at work in
the process of learning results in a possible way of finding smaller units in the music, for
example the two kinds of units I refer to as ‘sound idioms/onku,’ and ‘sound patterns/onkei.’
These units are smaller than those that Tsukitani found in her structural analysis of the
honkyoku pieces (cf. Sections 8.2.1, 8.2.4, and 8.3.6). For Tsukitani, a phrase is more or less
the same as one pattern, and ideally it is performed in one breath. Even if Tsukitani

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acknowledges phrases that contain a breath, i.e., a pause in the music, she does not carry
that possibility further to indicate smaller units than the phrase, which she refers to as the
smallest melodic units.

9.2 Implications of the Findings

9.2.1 Tradition
The concept of ‘tradition’ is complex. Everything in a cultural context has an origin; it is not
that we create things from out of the blue, but rather make additions and changes to an
already existing element. The concept ‘tradition’ has of course a relation to ‘transmittance’;
we can imagine that ‘tradition’ somehow constitutes the creation of the present, by means of
transmission from past occurrences, knowledge, abilities, and the like. To find this line of
transmission from the other side, so to speak, to see the line from present back to the past, is,
I believe, a completely different story. To line up events in the past and say that ‘these are
the reasons for what we have now’ is as difficult as to see into the future. Thus, ‘tradition’
as ‘transmission’ of cultural traits, whether we see it from the past to the future, or from the
present back to the past, does not give us the essential quality of what it was that changed,
unless it is a simple causality: I played this note, and therefore you, as my student, played
the same note. What we do, I believe, is to thrust a present state into the past, and say that:
‘This is how I do it, because this is the way they did it before.’ This is akin to the obscure
references that Morinaga calls Type 3 citations, which have the dynamic force to connect
the present with the past,1057 and I think that they also have an ability to throw a past back to
an imagined even further past. Without first-hand experience of the act of transmission, it
would be very difficult to say that something in the past was this or that. We do not know,
and cannot tell, whether the boro monks transmitted some aspects of cultural traits,
behaviour, clothing, and so forth, to other types of monks. We can only interpret these
matters on a level of probability.
If we regard tradition as a temporal entity, which connects past with present, we would
have to conceive of synchronic states of ‘culture’ as saturated points on a historical timeline.
This may defuse Hobsbawm’s notion of ‘invented tradition’ (cf. Section 1.3.3.1), since
tradition then becomes the very vehicle of transition from ‘then’ to ‘now.’ Based on my
understanding of Hobsbawm’s ideas, I believe that Hobsbawm would argue against this.
One line of argumentation would be that even if we assume that traditions are created from
the past, some traditions are created, not from a past that we can analyse as Traces in the
Neutral Dimension, but from a construed past. A construed past can consist of made-up, not
historically proven ‘facts,’ or as more or less probable connections between past events.
Even within an invented tradition there may be elements with links to a historically proven
Trace in the past. The stake for Hobsbawm is more to disclose the cases of tradition where
1057
Morinaga, Secrecy in Japanese Arts …, 2005, 58.

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the connection to the past is fabricated. Hobsbawm acknowledges the existence of ‘real’
traditions, and the problem lies not in their existence or development. For him, it is the
historical authenticity of traditions, and the intention of linking certain aspects of the past to
their present day activities that are of concern, i.e., how and why tradition is, or can be,
created.
With ‘tradition’ seen as a diachronic transition, it could not comprise any of the more or
less fixed and rigid rules for behaviour or any other constant value with which to comply,
which would be a guide during this transition from one synchronic ‘culture’ to another. If
we regard ‘tradition’ as the dynamic force, the creative processes that provide a new
concretization of our history, ‘tradition’ seems to evaporate at the very moment of
concretization: it would denote a stream of constant change.
The concept of ‘tradition’ is, however, generally not understood as a concept with strong
connotations of fluidity or rapid change, but rather it has strong connotations of
‘authenticity,’ ‘stability,’ and something that is more ‘original’ than the present. It seems
therefore to be more closely connected to the past than to the present or the future. The
sense of stability and oldness in the ‘traditional’ arts of Japan has probably been enhanced
by the iemoto system, which deplores fluidity and exchange, and thereby works against
change. The iemoto system builds on a contract between teacher and learner, master and
disciple, and it is constructed as a hierarchical pyramid. The more students the iemoto has,
and the more people who study under guidance of the iemoto – or his or her disciples – the
more social recognition and economic power the iemoto obtains.1058
As discussed in Section 7.3, the doctrine of a ‘tradition’ is locked within the group, and
can only be challenged and changed by its authoritative head, the iemoto. The early
twentieth-century studies were the first historical studies of the shakuhachi. Mikami
undertook the first critical study of the Fuke sect and the “Keichō okite-gaki”; Kurihara
attempted a comprehensive study of older historical material; Nakatsuka was mainly
concerned with documents relating to the Fuke sect and its temples. In a way they were
pioneers in the field. From that perspective it is rather surprising that the more recent studies
by Kamisangō, Ueno, and Tsukitani do not contain further detailed investigations of the
texts to which they relate, for example the material under study in this thesis. I have
indicated that this may be due to intentional aspects of positioning the origin of the modern
shakuhachi in an earlier indigenous culture. Referring to Section 7.2.1.3, Deeg’s discussion
of a re-spiritualization of the shakuhachi through a reversed import is suggestive.
By inventing an older indigenous tradition, the existing iemoto system is given stability
by authoritative scholastic examinations, in combination with a growing interest in the West
for spiritualism, Zen Buddhism, and the ‘mystical and incomprehensible’ aspects of
Japanese culture. Most of the late twentieth-century studies (the Writings, relating to
secondary sources; cf. 1.6.6), both in Japanese and English, then take on a new meaning: an
intention – in the Poietic Dimension – of preserving a notion of an old, original, unique, and
unchanging shakuhachi tradition. The Writings become the fundament of interpretation,
regardless of whether they are supported by the Texts (relating to primary sources; cf.
1.6.6).

1058
Cf. Hsu, Iemoto: The Heart of Japan, 1975, 63–68.

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9.2.2 Transmission
As mentioned above, in Japan, the possibility of learning and mastering more than one style,
and receiving acknowledgement of this by two separate teachers, is something that is
normally not accepted. A minimum requirement would be to receive the consent by the first
teacher. In Japan I have met people who have been given the consent by their teacher to take
lessons with another teacher of another style, either within a different lineage, or of a
different sub-group than the original teacher. I have also met people who have ‘ended’ the
contract with their iemoto; they have decided to leave the guild. On the other hand, I have
met only one Japanese who has held two master licenses from two different teachers of
different styles at the same time. This would be in violation of the normal understanding of
the conditions under which one enters into a teacher-student relationship: a contract of
mutual duties and responsibilities. In the case that I experienced the ‘doubling’ created a
series of apologies and turmoil in the affected community.
In the strictly hierarchical iemoto system it sometimes happens that a person becomes
unsuitable to be a member of a guild. Receiving acknowledgement from two different
teachers would be one plausible reason for exclusion, but there are several cases of less
obvious transgression. When a person is excluded from a guild it is referred to as ha-mon, a
‘ripped gate,’ which means that the person is excommunicated, and a notice of this is – to
my knowledge, normally – sent to the members of the guild. The notices of this kind that I
have seen have included a paragraph in which it states that the receiver of the notice is also
liable for excommunication if s/he in any way has musical or social interaction with the
person who has been excommunicated.
There have emerged non-Japanese individuals with ‘dual-diplomas,’ i.e., with master
licenses from two different teachers. I can only assume that this must be by consent of both
teachers involved. It is, however, interesting because it is an indication of something new in
the shakuhachi world: it could mean that the notion of ‘tradition’ (stability and continuity) is
transforming into a concept of modernity (change and novelty), and that the authority of any
given iemoto can be challenged in new ways. A Japanese who would be interested in
studying with two different teachers, would probably not ask for a master license. On the
other hand, if the second teacher is aware that the first teacher has not given his or her
consent, the student may very well be rejected in order to maintain the social balance
between the two teachers concerned. I believe that there is yet another possible
interpretation of the emergence of ‘dual-diploma’ students, which relates to (1) what is
being transmitted, and (2) the transmitters’ socio-political situation.
The general idea of the iemoto system is that a student will undergo many years of
training, in order to achieve some kind of proficiency in the art. To ‘double’ is normally not
viewed as a possibility. A ‘doubler’ of non-Japanese descent is, perhaps, not regarded as a
full-fledged member of the tradition, or, that it is impossible for non-Japanese to achieve the
same level of proficiency as a person of Japanese descent. From the socio-political
perspective, a teacher with non-Japanese students creates for him- or herself a new foreign
market. With a student located in a foreign country, it would be possible to gain more
students. With the declining interest in indigenous music among Japanese people, a new
foreign market is of course a possible new source of income. It also provides opportunities

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for tours abroad, which enhances status: to be an ‘exporter’ of an indigenous music culture
is highly valued, and such activities are often included in the CV of the ‘exporter.’

9.2.3 Understanding
The issue (1) above, what is being transmitted, raises questions of what the transmission of
tradition implies in terms of content. This question leads to the implications of the process
of transmission of the (semi-) oral shakuhachi tradition, and the understanding of the
elements that are being transmitted on behalf of the student/receiver of the tradition. As
discussed elsewhere, there are different levels of intention in the creation of art, e.g., the
intentions in the creation during a performance versus the intentions involved in an act of
transmission. There are, I think, also different levels, or layers rather, of experiential depth,
i.e., in Nattiez’s Esthesic Dimension. The aesthetic experience of an everyday listener is
different from the listening conducted by a learner. I will assume that there are different
layers of Esthesic Processes with a relative difference in depth.
Paul Ricoeur discusses two levels of understanding a text: it can be explained and it can
be understood. What Ricoeur refers to when talking about the explanation is a structural
explanation of the text “in terms of internal relations, its structure.”1059 This explanatory part,
or layer, of an analysis is very close to an analysis of the immanent structure of the Neutral
Trace. It may be conducted as part of an analysis, regardless of whether the analyst is a
researcher or a learner of the tradition. I argue that the learner of the tradition is (more or
less) forced to conduct such a structural analysis, in many cases maybe without conscious
deliberations, in order to enable the music to make sense on a structural level. Ricoeur refers
to the lingustic discipline and its structural elements phonemes, morphemes and
semantemes, and also to Lévi-Strauss’s concept of ‘mythemes.’1060 By analogy, on the basis
of my findings, I think that there is enough ground to introduce a new term, which I have
named ‘musemes.’ I believe that it is possible to define the smaller units that are part of the
immanent structure of the music, which I have called ‘sound patterns/onkei’ above (Section
8.3.6), as constituting ‘musemes’ of the music. These units, musemes, can of course be
analysed into smaller units, such as sound idioms/onku, or even down to the level of a single
note, but their meaning as structural units, cannot be divided further. If the single tones are
the general features of any music, the sound idioms/onku – in my definition – constitute the
idiosyncracies of an individual transmitter, the ‘musemes’ are the sound patterns/onkei that
make up larger building blocks and usually relate to a style, and finally, we have the
phrases/kyokusetsu, which carry musical meaning.
By analogy with Paul Ricouer, who writes about phoneme, morpheme, and semanteme in
linguistics, Lévi-Strauss compares ordinary language with music and myth, and finds that in
music there is something he calls ‘tonemes,’ individual tones, which corresponds to
phonemes, but that there is no similar entity in myths. In myth there are words, which are on

1059
Paul Ricoeur, “What Is a Text?” 1991, 51.
1060
Ibid., 53.

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a higher level than pure sounds, but at this level there is no corresponding unit in music. To
list his views:1061
Figure 12: Comparison between language, music, and myth.

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Language phonemes morphemes semantemes

Music tonemes — phrases

Myth — words mythemes

I believe that in music – and foremost in shakuhachi honkyoku music – we could apply
the term ‘musemes’ on the second level for music in the table above. Musemes would thus
approximately correspond to morphemes in language, the words used in the telling of a
myth, and even if the words in a myth are not selected randomly (there is a structure of
word order), they may be intoned and pronounced slightly differently with each telling of
the myth. I believe that the intonation of the words, prolongation of vowels for the sake of
dramatic effect, etc., are highly individual aspects, and I think it would be possible to argue
that this level roughly corresponds to, not the tones, but the ‘sound idioms/onku’ in my
analysis. We could then change the table above (Figure 12) in the following way:

Figure 13: Terminology introduced on the level of morphemes.

Level 1 Level 2a Level 2b Level 3

Language phonemes — morphemes semantemes

Music tonemes sound idioms musemes phrases

Myth — intonation words mythemes

According to Ricoeur, a phoneme is not a physical sound, but rather a function that is
defined in relation to other phonemes: it is not substance but form, an interplay of
relationships. In the same way, a mytheme is not a sentence in a myth, but a value that is
shared by several sentences.1062 The meaning of a myth is not conveyed by the sequence of
events in the myth, but rather by “bundles of events” within one single myth. 1063 My
understanding of Lévi-Strauss is that the mythemes may also be related to each other in
different myths in what would then be ‘bundles of relations.’ The same would be true also
for (shakuhachi) music; the ‘sound idioms/onku,’ the musemes, and the ‘phrases/kyokusetsu’
should be regarded as having ‘functions’ with a multiplicity of relations to other sound
idioms, which in turn are in inter-relationships with other sound idioms, musemes, and
phrases. Regarding the terms used here as ‘functions’ rather than physical entities, I will
make a final suggestion of terminology, in order not to confuse these words with any

1061
Claude Lévi-Strauss, Myth and Meaning, 1980, 45, 51–53.
1062
Ricoeur, “What Is a Text?”, 1991, 53.
1063
Lévi-Strauss, Myth and Meaning, 1980, 45.

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normal usage of similar words: the physical entities, the sounds we hear in various
combinations, should be differentiated from the function they have in the piece as a whole.
Thus, we should perceive musemes as possible relations: musemes are defined in relation to
their functionality. In the same manner, individual expressions (sound idioms) should be
separated from their functionality in relation to other ‘sound idioms/onku.’ The ‘sound
idioms/onku’ are the sounds we hear, but what I will call ‘idiomemes’ describe the
functionality of these sounds; the phrases are the structural elements we hear when we listen
to a piece, but what I will call ‘phrasemes’ describe the functionality of these phrases.
Figure 14: Terminology for functionality of the analyzed entities.

Level 1 Level 2 a Level 2 b Level 3

Sounds Idioms Patterns Phrases
Universal level Individual level Level of a style Melodic level
Japanese oto (音) onku (音句) onkei (音型) kyokusetsu (曲節)

Physical entity sounds sound idioms * sound patterns * phrases *

(actual tones) (intonation/ornaments) (tone and ornament) (musical statement)

Functionality tonemes idiomemes musemes phrasemes

The other part of the analytical experience is the ‘reading’ of the music as a text. Ricoeur
refers to music even in reading a text. He states that “[r]eading is like the execution of a
musical score: it marks the realization, the enactment, of the semantic possibilities of the
text.”1064 For Ricoeur, the interpretative part of the analysis would be an appropriation of
self to the musical text. Ricoeur comments that by ‘appropriation’ he understands that “the
interpretation of a text culminates in the self-interpretation of a subject who thenceforth
understands himself better, understands himself differently, or simply begins to understand
himself.” 1065 The appropriation is also a ‘concrete reflection’ that for Ricoeur has the
meaning of a correlative between hermeneutics and reflective philosophy. From my
discussion of the Poietic and Esthesic Levels, I believe that a rephrasing of Ricoeur in those
terms would be that Ricoeur’s ‘appropriation’ constitutes the transition from the Esthesic
Level to the Poietic Level, on behalf of the learner, as discussed in Sections 8.3.4 and 8.3.5.
I also firmly believe that, whether conscious or not, an understanding of the music on the
level of idiosyncracies and style-related patterns, ‘idiomemes,’ ‘musemes,’ and ‘phrasemes,’
is necessary to achieve a deeper appreciation of the music.
I will give one short example of how I believe that the elements above could be
employed in an analysis of the music. Koizumi Fumio analyzed folk songs of Japan in order
to find a rhythmical pattern. He did not believe that the rhythm in the folk songs had any
relationship with Western strong and weak beats, but rather that each phrase is dividable in
three elements: pronunciation, extension, and concluding ornamentation in the form of
melisma (one syllable is sung while moving between different successive tones). Each
phrase, concluded Koizumi, would not necessarily have the same time value. The question
than arises what elements decide the rhythm pattern. Koizumi’s solution was that the

1064
Ricoeur, “What Is a Text?”, 1991, 58.
1065
Ibid., 57.

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 Chapter 9 – Summary & Implications

extension of the tone and the melisma are determined by the pronunciation, but that there is
no need for a uniform time measure. Each phrase determines its own rhythm.1066 Even
though shakuhachi honkyoku is instrumental music, I believe that there are similarities. The
pattern or patterns that are contained in one phrase – its musemes – relate to the idiomatic
expression given each tone – the idiomemes. Especially the initial tone, its idiomatic
expression by an individual performer/transmitter, is crucial to the development of the rest
of the phrase, both in time and dynamics. The basic pattern is pre-existing, but it is given
various realizations by and through the idiomemes, which in turn are related to the totality
of the phrase. Instead of regarding the phrase (or pattern) as a fixed kata, I am convinced
that this type of structural analysis will give a different understanding of the complexity of
each single phrase.

9.3 Possibilities of Further Research

I believe that the findings of my analysis of music down to the level of sound idioms and
musemes may be applicable to other ‘traditional’ music forms, not limited to shakuhachi,
and maybe not even limited to music. The ‘tonemes’ that Lévi-Strauss introduced
corresponds to tones, sounds – in Japanese oto (音). The next three terms, marked with an
asterisk in Figure 14 above, follow my definition of the structural elements (physical
entities) in Section 8.3.6: ‘sound idiom’ (onku 音句), ‘sound pattern’ (onkei 音型), and ‘phrase’
(kyokusetsu 曲節). There may be larger units, such as themes, figures, etc., and the larger unit
after kyokusetsu would, assumably, correspond to Tsukitani’s gakku, but I prefer to regard
these larger units as motifs, or gakusō (楽想), as in Figure 11 above (Section 8.3.6). I hope
that this opens up the possibility of critical analyses of phrases in smaller units, without
disturbing the ideal notion of one breath/one phrase, and also that it makes individual
variation vis-à-vis a more general style more easily detectable. I also hope that the definition
of physical entities and their functionality, as in Figure 14 above, will prove fruitful in the
analysis of (traditional Japanese) music. Besides the ‘pure’ shakuhachi music, i.e., honkyoku,
I personally find the genre of the Edo-period ensemble music, jiuta-sōkyoku, to be a very
interesting and promising field of study. The findings in relation to structural elements in
the music – ‘sounds,’ ‘sound idioms,’ ‘sound patterns,’ and ‘phrases’ – and their
functionality – ‘tonemes,’ ‘idiomemes,’ ‘musemes,’ and ‘phrasemes’ – is a field where I
hope to be able to continue my research. Apart from a small number of instrumental pieces,
the the repertoire of jiuta-sōkyoku pieces is vocal, and the relationship between song text
and musical representation is highly interesting, for example – to use the terminology I have
introduced above – to investigate how words and musemes, intonation and idiomemes are
related to each other.
Yet another interesting field would be to further explore some of the elements inherent in
the honkyoku repertoire, for example, the notion of ‘free rhythm.’ Based on my experience
as a long-time learner, a performer and teacher of the music under study, I am convinced

1066
Koizumi, Nihon no oto (1977), 1996, 19–21, 330–333.

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 Deconstructing Tradition in Japanese Music

that there is no such thing as ‘free rhythm’ if this is understood as ‘played at will.’ It would
be exciting to further explore what Koizumi’s above-mentioned remarks on rhythm is
hinting at, and relate this to my classification above in Figure 14. I hope that these concepts
can prove fruitful not only in an analysis of music with roots in pre-Meiji-period Japan, but
also in an investigation of, for example, Japanese popular music, to see whether the
concepts are applicable to other music forms, or art forms, as well.
The findings in relation to the historical authenticity and the invention of tradition,
especially the ease with which a tradition is invented, imply several aspects that may need
more thorough investigation, not only within the shakuhachi tradition, but also within other
‘traditional’ art forms with a long history. As mentioned in Chapter 1, ‘traditional’ has a
wide field of denotations in Japan. There are many ‘traditional’ arts, and by adding
‘traditional’ some uniquely Japanese feature is often implied. With the strong influx of
Western music during the early days of the Meiji period, and the gradual turnover to
Western music in the mandatory education curriculum, the view of performers of
Edo-period music in the 1920s oriented itself towards a re-evaluation of the indigenous
music culture. In 1921, a magazine called Sankyoku was established, 1067 with the
shakuhachi performer Fujita Shun’ichi, better known under his shakuhachi name Fujita
Reirō, as one of the central figures. In the first issue, a colleague of Fujita, the sangen
musician Nakajima Toshiyuki, writes about the value of sankyoku as a music culture. He
comments on the influence of Western culture on the Japanese society and its people.

In the past, during the close to fifty year long Meiji period, all kinds of things drowned in
the Western culture, and it feels as if we still haven’t had enough days to assimilate to it.
People all over the country have been busy running about trying to accommodate to the
trend of foreign thought, neglecting the treasures in our own house. In this treasure house
many things have been put in, things that have always been caressed and believed in by
our ancestors, things that express their ideas and sentiments, their taste and customs. Of
course, our own music [hōgaku] is one of them, and here I would like to bring out and
introduce jiuta, or sankyoku as it also is called. 1068

The tension between ‘Western’ and ‘non-Western’ that seems to be the ground for this
statement must have called for some dichotomy, and we find the term hōgaku, denoting
‘(our) national music,’ i.e., the indigenous music in contrast to other music, e.g., Western
music, yōgaku, or otherwise implicitly stated ethnic music, e.g., traditional Chinese music,
modern Chinese music, and the like.1069
The idea of a Westernized music culture, as expressed by Nakajima above, still echoes in
Japan. One of the pioneers in teaching ‘traditional’ Japanese music in the mandatory school
education is Chihara Yoshio, whose endeavors are related by the ethnomusicologist Joanna
T. Pecore. In an interview with Pecore, Chihara is reported to have said that the Japanese
people of today are only Japanese “from the neck down,” and that they live their lives as

1067
The word sankyoku (三曲) refers to the practice of playing with three instruments: koto (箏), shamisen (三味線),
and shakuhachi (or the kokyū, 胡弓). Fujita Shunichi (Reirō) (藤田俊一 (鈴朗), 1883–1974).
1068
Nakashima Toshiyuki, “Sankyoku no kachi wa izure ni ariya?” 1921, 11. (過去半世紀に垂んとする明治年代は、百般
の事物、欧米の文化に沈溺し其の模倣に日尚ほ足らざるの感があったのである、全国民は外来思潮の応接に奔走して我が家の宝庫
を閑却して居ったのである、此の宝庫には我等祖先の思想や情趣、好尚や風俗披瀝し常に愛撫され信仰されたものが沢山にいれら
れてあるのである、勿論邦楽も其の一つであるが、私は茲に地歌、所謂三曲なるものを取り出して御招待致したい、).
1069
hōgaku (邦楽); yōgaku (洋楽); traditional Chinese music (中国の伝統音楽); modern Chinese music (中国の現代音楽).

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Japanese, “but their thinking patterns have been invaded by Western logic and cultural
values.”1070 Any culture that is in contact with different value systems is apt to change, and
the notion of the Japanese people being ‘divided in two’ is somewhat curios: even if we
regard it as an invasion of Western ideas, it is not a forced invasion but rather a ‘wished-for’
invasion. However, for whatever reason, I think that we now see a renaissance of
pre-Meiji-period art forms in Japan, both as performing art and as a subject of academic
study, which is qualitatively different than the renaissance during the nationalistic fever in
the early Shōwa period, and different from the building of a national identity during the
Meiji period.
As should be apparent from the present study, I find the word ‘traditional’ to be too
value-laden, implying notions of something that is connected to a more true ‘origin,’ or
being more ‘authentic.’ In some cases I believe that the words ‘tradition’ or ‘traditional’ are
used intentionally, to evoke such connotations. This said, there are several areas to be
further explored and enjoyed within the fabulous and aesthetically stimulating ‘traditional’
arts that exist in Japan. To avoid the confusion to which a notion of essential values may
give rise, it might be advisable to refer to these art forms as those that are performed in
alignment with what we believe to be ‘pre-Meiji-period practices.’

1070
Joanna T. Pecore “Bridging Contexts, Transforming Music,” 2000, 130. (The interview took place in 1993).

287
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Other Major Online Sources

British Museum. http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/
Chikuho-ryū Official Homepage. http://www.chikuhoryu.jp/.
The Chinese Text Project. http://ctext.org/. Designed, edited, and maintained by Donald
Sturgeon, University of Hong Kong, © 2006–2010.
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Tenpuku Dōkō-kai (天吹同好会), NPO. http://www.shimadzu-yoshihiro.or.jp/tenpuku.html.
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Tozan-ryū Gakkai Official Homepage. http://tozanryu.com/.
The Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum. http://www.denkoku-no-mori.yonezawa.yamagata.jp/.

Musical Notation
Miura Kindō (三浦琴童, 1875–1940). Kinko-ryū shakuhachi honkyoku gakufu: kenkon 琴古流
尺八本曲楽譜 乾坤 (Musical Score for Kinko-ryū Shakuhachi Honkyoku: Volume 1 and 2).
1928–29. Tokyo: Chikumeisha, 1971.

Recorded Music
Yamaguchi Gorō (山口五郎, 1933–99). “Hi-fu-mi Hachi-gaeshi no Shirabe” (一二三鉢返調), in
Yamaguchi Gorō, kinko-ryū shakuhachi honkyoku shinan 山口五郎、琴古流尺八本曲指南
(Yamaguchi Gorō, Manual of Kinko-ryū Shakuhachi Honkyoku), CD set, Video, and
musical notation. Tokyo: Victor, 1991.
———. “Shizu no Kyoku” (志図の曲), “Yoshiya Reibo” (吉野鈴慕), “Uchi-kae Kyorei” (打替
虚霊), “Namima Reibo” (波間鈴慕), “Sanya Sugagaki” (三谷菅垣), in Ningen-kokuhō
Yamaguchi Gorō, shakuhachi no shinzui: shakuhachi honkyoku 人間国宝山口五郎、尺八神髄
尺八本曲 (Living National Treasure Yamaguchi Gorō, The Essence of Shakuhachi:
Shakuhachi Honkyoku), CD set. Tokyo: Victor, 1999.

306
 Index  

Abrahams, Roger D., 53–55, 57, 60, 232, 254, context:

263, 274, 278. external, 265, 268–70, 276.
internal, 265, 267, 270, 276.
Aoki Reibo I, 248.
cultural/social, 36, 39, 43–44, 48, 54–56,
—— Reibo II, 218, 245–46, 248, 255.
61–62, 67, 131–33, 138, 193–94, 199, 224,
Araki Kodō II (Chikuō), 241, 245, 248, 256. 243, 247, 255–56, 260–63, 265, 274, 277–79.
—— Kodō III, 248. virtual, 275–76.
—— Kodō IV, 248.
—— Kodō V (Chikuō II), 245–46, 248.
—— Kodō VI, 248. Deeg, Max, 80, 168, 201, 224–25, 280.
dengaku, 45, 52, 74, 142–45, 168, 203–04.
bakufu (see central authorities).
dōka, 74, 144, 219.
Ben-Amos, Ben, 25–26, 42–44, 46–49, 54.
dynamic hearsay, 50, 103, 131, 135, 144, 150–52.
Blasdel, Christopher Yohmei, 74, 78, 99, 102, 172,
193, 200, 217–18, 225, 256, 259, 264, 268.
Ellingson, Ter, 252, 260, 263, 265–66, 270.
Blyth, R. H., 74, 141.
emic, 61.
bon-ji, 109, 155–156, 172, 177, 184. (See also
boro, boron-ji, kan-ji). enactment (theory, types of), 24, 54–57, 232, 243,
250, 254–55, 258, 260–65, 270–71, 274, 278, 284.
boro (boro-boro), 24, 135, 144, 146–48, 150–52,
154–79, 181–84, 186–87, 195, 205, 207–15, ensemble music (see gaikyoku and sankyoku).
217–18, 222–23, 230–31, 278–79. (See also boro, esthesic (dimension, level, process), 22, 24, 47, 57,
bon-ji, kan-ji). 60–62, 65–68, 70–71, 152, 210, 212, 214, 222,
Boro-boro no sōshi, 147, 156, 160–61, 168–71, 227, 248, 255, 261, 264, 269–71, 274, 277–78,
173–78, 184, 212. 282, 284.
“Boro no te-chō” (see “Kaidō honsoku”). etic, 40, 61.
boron-ji, 109, 155–56, 172, 177, 184. (See also event (theory), 46–49, 53–55, 232, 243, 248, 254,
boro, bon-ji, kan-ji). 260–61, 263, 268–69, 274.

central authorities (bakufu), 58, 99, 112–13, Foucault, Michel, 35–36, 230–31.
115–16, 119–21, 123, 125, 129–30, 148, 152, 212, Fuke:
228, 230, 235.
monks, 155, 186, 202, 204, 216, 223, 229, 240.
Chikuho-ryū, 77, 236, 240, 256. (See also komusō).
communication (artistic, acts of, musical), 44–47, historical person, 15, 21, 58, 74, 76–77, 102,
67–68, 243, 260. 104, 106–7, 112, 130, 136, 139–41, 146,
149–52, 202, 204–25, 208, 213–14, 216–17,
communicative events, 44–47.
219, 221–24, 230–31.

307
Fuke (cont’d) Ichigetsu-ji (temple), 114–16, 118, 125, 129, 149,
233, 239.
sect, 21–23, 45, 58, 72–73, 76–77, 79, 92, 96,
98–99, 102–4, 111–16, 121–22, 124–25, 128, Ichirosō, 222–23.
130, 135, 149, 161, 171–72, 186, 208, 213,
idiomeme, 284–85.
224, 233, 235, 241–42, 274, 280.
Iei Michiko, 169–71, 174–75.
temples (see komusō temples).
Ikkyū Sōjun, 58, 74, 91, 93, 112, 135–41, 143–44,
fuke shakuhachi (instrument), 83, 85, 92–93, 95,
146, 151, 162, 205, 208, 210–11, 216, 219–24,
99, 102, 127, 141, 213, 217, 240, 243.
230–31. (See also Kyōun-shū).
Fukuda Randō, 246.
invented tradition, 37–38, 43, 103, 111, 131, 187,
231, 279.
gagaku, 21, 24, 28–29, 45, 52, 72, 74, 83, 86–89, Isshi Oshō (also the document of 1598), 102,
96–98, 135, 142–43, 168, 218–19, 226–28, 234, 148–49, 151, 211, 216, 236.
239, 250.
gagaku shakuhachi (instrument), 72, 83, 85–87,
jiuta-sōkyoku, 21, 30, 34, 72, 75, 239–40, 285.
89–91, 93, 143.
(See also koto, shamisen, and sankyoku).
gaikyoku, 21–22, 98, 126, 234, 236, 238–39,
Jin Nyodō, 238, 245.
241–42, 260, 276. (See also sankyoku).
Gakushin (see Hottō Kokushi).
“Kaidō honsoku,” 124, 149–50, 151–52, 211, 213,
Genji monogatari, 30, 45, 96–97, 143.
217, 237, 274.
Georges, Robert A., 46–48, 53–55, 232, 243, 248,
Kakushin (see Hottō Kokushi).
254, 260, 263.
Kamisangō Yūkō, 58, 73–74, 76–77, 79, 82–83,
87–91, 93–95, 97–98, 102, 104, 110–11, 113,
Hayashi Razan (Dōshun), 73–74, 82, 135, 146–49, 124–25, 130, 143–44, 172–73, 193, 195, 198,
151, 161, 176–77, 184, 211–15, 217, 222, 230. 200–1, 214, 217–20, 222, 225, 228, 233–36, 240,
hearsay (see dynamic hearsay). 244–45, 247, 274, 280.
kan-ji, 109, 155–156, 172, 177, 184. (See also
Higuchi Taizan (Taizan-ha), 236, 240, 244–45,
boro, bon-ji, boron-ji).
254, 262.
Hisamatsu Fūyō, 73, 84, 129, 234, 237–38, 242, kata, 24, 51, 56–58, 71, 135, 232, 248–55, 263,
273, 276–78, 285.
244, 247, 256.
Kawase Junsuke I, 75, 238, 248, 256.
hitoyogiri shakuhachi (instrument), 72, 83, 85–86,
89, 91–95, 109, 121, 126, 143, 146, 159, 168, 203, —— Junsuke III, 245–46, 256.
213, 218–20, 222, 229. “Keichō okite-gaki,” 58, 73, 76, 113–19, 121–123,
128–30, 149–50, 213, 237–38, 280.
Hobsbawm, Eric, 37–39, 43–44, 53, 254, 279–80.
honkyoku (genre, generic for all styles), 21–23, 34, Kikkawa Eishi, 26, 28, 57, 72, 89, 224, 239,
69–70, 78–79, 98, 126, 130, 235–46, 249, 251, 248–51, 253–55.
256, 268, 273–75, 277–78, 283, 285. Kinko-techō, 73, 116, 119–20, 172, 233–34, 244,
259.
honsoku, 106, 121, 124–25, 127–30, 150.
Hosaka Hirooki, 143, 184, 203–4, 208, 215–17, Kinko-ryū, 22–23, 43, 59, 69–70, 73, 75–76, 79,
124–25, 218, 232–40, 242–47, 250–51, 253,
230.
256–57, 260, 262, 268, 273, 275.
hotchiku, 225.
Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan, 56, 58, 77, 88, 98,
Hottō Kokushi (including Gakushin, Kakushin), 103–4, 107, 109, 111–12, 119, 124, 126–27,
76–77, 92, 104–5, 109–11, 126, 149, 152, 205, 149–50, 160–61, 171, 183, 198–99, 212, 219,
213, 230–32. 221–23, 226–29, 238, 243. (See also Nakatsuka
Hsu, Francis L. K., 49, 271, 275, 280. Chikuzen).

Hyakunin isshu, 165. Kitamura Intei (see Kiyūshōran).

308
Kiyūshōran, 75, 95, 161, 170–71, 176–79, 183–84, Memorandum of 1677, 73, 111–13, 120, 123–24,
195–96, 202, 208. 126, 151,
Kodō I (see Toyoda); other Kodō (see Araki). Mikami Sanji, 76–79, 102, 114–15, 117, 120,
122–23, 152, 280.
Kokin waka-shū, 166–67.
Miura Kindō, 70, 234–35, 238, 248, 256.
Koma no Asakuzu (see Zoku Kyōkun-shō).
Mizuno Kōmei, 260.
Koma no Chikazane (see Kyōkun-shō).
Molino, Jean, 57, 60, 65–68, 268.
komosō, 24, 80, 92–93, 95–96, 110, 113, 127, 135,
138–39, 144, 146–52, 154–157, 160–62, 169, morpheme, 282–83.
172–73, 176–77, 183–84, 186–97, 199–219,
mora (morae), xv, xvi, 157, 162, 190, 204, 219.
222–23, 230–31, 278.
Morinaga, Maki Isaka, 49–50, 103, 131–33, 135,
komusō, 21, 23–24, 34, 57–58, 69–70, 73–74,
152, 230, 263, 279.
76–80, 85, 91–93, 95, 98–99, 102–4, 106, 108–30,
135–36, 138, 141–44, 146, 148–52, 154–55, 157, Mujū Ichien (see Shaseki-shū).
161–62, 168–69, 172–73, 175–77, 184, 186–87,
museme, 282–85.
200–5, 208–11, 213–19, 221–25, 230–40, 242–44,
246–47, 274, 278. Myōan-ji (temple), 23, 110, 124–25, 127, 129,
149, 225, 233, 236, 238–39, 243, 245.
komusō temples (see also Ichigetsu-ji, Myōan-ji,
and Reihō-ji), 58, 112, 118, 120, 230, 233, 236. Myōan Kyōkai, 22–23, 124, 225, 236.
Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi, 141, 162, Myōan-ryū (style), 23, 124, 236, 244–46, 273.
169–170, 173–175, 179, 187, 198, 201–202, 223. Myōe Shōnin (see Boro-boro no sōshi).
(See also Takeda Kyōson).
mytheme, 282–83.
koto (instrument), 29, 45, 72, 75, 99, 126, 238–40,
286. (See also jiuta-sōkyoku).
Kristeller, Paul Oskar, 40–41. Nakamura Sōsan, 72, 104, 108, 126, 213. (See
also Shichiku shoshin-shū).
Kurihara Kōta, 75–80, 93, 102, 106, 119, 152, 182,
195, 198, 201–2, 213, 229, 242, 280. (See also Nakatsuka Chikuzen, 56, 76–79, 93, 102, 104,
Shakuhachi shikan). 106, 110–11, 113, 151–52, 182, 184, 195, 211,
213, 217, 220, 241–42, 244, 280. (See also
Kurosawa Kinko I, 73, 116, 124–25, 233, 244, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi shikan).
248, 253, 256, 262.
—— Kinko II, 125, 233, 244, 256, 262. Nattiez, Jean-Jacques, 51, 57, 60–70, 210–12, 215,
—— Kinko III, 73, 116, 125. 233–34, 237, 244, 248, 263, 278, 282.
256, 259, 262. (See also Kinko-techō). neutral (dimension, level, trace), 47, 51–52, 57, 60,
—— Kinko IV, 73, 244. 62, 65–67, 70–71, 210–12, 215, 219, 225, 263,
Kyōkun-shō, 74, 83, 86, 142, 227–28. 269, 275, 278–79, 282.
kyokusetsu (see phrase). Nishiyama Matsunosuke, 46, 49–51, 53, 56–57,
59, 79, 103, 114, 125–28, 234–35, 243, 248–49,
“Kyotaku denki,” 73, 76–77, 102–6, 109–11, 119, 251–55, 259–60, 263, 273–74, 276, 278.
139, 223.
Nō, 21, 26, 29, 45, 50, 52, 127, 131–132, 134–35,
Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai, 52, 72–73, 76, 78, 92, 142–43, 145, 203, 234, 250–51, 263.
102–9, 119, 123–24, 129–30, 171, 213.
oboe-gaki of 1677 (see Memorandum of 1677).
Kyōun-shū, 136, 139–40. (See also Ikkyū).
onkei (see phrase).
onku (see phrase).
Lee, Riley K., 56–57, 79, 86, 90, 130, 195, 200,
214–15, 227–28, 233, 236–37, 245–46, 256,
258–59. Peirce, Charles Sanders, 60, 64.
Linder, Gunnar, 22, 260, 272, 276. performance-type (see enactments).
Lu Cai (J. Rosai), 15, 82–83, 86, 88, 213, 227. phoneme, 282–83.
Man’yō-shū, 165–67, 172.

309
phrase: Shichijūichi-ban Shokunin uta-awase (also
musical phrase and kyokusetsu, 22, 233, 235, 32-ban), 80, 95, 144, 154–62, 167–69, 171–72,
249–50, 257–58, 267, 271–72, 275, 282–85. 176–77, 186–87, 189, 195, 205–6, 209, 211–12,
sound phrase (Tsukitani’s onkei and onku), 215, 218.
250–51, 255, 271–72, 275, 277–79.
Shichiku shoshin-shū, 84, 91–92, 94–95, 104, 109,
onkei/sound pattern (author’s definition),
126, 209, 213, 238.
257, 272–73, 277, 284–85.
onku/sound idiom (author’s definition), Shils, Edward, 25–26, 36–37, 39–40.
272–73, 277–78, 282–85. (Myōan) Shinpō-ryū, 240, 245.
phraseme, 284–85. Shōtoku Taishi, 15, 53, 87, 98, 142–43, 210,
poietic (dimension, level, process), 22, 24, 47, 57, 218–19, 224–31.
60–62, 65–68, 70–71, 151–52, 210, 212–13, sound idioms (see phrases: onku).
215–18, 223, 225, 228–29, 248, 255, 261, 263–64,
269–70, 274, 278, 280, 284. sound patterns (see phrases: onkei).
stanza, xvi, 107, 139–40, 145, 157, 162–67,
190–91, 195–96, 219–221.
Rakuchū rakugai-zu byōbu, 80, 205–06.
Stecker, Robert, 261.
rankyoku, 98–99, 126, 239.
sui-zen, 77–78, 225.
Reihō-ji (temple), 78, 80, 115–16, 118–19, 125,
129, 148–49, 233, 239.
Ricoeur, Paul, 282–84. Taigen-shō, 45, 74, 86, 89, 91, 93, 97–98, 135,
142–45, 150, 168, 219, 226, 228. (See also
Rōan, 58, 112, 222–23.
Toyohara Sumiaki).
Rosai (see Lu Cai). Takeda Kyōson, 93, 177, 200, 204, 208. (See also
Komusō: Sei to zoku no igyōsha-tachi)
sangaku: genre, 45; Buddhist training, 174. tanka, xvi, 157, 162, 189–90, 192, 194–96, 219,
263.
Sanjūni-ban Shokunin uta-awase (also 32-ban),
80, 93, 95–96, 144, 147, 150, 157–58, 160, 162, tenpuku (instrument), 85–86, 90–91, 93.
169, 187–90, 192, 195, 198–202, 204–9, 211–12, toneme, 282–285.
214–16, 218, 223.
Towazu-gatari, 155–156, 175.
Sankyoku (magazine), 77, 184, 286.
Toyoda Kodō I, 234.
sankyoku (performance style and genre), 34,
239–40, 286. (See also jiuta-sōkyoku and Toyohara Atsuaki, 143.
gaikyoku). Toyohara Kazuaki, 143.
sarugaku (genre), 45, 52, 142, 145, 203–4. Toyohara Sumiaki, 74, 98, 142–43, 203, 226, 228.
Saussure, Ferdinand de, 63–64. (See also Taigen-shō).
semanteme, 282–83. Tozan-ryū, 23, 34, 39, 79, 116, 236.
Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū, 58, 70, 78, tripartition, 57, 60–61, 65, 67–68, 210–212, 215,
109, 112, 125, 127–28, 173, 175, 198, 208, 261–63, 278.
233–34, 236–38, 242, 244–45, 247, 250, 255–56, Tsuge Gen’ichi, 73, 76, 99, 103–4, 106, 108, 110,
266, 272. (See also Tsukitani Tsuneko). 119.
Shakuhachi no rekishi, 74, 78, 83, 90, 112, Tsukitani Tsuneko 57, 76, 78–79, 182, 200, 219,
115–18, 120, 125, 128–29, 149, 161–62, 175–179, 249, 253–54, 271, 275, 277–78, 280, 285. (See
187, 198–99, 201, 204, 213–14, 222–223. (See also Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū).
also Ueno Katami).
Tsurezure-gusa, 73, 98, 109, 135, 144, 146–48,
shamisen/sangen (instrument), 21, 29, 45, 72, 75, 151, 155–56, 160–61, 168–69, 171–72, 174,
99, 126, 238–40, 286. (See also jiuta-sōkyoku), 176–78, 182, 184, 205, 212–13, 215, 217–18, 230.
Shaseki-shū, 28, 161, 177–84, 212.

310
Tsurezure-gusa nozuchi, 74, 144, 146–49, 151,
177, 184, 211–14, 217, 230. (See also Hayashi
Razan).

Ueda-ryū, 23, 39, 236.

Ueno Katami, 78–79, 93, 173, 182, 200, 215, 280.
(See also Shakuhachi no rekishi).
uma-hijiri (muma-hijiri), 156, 160–65, 167–69,
176, 207, 212. (See also boro, etc.).

waka, 144, 157, 219, 228.

Yamada Nyodō, 234, 247.

Yamaguchi Gorō, 59, 69–70, 79, 99, 235, 245–48,
253, 256–60, 264–65, 267–69, 275–76.
Yamaguchi Shirō, 235, 248, 256, 260.
Yamamoto Hōzan, 34, 99.
Yamamoto Morihide, 73, 103, 109. (See also
Kyotaku denki kokuji-kai).
Yokoyama Katsuya, 99, 245–46, 256, 258.
—— Ranpō, 246.
Yoshida Kenkō (see Tsurezure-gusa).

Zeami Motokiyo, 45, 49, 50, 131–35, 143, 145,

208, 251.
Zeami Motoyoshi, 145.
Zōami, 143, 145, 203.
Zoku Kyōkun-shō, 74, 97, 228.

311
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Cross fingerings and associated intonation anomaly in the shakuhachi

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DOI: 10.1250/ast.36.314]

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PAPER

Cross fingerings and associated intonation anomaly in the shakuhachi

Shigeru Yoshikawa and Kazue Kajiwara

Graduate School of Design, Kyushu University,
4–9–1 Shiobaru, Minami-ku, Fukuoka, 815–8540 Japan
(Received 13 March 2014, Accepted for publication 10 February 2015)

Abstract: Acoustical differences between normal and cross fingerings of the shakuhachi with five
tone holes are investigated on the basis of the pressure standing wave along the bore and the input
admittance. Cross fingerings in the shakuhachi often yield pitch sharpening in the second register,
which is contrary to our conventional understanding of pitch flattening by cross fingerings and is called
intonation anomaly. It is essential to identify and discriminate the input admittance spectra between
the upper and lower bores on the basis of the standing-wave patterns. Spectrum (or mode) switching
between both types of bores is a clue to the cause of the intonation anomaly. This is illustrated by
considering stepwise shifts of tone holes while keeping the hole-to-hole distances fixed and by
comparing the resulting switches in input admittance spectra. When spectrum switching occurs,
docking of the upper and lower bores makes up a higher resonance mode throughout the whole bore
and then leads to the intonation anomaly. This spectrum switching on the cross fingering is generalized
as the diabatic transition (the Landau–Zener effect) in physics.

Keywords: Cross fingering, Intonation anomaly, Spectrum switching, Diabatic transition

PACS number: 43.75.Qr, 43.75.Ef, 43.20.Ks [doi:10.1250/ast.36.314]

and eight sun (about 54 cm) long. Cross fingerings are used
1. INTRODUCTION for Ab , Bb , etc.
Cross fingerings in woodwind instruments are very A Japanese physicist, Torahiko Terada (1878–1935),
significant in musical expressions created by instrument first carried out an accurate measurement of the intonation
players [1]. Tonal pitch, volume, and timbre are appreci- of the shakuhachi [6]. He carefully measured pitch
ably changed by cross (or fork) fingerings from those given frequencies in the first and second registers for 32
by normal fingerings made of a lattice of open tone holes. fingerings, and directed attention to the octave balance. If
However, as modern Western instruments have many tone his intonation table is extensively examined, it is known
holes (whose numbers in the modern clarinet, oboe, and that there are many cases where cross fingerings cause
flute are 24, 23, and 13, respectively), the attraction of pitch sharpening instead of pitch flattening. Unfortunately,
cross fingerings is beginning to be lost. As a result, good his shakuhachi research ended with the measurement. The
opportunities to explore the acoustics of cross fingerings pitch sharpening due to cross fingerings is the reverse of
in woodwind instruments have unfortunately almost been our conventional understanding above [2–4]. Therefore, it
missed. Our conventional understanding of the acoustics of may be called an intonation anomaly in the present paper.
cross fingerings is based on Benade’s and Nederveen’s Nederveen [3] briefly considered this pitch sharpening
textbooks [2,3] and on the work of Wolfe and Smith [4]. due to cross fingering in the second register on an old-
On the other hand, the Japanese longitudinal bamboo model flute for A# 5 with the fingering (), in which
flute, shakuhachi, has only five tone holes (four on the front three holes were closed below the one opened for sounding
and one on the back). This means a decisive importance of the A5 . He also mentioned that a similar phenomenon
cross fingerings in the playing of the shakuhachi. See could be observed on a modern Boehm flute. However,
Ref. [5] for a concise explanation of this instrument. When such a phenomenon in modern flutes has never been treated
tone holes are successively opened from the bottom, D–F– in scientific publications [5]. He explained this intonation
G–A–C–D tones are emitted from a shakuhachi one shaku anomaly by calculating the input admittance of a model
tube (see Fig. A6.3 in Ref. [3]). Another familiar example

e-mail: shig@design.kyushu-u.ac.jp of the intonation anomaly is D# 6 on an alto recorder, which

314
 S. YOSHIKAWA and K. KAJIWARA: SHAKUHACHI CROSS FINGERINGS AND INTONATION

Table 1 Playing frequencies of fingerings A to G. The

underlined frequencies denote intonation anomalies.

Fingering Resonance mode (Register)

name 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
A (Chi) 444 Hz 898 Hz 1,322 Hz 1,903 Hz
(A4 ) (A5 ) (E6 ) (A# 6 )
B (Wu13) 433 Hz 853 Hz 1,475 Hz 1,856 Hz
(Ab 4 ) (Ab 5 ) (Gb 6 ) (A# 6 )
C (Wu3) 426 Hz 920 Hz 1,273 Hz 1,834 Hz
(Ab 4 ) (A# 5 ) (Eb 6 ) (A# 6 )
1,472 Hz
(Gb 6 )
D (Ha) 587 Hz 1,170 Hz — —
(D5 ) (D6 ) (A6 )
Fig. 1 Fingerings A to G of the shakuhachi treated in E (Ha4) 569 Hz 1,318 Hz 1,928 Hz —
this paper. (Db 5 ) (E6 ) (B6 )
F (Ha245) 591 Hz 1,244 Hz 1,852 Hz —
(D5 ) (D# 6 ) (A# 6 )
is played with the cross fingering (ø) in the second G (Ha5) 600 Hz 1,207 Hz 1,828 Hz —
register (symbol ø indicates the thumb hole that is slightly (D5 ) (D6 ) (A# 6 )
opened).
The aim of this study is to explore the mechanism of
how the intonation anomaly occurs or does not occur upon The shakuhachi used for measurement in a Japanese-
cross fingering in the shakuhachi. An experimental ap- style room (at about 23 C) was manufactured by one of the
proach of measuring the internal standing-wave patterns master makers, Ranpo Yokoyama (1911–1988), and was
along the bore is introduced. However, prior to that played by the first author. The tonal pitch is usually
measurement, the situations where the intonation anomaly adjusted by changing the angle between the player’s head
occurs should be first described by measuring the blown and the instrument. However, such pitch adjustment was
frequencies, as presented in Sect. 2. Our measurement of not used and normal angle was kept in our measurement.
the pressure standing waves is described in Sect. 3. Next, Long tones of a note were played about 10 times and
numerical calculations of the input admittance and the recorded with a linear PCM recorder (Sony PCM-D50).
standing-wave patterns are given in Sect. 4 to confirm the Stable waveforms with a duration of about 1 s were
experimental results. Moreover, the dependence of the analyzed with FFT software, and the most frequently
intonation anomaly on the tone-hole position is briefly appearing frequency was selected as the playing frequency.
discussed in Sect. 5. Finally, the conclusions are given in Table 1 summarizes the measured playing frequencies
Sect. 6. when the fingerings shown in Fig. 1 were used. The
underlined frequencies denote the intonation anomaly due
2. INTONATION ANOMALIES APPEARING to cross fingerings.
AT FREQUENCIES PLAYED The intonation anomaly was observed in the third
Fingerings A, B, and C, where the top open hole is the register as well as in the second register when cross
third, and fingerings D, E, F, and G, where the top open fingering C was used. However, at the same time, fingering
hole is the fifth, are considered (see Fig. 1). Fingerings A, C gave a flat third register tone (Eb 6 ) and the intonation
B, and C are called Chi, Wu13, and Wu3 in Japanese anomaly yielded Gb 6 instead of E# 6 . Cross fingering B gave
notation, respectively. Also, fingerings D, E, F, and G are the intonation anomaly in the third register, while it gave
called Ha, Ha4, Ha245, and Ha5, respectively. Note that normal pitch lowering in the second register. The result
the third and fifth tone holes are almost in symmetrical on the first register of fingerings A, B, and C well reflected
positions about the bore middle. The length from the the conventional understanding of cross fingerings. In the
embouchure to the fifth hole is mostly the same as that fourth register, normal fingering A gave A# 6 and cross
from the bore bottom to the third hole (about 22 cm when fingerings B and C gave the same A# 6 with lower
the total bore length is about 54 cm). Therefore, the upper frequencies. On fingerings D to G, more anomalies were
bore (from the embouchure to the third hole) in fingering C observed. The intonation anomaly occurred even in the first
has the same length (about 32 cm) as the lower bore (from register, although it was very weak and gave tones of D5 .
the bore bottom to the fifth hole) in fingering G. Also, The second register brought various degrees of intonation
fingerings B and F are opposite each other in terms of open anomaly to all cross fingerings E, F, and G. It was difficult
and closed tone holes. to play the third register on fingering D. However, it may

315
 Acoust. Sci. & Tech. 36, 4 (2015)

the measurement. The embouchure hole was almost

stopped by inserting a urethane board (10 mm thick),
leaving a small opening near the embouchure edge to
mimic the actual playing situation. A tiny hole was opened
at the center of this board and the probe tube was
introduced into the bore. The acoustic pressure of the
Fig. 2 Block diagram for measuring the pressure stand- standing wave was measured in steps of 10 mm from the
ing waves along the air column of the shakuhachi. embouchure end (x ¼ 0 cm) to the position (x ¼ 55 cm)
10 mm from the bore bottom (x ¼ 54 cm). When closing
a tone hole, a sheet of rubber with appropriate hardness
be assumed that the third register on normal fingering D and thickness covered the hole and then it was secured
produces A6 of about 1,760 Hz (this is the case shown in by winding vinyl plastic tape around the instrument outer
Ref. [7]). Therefore, A# 6 in the third register on cross surface.
fingerings F and G may be considered as the intonation A brief check of the receiving level of our long probe
anomaly (tone B6 on fingering E is related with another tube was carried out at x ¼ 3 cm in the bore by comparing
third mode at around 1950 Hz on fingering D, and the B6 is with the level of a normal B&K probe tube of 50 mm. The
not an anomaly) (see Ref. [7] and Sect. 3.2). Interestingly, receiving level was decreased by about 2, 4, 6, and 8 dB at
the frequency (1,852 Hz) of this A# 6 in the third register 400, 1,000, 1,400, and 2,000 Hz, respectively. The addi-
on fingering F was very close to that (1,856 Hz) in the tional attenuation when using our probe tube was not so
fourth register on fingering B, and the same relation held strong, and then this probe tube was successfully applied
between fingerings G (1,828 Hz) and C (1,834 Hz). Such an to measure the standing-wave patterns at room temperature
interrelation mainly comes from the specific positions of of 26.7–27.0 C. The room for the measurement was treated
the third and fifth tone holes as explained in Sect. 2. to reduce reverberation and noise.

3. MEASUREMENT OF INTERNAL 3.2. Results for Fingerings D, E, F, and G

STANDING-WAVE PATTERNS Let us first consider (and define) the resonances
3.1. Setup produced by a bore with a single open tone hole (cf.
A system for measuring the pressure standing waves in fingerings C and G in Fig. 1) before describing the results.
the same shakuhachi as used in the playing frequency The open tone hole partly divides the bore into two, the
measurement is sketched in Fig. 2. The shakuhachi was upper and lower bores, each of which has an open end and
resonated by an external driver consisting of a loudspeaker an open tone hole. These bores may be regarded as passive
and an exponential horn that was designed to have its resonance systems, and may produce the upper-bore and
cutoff frequency at about 200 Hz. The horn output end lower-bore resonance modes, respectively. Moreover, as
with an inner diameter of 16 mm and an outer diameter of the frequency is greatly increased (above the cutoff
22 mm was placed in front of the instrument bore bottom frequency defined in Sect. 3.4), the internal acoustic
(17.8 mm in inner diameter) with a clearance of over twice pressure cannot move the mass at the open tone hole [4].
the end correction. A sinusoidal signal with a resonance In this situation, the tone hole virtually operates as a closed
frequency was produced by a function generator (NF one, and whole-bore resonances are produced. Hence,
Electronic Instruments 1930 Wide Function Synthesizer) three kinds of resonances can be produced by a bore with
and amplified by an audio amplifier (Sansui AU- a single open tone hole. Each of these resonances can form
507MRV). Resonance frequencies of a fingering were the pressure nodes (or minima) near both open ends, just
measured prior to the standing-wave measurement. The as seen in a simple open pipe [2–5]. It should also be noted
acoustic pressure in the bore was detected by a probe that the driving mechanism controls which resonances
microphone (Brüel & Kjær type 4182) connected to an are actually produced. Table 1 gives the upper-bore and
amplifier (B&K type 2609). The probe tube had a length of whole-bore resonances when the shakuhachi is blown at the
570 mm. It was made of a commercial SUS304 seamless top end. In the context of intonation anomaly, the three
tube (Kuroiwa Stainless Co., G-16; inner diameter of types of resonances above will be discussed below.
1.25 mm and outer diameter of 1.61 mm). This long tube Measurement results are shown in Fig. 3 on fingerings
was fitted to a B&K probe tube with a length of 50 mm and D, E, F, and G. The left and right columns indicate the
an outer diameter of 1.24 mm. upper-bore and lower-bore resonance modes, respectively.
Although the shakuhachi bore is usually bent below the The whole-bore modes are drawn in panels of the upper-
first tone hole, that of this instrument is almost straight. bore modes. The influence of the external drive used in our
Therefore, the long probe tube above was easily applied to measurement should be considered, as explained below.

316
S. YOSHIKAWA and K. KAJIWARA: SHAKUHACHI CROSS FINGERINGS AND INTONATION

Fig. 3 Standing-wave patterns on fingerings D to G. The measured acoustic pressure pðxÞ is normalized by the acoustic
pressure p0 at the fifth tone-hole position. Left and right columns represent the upper-bore and lower-bore resonance
modes, respectively. The solid and dashed lines represent the modes numerically calculated and not numerically
calculated, respectively.

317
 Acoust. Sci. & Tech. 36, 4 (2015)

The upper-bore modes (and their frequencies) are denoted a local pressure maximum was measured near the bore
as f1 ; f2 ; . . . , and the lower-bore modes (and their frequen- bottom.
cies) are denoted as f10 ; f20 ; . . . by using the prime (it is Cross fingering F makes reasonable standing-wave
assumed that fn  n f1 and fn0  n f10 for n ¼ 1, 2, and 3). patterns of modes f1 (602 Hz), f2 (1,259 Hz), and f3
Also, subscripts such as ‘‘+,’’ ‘‘++,’’ and ‘‘12’’ are used to (1,860 Hz) along the upper bore, as shown in Fig. 3(e),
discriminate multiple modes in the same mode, such as f3 with some distortions near the closed 3rd and open 2nd
and f3þ ( f3þ > f3 ), and to classify the intermediate mode, tone holes. These modes give intonation anomalies (cf.
0
such as f12 , as briefly explained below. Moreover, solid Table 1). Also, these modes seem to form the 2nd, 4th, and
and dashed lines indicate the modes that are numerically 6th modes along the whole bore. Although the modes of
calculated and are not numerically calculated, respectively the lower bore were measured at f10 (552 Hz), f12 0
(826 Hz),
0 0 0
(cf. Sect. 4). f2 (1,100 Hz), and f3 (1,714 Hz), the f1 (552 Hz) mode
Modes f1 , f2 , f3 , and f3þ are shown in Fig. 3(a) on cannot be calculated because it violates the resonance
normal fingering D. Modes f1 (591 Hz) and f2 (1,185 Hz) condition at the open 5th tone hole [see Figs. 3(f) and 4(c)].
do not show their nodes below the open 5th tone hole due Cross fingering G yields beautiful patterns of modes f1
to the external drive near the bore bottom but show (615 Hz), f2 (1,234 Hz), and f3 (1,846 Hz) along the upper
decreasing amplitudes there. Therefore, the resonance bore, as shown in Fig. 3(g). These three modes give
condition is considered to be satisfied there. Modes f3 intonation anomalies (cf. Table 1) and form the 2nd, 4th,
(1,759 Hz) and f3þ (1,947 Hz) indicate larger amplitudes in and 6th modes along the whole bore. However, mode f3þ
the lower bore and mode f3 shows an antinode below the (1,955 Hz), which is slightly higher than f3þ (1,951 Hz) on
open 5th tone hole. However, these modes tend to form the cross fingering E, violates the resonance condition at the
nodes near the bore top and bottom. Therefore, modes f3 bore end. Also, the lower bore yields beautiful patterns of
and f3þ are regarded as the whole-bore resonance modes. modes f10 (454 Hz), f20 (887 Hz), and f30 (1,505 Hz) along the
On the other hand, f10 , f12 0 0
, f2þþ , and f30 are shown in lower bore, as shown in Fig. 3(h), and these three modes
Fig. 3(b). These modes have higher amplitudes in the form the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th modes along the whole bore.
lower bore. However, f10 (536 Hz) and f12 0
(888 Hz) show However, mode f12 0
(543 Hz) violates the resonance
increasing amplitudes (toward the upper bore) at the open conditions at the open 5th hole and bore bottom.
5th hole, and violate the resonance condition there (mode As explained above, our measurement result in Fig. 3
0
f12 shows the standing-wave pattern and the frequency is consistent with the results in Table 1 obtained from
value intermediate between f10 and f20 ). Mode f30 (1,598 Hz) playing the shakuhachi very well, in terms of the intonation
shows the pressure maximum near the bore bottom, and anomaly. In addition, we may sum up the results as
0
violates the resonance condition there as well. Only f2þþ follows:
(1,416 Hz), which is much higher than f20 (not measured) (1) The intonation anomaly by cross fingerings occurs if
and sufficiently lower than f30 , satisfies the resonance the nth mode of the upper bore forms the (n þ n)th
conditions at the open 5th hole and at bore bottom. mode of the whole bore (the whole-bore modes are
Since cross fingering E closes the 4th tone hole, the produced even below the cutoff frequency) and if
internal pressure takes the maximum near this tone hole, as normal fingering consisting of an open-tone-hole
shown in Figs. 3(c) and 3(d). As a result, the nodes or local lattice forms the [n þ ðn  1Þ]st mode of the whole
minima (kinks) are formed near the open 5th tone hole, and bore. This is exemplified by n ¼ 2 on cross fingering
the resonance condition is satisfied there for all modes E and n ¼ 1, 2, and 3 on cross fingerings F and G.
drawn in Figs. 3(c) and 3(d). Additionally, the upper-bore (2) The intonation anomaly at higher frequencies prob-
modes satisfy the resonance condition at the embouchure ably occurs above the cutoff frequency (around
end, and the lower-bore modes satisfy it at the bore bottom. 1,300 Hz) of the open-tone-hole lattice (cf. Sect. 3.4).
Therefore, all modes measured on fingering E are calcu- This is exemplified by n ¼ 3 ( f3 on fingerings F
lated as input admittance peaks [see Fig. 4(b)]. Note that and G).
cross fingering E cannot produce the 3rd mode ( f3  3 f1 )
of the upper bore. This is because, in the 3rd mode, the 3.3. Results for Fingerings A, B, and C
pressure must be made minimum near the 4th tone hole, Unfortunately, page limitation does not allow us to
as shown in Figs. 3(e) and 3(g). Cross fingering E then explain the results for fingerings A, B, and C in detail. See
gives f3þ (1,951 Hz), which is considerably higher than Ref. [7] for a more detailed explanation. The following
f3 of cross fingerings F and G at 1,860 and 1,846 Hz, may be stated by summing up the results:
respectively. The upper-bore 2nd mode f2 (1,316 Hz) gives (1) The intonation anomaly due to cross fingerings occurs
the intonation anomaly (cf. Table 1). Although mode f3þ if the nth mode of the upper bore forms the [n þ
(1,951 Hz) may be considered as a whole-bore mode, ðn  1Þ]st mode of the whole bore. This is exemplified

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 S. YOSHIKAWA and K. KAJIWARA: SHAKUHACHI CROSS FINGERINGS AND INTONATION

by n ¼ 2 and 3 on cross fingering B [see f2þ up the air column toward the embouchure according to the
(1,038 Hz) and f3þþ (1,485 Hz) in Ref. [7]] and n ¼ transmission matrix (TM) method [8–13]. The 13th con-
2 on cross fingerings C [see f2 (928 Hz) in Ref. [7]]. vergent conical element from the embouchure end (x ¼
(2) However, the intonation anomaly does not occur 540 mm) to the position x ¼ 490 mm is commonly seen
even if the nth mode of the upper bore forms the in classical shakuhachis, although its length and conicity
[n þ ðn  2Þ]nd mode of the whole bore. This is differ individually [14].
exemplified by n ¼ 3 and 4 on cross fingering B [see The end correction E at the embouchure hole is
f3 (1,301 Hz) and f4 (1,880 Hz) in Ref. [7]] and n ¼ 3 incorporated in the 14th cylindrical element with bore
on cross fingering C [see f3 (1,293 Hz) in Ref. [7]]. diameter 2a ¼ 20:3 mm. The length E is determined
so that the first-mode frequency f1 given by numerical
3.4. Cutoff Frequency of an Open-Tone-Hole Lattice calculation matches that given by the standing-wave
The cutoff frequency fc of an open-tone-hole lattice is measurement in the previous section. Also, the tone-hole
defined as central positions and geometries are indicated in Table 2.
The estimated values of E were 37.1, 43.1, 33.9, 44.7,
fc ¼ 0:11cðb=aÞð1=slÞ1=2 ; ð1Þ
48.4, 35.5, and 41.6 mm on fingerings A to G, respectively.
where a denotes the bore radius, b the tone-hole radius, These E values appear reasonable in comparison with
c the speed of sound in the bore, s half the hole-to-hole E ¼ 42 mm used for the design of the modern flute by
distance, and l the acoustical length of a tone hole [2,4,5]. T. Boehm, though these E values tend to lower higher
If averaged values are used to these quantities of our modes [5].
shakuhachi [a ¼ 8:5 mm, b ¼ 5 mm, c ¼ 346:5 m/s at
room temperature, s ¼ 20 mm, and l ¼ 15:5 mm including 4.2. Calculation Method Applied to Tone-Hole System
open-end corrections at both ends (1:5b)], fc is given as The transmission matrix (TM) method, which has been
1,270 Hz. developed and applied to various engineering problems
However, it should be noted that fc of Eq. (1) is such as acoustical filters and mufflers [15,16], is considered
calculated under the assumption of an infinite bore length to be sufficiently established to apply to woodwind
and equally spaced open tone holes [4]. Therefore, Eq. (1) instrument bores with tone holes for calculating the input
may not be applied to cross fingerings. Nevertheless, fc of impedance or admittance [8–13,16]. Keefe’s method
about 1,300 Hz serves to discriminate the modes reflected [5,8,9] defines a tone hole as a T-section network
near the top open hole (mostly yielded below 1,300 Hz) consisting of a series impedance Za and a shunt impedance
from the modes penetrating it [cf. f3 (1,759 Hz) in Zs . The TM method can estimate both the input admittance
Fig. 3(a), f3 (1,846 Hz) in Fig. 3(g), etc.]. and the standing-wave pattern starting from the radiation
impedance and moving up to the embouchure (by multi-
4. NUMERICAL CALCULATIONS plying the matrices corresponding to acoustical elements
The external drive of the instrument tends to cause the such as the bore and tone hole) [8–13]. For the detailed
modes that violate the resonance conditions, as indicated mathematical expressions in the TM method, readers are
in Fig. 3 by the dashed line. Numerical calculation of the directed to Refs. [8–13,16] for the sake of page saving,
input admittance can help discriminate such violating except the following brief comments on related matters.
modes from the not-violating modes. Moreover, internal If the bore bottom corresponds to the radiation end and
pressure distributions (standing-wave patterns) along the there is no tone hole, p1 at the input side of the first
bore are essential to discriminate the modes of the upper cylindrical element with length L1 is given as [17,18]
bore from those of the lower bore. This discrimination
p1 ¼ ½coshðL1 Þ þ ðZc =Zrad Þ sinhðL1 Þprad ; ð2Þ
(mode identification) is almost impossible using only the
limited information of input admittances. where prad denotes the pressure at the radiation end and
Zrad the radiation impedance. The  (¼  þ i!=c) is the
4.1. Bore Model complex propagation wave number, where the attenuation
The inner bore of the shakuhachi used for the standing- constant  includes the effects of visco-thermal losses at
wave measurement is modeled as a tube consisting of ten the bore boundary layer and is approximated as  ¼
cylindrical elements, two divergent conical elements, and 3  105 f 1=2 =a (m1 ) [5] (! denotes the angular frequen-
two convergent conical elements (see Table 2), based on cy), and Zc is the characteristic impedance. For the
the image from the CT scan. The slight bend near the bore calculation of Za and Zs , newly improved equations given
bottom is neglected. Note that the position x along the bore in Ref. [10] are used instead of conventional ones [5,8,9].
axis is taken from the bore bottom to start with acoustic Equation (2) is the starting point of our calculation.
radiation at the open end (radius a0 ) of the bore and work Although Fletcher and Rossing [5] consider that the

319
 Acoust. Sci. & Tech. 36, 4 (2015)

Table 2 Bore and tone-hole geometries of the shakuhachi. standing-wave patterns given by the measurement describ-
Position x Diameter 2a Bore/Tone hole (inner dia., length) ed in the previous section or by the calculation.
Even in normal fingering D, two small resonant modes
0 (bottom) 17.8 mm 1st element (divergent conical)
60 mm 15.6 2nd element (cylindrical) of the lower bore f20 (1,084 Hz) and f2þþ
0
(1,354 Hz) appear
119 15.6 1st tone hole (10 mm, 7.7 mm) in the input admittance spectra, as shown in Fig. 4(a). In
119 16.2 3rd element (cylindrical) addition, a small peak f3þ (1,884 Hz) appears above f3
171 16.2 2nd tone hole (10 mm, 7.2 mm) (1,679 Hz) of the upper bore. Such identification is carried
171 16.2 4th element (convergent conical)
200 17.0 5th element (cylindrical)
out through comparison with standing-wave patterns
220 17.0 3rd tone hole (9.8 mm, 7.4 mm) shown in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b). The situation is the same in
220 17.0 6th element (cylindrical) Figs. 4(b), 4(c), and 4(d) for cross fingerings E, F, and G,
284 17.0 4th tone hole (10 mm, 7.0 mm) respectively. Interestingly, spectra of the upper and lower
284 17.0 7th element (cylindrical)
bores appear one after the other in Fig. 4(d) for cross
320 17.0 5th tone hole (10 mm, 9.4 mm)
320 17.6 8th element (cylindrical) fingering G.
350 17.6 Since we do not have enough page space to show the
350 18.4 9th element (cylindrical) results for fingerings A, B, and C, see Refs. [13] and [18]
390 18.4 for their input admittance spectra.
390 18.8 10th element (cylindrical)
430 18.8 11th element (divergent conical)
460 18.0 12th element (cylindrical) 4.4. Results of Internal Standing-Wave Patterns
490 18.0 13th element (convergent conical) The calculation results on internal standing-wave
540 20.3 14th element (cylindrical) patterns show very good agreement with the measurement
540 þ E 20.3 (end correction at the embouchure)
results for fingerings A to G [18]. Of course, it is
impossible to calculate the measured modes violating the
resonance condition near the bore bottom (cf. the modes
shown by the dashed line in Fig. 3). In this subsection,
presence of the baffle has a relatively small effect (except results for fingerings A to C (note that the embouchure end
ka0 1) on Zrad , the fundamental frequency of musical correction E was adjusted to yield the same resonance
instruments is usually in the range of ka0 1. Lefebvre frequency as the measured frequency) are displayed for the
and Scavone [10] proposed the radiation impedance of an respective mode to show the intonation anomaly from a
unflanged tone hole at low frequencies. Their Eq. (10) is different viewpoint.
adapted to our case as follows: Figure 5(a) is on the first mode, where the pressure
along the lower bore below the open 3rd tone hole becomes
Zrad ¼ Zc ½0:25ðka0 Þ2 þ ikð0:7a0 Þ; ð3Þ
higher as the 2nd and 1st tone holes are closed in
where their tone-hole end correction 0:61b is replaced by succession in fingerings B and C. Also, a weak kink of
0:7a0 assuming that the shakuhachi’s bore end made of the the pressure magnitude is seen at the open tone hole. These
bamboo root operates as an intermediate baffle. patterns well illustrate the typical effect of cross fingerings.
Therefore, if prad is adequately assumed, the relative On the other hand, fingering C produces a very deep
distribution of the internal pressure can be calculated from trough near the closed 2nd tone hole, as shown in Fig. 5(b)
Eq. (2). Similarly, the input admittance is calculated by for the 2nd mode. At this time, the 3rd mode is formed
multiplying the bore transmission matrices and the tone- along the whole bore and the intonation anomaly is
hole matrices from the bottom to the embouchure end induced. It may then be understood that the lower bore is
correction E [5,8–13,16,17]. Room temperature is as- almost completely coupled (docked) with the upper bore
sumed to be the average (26.9 C) in the measurement. instead of being separated at the top open tone hole,
because the pattern only indicates a negligible kink (phase
4.3. Results of Input Admittances change) there. The whole-bore mode is thus formed.
The absolute magnitudes of the input admittances jYIN j Although the 3rd modes form the 4th modes along the
on fingerings D, E, F, and G are shown in Fig. 4. In whole bore, as shown in Fig. 5(c), the intonation anomaly
general, cross fingerings change the input admittance does not occur, as noted in the measurement result [cf.
spectra (almost harmonic) of normal fingerings to inhar- (2) in Sect. 3.3]. In this case, all patterns indicate an
monic. This is due to the acoustic characteristics below the appreciable kink (phase change) at the top open tone hole.
top open tone hole. As a result, the upper-bore modes are The bore docking mentioned above does not occur.
mixed with the lower-bore modes, and spectrum identi- However, cross fingerings B and C easily yield the
fication is required. Note that this spectrum identification higher 3rd mode f3þþ , as shown in Fig. 5(d) (cf. Table 1).
is almost impossible without the knowledge of internal This mode forms the 5th mode along the whole bore and

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S. YOSHIKAWA and K. KAJIWARA: SHAKUHACHI CROSS FINGERINGS AND INTONATION

Fig. 4 Calculated input admittances of fingerings D to G. Fig. 5 Standing-wave patterns for fingerings A, B, and C.

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 Acoust. Sci. & Tech. 36, 4 (2015)

compound tube consists of a left-hand tube with a length of

379 mm, an open hole with a radius of 9.5 mm and an
acoustical length of 22 mm, and a right-hand tube whose
length LR is increased stepwise, starting with 100 mm
(curve A) with steps of 25 mm (curves B, C, D) to the final
length of 200 mm (curve E). This final configuration that
gives curve E is close to that of our fingering C. The plots
are shifted vertically for better visibility.
Considering only jYIN j, Nederveen insisted that the
third peak would finally yield the second mode resonance
as the second peak moves to lower frequencies and
diminishes in height, as displayed in Fig. 6(a). However,
actually, the first mode f10 of the right-hand tube cuts in
between the first mode f1 and the second mode f2 of the
left-hand tube, as shown by curves D and E in Fig. 6(a).
This f10 mode appears between the third mode f3 and the
fourth mode f4 in admittance curve A, and it moves down
to lower frequencies, as indicated by arrows. It is
impossible to judge this f10 as an upper-bore (second)
mode because the resonance condition for the upper-bore
mode is violated at the open hole, as clearly shown in
Fig. 6(b). In Figs. 6(b), 6(c), and 6(d), the standing-wave
patterns respectively obtained from the admittance spectra
of curves C, D, and E are plotted. The acoustic pressure
pðxÞ along the tube is normalized by that at the open tone
hole p0 .
The f10 mode has a frequency higher than that of the f2
mode, as known from the shorter wavelength in Fig. 6(b).
Fig. 6 Intonation anomaly appearing in a baroque flute However, the f10 mode has a frequency lower than that of
model. (a) Input admittance spectra obtained when the the f2 mode, as known from the longer wavelengths in
right-hand tube length was varied stepwise. (b), (c), Figs. 6(c) and 6(d). Therefore, the small second peak on
and (d) Standing-wave patterns for tube configurations curve E indicates not the second mode of the left-hand
C, D, and E, respectively.
tube but the first mode of the right-hand tube. Similarly,
the third peak on the curves does not always mean the
the intonation anomaly occurs. Both patterns display the third mode of the left-hand tube and is the third mode only
continuity (no phase change) at the top open tone hole on curve A. It changes to the first mode f10 of the right-
as well as the violence of the resonance condition (the hand tube on curves B and C, and further changes to the
pressure minimum) there. The docking between the upper second mode f2 on curves D and E. The final third peak
and lower bores is then much stronger than that in the never corresponds to the third mode of the left-hand tube.
2nd mode on fingering C. This is probably because the Also, the second mode f20 of the right-hand tube cuts in
open 3rd tone hole does not function as an open tone hole between f3 and f4 of the left-hand tube, as shown in curves
above fc or other mechanisms are involved. D and E of Fig. 6(a), and it is understood from Figs. 6(c)
and 6(d). Note that the frequency of f20 is almost twice
5. DEPENDENCE OF INTONATION that of f10 on curve E and the two modes have smaller
ANOMALY ON TONE-HOLE POSITION amplitudes.
5.1. Baroque Flute It should be correctly regarded that docking between
Our calculation method of the internal standing waves the left-hand and right-hand tubes is established without
can be applied to Nederveen’s example of pitch sharpening any appreciable phase change as if the open tone hole does
by cross fingering [3] mentioned in Sect. 1. The result is not exist [compare smooth changes in f2 at the tone hole in
illustrated in Fig. 6, where the absolute magnitude of the Figs. 6(c) and 6(d) with the kink there in Fig. 6(b)]. As a
input admittance jYIN j is calculated and plotted in Fig. 6(a). result, the 3rd mode is formed along the whole tube and the
This jYIN j is almost the same as that in his Fig. A6.3 [3] intonation anomaly occurs. It should be recognized that our
[we used 0:61a0 here instead of 0:7a0 in Eq. (3)]. His correct identification of admittance peak spectra cannot be

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 S. YOSHIKAWA and K. KAJIWARA: SHAKUHACHI CROSS FINGERINGS AND INTONATION

Fig. 8 Conceptual sketch of the non-adiabatic transition

[20–22].

The mode switching observed in Fig. 7(a) is seen as the

spectrum switching in the input admittance spectra shown
in Fig. 7(b). This spectrum switching on fingering G occurs
in the first and third modes as well as in the second mode.
The spectrum order in the original tone-hole configuration
(x ¼ 220 mm) is f10 , f1 , f20 , f2 , f30 , and f3 . However, when all
Fig. 7 Dependence of the intonation anomaly on overall
tone holes are shifted by 50 mm to the bore end (x ¼ 270
tone-hole shift in the shakuhachi. (a) 2nd mode
frequencies on fingerings D (blue line), F (red line), mm), this order is switched to f1 , f10 , f2 , f20 , f3 , and f30 . In
and G (green line). (b) Changes in input admittance this configuration, the 2nd mode on cross fingering G does
spectra on fingering G. Spectrum switches are indi- not bring about the intonation anomaly, as known from
cated by arrows. Fig. 7(a).
Cross fingerings F and G maintain the intonation
anomaly given at the original tone-hole configuration in the
accomplished without the knowledge of standing-wave range of about x ¼ 220
20 mm in a stable fashion, as
patterns [19]. shown in Fig. 7(a). Also, cross fingerings B and C maintain
the intonation anomaly given at the original tone-hole
5.2. Overall Tone-Hole Shift in the Shakuhachi configuration in a much wider range centered at x ¼ 320
The correlation between the tone-hole position and the mm [19]. Such a stable frequency characteristic of the
resulting intonation anomaly was previously briefly dis- intonation anomaly by cross fingering seems to be a merit
cussed [7]. In this subsection, the effect of overall tone-hole of the tone-hole system of the shakuhachi because the
shift (while keeping the hole-to-hole distances unchanged) intonation anomaly is inevitably necessary for actual
is considered [19]. Figure 7(a) displays the frequency playing of the shakuhachi.
change of the 2nd mode when fingerings D, F, and G are
used. The TM method is applied to the calculation. The 5.3. Non-Adiabatic Transition Phenomena in Physics
positions of all tone holes are shifted upward and down- Very interestingly, the spectrum (or mode) switching
ward in steps of 5 mm. The original position of the 5th demonstrated in Figs. 6 and 7 seems to be an example of
tone hole is indicated by the dashed line at x ¼ 220 mm. the non-adiabatic transition at the crossing of the energy
The intonation anomaly observed at the original position is level in quantum mechanical systems (see Fig. 8) [20].
kept between x ¼ 200 and 230 mm. This non-adiabatic transition is one of the fundamental
Note that a large (almost discontinuous) change in mechanisms of the state or phase changes and is observed
resonance frequency is followed by switching between the in various fields of physics and chemistry [20–22].
modes of the upper and lower bores. For example, on A conceptual sketch is depicted in Fig. 8. The abscissa
fingering D, the locus of f2 switches to f20 at x ¼ 230 mm x denotes the parameter controlling an interaction between
0
and to f2þþ at x ¼ 200 mm. On fingering G, the locus of f2 two energy states, e.g., the molecular configuration in
switches to f20 at x ¼ 255 mm and to f30 at x ¼ 190 mm. chemical reactions. The ordinate denotes the energy of the
These mode switches between the upper and lower bores two-level system. The dashed lines indicate the unpertur-
are confirmed by checking the internal standing-wave bed energies !1 and !2 in frequency units, while the solid
patterns involved (not shown here), as inferred from Fig. 6. lines indicate the perturbed energies !A and !B , where the

323
 Acoust. Sci. & Tech. 36, 4 (2015)

degeneracy at the crossing is broken by an interaction that open tone hole, it was essential to discriminate the upper-
couples the levels. bore resonances from the lower-bore resonances. Switching
The avoided crossing region is passed by remaining on of the input admittance spectra between an upper-bore
the same branch when an adiabatic transition takes place. mode and a lower-bore mode was observed when the
However, a non-adiabatic (diabatic) transition yields a associated tone hole positions were varied while keeping
jump to another branch across the avoided crossing, as the hole-to-hole distances fixed.
shown by the arrow in Fig. 8. The probability of this The spectrum switching caused the intonation anomaly
transition is given by the famous Landau–Zener formula upon cross fingerings, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Also,
[23,24] in quantum mechanics. when the intonation anomaly occurred, docking between
Figure 7(a) (e.g., the green line of fingering G) clearly the upper and lower bores was established as if the top
demonstrates the jump in the diabatic transition. The open tone hole did not exist. As a result, a higher mode was
embouchure-to-fifth tone hole distance x is now interpreted formed along the whole bore, as illustrated in Figs. 3, 5,
as the parameter controlling the interaction between the and 6. Such strong bore docking is never expected for usual
upper and lower bores. The spectrum switching on the cross fingerings. The spectrum switching is a good example
cross fingering revealed in Figs. 6 and 7 well reflects the of the diabatic transition widely seen in physics.
diabatic transition. It is surprising that the cross fingering Cross fingering yielded very complicated spectra of the
and the associated intonation anomaly in the shakuhachi, input admittance, and it was difficult to correctly identify
which are minor topics in musical acoustics, are charac- the upper-bore and lower-bore spectra without the knowl-
terized by the fundamental diabatic transition in quantum edge of internal standing-wave patterns, the importance
and classical physics. of which has not been fully discussed up to now in the
Very recently, Adachi [25] has proposed a simplified framework of woodwind acoustics.
model to explain the mechanism of the intonation anomaly Also, the cutoff frequency of the open-tone-hole lattice
by considering Nederveen’s example discussed in Sect. 5.1. seemed to play a significant role in producing the intonation
However, his model is restricted to the conventional anomaly upon cross fingering, though it was difficult to
adiabatic transition, such as that seen in two strings coupled exactly define the cutoff frequency of cross fingerings.
with a bridge [5], and cannot be applied to the diabatic Below the assumed cutoff frequency, the intonation
transition characterized by the jump from one branch to anomaly was caused by the resonance in the lower bore,
another. Also, as pointed out in Sect. 5.1, his f2þ mode which produced a higher whole-bore resonance mode.
(higher than the f3 mode at first) cannot be recognized as a Above the cutoff frequency, the top open tone hole did
second mode of the left-hand bore and this mode should be not function as an open tone hole, and the resonating
defined as f10 , as illustrated in Fig. 6(b). A more relevant pressure wave in the upper bore penetrated into the lower
model should incorporate mode switches such as that bore without significant reflection at the open tone hole.
observed between f2 and f10 (Fig. 6) and mode jumps such However, since this pressure wave was reflected at the bore
as those observed between f2 and f20 and between f2 and f30 bottom, a standing-wave pattern of a much higher whole-
(Fig. 7). The mode identification, which has been carried bore resonance mode was produced, as shown in Figs. 3
out very carefully in this paper, is essential for creating a and 5. Such a standing-wave pattern causes the intonation
theoretical model applicable to cross fingerings and the anomaly above the assumed cutoff frequency.
associated intonation anomaly in the near future. It seems that the acoustics of cross fingerings has
just come into new phase with the associated intonation
6. CONCLUSIONS anomaly in the shakuhachi. Relevant physical modeling of
The acoustics of cross fingerings was explored in the the spectral (or mode) switching that causes the intonation
shakuhachi through the measurement and calculation of anomaly is expected in the near future.
pressure standing waves and the calculation of input
admittances. Standing waves and input admittances were
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
calculated by the transmission matrix method with the This research was supported by Grants-in-Aid for
tone-hole matrix formulation. A particular interest was Science Research (subject numbers: 22652018 and
focused on the intonation anomaly due to cross fingerings 25560008) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of
in the second and third registers. The results of the Science. This paper is dedicated to the late Professor
measurement and calculation displayed good agreement Yoshinori Ando (1928–2013) in memory of his great
concerning the acoustical characteristics of cross fingerings contributions to shakuhachi acoustics. Also, the authors are
and their associated intonation anomalies. grateful for the comment on the diabatic transition made
Since the cross fingering tends to divide the instrument by Professor Kin’ya Takahashi of the Kyushu Institute of
bore (air column) into the upper and lower bores at the top Technology.

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 S. YOSHIKAWA and K. KAJIWARA: SHAKUHACHI CROSS FINGERINGS AND INTONATION

(in Japanese).
REFERENCES
[14] Y. Ando, Acoustics of Musical Instruments, 2nd ed. (Ongaku-
[1] A. Baines, Woodwind Instruments and Their History (Faber No-Tomo-Sha, Tokyo, 1996), pp. 79–85 (in Japanese).
and Faber Ltd., London, 1957). [15] F. Fahy, Foundations of Engineering Acoustics (Academic
[2] A. H. Benade, Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics (Oxford Press, New York, 2001), pp. 206–211.
University Press, New York, 1976), Chap. 21. [16] D. Mapes-Riordan, ‘‘Horn modeling with conical and cylin-
[3] C. J. Nederveen, Acoustical Aspects of Woodwind Instruments, drical transmission-line elements,’’ J. Audio Eng. Soc., 41,
2nd ed. (Northern Illinois University Press, DeKalb, Illinois, 471–483 (1993).
1998) pp. 50–53, 132–133. [17] T. Ebihara and S. Yoshikawa, ‘‘Nonlinear effects contributing
[4] J. Wolfe and J. Smith, ‘‘Cutoff frequencies and cross fingerings to hand-stopping tones in a horn,’’ J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 133,
in baroque, classical, and modern flutes,’’ J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 3094–3106 (2013).
114, 2263–2272 (2003). [18] K. Kajiwara and S. Yoshikawa, ‘‘Discussion on the internal
[5] N. H. Fletcher and T. D. Rossing, The Physics of Musical sound pressure distributions when cross fingerings are used
Instruments, 2nd ed. (Springer-Verlag, New York, 1998), in the shakuhachi,’’ Proc. Autumn Meet. Acoust. Soc. Jpn.,
Sects. 16.9, 15.3, 8.2, 4.10. pp. 903–906 (2013) (in Japanese).
[6] T. Terada, ‘‘Acoustical investigation of the Japanese bamboo [19] S. Yoshikawa and K. Kajiwara, ‘‘Cross fingerings and
pipe, syakuhati,’’ J. Coll. Sci. Tokyo, 21, 1–34 (1907). associated intonation anomaly in the shakuhachi: A compar-
[7] S. Yoshikawa, ‘‘Cross fingerings and associated intonation ison with the baroque flute,’’ Tech. Rep. Musical Acoust. Res.,
anomaly in the shakuhachi,’’ Tech. Rep. Musical Acoust. Res., 32, MA2013-67 (2014) (in Japanese).
32, MA2013-40 (2013) (in Japanese). [20] H. Nakamura, ‘‘New development of non-adiabatic transition
[8] D. H. Keefe, ‘‘Theory of the single woodwind tone hole,’’ J. theory,’’ J. Phys. Soc. Jpn., 51, 829–834 (1996) (in Japanese).
Acoust. Soc. Am., 72, 676–687 (1982). [21] J. R. Rubbmark, M. M. Kash, M. G. Littman and D. Kleppner,
[9] D. H. Keefe, ‘‘Experiments on the single woodwind tone hole,’’ ‘‘Dynamical effects at avoided level crossing: A study of the
J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 72, 688–699 (1982). Landau-Zener effect using Rydberg atoms,’’ Phys. Rev. A, 23,
[10] A. Lefebvre and G. P. Scavone, ‘‘Characterization of wood- 3107–3117 (1981).
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Acoust. Soc. Am., 131, 3153–3163 (2012). crossings: A classical perspective,’’ Am. J. Phys., 78, 1199–
[11] Y. Ando, ‘‘Input admittance of shakuhachis and their reso- 1202 (2010).
nance characteristics in the playing state,’’ J. Acoust. Soc. Jpn. [23] L. Laudau, ‘‘Zur Theorie der Energieübertragung bei Stössen
(E), 7, 99–111 (1986). II,’’ Phys. Z. Sowjetunion, 2, 46–51 (1932).
[12] Y. Ando and Y. Ohyagi, ‘‘Measuring and calculating methods [24] C. Zener, ‘‘Non-adiabatic crossing of energy levels,’’ Proc. R.
of shakuhachi input admittance,’’ J. Acoust. Soc. Jpn. (E), 6, Soc. Lond. Ser. A, 137, 696–702 (1932).
89–101 (1985). [25] S. Adachi, ‘‘Resonance modes and a model of a flute with
[13] S. Yoshikawa and K. Kajiwara, ‘‘Discussion on the intonation one open tone hole,’’ Tech. Rep. Musical Acoust. Res., 33,
anomaly associated with cross fingerings in the shakuhachi,’’ MA2014-8 (2014) (in Japanese).
Proc. Autumn Meet. Acoust. Soc. Jpn., pp. 909–912 (2012)

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 v w shakuhachi
photos © Derek Van Choice

intervals are different. As the story was told to Jeff Cairns by

his master, the length of shaku was developed from the
relative length of a grown man's forearm, and it may well be
that the original shakuhachi were often made by the person
who played it, being so sized by the player's own body in that
way. "I think that is a very romantic concept - precises Jeff -
that likely will never be proven". The fact is, that counting
system was used in many other fields, not only in shakuhachi
making, and it is still used in the making of kimonos today.

This way, the name shakuhachi comes from the length of the
instrument, i.e. from the Japanese system of lengths

madake
The Shakuhachi is a traditional Japanese bamboo flute. Its associated to the traditional bamboo flute. The Japanese
origin is unknown, even if some experts say it comes from word for eight is "hachi", so the name ShakuHachi means
Egypt, through China, a thousand or more years ago. one shaku and eight sun, i.e. one shaku and hachi sun... that
. Anyway, it is the most amazing flute in the history of music, has been simplified into ShakuHachi.
the magic bamboo for its aesthetic directly from Nature, and its sound so close
to the universal harmony that most of its players declare According to the original story, the ideal and most original
of the Japanese Shakuhachi they are in ecstasy when they play it. size of a shakuhachi is 54.54 cm: longer or shorter sizes are a
later adaptation of the shakuhachi to consider it not only as
The counting system used to measure the shakuhachi is individual meditative flute, as it was born for, but also as
"shaku/sun/bu", where one "shaku" is about 30.3 cm, one ensemble instrument where the players need to correct the
"sun" is about 3.03 cm, and one "bu" is about 0.303 cm. It is pitch in relationship to the ensemble sound, to get perfect
by THOMAS ALLOCCA similar to the metric system being based on ten, but the harmony from many shakuhachi playing together.

www.wooden-architecture.org/madake 2010 oct 1 2

 v w shakuhachi
photos © Derek Van Choice

We can build shakuhachi using many species of bamboo, but

if Japanese tradition does it using above all the species
Phyllostachys Bambusoides Bambusoides (named in Japan
"madake"), there is a reason, a specific reason, there are
hundreds and hundreds years of experience reasons, and
this is why, still today, though the shakuhachi is going to be
played and made all over the world, the best masters are
from Japan, as well as from all the rest of the world where
we can find very deeply involved in the Japanese culture, not
just knowing about music and shakuhachi but being totally
in harmony with the Japanese way of thinking and living, to
get back the best energy from Japanese bamboo woods when
node above the last root node that has tendrils... the inside they play madake. It comes from this, why a lesson of
diameter at that point is best around 2.0 cm... then, there are Shakuhachi with great masters like Jeff Cairns or Derek Van
all the aesthetic questions and the hardness of the cane that Choice, as well as listening to their music, is an amazing holy
is at the best when cut between 3 and 6 years old". This is adventure in Japanese spiritual world, where everything
why the harvesting of madake for making shakuhachi is looks different, sounds different!
something only experienced masters can do to avoid we cut
many canes and then we have to waste most of them. This is Most of the magic and legends about shakuhachi come from
why most of the outside Japan makers of shakuhachi, still the fact that it is one of the most difficult instruments to
today, every year, they go to Japan to buy madake even if play, with over 2-1/2 octaves with only 5 holes (4 on the
they have now possibility to grow and cut everywhere it since front, 1 on the back), and it is not uncommon that we need to
it was exported from Japan to all over the world, even if spend 5 or more years before we can say "now I am ready to
some subspecies are still just for collectors, as for example start to learn", but there is no magic without magicians, and

www.wooden-architecture.org/madake 2010 oct 3 4

 v w shakuhachi
photos © Derek Van Choice

Van Choice describes the shakuhachi sound. What else? But

we can get all this magic just using madake bamboo, the
perfect one to get the magic sound that brings us to the
beginning, to the deeper and purest dimension we lost
thousands and thousands years ago when we stopped to live
in the woods, loosing this way the direct connection with
Mother Earth that nowadays just a few of culture still keep
alive, and if the Japanese is one of them, it works above all
through Shakuhachi and its amazing bamboo, madake. If we
are able to pay just one dollar for each year of knowledge and
experience in the history of madake and shakuhachi, we can
understand why when the best masters ask thousands of
the history of shakuhachi teaches that the first of them were dollars for a professional shakuhachi it is not yet so much as
the wandering Komuso Priests, the masters of the Samurai it should be asked.
warriors. To play a shakuhachi is like to come back to that
time and to feel all the energy and the knowledge were Madake is the hardest bamboo in the world amongst the
handed-on century after century by those priests and over 1200 already known species, and it grows quite fast to
warriors, by those spiritual disciplines, those minds and be a real giant bamboo, running everywhere, reaching in less
souls so close to Nature and the Universe. than ten years the size of 25 m in height and 15 cm in
diameter, but just a few canes in a giant growing wood are
"Warm and woody to sweet and pure, intense dynamics, the right ones to make a shakuhachi, since the best sound
dramatic, breathy pitch bends, piercing attacks, and long, comes out from a specific size. "A good size for shakuhachi -
pure, round, mesmerizing notes that can transcend the Jeff Cairns told me - is near 3.5 cm outside diameter just
player holding it and those hearing it". This is the way Derek below the 4th node up from the 'goro-bushi' which is the

www.wooden-architecture.org/madake 2010 oct 5 6

 v w shakuhachi
photos © Derek Van Choice

Culture of the Sustainable Development, playing it in shape

of shakuhachi can be one of the most efficient writings,
amazing the World sensible to Green matters with woody
sound words, arriving for sure more directly to the spirit as
much as to mind. So, let's play shakuhachi!

One of the most fascinating dimensions of Japanese culture

is the ritualization of daily life, the pursuit of perfection
through discipline, strict discipline, the perfection that
comes from the coordination of mind and body, thought and
action, interacting in this way as best as possible between
man and nature, between what is desired and what is indeed
the subspecies "tanakae", a real rare Japanese bamboo necessary, between what we want and what we really can,
introduced in Europe just about 20 years ago, amazing for between instinct and wisdom. It is from this deep conception
shakuhachi with a special aesthetic because of its very fine of life, from the holy conception of its most simple and
spotted canes. The experience of the Japanese masters in common daily dimension, that the Japanese Art finds its
choosing the best canes is still the best and well protected. most authentic and ancestral dimension, its extraordinary
ability to transform the simple apparent in wonderful
Anyway, the culture of shakuhachi will be very important to energy. So as much in the Japanese architecture as in the
make madake can be appreciated always more also outside Japanese art craft, and one of the most amazing expression
Japan, because of its potentials, an amazing bamboo species, of this is the art of shakuhachi. From a simple piece of
a real miracle of nature, as much in the specific sector of the bamboo, a simple piece of madake, the greatest masters can
music as in architecture, design, art craft. And if just writing achieve the best flute in the world, the most emblematic
of it we can give to madake the right importance in the Green instrument of Japanese musical culture, a flute capable of

www.wooden-architecture.org/madake 2010 oct 7 8

 v s w shakuhachi
photos © Derek Van Choice

emitting sounds that unite earth and sky, coming from the perfection just to be used... this is why, its sound becomes
earth to elevate the spirit through harmonious vibrations from the origin of the existence, it brings us back to the
that bring back the soul to its birthplace, mother earth. roots, it closes the circle". If playing a shakuhachi, or just
listening its music, we feel like we are inside a circle,
Talking with Derek Van Choice about shakuhachi, he said to protected by a special energy, universal energy, now you
me "with madake, nature has enjoyed to surprise us over any know why: it's the magic of madake in shape of melody!
human expectations about its perfection... its technical
properties, its aesthetics, the unique sounds and vibrations the author
Thomas Allocca (Italy) www.wooden-architecture.org/madake
that the air produces through it... it is the greatest gift of
mother nature to music... as it was been prearranged by shakuhachi masters
nature before the man could invent music and shakuhachi, Derek Van Choice (California) www.hollowbamboo.net/shakuhachi
and madake, for the meantime, was already waiting in its Jeff Cairns (Japan) www.windwheel.com

www.wooden-architecture.org/madake 2010 oct 9 10

 Mindful playing, mindful practice:
The shakuhachi as a modern meditation tool

尺八

Kiku Day

An assignment submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Mindfulness

Instructor Course at Skolen for Anvendt Meditation
10 October 2014

1
 I am
A hole in a flute
That the Christ’s breath moves through—
Listen to this
Music

—Hafiz (Ladinsky 1999)

2
 Table of Content
Table of content 3
Abstract 4
Conventions 4
1. Introduction 5
2.1 Research Questions 6
2.2 Hypothesis 6
2.3 Methodology 7
3. The shakuhachi: History and background 8
4.1 Mindfulness Meditation 10
4.2 Mindfulness and Music 12
5. Zen Buddhism during the Edo period 13
6.1 Meditation while playing shakuhachi I 15
61. Distinguishing between ‘flow’ and meditation 17
6.3 Meditation while playing shakuhachi II 18
6.4 Mindfulness Meditation while playing shakuhachi 19
7 Getting out into the World 22
st
8 Conclusion: Conclusion: 21 century komusō? Mindfulness meditation and
shakuhachi playing 23
Glossary 25
Reference 27
Discography 30
Websites cited 30

3
Abstract

This paper is a practice-based performance research project investigating the possibilities of

applying mindfulness meditation to the act of playing shauhachi. The shakuhchi has a history
of being used as a tool for meditation for Zen Buddhist monks between 17th and end of 19th
century, although transmission of meditation ceased, thus I furthermore investigate Buddhist
writings from that period. In order to reflect on how the monks may have meditated while
playing, I base my investigation on 6-month daily practice, including diary notes, and on my
mindfulness meditation training and sources from the Edo period.

Conventions

In the present paper, Japanese names are presented according to the Japanese practice of
placing family names first and given names second.
I have here followed the Hepburn romanisation system, with the long vowels ō and ū
indicated by a macron. Thus shoh is rendered as shō.
Japanese words take the same form whether in singular or plural. Thus the term shakuhachi
can refer to one or more instruments.
Japanese terms used here are defined at their first appearance only. A glossary of definitions is
provided at the end.

4
1. Introduction

For many shakuhachi1 players, the instrument’s history as a tool for meditation used by Zen
Buddhist mendicant monks is a major part of the attraction of playing the instrument; indeed,
no few players first learn of the instrument via their interest in Zen Buddhist meditation.2 On
various online shakuhachi fora, players proclaim not to to be interested in playing music
when playing the instrument—but to meditate.3 An example of this attitude is for example the
post on shakuhachiforum.com by Markintheworld (pseudonym) from Saratoga Springs, New
York, from 19 March 2010:

I enjoy [playing] as a meditative practice, and as a good pre-amble to a sitting

meditation… I am not interested in the shakuhachi as an instrument of musical
performance, but rather as a meditation tool.
(http://shakuhachiforum.com/viewtopic.php?id=4466, accessed 15.09.14)

A recent google search on the Boolean search term ‘shakuhachi and meditation’ gave me
206,000 hits and a plethora of CDs recordings of shakuhachi music are described as
‘meditation music’.4
While the shakuhachi was indeed used a tool for meditation by the komusō monks (lit.
monks of nothingness), the mendicant monks of the Fuke sect, a subsect of Rinzai Zen, the
available evidence indicates that the study of the shakuhachi as a religious tool ceased soon
after the sect was permanently abolished in 1871 by the new Meiji government (1868–1912).
The music, however, continues to be transmitted today. Publications concerning, for example,
the revival of the Myōan-ji5 temple in Kyoto in 1890 have been focused on how Higuchi
Taizan (1856–1914)6 recreated the repertoire of the Myōan group based on traditions taken
from several temples, while those dealing with secular developments describe how skilled
players began to form guilds and and introduce the instrument in ensemble music (see for

1
Organologically, the shakuhachi is defined as a Japanese vertical notched oblique bamboo flute.
2
Both statements are based on my active engagement in the shakuhachi scene these past 20 years.
3
See www.shakuhachiforum.com and www.shakuhachiforum.eu among others.
4
See, for example, Richardson, Stan. 1997. Shakuhachi Meditation Music: Traditional Japanese Flute for
Zen Contemplation. Boulder: Sounds True M301D and Lee, Riley. 2012. Shakuhachi Flute Meditations: Zen
Music to Calm the Mind. Boulder: Sounds True: m2505d.
5
The Myōanji-temple and the Myōan kyōkai (society) are today the most important gatherings of shakuhachi
players who continue in the tradition of the komusō monks.
6
Higuchi Taizan was appointed as the shakuhachi master of the newly founded Myōan Kyokai (society) in
1890. He modernised the notation system and compiled a collection of honkyoku that became the Myōan
repertoire.

5
example Kamisangō 1988 and Takahashi 1990), but nothing has been written concerning the
transmission of its use as a tool for meditation.
It is my intention to carry out practically based performance research on how to
combine mindfulness meditation and shakuhachi playing by drawing on my own experience
as a shakuhachi player and practitioner of meditation – thus a first person (subject oriented)
approach - while also utilising interviews of other non-Japanese shakuhachi players. The
reason I chose to interview non-Japanese players is that the majority of Japanese players view
themselves as having a secular approach to the playing of shakuhachi, thereby distancing
themselves from the Fuke sect and komusō monks, while the shakuhachi interest of non-
Japanese players, as we have seen above, is frequently accompanied by an equally great
interest for Zen Buddhism.7
My aim is to propose how to combine shakuhachi and meditation and describe the process of
how to practice this approach.

2.1. Research Questions

How can mindfulness-based meditation be applied to shakuhachi playing and thereby restore
that aspect of meditation so important in the heritage of that instrument?
Can applying mindfulness-based meditation to the playing of shakuhachi reveal an
understanding on how the komusō monks may have used the shakuhachi as tool for
meditation, with the ultimate goal of reaching enlightenment?
A few more questions will be asked in the Mindfulness Meditation section on page 12.

2.2 Hypothesis

In my experience, performing mindfulness meditation while playing the shakuhachi is no

easy task. One of the reasons for the difficulties a player encounters in attempting to do so is
the lack of guidance; the experience gained by the komusō monks under some two centuries
and more has now faded into oblivion. Here I utilise my own experience of these two genres

7
I have observed a shift in the orientation of younger non-Japanese players, who seem to have an interest in
Japanese culture due to an upbringing in which manga and animé have been a part of their everyday lives.

6
to frame an hypothesis on what concrete from this practice may have taken; due to the
inadequacy of the record, written and otherwise, my reconstruction can constitute no more
than a suggestion of how the komusō monk’s meditation may have been implemented and
transmitted. My hope is to be able to provide a clear description, which can serve as an
inspiration for other shakuhachi players who wish to use the shakuhachi as a tool for
meditation and enlightenment.

2.3 Methodology

The investigation will be based on my background as a shakuhachi player since 1989 and the
my decade-long experience in meditation, in particular the mindfulness training I have
received during my participation in the mindfulness meditation instructor course at Skolen for
Anvendt Meditation, my own study of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s mindfulness meditation and my
training in meditation – in particularly since I moved to Vækstcenteret in 2007. As an
ethnomusicologist and performer of shakuhachi, I find I can range freely between theoretical
knowledge of academic disciplines and the embodied and applied praxis of art and
meditation. This project is thus a personal perspective and account of a musician-researcher
inhabiting the space between art, science and meditation (see also Biswas 2011:95-6)
As a part of the practice-based research, I have maintained a diary of my daily shakuhachi and
meditation practice from 4 April 2014. Currently I thus have notes from six month of practice
to draw from as a lived, subjective experience. I have furthermore interviewed seventeen
shakuhachi players from around the world, who volunteered to tell me how they use the
shakuhachi as a meditation tool, in response to a call I posted on online shakuhachi fora and
in shakuhachi groups on Facebook.
I find present-day techniques for mindfulness meditation to be excellent for shakuhachi
players, as, while they have roots in Buddhist meditation practices (as in the case of the
shakuhachi), they are not specific to any institutionalised religion; thus even non-Buddhists
can utilise them. While, unfortunately no documents from the Edo period (1603–1867)
describing how the komusō monks meditated or the instructions they received during their
training remain to us, we do have access to written material on Zen Buddhist meditation from
the period, which, as noted above, is the period during which the pieces which now form the

7
shakuhachi honkyoku were created. I believe that the Edo period material will inform my
investigation at the same time that the latter will add to our knowledge of the meditation
practices during that period. The present project thus constitutes a modern attempt to reunite
meditation and shakuhachi playing.

3. The shakuhachi: History and background

It is today generally believed that the shakuhachi was introduced into Japan from China via
the Korean peninsula during the Nara period (710–794) as one of the instruments in the
gagaku (court) ensemble (Tsukitani et al. 1994: 105), although other versions of how and
when the instrument came to Japan exist. Such an example is Kyotaku denki kokujikai
(Japanese Translation and Annotation of the History of the Kyotaku) in which it is written that
the Buddhist priest Shinchi Kakushin (1207–1298) brought the shakuhachi and the tradition of
playing, which dated back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907), to Japan from China (See:
Yamamoto Morihide: 1795). However, the earliest extant examples of the shakuhachi today
are found at the Shōsōin, a repository built in 756, which contains eight shakuhachi used in the
ceremony performed for the consecration of the Great Buddha of Tōdaiji temple in 752
(Tsukitani 2008: 147), which indicates that the instrument's history in Japan is at least five
centuries older than Shinchi Kakushin's journey to the Southern Song. When the gagaku
ensemble was reorganised in the mid-ninth century, the shakuhachi fell into desuetude (See
Nelson 2008: 41-2). A period of several centuries ensued in which no references to the
instrument appear in surviving historical documents.
The first mention of the instrument after this hiatus appears in 1233 in the Kyōkunshō, a
ten-volume treatise on gagaku written by Koma Chikazane: ‘the short flute is called
shakuhachi. It is now played by mekurahōshi (blind monks) and performers of sarugaku
(theatre)’. The first known illustration of a shakuhachi is found in the Taigenshō (1512)
although the illustration is dated to the late fourteenth century. The shakuhachi is then called
hitoyogiri, or ‘one node shakuhachi’ (after Tsukitani 2008).
During the early seventeenth century, a loose fraternity of itinerant shakuhachi playing
beggars converted into a recognised subsect of Rinzai Zen, the Fuke sect. A decree, Keichō no
Okitegaki, enacted in 1614 by the first Tokugawa Shōgun, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616),

8
served as the legal basis for the establishment of the Fuke sect, which only admitted men of
the samurai class and rōnin (unemployed samurai) as members of the order. The special
privileges granted the komusō included monopoly rights over the use of the shakuhachi
(laymen were officially prohibited from playing the shakuhachi – a rule implemented in 1677)
and travel passes that allowed them to travel to any part of Japan (Berger and Hughes 2001:
834). According to the rules of the sect the shakuhachi was to be used exclusively as a hōki, a
sacred tool, for the purpose of spiritual training and for takuhatsu (religious mendicancy).
In all, Nakatsuka Chikuzen lists seventy-seven Fuke temples that were scattered around
Japan during the Edo period (1979: 95-102). Three of the most important were Myōanji in
Kyoto and Ichigetsuji and Reihōji in the Kanto region, the area around Edo or present day
Tokyo (Olafson 1987: 1). A honsoku (set of rules) was issued when a man of samurai class
entered the sect. A standard honsoku from Ichigetsuji took the following form:

The shakuhachi is an instrument of the Dharma and there are numerous meaning
to be found in it… The three joints are the Three Powers [Heaven, Earth, and
Man]. The upper and the lower fingerholes represent the sun and the moon. The
five holes are also the Five Elements [Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Space]. Taken as
a whole, the shakuhachi is the profound wellspring of all phenomenal things. If a
man plays the shakuhachi, all things will come to him. His mind and realm of
light and dark will become one.
The tengai hat is an implement of adornment of the Buddha-kāya (the Triple
Body of the Buddha). It is an item of clothing authorised to our sect [alone]…
(after Sanford 1977: 422-3).

Each temple developed its own corpus of music which, when taken together, comprise the
repertoire of approximately 150 honkyoku (original or fundamental pieces) from the Edo
period known today. Honkyoku is thus a term that refers to the solo pieces with roots in the
Edo period which were played by komusō monks either for their spiritual meditation training
for or religious mendicancy. Music other than honkyoku was referred to as gaikyoku (outer
pieces) or rankyoku (disorderly pieces) (Linder 2012: 98), which the monks were enjoined
from playing. It is known that all komusō did not fully observe the rules mentioned above, and

9
that some played rankyoku and even opened shakuhachi teaching schools in for example Edo
(present day Tokyo) and that the relationship between the bakufu (the Edo government) and
the Fuke sect worsened due to difficulties controlling the sect and criminal behaviour on the
part of some monks (Takahashi 1990: 117-9).
The Edo bakufu was overthrown in 1867 and in October 1871, the new Meiji government
issued a decree, a Dajōkan Fukoku, which, among other things, banned the Fuke sect. Begging
was prohibited in 1872, although it was again made legal in 1881 (Lee 1993: 151). These
events, along with the Meiji Government’s decision to prioritise Western music in compulsory
education, naturally had a strong impact on the shakuhachi, its music and environment and led
to major changes. According to Tsukitani Tsuneko and Shimura Satoshi, after the abolition of
the Fuke sect the shakuhachi was to follow two distinct paths: secular and religious (Tsukitani
2008: 152, Shimura 2002b: 705) – the religious path becoming marginalised and ignored in
the highly professionalised hōgaku (Japanese traditional music) world. As noted above, the
available evidence indicates that the transmission of the study of the shakuhachi as a
meditation tool ceased even in the Myōan Kyōkai, which was established when Myōanji
temple was revived in Kyoto in 1890, while the transmission of the music continued and
continues today. Publications concerning, for example, the revival of the Myōan-ji8 temple in
Kyoto in 1890 have been focused on how Higuchi Taizan (1856–1914)9 recreated the
repertoire of the Myōan group based on traditions taken from several temples, while those
dealing with secular developments describe how skilled players began to form guilds and and
introduce the instrument in ensemble music (see for example Kamisangō 1988 and Takahashi
1990). And from here, we turn to the present:

4.1 Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness meditation is the cultivation of the ability to be present in a given moment, while
being non-judgemental and intentionally aware of that moment. Thus staying with that
present moment, as it is, means to stay with and let go of the identification of the emotions,
8
The Myōanji-temple and the Myōan kyōkai (society) are today the most important gatherings of shakuhachi
players who continue in the tradition of the komusō monks.
9
Higuchi Taizan was appointed as the shakuhachi master of the newly founded Myōan Kyokai (society) in
1890. He modernised the notation system and compiled a collection of honkyoku that became the Myōan
repertoire.

10
sensations and thoughts (after Risom 2013, Kabat-Zinn: 1994). One further concept can be
added to mindfulness meditation as described above, which is ‘witness consciousness’, a state
of awareness in which habits of the mind, such as thinking, being distracted, and assessing,
are replaced by non-distracted present awareness (Risom 2013: 43). This paper will in
particular be concerned with mindfulness and witness-conscious mind during the playing of
shakuhachi.
While attempting to grasp the concept mindfulness – a word that has during the past decade
entered everyday vocabulary – I became curious about its etymology. The Concise Oxford
Dictionary from 2001 explains 'mindful' ('mindfulness' is not entered) as to be ‘conscious or
aware of something’ and inclined or intending to do something’ (Pearsall: 2001: 906), while
the Oxford Dictionaries Online defines 'mindfulness' as:

1. The quality or state of being conscious or aware of something

2. A mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment,
while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily
sensations, used as a therapeutic technique
(http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/mindfulness. Accessed
04.10.14)

which clearly shows that the world ‘mindfulness’ has become a common word. The Online
Etymology Dictionary describes that ‘Old English mindful means ‘of good memory’
(http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mindful&allowed_in_frame=0. Accessed
04.10.14). The Pali10 word sati is often translated as mindfulness although etymologically, it
means ‘to remember’ but in Buddhism it refers to skilful attentiveness
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sati). Accessed 04.10.14). All the above, including the archaic
meanings, reinforce my understanding of the word today. The archaic meaning ‘to remember’
– I find – is a key element in carrying mindful meditation into effect. One has to remember to
be aware – an important and lengthy aspect of the training of meditation. This brings me to
self-forgetfulness in which one forgets to be mindful. In my opinion, self-forgetfulness is an
aspect of the human mind that musicians become well acquainted with. Self-forgetfulness is
the mind being bound to and identical with its content, condition, and experiences and
thereby forgetting who is experiencing this particular moment (Risom 2013: 59). As

10
Pali is a dead Indo-Aryan language, in which many earliest extant Buddhist scriptures are written.

11
musicians we are often wholeheartedly absorbed in the production of sound. And with the
self-forgetfulness comes the evaluating mind as if it was a henchman, which is an instinctive
and – in fact – a reasonable aspect of music making as a large amount of time, we are
bringing to perfection the musical output. Thus one of the questions I had in mind before
embarking on this project was how can I find the delicate balance between having a non-
judgementally attention on the sound I produce while accepting the present moment and
thereby the sounds to be as they are – and still produce sounds that are musical, in order to
draw listeners into the musical sound world? I believe it is a general experience among
musicians to experience music playing when it flows without effort. However, I also believe
many become self-forgetful in this pleasant state of being which brings me to the next
subject. It is my hope that I will be able to somewhat the answer to the question during this
paper.

4.2 Mindfulness and music

Many people, including musicians believe that ‘meditation naturally appeals to musicians’ as
Rolf Hind, composer and pianist at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London wrote
in the Guardian in 201111. He argues the above with

the time [the musicians] spend – even as children – in a state of solitary absorption,
called practice. And when they perform, they seek "flow states" where, in the
coming together of all the preparation and the right circumstances, playing feels
wonderfully natural and unselfconscious (Hind: 2011).

Others state that listening to music is mindfulness practice in itself. One such person is
Patrick Groneman, who on 11 October 2013 writes: ‘Sometimes people will ask me whether
or not listening to music counts as mindfulness practice. I'd say sure…’ and he goes on to
explain ‘what makes a session of mindful music appreciation unique and distinct from a
mindful breathing practice’. He explains that ‘Music is a language of energy, a "vibe" of
emotions and joy. It speaks to our core desires and feelings. It spans language barriers and
political borders, making it a powerful means through which humans can connect. He then

11

12
quotes Karen Armstrong saying: ‘Beethoven's string quartets express pain itself [however] it
is not my pain’ (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patrick-groneman/mindfulness-
practice_b_3894331.html, accessed 08.10.14).

However, I am not convinced that meditation naturally appeals to musicians and listening to
music itself is mindfulness meditation. I believe it is not an easy task to apply meditation to
music playing and that it requires as arduous training as any sitting meditation form. I find
that people, myself included, are confused by the notions of concentration, flow, and
meditation. They overlap, and they are not mutually exclusive ; however, I do not perceive
them to be the synonyms for the same phenomenon, which I shall discuss below. Shakuhachi
and meditation undoubtedly overlap due to history. And shakuhachi playing as meditation is
often described as suizen (lit. blowing Zen), often as a counterpart to zazen (lit. sitting Zen or
the meditation practice performed in Zen Buddhism). However, I have not seen the word
suizen in any historical documents, and nor had prof. Tsukitani Tsuneko (1944–2010), who
explained to me, that the first time the word appeared was when the stone, in which the word
is engraved, was erected at the Myōanji temple in Kyoto in the early 20th century (personal
conversation 2007). Thus, meditation continued to be important for (some) shakuhachi
players even after the abolishment of the Fuke sect, although—as noted—the transmission of
practice seems to have faded away.

5. Zen Buddhism during the Edo period

Zen Buddhism, including the Rinzai school, which was said to have stagnated, experienced a
decline during the early Edo period. Many scholars have therefore focused on Neo-
Confucianism during the Edo period, with Buddhist movements often viewed as decadent or
of merely secondary importance (Mohr 1994: 341) during the period. However, Hakuin
Ekaku (1686–1768) and Takuan Sōhō (1573–1645) are generally thought to have revived the
Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism during a period important for the Fuke sect. Takuan explains
clearly the Buddhist principles of how a person trained in meditation perceives the world:

…when you put things in front of a mirror they are reflected in it according to their

13
 form. The mirror does not discriminate between the objects to whether they are
beautiful or ugly, but still the mirror reflects their beauty or their ugliness… So it is
with the strategist when he opens isshin (the one mind) like a mirror, the innocent
mind, in front of his opponent. He can see good and bad clearly without the mind
discriminating between good and bad. He can act absolutely freely, ‘walking on the
water as he walks on earth’ and ‘walking on the earth as he walks on the water’
(Hirose 1992: 43-4).

In the context of shakuhachi playing and Buddhism, I find Takuan's phrase ‘He can see good
and bad clearly without the mind discriminating between good and bad. He can act absolutely
freely…’ of great interest. One of the trouble I have had when reflecting on meditation and
shakuhachi playing has been an opinion commonly held among shakuhachi players that a
player may be excused for not playing well because he is more interested in the spiritual
aspect of shakuhachi playing than the musical. This is like saying ‘as long as I sit down in the
meditation position, the quality of my meditating does not matter’. To my mind, if meditation
and shakuhachi playing really can be combined and have a contemplative effect, the same
sort of effort has to be made during 'plain meditation' as is made during sitting meditation.
Thus the playing skill does matter—in my opinion.
Hakuin is well known for having convinced Zen Buddhist students once again that
freedom was to be found in the authentic realisation of kenshō or enlightenment attained
through vigorous zazen and koan study directed toward, and later beyond enlightenment
(post-enlightenment training) (Waddell 1994: xii). One noteworthy thing about Hakuin – also
in the context of this paper – is that he seriously devoted himself to calligraphy and painting
later in life, and thus developed an artistic relation to Zen Buddhism. In fact, art became a
central part of Hakuin’s teachings and one of the chief hallmarks of the Zen lineage after him;
he considered his paintings to be part of his sermons with a more direct and universal appeal,
and his work is considered to ‘possess an ability unique even among Zen artists to translate
visceral Zen experience on paper (Waddell 1994: xxi), which bears a striking relevance to
shakuhachi, as one might well say the same thing about the playing of music being a
translation of visceral experience into sound. However, Hakuin also describes the situation of
monks contemporary to him as either sitting alone in retreat, not realising that others are
being ‘rowdy miscreants haunting down the town streets engrossed in these unsavoury
pastimes… it all takes place in broad daylight for everyone to see, their black sins become
known to all’ and mentions that ‘even the masterless samurai talk of their flagrant misdeeds’

14
(Waddell 1994: 11). Since the komusō monks, who were often masterless samurai (Takahashi
1990: 113), were also known for being rowdy and engaging in pastimes not suited to their
status, one could perhaps consider a general decline in Zen Buddhism and the lack of control
of the wandering komusō monks of the Fuke sect as related phenomena.
Another aspect which I cannot avoid mentioning here, although I will not deal with the
matter in this paper, is the thorough investigation performed by Yamada Shoji on Zen and art
(Yamada 2009). Titles like ‘Zen and the art of…’ are well known and began with Eugen
Herrigel’s Zen in the Art of Archery from 1948. According to Yamada, Herrigel hardly spoke
Japanese, and the most important moment of Zen Buddhist teaching to which he points is
taken from an event in which he was alone with his archery teacher. None of the other senior
archery students had received teachings in Zen Buddhist archery. In fact, archery and Zen
Buddhism were—according to Yamada—never mentioned together prior to the publication
(2009: 207). Yamada’s hypothesis is that a misunderstanding led to this belief in a strong
connection between Zen Buddhism and art. Yamada’s excellent and illuminating book is
recommended for further study to the interested reader. Although in the case of the
shakuhachi, a connection between Zen and the art of playing is undeniably present, I wish
there to point out that such connections between different art forms and Zen are not
necessarily innate in Japanese culture. Thus, the relationship between Zen and playing the
shakuhachi to be viewed as a thing sui generis, rather than an example of a general case.

6.1 Meditation while playing shakuhachi I

My own journey in shakuhachi playing and meditation has been a long path. I did not – as
many fellow players – come to the shakuhachi through Zen Buddhism but rather through an
attraction to the timbre. Thus unfortunately I never listened carefully to my teacher Okuda
Atsuya’s explanation on the connection between the music and Zen Buddhist philosophy
during the eleven years I studied with him in Tokyo. I never thought it was strange that
meditation was never taught directly, although the history of the shakuhachi as being a
meditation tool in order to attain ichion jōbutsu (lit: Buddhahood in one note or
enlightenment though one note) is very important for players, as a large part of the
transmission is done wordlessly. Most of the many hours I practised with my teacher we

15
played together. I simply imitated his playing, and learned the musical vocabulary through
imitation. I believe I have played some of the melodies together with him more than hundred
times. Okuda would answer my questions and if we entered the realm of philosophy, he was
unstoppable. But the music was mostly transmitted wordlessly. An experience in Zen
Buddhist meditation at a temple on Yaku Island in Japan in 1996 supported this
understanding of transmission. During a several month stay, the only 4 instructions in
meditation I received the first morning were: ‘Sit here, face the wall, gaze here and empty
your mind’. Like many other shakuhachi players, I approach the notion of playing coupled
with meditation with curiosity – but had no instructions other than arcane ingredients in
Okuda’s teaching such as that the aim is to contain the universe in one single sound and to
succeed in the union of opposites. Okuda never elaborated on what he meant with the ‘union
of opposites’ other than that in musical terms he told me that extramusical sounds had to be
present when playing a musical sound and vice versa. The ‘union of opposites’ stayed with
me and has helped me since then in my search to combine shakuhachi playing and
meditation.
In the beginning when I attempted to add meditation to the act of playing, I aimed at being
mindful by trying firstly to focus on the breath. Focusing on the breath – inhaling through the
nose and exhaling through the mouth as much as possible in order to produce a sound. The
breath has a central role in honkyoku playing. It is the only rhythm, thus every player will
have his or her own rhythm or pulse.12 Focusing on the breath gave me a rhythmic sensation
that can be felt as a profound state of absorption similar to trance.13 Playing a piece that I had
assimilated to a degree that I need not think about what I was doing or about to do gave the
most satisfying results as the mind did not have to occupy directly with what to play. For
years I thought that this must be what meditation and playing was all about – a conclusion,
however, I came to question several years ago. Is this all? When I asked ethnomusicologst
and shakuhachi player Shimura Satoshi about meditation and playing, and why there are no
accounts of any shakuhachi player attaining ichion jōbutsu or enlightenment through playing
one note—to which he replied ‘Perhaps reaching satori (enlightenment) requires much more

12
Some shakuhachi schools such as Kinko and Tozan have a notation for rhythm while in others including the
school I have trained in did not have any indication of rhythm.
13
Trance is defined in Oxford Concise Dictionary as ‘a half-conscious state characterized by an absence of
response to external stimuli typically as induced by hypnosis or entered by a medium (Pearsall 2001:1521).

16
vigorous practice than shakuhachi playing’. I began to feel that the way I was approaching
meditation and playing was insufficient—in particularly if the aim in the past had been to
break through to the state of satori. I had no expectations of reaching satori; however, I did
feel a need for the training to be more vigorous.
I posted a call for descriptions on how people meditated and how meditating differed
from a state of flow to shakuhachi groups on Facebook, as the latter question was one of my
key dilemmata. Vit Rozkovec replied as following:

It seems to me, that we are talking about the same thing. To be very focused, in a
flow or to meditate, it seems like those things are the same. When taking it from
the Zen perspective, to be the one with the action you are doing, that is the state
when you meditate. There is no "I" doing it, there is just the activity
(www.facebook.com, accessed 05.10.14).

Another person, using the pseudonym ‘Psychedelic Zen’ answered:

[The way] I play Shakuhachi to approach mediation is to use improvisation and

apply mindfulness of breathing called Anapanasati into it. Breathing is very
important, both exhaling and inhaling while playing for me… I would focus at
first [before I] start playing, holding the Shakuhachi and placing it to [playing]
position. Then I would play and flow with my breathing… Flow playing can lead
me to the awareness and consciousness which will reflect and appear in the sound
I am playing (www.facebook.com, accessed 29.09.14).

The above two examples seem to indicate that other players had similar experiences to my
own. Meditation became a deep sense of flow. I now felt, however, that this identity did not
suffice for my exploration into meditation and shakuhachi playing, I had to go deeper. Thus
in my own analysis of meditation and shakuhachi playing, I came to the next theme:

6.2 Distinguishing between ‘flow’ and meditation

I stepped out on stage in St John’s Smith Square – a high profile venue in London.
The audience was clapping, the large choir sat down at the back of the stage in
order to give the soloist—me—the stage on my own. When the clapping ceased, I
brought the flute to my lips and began playing a honkyoku. At a given moment
during the performance, I realised the music was flowing out of me effortlessly,
without thought and beyond my control. The latter frightened me as I became
aware that I had no idea which note I had just played and which note I was moving

17
 to next – something of which I usually have full control. In a subtle panic, I tested
several strategies in order to remember where in the piece I was. I then understood
I had to let go of my eagerness to know the place in the music – otherwise it would
inhibit the flow and I will not be able to play. I played on and suddenly I noticed,
my normal focused mind had taken over, and I knew exactly where in the music I
was.

The above is a description of a concert situation on 13 March 2008. I would consider this
experience to be an example of flow and not meditation although there are certain similarities.
According to Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, flow is a mental state of complete immersion in an
activity in which concentration is focused on a challenge suitable to the person’s skills. It
gives the protagonist a loss of reflective self-consciousness and a distorted temporal but
rewarding and positive experience (Csíkszentmihályi 1990). The largest discrepancy between
flow and meditation for this project lies in the complete immersion in an activity and the loss
of reflective self-consciousness. Due to my training in mindfulness meditation, I find this
experience to be lacking the aspect of witnessing awareness required for it to be called
‘meditation’. Although it is clear from the description above that I was aware of the flow, I
was nonetheless not conscious my own awareness. I am immersed in the awareness, which
itself is blind for me. Thus the total immersion and thereby self-forgetfulness and the
awareness of being aware are the key aspects of the difference between the two. However, I
do find flow, as described above – to be necessary – if not sufficient - for meditation when
playing. The deep immersion and focus is the concentration part of the meditation – the next
step for me was to practice letting go of the immersion into what I was doing and adding the
witness function.

6.3 Meditation while playing shakuhachi II

In the beginning of 2012, I began to work with the breath as a means to transmit the quality
of stillness I experienced while trying to play and meditate. I worked with the visualisation of
a flow entering me from above my head down into the breath and out through the heart and
the shakuhachi. With this approach I would literally blow empathy through the instrument out
to the audience or the world in general. This way I was able to train the ability of feeling
compassion towards others and to some degree feeling a deeper sense of contemplation and

18
presence in my existence (see Bertelsen 2010, Risom 2013, Rigtrup 2009 on empathy and
mindfulness). I taught this method of training compassion at some masterclasses in Kiev,
Ukraine during November 2012. I was pleased to see that even some flute students from the
Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music came for a second masterclass as they were curious
about this approach. I realised compassion was indeed universal.
However, I still had some steps to take before I felt I had an idea of how shakuhachi
playing and mindfulness meditation could be executed simultaneously. That is when I began
consciously to add witness awareness to playing. I realised early on that real immersion and
flow is more likely to take place when a honkyoku piece was fully memorised and assimilated
I thus practised adding witness awareness when I realised I was in a certain quality of flow. In
order to get into the state of flow while playing a piece I had mastered. I began playing after
first sitting for perhaps five minutes in quiet stillness, focusing on the breath. This practice
may lead to a sensation of flow and to this I applied the compassion method described above,
which led to an increase in energy level. Finally then I would apply witness awareness, which
led to a panoramic state of being as described by Risom (2013: 63, 155). At some given
moment, I felt the contemplation level had reached a level similar to that I had reached during
quiet sitting meditation – which was a gain for my musical practice.

6.4 Mindfulness meditation while playing shakuhachi

When I began to be able to—with a certain amount of effort—to draw witnessing awareness
into my musical practice, I experienced it as an a perception of something inherent in
shakuhachi playing and as if it had been ‘the missing link’. However, maitaining witnessing
awareness for any length of time was no easy task ; soon I would discover that I was back
into my usual focused flow mode of attention – totally immersed in playing, sound
production and judging whether the sound was good nor not.
The honkyoku piece Shin kyorei (真虚霊), as taught in Okuda Atsuya’s Zensabō style), is
to be played almost at an inaudible level or pianissimo. Playing at such a low volume had
always made me generate bodily heat – some times I even had to go outside in snowy
weather dressed in T-shirt, in order to cool down. While practising mindfulness and playing
as described above, I realised Shin kyorei could be used to increase the energy level, which

19
could be directed into the meditation practice. Thus from April 2014, I included this piece in
my daily practice. I only applied mindfulness meditation after I had played it for a while
since I had forgotten the piece and needed the score to play. The more I incorporated the
piece into my being, the better I was able to apply mindfulness while playing and this
intensified the experience of the already augmented energy level due to bodily heat. In an
entry in my diary on 18 July 2014, I wrote about experiencing a phenomenon of expansion of
the already expanded panoramic state in mindfulness meditation. I observed that with the
focusing on breathing and the sound produced, the mind’s conceptual rigidity relaxed in an
efficient way; thus I was able to observe the subtle changes of energy levels. I noticed the
gradual establishment of quiescence that allowed insights I remained aware of – a contrast to
many insights regarding the flow state experienced during the concert in St John’s Smith
Square, which were generated by an elicitation interview14 conducted by Ninni Sødahl on 26
September 2014.
Slowly, while working with Shin kyorei, I began to grasp the role of music in meditation
from within. My confusion had been that I had taken the music too seriously – in the sense of
being self-absorbed, adding a value to it that only had the aim of honouring my ego.
Ansuman Biswas formulates it exquisitely.

Meditation is a work of attaining a gracefully integrated consciousness. When the

roiling turbulence of verdanā (sensation) can be brought fully into awareness
without throwing it off balance, then there is a gracefulness about the moment.
Any object may be grasped to steady oneself. It might be a spoken mantra, a
beautiful picture, a geometrical figure, a candle flame, or an idea. The object itself
has no particular meaning or significance. Like the Pole Star for a mariner, or the
lamppost for a drunk, it provides support rather than an illumination (2011: 100).

Once I grasped the above, I felt that I had overcome one large barrier to the exploration of
mindfulness and shakuhachi playing at multiple levels of consciousness. It furthermore
allowed me to work more freely with energy. I had long also worked with the piece Nerisaji
(練薩慈), a honkyoku piece played very energetically in the Zensabō style – to the degree it
may be called violent. Here, I had been inspired by a teaching session of Jes Bertelsen15 in

14
Elicitation interview technique is a method aimed at collecting precise descriptions of a lived experience
associated with a cognitive process, developed by Claire Petitmengin (see Petitmengin 2006).
15
Jes Bertelsen (1946-) is a meditation teacher trained in the Tibetan Dzogchen tradition and the founder of

20
which he encouraged us to bring our entire being—including the negative aspects—into the
meditation. With the violent blasts of air, I had previously described by using natural
metaphors such as storm, volcanic eruption and tsunami waves to my students, I began
contacting my less flattering sides – sides I preferred to hide in order to sustain a more
favourable self image. I tried to bring the blasts of air to the maximum pressure my lungs
could exert through the instrument while contacting my bestial sides, the violence I contain in
me and negative emotions, I’d rather go without – of which the resulting sound became a raw
uncensored vibration and expression. Contacting bestial sides made me retrace evolution and
sensing I was getting closer to the primal origin or as Biswas formulates as ‘integrating
rational awareness with the animal body’ (2011: 102). I stretched the music and I played
Nerisaji even more raw and violent than Watazumi Dōsō Rōshi’s versions16 at some sections
while more quietly than I had learned by Okuda at others. I included a larger ma (間) – an
important concept in Japanese arts, literally meaning interval or pause in the sense of vacuus
plenus—ma is as important as the sound. If I managed to remain aware of witnessing during
these violent gusts of sound, I could bring in a sensation of an expanding stillness during ma.
This ma felt more complete due to the attention of bringing in all aspects of me including
negativity, and I experienced myself playing as a microcosm of the world. I remembered the
words Okuda had repeatedly told me during lessons: ‘Play your shakuhachi so that one sound
contains the whole universe’. These words suddenly resonated more with me than ever.
I wrote in a diary entry on 2 August 2014: ‘Clearly sensing when I fall out of the witness
function and can easier use my will to bring myself back again’. My shakuhachi playing and
mindfulness meditation had clearly begun to take the shape of an average meditation session
on my cushion. And, as on the cushion, I found myself again and again being fascinated by
various phenomena including a fascination with my own sound. Then there was nothing else
to do than bringing myself back a mindful attitude to myself, my ‘failure’ of having forgotten
and to the playing.

the meditation centre Vækstcenteret, Nørre Snede, Denmark.

16
Watazumi Dōsō (1911–92) is a skillful shakuhachi player with a personal playing style, who broke away
from the strict guild system in Japanese arts. See discography for his recordings which include Nerisaji – or
Daibōsatsu – as he names it.

21
7. Getting out into the world

I have previously taught mindfulness and shakuhachi playing at festivals. However when I
taught at the nunnery Weltkloster in Radolfzell, Germany 19–22 June 2014, I felt I had much
more substance to teach and also personal experience that is important when transmitting
knowledge. I no longer felt at the border of my knowledge when teaching. I choose two
easier pieces, Kyorei (quiet) and Sō shingetsu (fierce), that would be played in the manner of
Shin kyorei and Nerisaji, but which were not as technically demanding. I was very satisfied
with the fact that I could transmit the idea of two different ways of building energy up for
meditation, and playing in a state of objective awareness. The quiet Kyorei caused more
difficulties than the fierce Sō shingetsu.
On 28 August 2014, I played a short solo concert at the Mind & Life Research Institute at yet
another nunnery on Farueninsel Island in Chiemsee Lake, Germany. It was a long conference
lasting 5 full days, which required me to travel the day before to the island and travell home
the day after. It had a quasi-retreat format, with Fred von Allmen, Tsoknyi Rinpoche and
Martine Batchelor instructing meditation sessions. There was even a day in silent
contemplation (http://esri.mindandlife-europe.org, accessed 08.10.14). Thus despite the
papers on mostly neuroscience, the participants constituted of meditating scientists. For the
concert, I had boldly written in the programme that I was going to meditate while playing.
Although I modified it when I presented myself, I tried my best to combine mindfulness
meditation and playing. I played four pieces including Shin kyorei and Nerisaji. I believe that
due to the training I had recently gone through, the quality of flow was entirely different from
that of the concert at St John’s Smith Square. My particular body and breath, space, time and
this particular audience made certain moments feel intensively as the music was a vibration
of this embodied moment. And with the mindfulness added to the ma—an open space without
audible sound – ‘the unstruck sound, the vibration that is below the threshold of hearing
(Biswas 2011: 102) – only the attitude of listening to sounds remained. This enabled me to
become more aware of subtle motions of the mind and remain aware that I was aware – until
I fell out and had to shorten the pieces to adapt to a shorter time span than planned. I then lost
control of time and piece as I did at St John’s Smith Square. However, this time I was aware
of it and voluntarily renounced the control. And exactly here, I felt I had a glimpse of

22
mindfulness meditation and shakuhachi – the voluntarily release of control. I furthermore felt
I had a taste of mindfulness meditation and shakuhachi music being in circulation with an
attentive audience— in moments of shared consciousness. Thus this concert in Fraueninsel
was an important milestone in my search to investigate meditation as conducted by the
komusō monks.
I also felt I had taken a small step towards an understanding of the flute player in the poem
by Hafiz on page 1—but know I am still far from it.

8. Conclusion: 21st century komusō? Mindfulness meditation and

shakuhachi playing

Despite the title of this section, I do not claim to be a komusō or the like. The title is meant to
reflect on what we can learn from an experiment of adding mindfulness meditation to the act
of playing shakuhachi and whether we can make any assumption on how the komusō monks
may have approached their meditation task. Although the mendicant komusō monks are the
most well known monks of the Fuke sect, and the jujishoku or senior monks, who were the
resident heads of the komusō temples scattered around Japan are less known, they may be the
most interesting for the purpose of reflecting on meditation and shakuhachi. They were
supposed to be fully ordained Buddhist priests (Sanford 1977: 424). After a decline in Zen
Buddhism, the words of masters such as Takuan and Hakuin must have excited and inspired
them. I imagine—since the jujishoku had gone through Buddhist training—that they must
have had a meditation practice as well as a daily temple routines. The quote from Takuan ‘He
can see good and bad clearly without the mind discriminating between good and bad’
together with the contemplative experiences during this practice based experiment has
answered one of the key questions of which I was previously unaware. I realised that when
the player hears the good and bad notes—although remaining neutral to the sounds—he or
she can make subtle changes comparable with subtle corrections to any meditation practice,
without, however, leaving the musicality behind. In the voluntary renunciation of control, the
awareness is so present that musicality has transcended to another level than what I had
hitherto experienced. I realised that music is creating a space in which a large range of
emotions can be activated. As in the Nerisaji described above, I was able to contact negative

23
aspects of my emotional life in which I almost felt like a beast—and combining mindfulness
meditation and shakuhachi playing allowed me to practice the attitude of feeling emotions
without acting on it as all is happening under controlled conditions. ‘In music, since there I
no substantive danger or reward, no real-life object or hate or desire, the emotion can be
observed in itself, as a bodily fact’ (Biswas 2011: 108). When realising this and the
renunciation of the self-absorbed musicality, playing music becomes an efficient space for
meditation practice. Thus I believe I have indeed found answers to some of the questions I
had in mind before embarking on this project. Questions regarding how to attain the delicate
balance between maintaining a non-judgemental attention on the sound I produce, while
accepting the present moment and thereby the sounds to be as they are—and still produce
sounds that are musical, in order to draw listeners into the musical sound worlld. I have
grasped more than I thought possible. Whether it is possible for me to frame an hypothesis on
how the komusō or the jujishoku approached meditation and shakuhachi playing, I am unable
to say; I can only say I have caught a glimpse of it. I suspect I shall have to continue working
for some years from this stage and stabilise a practice before I dare make any conjectures.

24
Glossary

Bakufu (幕府) is the term used for the government or administration under the military feudal
ruler shōgun during three dynasties: Minamoto, Ashikaga, and Tokugawa, which lasted
from late late 13th century until 1867.

Buddha-kāya: The Triple Body of the Buddha

Edo period (1603–1867), a period of relative peace governed by Tokugawa. It was also the
period of seclusion from the outside world.

Fukeshū (普化宗): Zen Buddhist sect under the Rinzai school. The shakuhachi playing
komusō monks were initiated members of the sect, which solely admitted men of samurai
rank. The sect was recognised during the early Edo period (1614) and the sect was
abolished 1871 by the Meiji government.

Gaikyoku (外曲): lit.: Outside pieces [of music]. The term used by the Fuke sect to describe
pieces that were not honkyoku and thereby by definition secular and not sacred music
prohibited for the komusō to play.

Gagaku (雅楽): Japanese court music. The music originated in China during the Tang dynasty
(618–907). It was imported to Japan in the 8th century from Korea.

Hitoyogiri (一節切): A short one node flute, considered to be the link between the gagaku
shakuhachi and the komusō shakuhachi. They were popular from the 14th century till the
beginning of the 19th century.

Hōki (法器): Lit: Tool of the Dharma. Often translated as sacred tool. In this case, the
shakuhachi was considered as hōki and not a musical instrument.

Honkyoku (本曲): lit.: Original pjeces. The pieces in the repertoire created by komusō monks
during the Edo period as meditation and for mendicancy.

Honsoku (本則): rules. Here a set of rules issued to the komusō monks.

Ichion jōbustu (一音成仏): Lit: One sound becoming a Buddha. An important saying for
shakuhachi players during the Edo period as well as today. It is said to be the aim of
shakuhachi playing to reach enlightenment with the single tone that encompasses the
whole universe.

Isshin(一心): One mind, wholehartedness.

Kenshō (見性): Enlightenment.

Kōan (公案): Zen Buddhist question, story, dialogue to be used to create doubt. Also used to
monitor the progress of a student.

25
Komusō (虚無僧) lit.: Monks of nothingness. The monks, of the Fuke sect, who played
shakuhachi as a meditation tool.

Kufū (功夫): Striving to attain satori.

Meiji-period: 1868–1912, the period of modernisation of Japan into a democracy and a player
on the international stage.

Mekora-hōshi (盲法師): Blind Buddhist monks.

Myōanji Temple: A small temple in the compounds of Tōhoku-ji in Kyoto, which serves as
the headquarters for Myōan Kyōkai (society) today. The Myōan style today represents
most of the styles of shakuhachi playing, which are not categorised under the two main
secular schools (Kinko and Tozan).

Rōnin (浪人): Samurai without a master to serve.

Samurai (侍) or bushi (武士): Military nobility of medieval and early-modern Japan.

Sankyoku (三曲): Japanese chamber music ensemble, traditionally played on shamisen (3

stringed long-neck lute), koto (13-stringed zither) and shakuhachi, often with a vocal
accompaniment.

Sarugaku: (猿楽): Early nō theatre popular between 11th and 14th century.

Satori: (悟り or 覚り): Enlightenment, spiritual awakening.

Shakuhachi (尺八): Japanese vertical notched oblique bamboo flute.

Suizen (吹禅): lit.: Blowing Zen or meditation playing shakuhachi. A word that is engraved in
a Stone at Myōanji temple, Kyoto, Japan. According to ethnomusicologist Tsukitani
Tsuneko, it is a word that did not appear before early 20th century.

Tengai (天蓋): Reed hood shaped as a basket, worn by the wandering komusō monks,
covering the whole face from around 19th century.

Zazen: (座禅) lit.: Sitting Zen or the meditation practice performed in Zen Buddhism.

26
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30
See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275893917

Asahi Falls--Mendicant Shakuhachi Monks and the Izu Peninsula

Research · May 2015

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.3138.7041

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 Asahi Falls
—Mendicant Shakuhachi Monks and the Izu Pennisula—
Christopher Yohmei Blasdel

Asahi Falls, Ôdaira, Izu. Photograph by the author.

1
 The anfractuous road from Shûzen-ji to the Amagi Pass winds through the
middle of the mountainous Izu Peninsula. It cuts across small villages, traverses
deep rivers filled with fresh, running waters and traces hairpin curves that
straddle exquisitely terraced rice paddies. Every turn offers a stunning vista of
towering mountains and verdant slopes. These views are juxtaposed with
glimpses of local daily life as village residents make their way back and forth
from school, shopping or their work in the fields and forests.
One of the small communities the road passes along the way is Ôdaira.
From the center of this settlement, a small lane leaves the road and makes its
way up westward to the edge of the mountain, where is situated the remains of
an old temple, a shrine and a magnificent waterfall that cascades from on high
out of the forested hillside. This eastward-facing waterfall is named Asahi Daki
(“Morning-sun waterfall”), and the name of temple—or the empty space where
it once stood—is Rôgen-ji (literally, “origin of the waterfall”).
A sign at the entrance to the area tells the visitor that Rôgen-ji was a ko-
musô temple. Komusô, the sign informs us, were a band of itinerant monks who
covered their heads with deep basket hats, called tengai, and wandered the
Japanese countryside playing the shakuhachi bamboo flute and begging for
alms. These monks belonged to the Fuke Sect, which was loosely connected to
the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism, and Rôgen-ji was an affiliate temple of Rei-
hô-ji Temple in Ôme, now a municipality of Tokyo in western mountainous re-
gion. Reihô-ji was the most important of all the komusô temples in the Kanto
Plain.
Rôgen-ji was the only komusô temple in Izu. Now, the only thing remain-
ing of the temple now are some weathered graves and the empty site itself.
Closer to the road, however, is Ryûsen-ji temple that still appears to host activ-
ity. It was formerly the host temple to Rôgen-ji.1
The sign also points out that the Asahi Daki waterfall inspired the famous
shakuhachi piece, Taki Otoshi no Kyoku; appropriately named the “Water-Falling
Piece.”
As far as information signs go in Japan it is accurate, though of course it
leaves a lot unsaid. According to local documents, Rôgen-ji was originally built
as a temple of the Shingon sect in the late Muromachi period. It was abandoned
and then, around the early 17 century, became attached to Ryûsen-ji as an in-
th

2
 Historical sign, designating the Rôgen-ji ruins as Izu City cultural property,
posted by the Izu City Educational Division (March 25, 1999). Photograph by the author.

dependent inner sanctuary. Its secretive location right next to the waterfall was
perfect for spiritual contemplation.
The shrine, Ôdaira Jinja, was built much later, in 1860, to the side of the
waterfall and has little to do with the history of Rôgen-ji.
The Fuke sect of shakuhachi playing Zen monks was officially established
in the late 17 century. Their mission in Edo Japan was to strive for enlighten-
th

ment through playing the shakuhachi and learn various set pieces known as
honkyoku. Before the sect became officially organized, however, its members
consisted mostly of a motley mob of beggars who played the shakuhachi and
wandered the country. They needed a place to gather, sleep, and practice
shakuhachi, so convincing local temples to become Fuke sect related temples
(fuke-dera) was an obvious solution.
Since Rôgen-ji had been long abandoned, it was easy for the wandering
komusô monks of the time to use it as a residence, much like a present day
squatter might inhabit a derelict building. The location was ideal, as the temple
was set apart from the main road by a waterfall but close enough to the sur-
rounding villages to get support from the locals. Soon, other komusô monks
joined in to create a small community. They were in need of leadership and di-
rection, however, and records show that Rôgen-ji’s first permanent abbot, Ippû

3
Ôshô, came to live there sometime around 1716. After that, there was a succes-
sion of abbots, but there were also periods when Rôgen-ji had no resident priest.
Even today, there are temples and shrines, especially in rural Japan, that cannot
afford to support a full-time priest, and these temples lie fallow for years with
just the bare minimum of upkeep.
Next to the Rôgen-ji temple ruins are a set of seven gravestones, shaped
like elongated bird’s eggs sticking out of the ground. From the inscription on
these stones, together with records kept in the nearby affiliate temple Kinryû-ji,
it seems that Rôgen-ji had a total of ten abbots over a period of 160 years. These
records also indicate that the last abbot, Kaiga, had to contend with the enor-
mous upheaval in society and the demise of the Fuke Sect occasioned by the
Meiji Restoration in 1868, but more about that later.
According to one account, by the end of the 17 century there were sup-
th

posedly over 120 Fuke Temples throughout Japan, although there are no precise
records of individual names. Once the Fuke sect became organized, it tended
toward exclusiveness, aimed for respectability and weeded out the riff-raff.
This would have been necessary in order for the Fuke sect to be recognized as
an official religion by the Tokugawa government, which it did in 1677.
Edo Period documents are not always accurate, and the early twentieth
century scholar, Nakatsuka Chikuzen, compiled all the information regarding
komosô temples which ever existed and came up with a list of 77, which he
sorted according to the sects listed in the archives at Myôan-ji temple in Kyoto,
which was the head Fuke Temple. Rôgen-ji is on that list.
It is difficult to know for sure what occurred in the komosô temples during
their heyday—and Rôgen-ji did seem to be an important one—but there is some
indication from historical sources. The daily life for monks in Zen tem-
ples—then and now—is very structured and revolves around a schedule of rit-
ual: the intonation of prayers according to the time of day, meal-taking,
work-related activities, sutra chanting, long sitting sessions of zazen and lec-
tures or individual sessions by the head priest.
It was the same for the komosô temples, except instead of sitting meditation,
the shakuhachi became the focus of the monks’ attention. Prayers were replaced
by shakuhachi meditative honkyoku pieces, and zazen, which literally means just
“sitting Zen,” was replaced by suizen, which indicates “blowing Zen,” or the

4
 attainment of enlightenment through breath and sound. Again at night, after
their daily training finished, the monks played honkyoku to mark the time and
occasion.
Zen meditation is something one can practice through any activity, but
blowing the shakuhachi, with its need to concentrate on the body, breath and
posture, is particularly conducive to meditative awareness.
The komusô monks were required to go begging periodically. This meant
going out into the community to gather alms, either food or money, from the
townspeople. This is common in Buddhist countries, and although now rela-
tively rare in Japan, the practice is still widely followed in other such Buddhist
countries as Thailand or Sri Lanka. Begging is thought to be a sacred activity
and provide ‘merit’ for both the beggar and the person giving alms.２ It was
also a way for the komusô to make a living.
The komusô had a very elaborate uniform that
consisted of kimono, a brocade sash, arm guards
and leggings and, most importantly, the deep,
tengai straw hat that covered their whole head. The
tengai assured anonymity, but it also provided a
sense of a powerful and mysterious oth-
er-worldliness to the monks and, I suspect, exerted
a kind psychological pressure on the simple coun-
try folk to force them to provide alms.
There is a phenomena in present day Japan,

Typical komusô costume of the late Edo Period. kosu-purei where men and woman wear the costume
(Drawing by Abe Tomio).
and mien of various characters: school girls, wait-
resses, samurai, etc. Like donning a mask, it allows
the individual to subsume the identity (and hence, power or sexuality) of
something other than themselves. Nowadays it is done as divertissement and
distraction, but one can see the impetus of this desire in such activities as the
ancient masked drama and komusô monks.
During their pilgrimages, the komusô monks obviously couldn’t hold a
begging bowl since they had to use their hands to play the shakuhachi. So in-
stead of using a bowl, they hung a wooden box for alms around their neck

5
written with the kanji “Myôan” (“light-dark”). This was in reference to the head
Fuke temple, Myôan-ji, in Kyoto. Myôan refers to a shibboleth, found in the 17 th

century Kyotaku Denki Kokuji-tai, that all komusô monks held dear: Myōtō rai,
myōtō da. Antō rai, Antō da. This passage, originally from the Annals of Rin-
zai—the teachings of the 8 Century Chinese monk Linji Yixuan (Rinzai in Jap-
th

anese)—literally translates as “If light comes I will strike it. If dark comes I will
strike it.” It is an admonition not to be deceived by duality or differences.
As within the temple, the monks played certain pieces outside according
to the situation. Like the urban ice cream truck that plays its distinctive melody
when entering a neighborhood, the komusô monks informed the locals of their
presence in the area by performing a piece called Tôri as they walked along the
paths or Kadozuke at street corners. Hachigaeshi (“Returning the Bowl”) was
performed as a kind of thank-you piece when the monk was given alms. When
two komusô met while begging, it was customary to play the piece Yobi Take
(“Bamboo Call”) or Uke Take (“Bamboo Answer”). When on the road and wish-
ing to stay in a komusô temple, they played Hirakimon or Monbiraki (“Open the
Gate”) to gain entrance. Practice and etiquette probably differed from temple to
temple but were basically the
same.
There was also a
business aspect to their ac-
tivities, and the komusô
monks could be quite ter-
ritorial. Official edicts
called tomeba seisatsu—
complete with the official
seal of the head Myôan

Seisatsu posted edict dating from the late Edo Period,

prohibiting the activity of any unauthorized komusô
from begging in the area. (Courtesy of Hosshin-ji)

Temple in Kyoto—posted at village entrances

outlawed unauthorized begging and made clear whose territory it was. Only
komusô monks of a certain affiliation were allowed to beg there. Beware the
rogue monk who might decide to butt into another’s territory. The komusô ranks

6
consisted of disenfranchised samurai who knew how to wield a shakuhachi as
if it were a sword.
Not surprisingly, the komusô monks required a license, called honsoku, to
beg. It was, after all, a money-making activity and the period bureaucrats
needed to keep tabs on them.
There is a honsoku for a komusô monk named Yûryû who lived at Rôgen-ji,
dated the 2nd year of Kyoho (1717), affixed with the seal by Bokusui, the tem-
ple’s fourth Abbot (d. 1750).
Apparently the honsoku, like present day driver’s licenses, had to be re-
newed periodically, especially when the abbot changed. We can also see
Yûryû’s renewal certificate, called zokuin, which was stamped by Rôgen-ji’s
successive abbots, ending with Tôkai Shikei around 1758. Although we have
proof of his existence, whatever happened to Yûryû—where his pilgrimages led
him, what pieces he learned, how he played the shakuhachi and when he
died—unfortunately we will never know.

Honsoku license conferred to the anonymous komusô monk Yûryû. (Courtesy of Hosshin-ji)

We can speculate about one piece he must have learned, however. In ad-
dition to the ceremonial pieces that all komusô knew, each temple had their spe-
cialty piece, and monks traveled from temple to temple throughout the land to
learn these pieces.
Rôgen-ji’s specialty piece, purportedly composed by one of its abbots, was
the aforementioned Taki Otoshi no Kyoku—the “Water-Falling Piece.”３
It is not known which abbot at Rôgen-ji “composed” this piece, but it is
important to realize that none of the shakuhachi honkyoku were actually com-
posed. Rather, they are a collection of accepted and already known melodic
fragments put together in new combinations. As is true with almost all Japanese
traditional music, shakuhachi honkyoku consist of set forms, called kata (or in
Japanese musical parlance, onkei), and these pieces, regardless of lineage or style,

7
sound, at the molecular level, pretty much the same. It is the imagination and
life experience of the player that brings life to the piece. The honkyoku are often
inspired by natural phenomena, religious ceremony and imagery or animals.
Presently, there exist multiple versions of Taki Otoshi no Kyoku, from the
highly refined version of the Kinko School to the plaintive, soulful renditions
handed down through the Myôan Temple lineages (Shinpo, Taizan and Seian
styles; where it is called Takiochi). In all lineages except the Shinpô style, the
piece maintains basically the same structure and melody. The Shinpô version
has a similar structure but a significantly different melody.
For all except dedicated scholars and performers, however, this is splitting
hairs. What is important is how it the piece sounds to us today and conveys the
essence of the waterfall.
The Asahi Falls pours forth from a steep, 100 meter high mountain right
behind Rôgen-ji ruins. It doesn’t “fall” as much as it cascades in about six clear-
ly definable sections. The rock in these mountains consists of extremely hard
columnar basalt that originated from the numerous volcanoes that form the
backbone of the Izu Peninsula.
The water slowly follows the contours of the stream above. As it ap-
proaches the falls, the pitch of the slope steepens and the flow picks up speed.
Flying over the nick point, the waters bounce and splash upon the descending
flat surfaces of the basalt, making very distinctive sounds. Gurgling and ripping,
tinkling and chiming—the water on the rock explodes into an array of natural
tones as it makes its way downhill. If the tones were visible, I suspect they
would appear as a very subtle but quick and lively rainbow against the lush
green of the verdant mountainside.
The structure of this piece begins like the waterfall: slowly, with simple,
melodic fragments. It builds in intensity and suddenly, in the second half of the
piece, the melody jumps up to the higher octave. The music mirrors the rushing
waters as they gain speed and force, tearing away relentlessly at the unyielding
rocks. Finally, the piece fades away in a subtle silence.
I learned both the simpler Myôan version and the more complex Kinko
versions of this piece. I first visited the falls in 1976 and was awed by the natu-
ral beauty of the surroundings, but I had no idea (or technique) on how to actu-
ally make the piece sound like a waterfall. My Myôan teacher, Okamoto

8
Chikugai, offered a very succinct and descriptive metaphor on how to interpret
the piece. He told me that the piece must begin with high and powerful sounds,
while pointing out that this waterfall was a “male” waterfall, and the shakuha-
chi must capture this masculine essence. But near the end, the tones must natu-
rally die down, and the final notes must “gurgle” like the water itself, ending,
as he put it, in a very feminine way.
Yamaguchi Goro, my Kinko teacher, on the other hand, did not usually
give instructions on how to interpret pieces, but in the liner notes to a CD com-
pilation of the Kinko honkyoku, he describes his interpretive approach. “The
gentle flow of the water suddenly changes as it goes over the waterfall. It
splashes against the rocks and sprays, flows downward through the crevices
and into the pool below, foaming in whirlpools. Then the waters continue on as
a gentle stream. I think of those thousands of manifestations of water as I ap-
proach this piece. I also think how this could also be a metaphor describing the
life of a human.”４
These two very different approaches epitomize the stylistic differences
between the Myôan and Kinko schools as well as the differences in interpreta-
tion by the individual player. I felt that with the Myôan version (Takiochi), I
needed to become one with the waterfall and imagine myself as the waters fall-
ing, while with the Kinko version (Takiotoshi), it was all about executing the
beautifully complex and subtle ornamentations that adorn the piece in a musi-
cal paean to the waterfall’s natural beauty.
These interpretive differences in approach became much clearer to me
when I made another visit to the Asahi Falls almost four decades later in 2014.
It is easy to lose oneself in the beauty of magnificent natural phenomena, like a
waterfall. Standing in awe in front of it induces a kind of bliss bordering on the
ecstatic and leads us into other worlds and new possibilities. But at the same
time, we realize the need to discipline ourselves to in order to share this expe-
rience. One interpretation of the piece leads us inward to the essence of the wa-
terfall while the other leads us back out where we create (or attempt to create)
something that can stand alone as one artist’s response to the phenomena. ５
As a composition, Takiotoshi no Kyoku traveled westward from Izu to Ha-
mamatsu—where there was a larger, more established Fuke temple called Fu-
tai-ken—on to Ise, Kyoto and further west to Kyushu. It also made its way to

9
northern Japan and became part of the repertory of the Kinpû style of
shakuhachi playing in Aomori. This piece is presently one of the mainstays of
traditional shakuhachi music and one of the first honkyoku taught to students.
Although the waterfall and the music lives on, Rôgen-ji itself is long gone.
The last abbot of Rôgen-ji, Kaiga, arrived in Rôgen-ji around 1860 after a fif-
ty-year hiatus with no head priest. The temple had fallen into disarray and its
monks become unruly, but Kaiga restored order to the temple and discipline to
its komusô. Their new abbot was young, but as the son of one of the feared
Shôgun’s hatamoto elite vassals, he commanded respect. Kaiga also was held in
esteem as the abbot of the main Kantô komusô temple, Reihô-ji in Ome. After
arriving at Rôgen-ji around 1860, he began working to put it back in order.
Rôgen-ji’s renewal was short lived, however. In 1868, the Tokugawa gov-
ernment fell and the Meiji Restoration began. The Meiji leaders took quick ac-
tion to dismantle the old Tokugawa institutions, and Kaiga could see the writ-
ing on the wall. Without the protection of the Tokugawa shôgun, the Fuke sect
and its mendicant komusô monks could no longer go about their activities. To
the new Meiji reformers, they were outlaws and unwanted reminders of the
feudal past.
In 1871, the new Meiji government officially outlawed the Fuke sect and
the komusô, but before the law could be applied, Kaiga dismantled Rôgen-ji and
safely stored its treasures (consisting of two Buddhist statues, Kan’on and
Fudô) at the nearby Kinryû-ji temple. His work finished at Rôgen-ji, Kaiga then
took off on the winding roads leading back to Tokyo, the city once known as
Edo. He was never heard from again.

References:
• TOMINOMORI Kyozan, Zuisômanhitsu,Taki Otoshi [Thoughts on Takiotoshi] (Tokyo Myôankyozan
Bô Dôyûkai, 1975).
• TOMINOMORI Kyozan, Myôan Shakuhachi Tsûkai [An Explanation of Myôan Shakuhachi] (Tokyo
Myôankyozan Bô Dôyûkai, 1974).
• NAKATSUKA Chikuzen, Konki-ryû Shakuhachi Shikan [A Personal View of the Kinko Shakuhachi]
(Nihon Ongaku-sha, Tokyo, 1979).
• BLASDEL Christopher Yohmei & KAMISANGÔ Yûkô, The Shakuhachi—A Manual for Learning.
(Printed Matter Press, Tokyo, 2008).
• Reproduction of komusô honsoku license courtesy of Gekkai Bunkô, Hosshin-ji Temple, Tokyo.
• YAMAGUCHI Goro, Shakuhachi no Shinzui, Shakuhachi Honkyoku [Honkyoku: The Soul of the
Shakuhachi] (liner notes, VZCG 8066-8077, Victor Zaidan, Tokyo, 1999).

1
Some contemporary shakuhachi scholars (Tsukitani, Kamisangô, Kojima) mention Ryûsen-ji as Izu’s komusô

10
 temple. In fact, it was Rôgen-ji. The confusion arises in part from the similarities in the kanji rendition of their names
(Ryûsen-ji 龍泉寺 and Rôgen-ji 瀧源寺). Furthermore, these same sources mistakenly combine kanji from both tem-
ple names and call it Ryûgen-ji (龍源寺), further obfuscating the issue.
２
Another name for Rôgen-ji is Kudoku-zan, or “Merit-making Temple.”
３
There is another Izu-related piece found in the Kinko Style shakuhachi honkyoku repertory, Izu Reibo. This piece,
also associated with Rôgen-ji Temple, belongs to a series of numerous Reibo (鈴慕, “yearning for the bell”) pieces,
all associated with a specific locale (Kyûshû Reibo, Kyô Reibo, Yoshino Reibo, Igusa Reibo, etc). The yearning aspect
refers to an 8th century T’ang period monk and the Fuke Sect‘s namesake, Fuke, who wandered the city streets of
Chang’An, ringing a bell to urge instant enlightenment. The Fuke Sect followers yearned for and tried to imitate the
sound of the bell with the shakuhachi.
４
YAMAGUCHI Goro, Shakuhachi no Shinzui, Shakuhachi Honkyoku, pg.20.
５
In Japanese, there is a significant difference in the nuance of the two words taki otoshi and taki ochi. Taki of
course refers to the waterfall, but otoshi is the nominative of the verb otosu, “to drop,” i.e. as in the active tense “to
drop” something. Ochi, on the other hand, is from ochiru, denoting a passive sense in which “something falls.”
Something so obscure as whether the title is in the active or passive voice would normally make no difference, but,
some performers/scholars, like Tominomori Kyozan, claim that, on the contrary, it makes all the difference because it
determines the method of musical interpretation: whether the performer should try to present or merely represent the
experience of the waterfall.

Copyright, Christopher Yohmei Blasdel, 2015

11

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T m SHAKUmCHli THE CLASSIC M^OAH SCHOOL

Presented to

the Faculty of the Graduate School

The University of

In Partial Fulfillment

of the for the Degree

Master of Arts

January# 1970
 DM I Number: EP54770

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DissertationF^bhsWrig

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 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
U N IV E R S ITY PARK
LOS ANGELES, C A LIFO R N IA 90007

At, '70 ^ I Ii ' L

This thesis, w ritten by

..............
under the direction of h±s....Thesis Com m ittee,
and approved by a l l its members, has been p r e ­
sented to and accepted by the D e a n of T h e
G raduate School, in p a r t ia l fu lfillm e n t of the
requirements f o r the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Dgan

DECEMBER, 1969
D ate .................

THESIS COMMITTEE

hairmaitn
kas
O.
Copyright 1970 by Takeshi Shindo
 1

Bmmsmmt i the classic m ^ m m m m

emsm#

Scm»e m.£ the,Study

The preseat study #f the historic shhkuhachi (ao# m

geaeric aame for the h m W e flute widely used ia .perform

maaces of modéra Japaaeee ChWher music) is limited to the

history sad art of the % oa a school* #a# of the several

shWcuhachi. schools which have developed ladepeadeatly la

Japan through the centuries# the wyoaa school represeats

the pro'^emia^tly classical traditioa* Dating haok approx**

Imately seven hundred years# the Ayoah School has in recent

times lost its prestige and is at present fighting for s%%r**

vival# In an era of increasing westernisation and modemi"»

ration# the few players and directors still associated with

the school are struggling to keep alive in Japanese culture

the classic tradition of thewoan system* Their restricted

efforts# now centered mainly in the annual %^5an society

reunion in %oto# are to sharp contrast to the activity

and influence of their predecessors# the komuao* During

the feudal period these itinerant priests daily propagated

ii
jthe Fuke-Zen religion throughout Japan by playing the

shakuhachi, which became a complex but familiar symbol in

'Japanese art and history*

I
Need for the Study

I Before the present research was done# there existed

Ino adequate study of the traditional shakuhachi, which fig^

ures so romantically in Japanese cultural histojry for a

!

!period of almost a thousand years. Music historians only

Imention the instrument. They have failed to treat it in

I
I depth as# for exanyple# they have investigated the arts in-
I
corporated in the kabhki.

Method of the study

Sources consulted have been all relevant historical

works in print in English, Japanese, and Chinese. Extant

works on music history in French and German have also been

examined. The early books in the German and French lan­

guages do not give references to the Mvoan School or the

instrument shakuhachi. (walthem, Johann Gottfried#

Musikalisches Lexikon Barenreiter-Verlags 1953# facsimile

Leipzig; 1732) #• (Roussier# Pierre Joseph# Mémoire Sur La

Musique Des Anciens Paris: 1770). Briefly mentioned in

ill
later books ares (Sachs# Curt# Real-Lexlkon der MusikInstrur

ments New York : 1964, p# 368) ; (Delaqrave, Encyclopedia de

la musique et dictionnaire du Conservatoire Paris s 1927 #

p. 1427); and (Fasquelle# Encvlopedie de la musique Paris s

1961# Vol* 3# p. 700). In addition# the writer has made six

visits to Japan* In Kyoto# contacts were made with Zen

priests, who gave invaluable assistance with this project by

means of interviews and their personal knowledge of primary

source materials* Of real significance was a taped inter­

view with the ^^oan School priest in the Tofuku temple; the

interview yielded information not available anywhere in

print* With the help of the priest Hirazumi Keiun# the

writer was able to locate Mr* Koizumi lyoan, the thirty-

eighth successor since 1299 A*D. to the directorship of the

Myoan School. Prom the incumbent in this traditional offleet

important cultural material was secured for the permanent

record.

Organization of the Study

I
Chapter I is a sketch of the history of the complex

interactions of Chinese and Japanese civilizations, with *

particular reference to the role of Korea as a medium of

conveying-Chinese-culture-in-an-asslmilated-form* Chapter-li
iv
 deals with the history# manufacture# and types of the

shakuhachi# the bamboo flute originating in China and asso­

ciated with the practice of the Puke-Zen religion. Chapter

III describes the Puke sect in relation to the religious

significance it attached to the shakuhachi. Chapter IV

traces the long romantic history of the komusS# the priests

who employed the shakuhachi in their religious observances

and established the classical schools for the preservation

IM
/ d development of their musical tradition* Chapter V pre­

sents both an analysis of the systems of notation of shaku­

hachi music and a comparison of the indigenous Japanese

character notations with western notation. Chapter VI is

concerned with the present-day relationship between Japanese

and western musical forms and influences. It also includes

an evaluation of the significance of the classical D^oan

School as a cultural repository.

Significance of the Study

I A main contribution of the study is that for the

I first time it makes available and synthesises information

about a traditional Japanese art which is dying out as its

Ipractitioners become fewer and fewer. The writer had made

La-permanent-recQrd_of_the_first-hand_knowledqe of the sur-

V
vivlng adherents of the classical Myoan School because there

seemed to be a danger that with their deaths priceless cul­

tural data would be lost forever. Based largely on primary

sources, the material presented is, on the whole, entirely

new. Of special historical interest is the genealogy chart

of the succession of directors of the MyBan School (Appen­

dix: figure 6). The difficult translation of the old

entries on the original Myoan School tablets was made by

the priest Hirazumi Keiun. The writer has rendered the

dates of succession in accordance with the western calendar.

Of both technical interest and historical importance is the

chapter on the musical notation systems and the principles

of form developed by the important shakuhachi schools of

Japan. These sections highlight the necessity of direct

communication with the inheritors of a traditional art

deeply rooted in an ancient culture.

Definitions: Special Usages

In order to assist the reader who is unfamiliar with

Japanese names and terms, English equivalents are placed in

parentheses immediately following the Japanese wording. In

addition, the writer has included dates, according to the

western calendar, in order to facilitate understanding of

Vi
I international historical relationships and to give histori-

;cal perspective on cultural developments within Japan.

Japanese names of persons are given with the surname

first (except in the footnotes), in accordance with Japanese

Acknowledgment s

The writer wishes to express his appreciation to

those who have given generously of their time and special

knowledge in order to assist him in the preparation of this

study. Special thanks are due to Mr. Koizumi lyoan, direc­

tor of the Myoan School? to Priest Hirazumi Keiun and his

assistant for their translation of the old Myoan School

tablets; to Mr. HOdo Yamaguchi of Los Angeles for his crit­

ical opinions and for the use of his shakuhachi texts? to

Mr. Teiji Shimizu of l^oto; to Dr. Shigeo Kishibe, musi­

cologist at the University of Tokyo ; to Miss Juhko Komori

of Los Angeles# for assistance with translations; and to

Mrs. Lan Hing Woo and Mr. Irving J. Cohen# librarians at

California State College at LOs Angeles, for their aid in

securing special reference books.

vii
 TABia OF c o m E m g

Page

PRBFAÇE # # * ., • '#■ * » . « *; #. # ' * * # * # * * . . . i%'

LIST W PimM$ ■ X.

LIST m- ILLUSTmTIONS ............ xi

I. HISTORICAL mcmmwmB . . . . . . . . . . . i
Chinese influence on Early Japanese Music
Source of .Ancient Music in Japan

II. THE s m K u m c a i . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . • ■.
The Origin of the .Shakuhachi
The Shakuhachi' in Japan
The Shakuhachi at the Turn of the Twentieth
Century
Construction of the Shakuhachi
Principal Différences in the Types of Shaku­
hachi
The Contemporary Shakuhachi
Pitch
III. THE W W m SECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Beginning of the Sect

Eatahl ishment of the Fuke Temple

IV. THE mmmo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

The Development of Religious Practices of

the■Komuso
The Komuso in the Tokugawa Period
Status in the Meiji Period
After the Meiji Period

viii
Chapter
W S I C A m M W I C A L NOTATIONS

marly Shakuhachi Music

Performance Practices
Development of the Notation
Myoan Notation
Kinko Notation
fozan Notation
Transliterating the Shakuhachi Calligraphy
to western Notation
VI. CONCLUSION ^ • 54

Status of the Indigenous Japanese Music

During the Isolation period (c. l63i-l85S)
western Culture in Feudal Japan
Adapting western Music to the Existing
Culture
Traditionalists Versus Experimentalists

BIBLIÔGRÀfHY 64

ix
 LIST OF wmrns
Page
I. Meiam society, %#to ■xii

Priest Hirazumi Keiun . . . #

Imperial Repository in Harm 0

IV. Romuso Shakuhachi of the Early Tokugawa Period

V. A eont###orary Komuso strolling the streets of

the Ancient Capital City of Kyoto, Japan , #

VI. "%or#i" and “MUkaiJi'** (Two Oldest .Known, Shaku-^

hachi Music) 40

VII# " K o k u re iW , * # # * * . . * * * * * . 41

VIII* The Last Myoan School Certificate Issued to a

Komuso in July# 1871 44

IX. Kinko School Notation **■###» . '# *■ 47

X* Toman School Notation 47

XI, Myoaji Setool Taîsisatmres from $he Kamakura

ferioa (1299 &,D.) . . # ■# * ■* *■ 61

K
 LISf OF ILLOifmriONS

Figure page

I* Map of Kyoto 33
а. Chart Showing the Western Note Equivalent of
■Shakuhachi -Calligraphy * # * * 48

3# Rhythm Chart # * ■ # # * # * * * * ♦..***. * 50

4. "Chidori no %oku" (Song of the Plover) in

Shakuhachi N o t a t i o n ................ . . S3

5. western Notation of '«Chidori no %oku" (Song

of the Plover) . ■ . * * . # . . . . * # * # - * S3
б, Chronology of the Line of Succession to the
Directorship of the myoan school . * * # # . 63

XT
 M
w
W
g
H
M
S
I m
H
ttî
cw

g M
H
A 8
en

H
g

xii
 CHAPTER I

HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDS

The Chinese Influence on Early Japanese Music.—

Chinese music, which had attained to a high level of devel­

opment in the ancient periods of Chinese history, exerted a

strong influence on Japanese music in its earliest phases.

Chinese ritual music in particular had a powerful formative

effect. The scholarly treatises of Confucian scholars—

Chou Li (The Rite of Chou Dynasty £c. first century B.C.J );

Li Chi (Chronicle of Rites [c. 50 A.D.J) ? and Shih Chi

(Historical Chronicle [c. 90 B.C.^)— were attempts to recon­

struct the lost literature and history of the Chou Dynasty

(1122-250 B.C.). The Chou Dynasty had traditionally been

considered the period of the greatest development of Chinese

ritual music, which was elaborated on in the Confucian

treatises. Incidentally, these studies were still available

in the period of the T'ang Dynasty (619-907), time of the

greatest Japanese cultural borrowing from China; they had a

strong directive effect on the early development of Japanese

 1
music for ritualistic purposes.

Recent archaeological findings have corroborated the

claims of the ancient scholars that ritual music was at a

high degree of development in the Chou Dynasty. Evidence

has come from excavations in 1956 of the Ch*ang-t*ai Kuan

tombs on the northern bank of the Huai River In Hsin-yang

of Honan Province.^ Other archaeological evidence consists

of inscriptions and of the uncovering of ancient bells and

triangles in the main canal of Lo-yang. Of particular

Interest in terms of the history of the shakuhachi has been

the discovery of the hsuan (ocarina) # an ivory flute as­

cribed to the Shang period (1766-1123 B.C.), which may be

the oldest knovm flute of Chinese origin*^

The very earliest Chinese influence on Japanese cul­

ture was indirect and long lasting# coming by way of Korea

in the form it assumed after assimilation by the Korean

^Te-K*un Cheng# Archaeology in China# V.3 Chou China.

(Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd., University of Toronto
Press# 1963)# p. xxi.

^Ibld. p. 116. ^Ibld. pp. 286-287, (Fig. 41) p. 193,

^Te-K'un Cheng, Archaeology in China V.2 Shang China,

(Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd.# University of Toronto
Press# 1959)# p. 131.
civilization. In order to understand the indirection of

this cultural influence it is necessary to review the his­

tory of Korean-Japanese relations after the conquest of

Korea in 108 B.C. by the Emperor wu of the Han Dynasty

(206 B.C. - 220 A.D.). Central and western Korea fell to

the invaders, who established colonies around the site of

the present Korean city of P'yong-yang in northern Korea.

Although Han was overthrown in 220 a .D. and China thereafter

experienced invasions and continuous political upheaval,

Han's "golden age of the arts" had an impact as far west

as Italy, Greece, Egypt, Iran, and Southeast India. Of

special significance to Japan was this Chinese cultural

influence extending east to the three ancient Korean king­

doms: Silla, KOguryo, and Paekche. By 313 the three Korean

states had dispersed their Chinese colonists; thereafter

for several centuries these states retained their separate

identity. The Japanese, however, soon gained a foothold on

the southern coast of Korea between Silla and Paekche, and

in the years 360 to 390 they were very active and influ­

ential in this area. The infiltration of the first foreign

melodies into Japan was due mainly to the Japanese alliance

with the Korean kingdoms of Koguryo and Paekche. Through

 4

her Korean allies, Japan began to be aware of the highly

civilized cultures that flourished in areas lying along the

banks of the Yangtse River* This information apparently

first reached the island of Kyushu, the southernmost island

of Japan, and from there moved eastward along the coasts of

the Inland Sea to the Yamato district (the present Nara),

north Kyushu, and the Izumo district.

Around 554, the Korean kingdom of Silla established

sea communications with China by way of the East China Sea.

Eighty years later Japan sent her first embassy to China to

the court of the T*ang Dynasty. In the meantime, Japan had

been sending reinforcements to Koguryo and Paekche to repel

Silla's attempts at invasion. In 663, Silla defeated

Paekche with the help of the T'ang Dynasty. Koguryo was

defeated loy T'ang in 668 which led to the withdrawal of

more Japanese from Korea, consequently, during the

repatriation of Japanese forces from Korea there was a

great influx of foreign culture to Japan, where it was

adapted and assimilated* Thus by the beginning of the

eighth century Japan had been in contact with Chinese

civilization throughout the four hundred years of the

Japanese-Korean military alliance.

 5

Source of Ancient. Music .in — Jaoan established

her first; capital at AsVka in the Yamato district in 680.

In 701 during the Taiho era (701-704) Emperor Bumbu estab­

lished the music and dance department In the Ministry of

state; this act juxtaposed foreign music with the singing

and dancing which were already indigenous to the Japanese.

With the information brought back by the fifteen em­

bassies which had been sent since 630 to the Wang courts,
Japan was able to pattern the new capital at Nara in 710
after cti'anfan, which was under Wang rule, in 720, two

years after the establistoent of the Nara capital, Japan's

earliest known source of information on Japan's primitive

periods (including the mythology of Amaterasu no Mikami#

founder of Japan, which had been verbally transmitted) was

recorded in Chinese phonetics or characters (kanli) in the

'''S,
Koiiki (Record of Ancient Matters) ' and in the Nihon Shoki

or Nihongj (Chronicles of.Janan). the latter documents were

5
Koiiki or Furukotobumi. Compiled by Yasumaro One
from the recollections of an old woman Hiedm no Are, then
65 years old, the work began, in 711, it forms three volumes
and extends from the creation to the end of the reign of
Empress Buiko (628 A.D.). B. fapinot. History and Geography'
of Japan. (Yokohama; 1909), p. 297.
continued to 887 by the addition of five other histories '

written in Chinese to constitute the miWtokushi (Six National

Emperor Shomu (718-756), a Buddhist devotee, ordered

that the fifty-three foot bronze Viarocana image of Buddha

b e ,cast in the Todal temple in Nara to serve as a guardian

of the nation. The statue was consecrated in a ceremony

held on the Todaij i grounds on April 4, 752* According to

the historical chronicles Nihon .Shoki# a huge throng of

Buddhist chanters from as far away as Indo-China and Korea

gathered on the great dais and heard the court musicians

perform the ctagaku (court, music) * This is one. of the

earliest .recorded instances of the use of ritual music in

Japan* The account also shows the existence of cultural

relationship with Indo-China and Korea*

After Emperor Bhomu'a death, .Empress Dowager Komyo

(701-760) collected the Emperor's treasures, which included

musical instriments and manuscripts, and dedicated them,

along with a detailed inventory, as an offering to the

■gigantic statue. These antique relics of the ancient per­

iod are now preserved in the Imperial Repository (Shosoin)

 6
lat Nara* :
I

I Bmrtog the eighth century,# Retea was unified under i

the leadership #f j^aneee relatione with that natioh

!

then were severed.# and official exehangea were dlapontlnued#

In the ninth century# trading v e s w l a again hegmn to arrive

in Japan frcm Bi.llm and# toward the middle of the ceatuiy# j

from China, in SIS the last #f the twelve ewbaeeiee was

d.i#patched to the f *ang court# conciudimg' three centuries

I
of cultural borrowing i m m the Chinese by the Japmneee* %#|
i
hr## hecame official when in B94 Sugawara Hichizane' (#4#- i

903) persuaded, the court to discontinue mending emhaseiee '

? j
to %ina. Meanwhile# from 737 to 937 the Korean Kingdom of I

Phohmi had dispatched thirty-three envoys to Japan# hut j

when the .nation was destroyed by the Khitan (Mao %nasty) # ;
Jap-an became m m more isolated from the continent of Korea !

^fhe relics were originally stored in the wooden |

edifice hut now they are displayed 'in a separate modem :
structure* .shoao is the name for.a treasure repository of
a monastery# The great monasteries of the early era had ;
several shoso; the only remaining example is at fodaiji, m d
thus the term Simsh-in has come to refer to the. one located. ;
in Nara# Thé treasure house interior is partitioned .into :
three sect.ions. The pe.rsonal objects constituting the o.f-
faring made to the Great Buddha by Empress Konayo ■are stored ■
in the north, and middle'sections# .ShigetSka Kaneko# Guide :
to Japanese Art# (Tokyo t Charles E. Tuttle Co#, 1936} #
# 138-139. J
 8

PLATE III

IMPERIAL REPOSITORY IN NARA

than before.

The importance of court music waned on the mainland

of China with the fall of the T'ang Dynasty in 907. In

Japan, however, court music continued to flourish during

the He Ian period (794-1185) among the members of the

Imperial family, the nobility, and the aristocratic soci­

ety. Court music, which was essentially solemn and cere­

monial, was performed at the sacred rites in shrines and

temples and at special court banquets.

Although the courts discontinued sending envoys to

China, Japan continued Its cultural borrowing from China

through the activities of Buddhist missionaries. After

the fall of the T'ang Dynasty all musical adaptions from

China were the result of religious activity. In terms of

music, these importations consisted mainly of musical

instruments rather than of the music itself. By the end

of the twelfth century, Japan entered into an era of

musical creation. New styles and forms were created out

of indigenous materials which had been in existence since

ancient times. Composed for the nobility and upper

classes, the "new" music differed from the traditional

court music in that its primary purpose was entertainment

 10

and diversion, not ceremony or ritual.

 CHAPTER II

THE SHAKÜHACHI

The Origin of the Shakuhachl.— One of the cultural

adaptations from China is the shakuhachi, which is integrally

associated with Japanese art, music, and religion. The name

shakuhachi, meaning a bamboo flute instrument, is a Japanese

word derived from the Chinese T ’ang measurement of one-foot

eight inches.^ Regardless of the length of the instrument,

shakuhachi is now a generic name applied to all end-blown,

vertically played bamboo flutes, cut and made from the stump

of a bamboo tree.

The origin of the shakuhachi is not definitely known;

according to the Japanese musicologist Tanabe Hisao, how­

ever, the present-day shakuhachi probably had its beginning

with the Egyptian or Arabian vertical pipe that had gone

through a process of evolution. It is known that the in­

strument was used ceremonially in the Buddhist religion in

^In the Japanese language, shaku means foot, and

hachi means eight. The length was 54.5 cm. (ca. 21^ ins.);
Curt Sachs, The History of Musical Instruments (New York:
W. W. Norton and Co., Inc., 1940), p. 213; Curt Sachs, Rise
of Music in the Ancient World, East and West (New York ;
W. W. Norton and Co., Inc., 1943), p. 120.
11
 12
PLATE IV

is >
#■
»»•-j

Ï-1 4)

'if
I

•il
 It

KOMUSO SHAKUHACHI OF THE EARLY TOKUGAWA PERIOD

 13

India and China.

When China was at its cultural apogee during the

T*ang epoch (619-907 A.P.), various flute instmments were

in fashion in the ancient Chinese court orchestras; one

such instrument was the hsiao, which is similar to the sha-*

kuhachi.^ The flute instruments introduced to Japan during

the Heian period (794-1185) from the T*ang courts of China

were made from jadestone, marble, and copper. Instruments

constructed from these materials were more durable. The

metal and stone controlled both temperature and pitch

changes.4

The Shakuhachi in Japan.--The earliest known verti­

cally played flute used by the common people of Japan was

the dosho, constructed from a single knotted bamboo, a

prototype of the present-day shakuhachi. The measurement

2
Hisao Tanabe, Japanese Music (Tokyo; Kokusai Bunka
Shinkokai, 1936), p. 23; (2d ed.; Tokyo, 1959), pp. 25-26.
^Mei Pa Chao, The Yellow Bell (Marylands Barberry
Hill, 1934), p. 37; J. A. Van Aalst, Chinese Music (Chinese
Maritime Customs Service, 1933), pp. 70-71; John Hasedel
bevis, Chinese Musical Art (Peiping: Henri Vetch, 1956),
p. 65; Curt Sachs, Real-bexikon der Musikinstrumente (Hilde4
sheimt Georg 01ms Verlagsburchhandlung, 1962) , p. 191; Curt
Sachs, Real-Lexikon der Musikinstrumente (New York: Dover
Publications Inc., 1964), p. 191.
^Instruments in the Imperial Repository, ShSsoin,
Nara, Japan.______________________________________________
 14

below the knot was seven sun (about 8.3 inches), and the

length above the knot was three and seven-tenths sun (about

4.4 inches) .^ The dosho is said to have been introduced by

the Piake-Zen priest Kakushin when he returned to Japan tram

China in 1254.^ In the middle of the Muromachi era (1333-

1573), the Chinese priest Roan from South China, who estab­

lished the Puke sect temple about 1475, may have also

brought with him a dosho to be used in his religious

The hitovoqlri, an instrument similar to the dosho,

was also used during the Kamakura period (1185-1313) by the

predecessors of the kcmuso, originally given the vulgar

name of komoso (a straw-matted bonze).^

With the founding of the Puke sect and the develop­

ment of respect for the bamboo flutes, the shakuhachi, as

religious objects, the refined terms hSki and zenki were

adopted. They became widely current among the tfyoan priests

and other Puke Schools throughout the unified feudal period

^Sibyl Marcuse, Musical Instruments (New Yorks
Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1964), p. 470.
^Hisao Tanabe, Japanese Music (Tokyo : Kokusai Buhka
Shinkokai, 1959) , p. 26. — —
^Private unpublished communication from Shigeo
Kishibe, Professor at the university of Tokyo, 1959.
 "w' 1

of the fokugawa government (1603-IB67) *

,8hak.uhmchjL..at ##. Turn of th# Twentieth. ..cemturv..—

The éhakuhàohi wa$ considered primarily a religious instru­

ment, and its, use- was restricted until ISIl* When there was

a change in attitude following the Meiji proclamation con­

cerning the instrument, the shakuhachi became associated

with other instruments like the koto# sangen, and kokvu in |

an. ensemble' called the saWcyoku; consequently the demand fori

the instrument increased. By the early part of the twenti

■eth century there were about two hundred master shakuhachi

instructors# Also at that time four or, five

makers ware involved in the serious business o-.f■manufactur­

ing the flute for profit.,
Oons.truction, of the Bhak.uhaghi,— Bamboo considered

best suited for the construction of the .shhkuhathi was taken,

hot from the cultivated trees, but from those found growing

wild in remote areas— inaccessible ravines and rocky hills

I
knfested with reptiles., where man seldom visits.

Instrument makers of the Maiji period found baWboO

on the northerly island of fibkkaldo; in the areas surround-

Aomori at the tip of Honshu island; at worioka in iwate ■

-j
 n

prefecture in Bikuchi Kmigmi National Park; within

thirty miles of Wt,' Asama# Wtween the Nagano and emma

prefectures; in the %nt o mountain range in the vicinity ofi

ChiohiW-tama .National Bark (Tokyo area) ; on Hachijojima, |

one of the @#ven ialee of iau* south of Tokyo; at Toyama, I

near the Tmteyama Range (Japanese alps) running north to |

south through the central part of Honshu Island ; at PWcuShi^

ma in the Shlnohu-yama Park of Mt, Yudano and Wt, htssmmt onj

■Sado Island.,. Mt, Kimpoku; at thaen; at mmmwto; at #mga- |

s^i; and to the south to Okinawa and Taiwan (Formosa),

The instrument makers cut the bamboo poles four •feet

below the surface of the ground and five feet above it. The'
season for cutting the trees lasted only from the end of i

Septansber to the beginning of February; if cut at other i

Itimes, the bamboo had the tendency to crack, with the result-

Ithat the sound produced was light and weak# Horses trans- i

ported packs of bamboo poles to the villages for .processing^.

Five hundred to six hundred poles were stored in each rock !

bin to dry fo.r about a year, the poles being brought indoors,
!only during rainy weather. At the end of the first year,

ithe bamboo poles were dried in the hot sun for approximately
 17

four months. After the wood was thoroughly dry, only two

thirds of the original material was usable in the next stage

of conatruotion,
First., the knots were cut and cleaned inside and out,

then polished repeatedly with charcoal, Japanese uruahl

(lacquer) was applied inside on a dry day. Because of the

religious significance of the .instrument, the painting pro­

cess was done according to the principles of Sen ritual,

which, called for the painter to refrain from eating fish an<5.

meat; also, the instrument was placed in a special room

area, the tokonoma, today, the .religious- practices con-

8
nected with making the shakuhachi have been discontinued#

Principal. Differences..in.
.the Tvoes of Shakuhachi #—

The Myoan shakuhachi has always been constructed differently^

from the flutes of the later Einko and Tosan Schools, which

developed from the i^oan School. The sound produced from

the #yoan shakuhachi has had no pitch, standardisât ion, The

tone quality. Which is the essence, has depended on

quality of the. bamboo used in the construction* %%an

'better (ios Angeles, .December, 1966) from Itow.. He

is. the son of the famous shakuhachi-maker, who died in 19-20
His father was a close associate of KOdo Araki (see chapter
 18

flutes are made in one piece, like the dosyo, but the Kinko

Tocmn flutes m e cut. and Jointed to regulate their pitch

according to certain specifications, Pitch .standardization

in these later schools was a natural, development from, en-

sWble performance; instruments o-f the Myoan School, which

adhered to the traditional Ways of solo performances, had

q
an individual tone quality and pitch.

The Kinko shakuhachi. is thinner than, the Tozan flute.*

jThe best way to distinguish among the three types of shaku-

hachi is to examine the design at the mouthpiece*

The Contemporary .shakuhachi *— Because they are now

used in performance with western instruments# the contempo­

rary shakuhachi are built with both tempered and non-tempered

pitches* With the increase in the nWber of finger holes

in order to ease the playing of chromatic passages, the tone

quality becomes closer to that of western flutes* For this

reason# manufacturers of traditional shakuhachi do not re-

10
commend in.crea.aing the number of holes on the instrument *'
Kinko and Toman shakuhachi manufacturing are thriving

^Interview with Koizumi Ryoan, Kyoto, December, 1961.

letter from. Kampo yokoyama, builder of Kihko
iTozan shakuhachi, Shizuoka, February 12, 19S1._______
 19

business: Myoan shakuhachi production, however, continues

to be an individual enterprise, conducted without regard tox

profit.

Fitch.— Lu were series of bamboo tubes used by the

Chinese and later by the Japanese to produce the twelve

chromatic notes of the ancient Oriental pitch. The- funda­

mental lu note was D above middle C. The pipe was called

huanc-chunq in Chinese and kosho in Japanese. The tube

measured 24.5 centimeters, equaling 9.65 inches, according

to the measurement system of the early period. The tubes

were called shaku and ch*ih by the Japanese and Chinese,

respectively, in terms of tubal length. Each shaku was

equal to nine sun or ts *un (the present shaku consists of

ten sun? the present Chinese ch*ih is 0.3581 meters, equal

to 14 *1 inches).

The earliest accounts of the twelve lu are given in

the treatise titled Lu Shih Ch*un C h -iu, written in the

third century B.C., and in the published work of Lu Pu-wei,

a Chinese scholar, whose writings date back to 250 B.C.

^^Chikuho Tsukamoto now residing at Kawasaki in the

city of Osaka makes replica of MySan shakuhachi. December,
1961.
 1

Further proof of the exiatenoe in. ancient time# of the

pitchea la the finding by archeeolDgiatB of a ae% of. aonor^-

OU0 atone# in the tomba of the frinces of Han in I^yang, i

In the northern part of Honan province in China; these |

atone# are now in the po#.#es#.ion. of the Royal Ontario |

12
Museum of Archaeology In Toronto. Based on the funda­

mental lu tube, the present, shakuhachi fundamental note 1# I

D (292 cycle# per second) # it ie the tuning note for .)lut# j

I
wueio (Kansai trio j
i

^^Frlts A# Kuttner,: ■.Berlcht _#&er Pen. Aiehenten j

Internatlonmlen ^umikwl##en#.chaftlich#n Kti^re##,. loin IfSB.l
A "Pythagorean *' Tone-Syetem in China-Antedating the 'Early |
Creek Achievement# by several Centurie#, pp. 174-176;
"The Tone# of Anciwt Oriental BWeic and those of Weatem
Music, ** m^urnai,.Bunka Shinko-kai Bulletin NO. 13*
July 26# 1955/pp# 6-e.
 CHAPTER III

THE FUKE SECT

Beginning Of the Puke sect.— Accordiitq to Tanabe

Hisao, the source of his early information on the Puke sec

is a single treatise found in the latter half of the Toku-

gawa period entitled Kvotaku Dehki Kokuli Kai (Native Bio-

graohy) by Yamamoto Horihide. 9%e information in the

following paragraphs is based on various authorities, all

of wh<m are in agreement; whether their source of informa­

tion was the Native Biography Is not mentioned.^

Although there is no conclusive evidence of the

existence of the Puke sect in China, according to the tra­

dition handed down it is believed to have been founded by

the T'ang dynasty monk, P*u-hua, (Puke, in Japanese) •

However, its active propagator in China was Chang Po^ of

Ho-nan, a disciple of P'u-hua*

In 1248 a Zen priest, Shinchi Kakushin, left Japan

to study the doctrine of Zen under the famous Wu-men Hui-

^Hisao Tanabe, Nihon no Onoaku (Tokyo; Buhka Kehjjyu

Sha, 1955), pp. 221-222; Shigetoshi Kawatake (ed. ), Geino
Jiten (Tokyo % 1956) , pp. 277, 293.
2
The Japanese name is Chohaku.
21
 22

k*ai in the temple Hu-kuo Jen-wang, near Hangchow in m o d e m

Chekiang* Returning to Japan about 1254, Kakushin intro-

3
duced the Puke sect to Japan*

Establishment of the Puke Temple,— Zen was brought to

Japan from China by Eisai (1141-1215) and Dogen (1200-1253)

during the Kamakura period. The Tofuku, a Buddhist temple

located in the southeast of Kyoto, which was built by KuJS

Michiie (1192-1252), took almost twenty years (1236-1255)

to complete. The tenple was consecrated as the exclusive

seminary for Zen priests Isy Kujo.^

The teaching of the Puke sect began in the Mahboku

era {1392-1470) in the area of north Shirakawa, Kyoto.

Officiating at the ceremony for the first Puke temple was

HOji no Tengai Myoshinshi, who proclaimed that Kichiku (or

Kyochiku, d. May 28, 1299) , the leading disciple of Kaku-

c
shin, was the founder. The temple was named Kyorei Zan

Myoan Temple, Kyorei being the name of the first Puke musicj

Myo and ^ were derived from the first word of the titles

3
E* Papinot, History and Geography of Japan
Î 1909), p. 106.
, p. 656.

Melan Kvokai Kisoku (I^yoto; Toftikujl). 1961

 23

7T ffl^AUA t
Kamigamo
Shrine

KYOTO TAKARA6AIKE

^ Botanical Garden
Ki>flWup.0iiiYî
Kinkakmi

il Shimot^

nTcxtiie
Muséum Ooshrsya
•u nvcrsiw
E 6inkakuji
ÜADEBAWA^ DOjf/ ^ Q
IMPERIAL
fflMlGYa PALACE « Kyoto i>^ivcrsiLy
M y»hinji -

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^\.UARU7AliAOHi. J)ORi
Kyoto Charaber of Nanzerui
Comment Industry
Zjo ^
N0KQ|GYO -|K I
g] SAHJO pORi ' i/süta Miyako Hotel

Chion-in
UKYO T KU T3saka Shnne
M
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Kiyomizu

Q 1AN6ASUCHI
H}GflSHrYPMQ-KU
K ïfe National Uuse«
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KUJO ooRim ■\?e é

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J ^*ti^MINOMU- KU Fushhni Iran

S I FUSMiIlMlntfls-wa

M A P OF KYOTO

Figure 1
 24

Of two of four sutras narrated by the priest Puke*^

In 1612, during the reign of Tokugawa lemitsu {1604*

1651), the shogunate government approved the establishment

of the Puke sect. The site of the first t m p l e was at

7
Yamashiro. After the middle of the Tokugawa period, the

main religious observances were removed to Ikeda Higashi-

yama, Kyoto*

In the present Tokyo area named Ichigetsuji, anothef

temple was established by Roan at Shimosa,® <c. 1475) whicli

later became one of three headquarters of the Puke religion*

Other branches of the Puke sect were established at Reihoj i

6
pour Puke sutras: "Meitoraia Maitoda," "Antoraia
Antoda," "Shihohachimenya senpuda,” "Kokuraia Renkada*"
7
Yamashiro: One of the five provinces of Kinai*
Chief towns Kyoto \mhich ccmiprises eight districts which
depend upon the Kyoto Pu (county) * Formerly the name
Yamashiro was written Yamaushiro (behind the mountain), on
account of its location in reference to Nara, the capital-
When Kanmu came to establish his residence at that place,
he changed the character to Yamashiro (Castle after Mountaii
E. Papinot, History and Geography of Japan, (Yokohama: 1909),
p# 747.
®Shimosa: One of the fifteen provinces of the
TOkaido. Comprises nine districts, six of which depend xxgén
the Chiba prefecture and three upon the Ibarakl prefecture
In ancient times, Shimosa, with Kazusa, formed only one
province called Fusa no Kunis this province was later
divided into two, Kami-1su-fusa and Shimo-tsu-fusa, names
which were contracted into Kazusa and Shimosa* Ibid. p*
573*
 25

9 10
in Musashi toy priest Xannso; at Shingetsuji in Hitachi
— 11
toy priest KogHcu; at Rlkoji in KSzuke toy priest Kozasa;

and at Jijoji toy priest (Meji. When the Fuke sect was in­

terdicted at the conclusion of the Tokugawa regime in 1867,

a total of seventy-three temples had been founded* At the

end of the Edo period the Kyoto Myoan temple was destroyed

by fire, the cause of the destruction never having been

9
^ Musashi s One of the fifteen provinces of the
Tokaido, has twenty kori (districts), eight of which depend
on the Tokyo Pu (county), nine on the Saitama prefecture,
and three on the Kanagawa prefecture. Ibid. p. 414.
10
Hitachi: One of the fifteen provinces of Tokaido,
comprises eleven districts belonging to the Ibaraki prefec­
ture. This region, occupied by the Ebisu until the second
century, was incorporated into the m&pire after the cam­
paigns of Takenouchi no Sukune and Yamatotakeru no Mücoto.
seimu-tenno constituted it a province over which he placed
a kuni no mivatsuko* Montoku-tenno changed its name
Hidakami to Hitachi* In 826, it was decided that in ccm-
memoration of Yamatotakeru, the governors of Hitachi, as
well as those of Kazusa and xSzuke, should always be prince^
of the imperial family, with the title of Taishu. For this
reason, these three provinces never had a kami, only a suke
or assistant Taishu* Ibid* p. 161*

^^KOzUke: One of the thirteen provinces of TSsando;

it comprises eleven districts, which have formed the Gumma
prefecture. First called Kamitsukenu, it was formed with
the western portion of the ancient provinces of Kenu (645)
In memory of Yamatotakeru, who had sojourned there, the
dignity of holding the governorship of the province was
reserved to a prince of the blood, who bore the title of
Taishu, and was represented by a Suke. In the Kamakura
times, the Adachi family was Kdzuke-shugo* Nitta Yoshisada
native of the province, was appointed Shugo in 1334, prince
 26

determined. The reestablished Myoan temple is located on

the t m p l e grounds of Tofukuji.

Narinaga-shinno at that time being Taishu, In the Ashikaga

period, the title of Shugo was given to the tJesugi, who
built the castle of Shirai, which was confided to the
Nagao. The H®jd of Odawara and Takeda Shingen divided the
province afterwards between themselves, and in 1590, it
passed into the possession of Tokugawa leyasu*
Ibid. p. 817,
 CHAPTER IV

THE KOMUSO

The Komuso, players of the shakuhachi, have figured

prominently in Japanese culture* Their role was complex.

They were itinerant purveyors of learning and an important

medium of cultured interchange in the East. They were

soldiers and politicians. They were priests and musicians.

In some phases of their long history they were, by turn,

outlaws, revolutionaries, and friends of the common people.

The story of these adventurous noble gentlemen is a color­

ful chapter from the past.

The Development of Relicious Practices of the Komuso^

The Kamakura period was a turbulent era of insurrection, of

intellectual ferment, and of the birth and rise of numerous

religious sects, especially the Zen sect; Zen Buddhism was

introduced from China to Japan, where it developed into a

popular ecclesiastical movement of the epoch. The Fuke-Zen

followed closely the doctrines of the Rinzai School of Zen.

Its principle of seeking salvation by meditation and divinef

emptiness soon captured the hearts of the samurai (warrior)

class

27
 28

PLATE V

jrTM.Trr7<7-

uéitt*.

A CONTEMPORARY KOMUSÔ STROLLING THE STREETS

OP THE ANCIENT CAPITAL CITY OF KYOTO, JAPAN.
PHOTOGRAPHED NOVEMBER 25, 1963.
 29

Fuk© priests and other shakuhachi players who lived

on alms were known as the komuso. In the early stages the

komuso were looked upon by many as beggars, and the term

komuso had been corrupted to komoso, because the bonzes

were humbly wrapped in straw mats when they gathered at the

The unstable political conditions in the pre-

Tokugawa periods produced a large group of masteriess

samurai called rdnin. Many rSnin turned to the priesthood*

The ronin often wore komuso attire in which they are pic­

tured in Japanese art* They carried their bamboo flute as

weapons and put the tenoai (basket) over their heads and

faces to prevent recognition? some, taking advantage of

the disguise, revenged th#aselves on their envies* It

was extremely difficult to establish the identity of a

1
The successors of Kakushin: Kichiku and KOmu, the
latter komu-so (so meaning bonze) has become the generic
name by which traveling bonzes of the sect were designated
E* Papinot, History and Geography of Japan, (Yokohamas
1909), p* 106? Derived from General Masakatsu Kusunoki,
grandson of General Masashig© Kusunoki, the eldest of
Masanori* After the fusion of two parties against Ashikags.
in 1399, Masakatsu revolted in Izumi and against Yoshihiro
Ouchi, but was defeated* Ryofu, a Zen priest, commissionec.
the name komu to Kusunoki when the latter became an itiner^
ant priest*
 30

komuso. for a reply to the sound of the shakuhachi by

another komuso was the only means by which his true

identity could be ascertained.

The Komuso in the Tokugawa Period,— Controlling the

ronin became politically necessary in the beginning of the

Tokugawa period of national unification. Among the rebel­

lious ronin was Yui shosetsu (d* 1651), who resolved in

1651 to rise with Marubashi Chlya against Shdgun letsuna

<1639-1600). Both conspired to organize an uprising?

Shosetsu at sumpu (Shizuoka), and Chüya at Edo. But the

plot was discovered* The result was that Oiuya was

crucified at Shinagawa, and Shosetsu committed suicide.^

The komusS were drawn from the samurai classes# and

the komuso temples were close to the problems and activi­

ties of the rBnin* Consequently# three main komuso

temples— j^oanji# l^oto? Heihoji, Musashi? and Ichigetsuji

in Edo— were designated by the Tokugawa shogun to supervisé

the control of rSnin*

During the Genroku era (1688-1704)# which was the

most fruitful period in the arts of Japan# closer ties

2
E. Papinot# History and Geography of Japan (Yoko­
hama: 1909)# pp. 353# 758? Fumio Inagaki# Edo seikatsu
Jikokuhvo (Tokyo: Seiabo# 1960), p. 167.
 31

developed between the warrior class and the common people*

At this time# the distinctive difference between the komusB

of the Kansai districts (Osaka-Kÿoto) and of Edo (Tokyo)

became apparent.

The Kansai komusS retained more of the indigenous

characteristics of the Fhke religion by favoring such con­

servative colors as gray and blue for their cotton garment^

and by wearing an obi (sash), The bag, hung in front from

the neck# continued to be used for collecting money and

rice. Heavy five-layered straw sandals were worn for

traveling.

The komuso of Edo, in contrast to the komuso of

Kansai# developed a new style of raiment. They created a

fashion of pretentious attire made of specially woven

chirimen (wrinkled silk material), Their garments were

lined with cotton batting? designs were marked by red

polka dots# and a sash was tied in a large bow. The

komuso of Edo did not all carry bags for the collection of

alms# but among those that did# a special Chinese

crocheted bag became the vogue. They strolled the streets

in black Japanese-lacquered geta (wooden clogs), However#

when traveling out of town# the komuso dressed more

 32

conservatively, wearing a flat obi and straw sandals and

carrying one shakuhachi on the back and one through the

left side of the obi in place of a sword* Strapped on the

k<xaus5*s back was a willow box which contained personal

belongings for travel.

The komusd status reached its zenith when the ruling

Tokugawa shSgun proclaimed the shakuhachi a religious

instrument to be used exclusively fyy the komusd for their

eleemosynary work. These holy men promulgated the doctrine^

of the Puke sect from the Muromachi era (1333-1573) through

the Tokugawa era, which ended in 1867. They wandered the

streets and alleys of the capital city of Kyoto and of the

Asakusa district of old Tokyo, and also traveled along many

country roads, often they were referred to as otokodate.

chivalrous commoners who aided helpless people who were

harassed by ruffians. Their profession was centered in

performance on the shakuhachi and in the propagation of the

gospel of the FUke-2en sect of Buddhism.^

^KSSdo Udagawa, Shakuhachi Kdgi (Tokyo ; Ryobun Shoin
Ran), pp. 6-8? Hisao Tanabe, Japanese Music (Tokyo: Kokusai
Burika Shinkokai, 1936), p. 23? shigetoshi Kawatake (ed.),
Geino Jiten (Tokyo : 1956), p. 339? Katsumi Sunaga,
Japanese Music (Tokyo: Maruzen, 1936), p. 54?
William P. Malm, Japanese Music and Musical instruments
(Tokyo: Charles B. Tuttle Co., 1959), p. 157.
 33

unfortunate incidents involving the komusB were

numerous. The commoners scaaetimes were the victims of

blackmail by pseudo-kcmiusd who threatened to report them to

the authorities for the violation of using the shakuhachi

for other than religious purposes.^

With the approach of westernization and the Meiji era

(1868-1912), the komusS status, which had been protected

under the Tokugawa policy, began to wane along with the

moribund government* The Tokugawa government, which had

lasted about two and a half centuries, came to a climax

when Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry (1794-1854) success­

fully negotiated an agreement to open the doors of Japan,

closed to foreign Influences for over two centuries, to

Occidental trade.

Status in the Meiii Bra.--When the proclamation of

January 3, 1868, of the "Restoration of imperial Government"

was issued, the warrior class was the strongest element in

society at the time of the youthful Emperor Meiji (1852-

1912) * The feudal barons who cooperated with the new Mai j i

government were mostly from the stronger fiefs. Capable

^Fumio Inagaki, Edo Seikatsu Jikokuhvo (Tokyo :

Seiabo, 1960), pp. 166-168.
 34

men from the progressive clans in western Japan who had

supported the Meiji government against the Tokugawa shogun

formed the two Councils of state* Seven departments of

government were established* In the interest of controlling

religious activities, the new national government placed

the Shinto, the indigenous religion, above all departments

of the Council of State, creating a ten^orary anti-Buddhist

movement*^

Under the Tokugawa dictatorship, the country had

been at peace, except for numerous peasant uprisings and

the Christian rebellion of 1637. Under the new government

there were also peasant uprisings. They stemmed from uni­

versal conscription, taxation, liguidation of the fiefs,

and the forceful separation of Buddhism from Shintoism.

The proclamation of the Meiji goverrment in 1871

ruled that the shakuhachi was no longer to be protected as

an exclusive instrument of the komuso playing the sacred

music of the %^0an School. This decision created diffi­

culties in propagating the Fuke sect.

6
”Hugh Borton, Japan’s M o d e m Century (New Yorks The
Ronald Press Co., 1955), p. 181.
 35

With weatemization becoming a major issue in the

Meiji period, in 1873 the ban on the propagation of the

Christian gospel was lifted. At that time the persecution

of Christian converts ceased. The proscriptive law against

the Christians had been in effect, and persecution had

continued ever since 1638 when the insurrection of Shimebara

7
was put down.

The teachings of Catholicism were considered to be

contrary to the principles of obedience, loyalty, and

nationalism as expounded in the Meiji Rescript. The govern­

ment was confident, however, that the universal dissemi­

nation of morals and ethics based on traditional nationalism

would more than counteract any subversive influence of

Encouraged by the new religious freedom granted to

the Christian movement, various religious organizations in

1878 petitioned the government to preserve the komuso sys­

tem. The Ministry of the interior under Yamagata granted

the request in 1881, allowing pilgrimages according to

Translation of Text* Decreed : The practice of the
perverse Christian religion is prohobited. Suspected per­
sons are to be denounced. Rewards shall be given. Third
month of the fourth year of Keio (April, 1868).
The above mentioned decree Council of state
must be rigorously observed. Department of Hamamatsu
 36

traditional practices, but restricting the practice of Puke

theology. The reason for the latter restriction may have

been the political threat posed by the komus5, a warrior

class of the Tokugawa period.

Two years later in 1883, when the Myoan Society was

revived with Prince Kuj5 as its head, Katsuura Shozan, the

thirty-sixth abbot of the former t^ôanji, became director

of the new Kyoto branch.® In 1885 the KSsankai (Senior

Staff) was formed. The Rinzai sect, a branch of Zen with

which Tofukuji was associated, agreed to the placing of the

MySan School under their auspices* Since the Puke sect had

been officially abolished, their new position in the Rinzai

sect now allowed the komus5 to gather offerings and to

donate alms to this temple. The î^Ôan school was now

referred to as the Meian school.®

After the Meiji Period.— During the Taisho era (1912-

1926) the activities of the Meian School remained relatively

®Toyotake Komlya (ed*), Japanese Music and Drama in

the Meiji Era (Tokyo: Obunsha, 1956), p. 375.

®The classic name of the MySan School was Myoan Shu

(MySan religion), later changed to MySan I^u (MySan School)
and still later to Meian (Meian school) * The names
became more generally known after Eiji Yoshikawa's komuso
novel. Interview with Hirazumi Keiun, December, 1961.
 37

moderate. It was not until the early Showa period (1926-

I ) that the komuso, wearing the traditional apparel, once

again began to roam the streets, especially in the Kyoto

area. Before world War II a license was required from the

Meian School for the komuso to stroll the streets; this

requirement applied to the Kinko and Tozan Schools as well.

However, in the post-war period many pseudo-komuso went

into the streets again because of poor economic conditions

and the Meian School had to fight for survival. Various

societies joined to help the school in upholding the

tradition which had begun in the Middle Ages. After the

I
war, % 5 a n Muchikukoji (d. March 24, 1957) directed the

Society's activities until his death. The incumbent is

the thirty-eighth successor to the directorship of the

Meian School, He is Koizumi ï^ôan, now a resident of

Kyoto suburb, a village of Yase. The present director of

the Meian Society is priest Hirazumi Keiun, who is the

administrator of the society headquarters in the Tofukuji

grounds.

Although there are no religious significance of the

 38

Puke sect involved in his practice, Koizumi I^San wears the

I
traditional komuso garment and makes pilgrimage throughout
I
Japan once annually in keeping with the practices handed
1
down by his Meian forefathers ever since the Kamakura

period.
 CHAPTER V

MUSIC AHD MUSICAL ROTATIONS

Early Shakiahachi Music .— As mentioned in the Kyotaku

Denki RoHuli Kai (Native Biography) by Yamamoto Morihide,

priest Kakushin, during his internship in China, learned

from his colleague Chang Po the shakuhachi music Kyorei#

which was later introduced to Japan by Kakushin. However,

there is no conclusive evidence of the validity of this

The music style of the komoso, predecessors of the

komuso. was known as rehbo naoashi. or as Igawa Yoshida

style, or as "boro boro" and "boronji"* The latter two are

slang expressions*

ihe oldest known pieces of music thought to have

been composed by Puke priest Kichiku, the proclaimed founder

of the Nyoan School, were "Mukaiji" and'Kokuji", written

at Asaguma Toge in Ise#^ "Kokuji" was renamed "Kokureibo"

1
Eiji Yoshikawa, Nippon Onoaku no Seikaku (Tokyo s
Wanya Shot en, 1948), p. 64? Shigetoshi Kawatake, (ed.),
Geino Jiten (Tokyo: 1956), p# 339? Hisao Tanabe, Japanese
Music (Tokyo? Kokuaai Buhka Shinkokai, 1959), p. 27?
Interview with KOizumi %oan, December, 1961.

39
 40
. *A»-

MîC'V\3•Xif-4 M Y''
• i ' j f V ' * - * IV-' •tf^''*'^ ■ i ' * * ' ^ ' % , ,
‘« Y - ' ^ :<X4 ^
3,

:,rrr4 H-rt '

;% r-CA ‘T:;^(4-X I%-

-* t: r-: 5:-V!.''C-'iV^:cS:-
Ε■>:<■;<vY
H
I-)
; -i- > - ' r ; » — ^-•f'C *f ■ • iZiz '■■■v' H
v - ' - ^ o v v v ~ ... A * . * r _ ^ D - - j i -

««s '"' ?>*:-:•4^ rf4fl

'{ - A ? - '' ]T— - 7 -_ .

^ % % '.. _

H
>
g
P4
'T.vt-i;-. t---
r-OO-'-Of-t-DD-
' <.f
J ^ 5 (),.„H. ^ _t\tJ>*l»""0— :

^\.>^-i-r-ii-oî-t;5-:-ûû- Hi- >0D D"""" ''"-J

'^4-1^-^ "v-('4"^'^ H--‘jr‘'^

V -'.vH ^-v K-V -\HI)!J- :Y -.

î\ iy"‘
HA'r S
o
\ i' ;-lf-r.Sii!iw>'-Î-??Y-
"-DDj'-.VDD-tJ ; 4 4 < -
—
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 41

PLATE VII

1!
f/i*
•%
rs'

;i '•A* 'i

i t i i i %:
ïftif * î
i s i f t

s -:la î i 4dT
i*î|iMt î 'fit

lî

l!
i î ï i iï
*i
#
4-Æ
l l l l i
? 1

KOKUREIBO
 42

by the later Kihko School, and the term reibo has been ap­

plied to other shakuhachi titles. The thirty-six standard

classic pieces of the Myoan School are now known as koden

kvoku (old music) and hon kvoku (original or pure music) ;

later music for trio ensemble, koto, sangen or kokvu, is

classified as gai kvoku (outside music) and Nakao Tozan's

shin kvoku (new music),

Performance Practices.— An apprentice became a

komuso when he reached genpUku (legal age) and was issued

the certificate after he had passed through the musical

ranks. The levels were as follows: sho den (beginner) ?

chu den (middle)? oku den (inner)? kai den (outer) (both

Oku and kai ramks may be termed general ranks) ? and tetsu

den (master). Knowledge of the complete Myoan repertoire

was not required; the graduation from one class to the next

depended on the skill with which the student was able to

perform a single piece or composition. A minimum of three

to four years of schooling was necessary to achieve the

master classification.

The sound produced by the Myoan School players was

intended to simulate a Buddhist chanting a sütra, and the

 43

sole purpose of the music was to cultivate the soul or

spirit, according to the doctrine of Zen. Since the intent

was merely individual expression, the komuso did not in­

volve themselves with outside performers; as a result, the

komuso shakuhachi music became a solo repertoire.

Today the shakuhachi music is always performed at

the services in the monasteries of the temples Tenryu,

Myoshin, Tofuku, and Myoan in the Kyoto areas. As is

customary in reciting the religious texts, the flutist has

the option of either reading the music or playing it solely

from memory.

Development of the Notation.— When the restriction

on the use of the shakuhachi solely for religious purposes

was lifted in the early Meiji years, the system of notation

for the shakuhachi was developed for the practical needs

of non-religious performances with the koto and sangen

instruments. Because of the new combination of the

shakuhachi with these secular instruments, the necessity

for laboriously memorizing the traditional solo repertoire

was eliminated.

The innovation of a system of notation for the

 44

1 ,L \
<

^ ',*- %
H W fa *
H CO O 0(
»l
>
W t «
E4 I
l
V'; ^ ^

ss
«0.
TT\^m- Î5
sH
s§

si
h
M E4
W CO

E4 E4
 45

shakuhachi music of the three schools— the Myoan, Kinko,

and Tozan— appeared almost simultaneously in the schools.

The gamut consisted of six letters based on the katakana

ideograph, with ctxnpound characters to indicate the dia-

stematic notations, meri (lower) and kari (raise). with

the exception of rhythm, the signs marked the melody accur­

ately. Henceforth the teaching of the music became compar­

atively easier, for notation eliminated the study of

shakuhachi music by the medieval rote system. With the

development of notation there was also progress in the

field of coursing for the shakuhachi instrument.

Myoan Notation.— The holes on the shakuhachi as

played by the komuso always had names for identification

purposes; the five holes were named kyu, sho, kaku, chi,

wu; but it was not until after the Meiji restoration that

the thirty-fifth director of the Myoan school, Taizan KOdo

Koji (d. November 22, 1914), succeeded in formulating the

Myoan repertoire in writing.

Kihko Notation.— The innovation of the Kinko system

of notation is credited to Araki Chikuo (1879-1935), who

became the successor in 1896 to Araki Hanzaburo (d. January

 46

17, 1908) and received the professional title of Kodo,

Kinko notation made progress through the contribu­

tions of two of Araki Kodo's disciples: Uehara Kyodo, a

physicist and a musician, and Kavase Junsuke, who wrote

down the Kinko repertoire and later distributed the music

2
as the manager of the publishing enterprise.

Tozan Notation.— Nakao Tozan, who was granted a

license by the Myoan School to practice mendicancy, devel­

oped and distributed his own music, shin kvoku (new music).

Riding on the wave of national prosperity brought about by

the Russian-Japanese conflict of 1905, he published new

works in the martial spirit of the day. His publication of

the work of the late Miyagi Michio and Hisamoto Genichi

brought the Tozan system of musical notation to its current

3
position of national prominence.

Transi iterating the Shakuhachi Calligraphy to Western

Notation.— Shakuhachi music is read from top to bottom,

right to left. A novice learning to read the manuscript

2
Nippon Ongaku (Tokyo: Nippon Ongaku Sha, May-July
issue, 1962, No. 150), pp. 3, 7.
3
Toyotaka Komiya, (comp. & ed.), Edward G. Seiden-
sticker, Donald Keene, (trans.), Japanese Music and Drama
in the Meiii Era. (Tokyo: Obunsha, 1956), pp. 375-376.
 47

§
w
tc q, i'^’\ iS^S A s ^ 5 , ^
X
11Ô <0,<Ü<%KÔ^<V XÔ , ^ ? ^ Ô ,'7W ^ 0 ^ ^ î °
I
s
^ ■- ._ *» «

I
.^A-^
-l
iRsssr ts s ss °w ? s ^
' ^Sfs, <44^'ÿc'q<n-^y,*^ tK“'^ S -® ^ ‘^,SSS^5' ÿS S6?sRS
sstsi^^Fsss^. <lsî;^^5?65,^ix.’FSS°37ti^ÿ ,<D^ 5x6
3 SS « - iO H

I
s'ô^îfsSW ^Kp ô' 5 5 % ;s % < lK 6 ,% ^
O
®5Ôd“^<7 ° e-*
OQ ■7R"&^X« ?f R

0 0 -^ ^ T N î ç '^ i s : * • '. O §
i^3û M
v w - 'T 'f' ) x , v J ^ j5 - C j’ ^ ' - » - ^ . " r - ^ S ^ ''Z^
TO 6
<
Ja
5
M
B §
eu
8
m
, • > V I X
’
i-
^*^^'%%""''H' ■?? ► f'X • 0^
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ô „ . > , , * < !« ■ * •
X
K j ' ' ^ ■è <r ÿ '' ir ^ ^ ^ ^

W ' M A^' 4 ^ t4-,#We.e^H^

 48

Its X
> X -X ?> <>
> 0
'i. 0 'o
>
> O Id cs
1
rs
0 t) c\
I > 0 *"0 C\ Izx H
0 'b H-
'D cn 4^ -0
CV *Cs
'cs Ms X
CN
"t.
V C\ Hs 1 "X
^CNHs \
s
\ -V > I
fa
-ÇN X "X 9\ V
X "X 0
-X (> > D
Y > 0
> > a
> D CO

D
— ^3 on oo

u CNI CM — — — —
 49

begins to count time by assuming a kneeling position and

tapping on the floor with his hands. The right hand is for

the downbeat and the left hand for the upbeat. A dot mark­

ed below the phonetic syllabary katakana notation designates

the beat (see example on next page). A dot on the right

constitutes the downbeat; a dot on left side of the katakana

designates the upbeat.

The four dots below the notation indicate four beats

or the equivalent of a whole note in 4/4 time value. Two

dots, two beats; one dot, one beat. In the fourth square,

the dot on the right and a dot on the left indicate two

notes in one beat or the equivalent of two eighth notes.

The line through the center indicates merely a subdivision

of two parts. A double line indicates the division of four

parts, and a triple line divides the time value into eight

parts. With the exception of contemporary Japanese music

for the shakuhachi, there are no triplet note values nor is

there any music in 3/4 time. All traditional music is in

duple time value.

The represented katakana (Illustration II) is part

of the forty-eight syllables of the Japanese alphabet

 50
RHYTHM CHART SHOWING WESTERN NOTATION
EQUIVALENT OF KINKO SHAKUHACHI MUSIC.
Figure 3

SYI^ÏCOPATED RHYTHM SHAKUHACHI AND

WESTERN NOTATION
 51

(katakana). The note produced by the longest shakuhachi is

B : the katakana "ro" (\^ ), resembling a square, is the

equivalent. The note E on the same instrument is repre­

sented by the check-mark katakana "re " ( ). With the

application of dots below the katakana to mark the note

values, the fundamental shakuhachi manuscript is thus

represented. An example of transliteration to western

notation from shakuhachi music is shown in the following

pages— "Chidori no l^oku" (Song of the Plover).

Unfortunately, the notation system does not have

means for representing certain stylistic nuances which are

characteristic of the respective schools. Accuracy in the

minute melismatic variations of pitch can be secured only

through the proficiency and traditional knowledge of the

masters of the Myoan, Kinko, and Tozan Schools. Although

there are stylistic differences, transliteration of the

three systems of notation involves basically similar prin­

ciples.
 52
CHIDORI NO KYOKÜ
(SONG OF THE PLOVER)

& '
o
4 *

â •âf

f' - “-'I
1 $

tf ■>«

7 I' <5 ''if ^ 'I

%) , *T' ? vp.

"ïî ^T'*^ TT 0 »
V * f J L '() _____
Î

Figure 4
 53

-2

-4U

3-

II Ü
in

i
O Oi fa

iiCO r4

ÏÎÎ
-f-

?
J ■!:'!
 CHAPTER VI

CONCLUSION

Status of Indigenous Japanese Music During the Isola­

tion Period (c. 1638-1853).— Gagaku (Imperial court music),

Noqaku (the theatrical arts of the nobility), and the haunt­

ing refrains from the bamboo flutes or shakuhachi played by

the strolling Buddhist priests were directly and indirectly

connected with the existing feudal government. The gagaku,

introduced from the T'ang courts of China, achieved its

highest development in the Heian era (794-1185). During the

period of bakufu supremacy, the court musicians lost pres­

tige as artists and were delegated, in addition to their

musical functions, various menial duties around the court

yard, such as custodial and janitorial work. They often

endured hardship because of the meager income subsidized by

the Imperial courts.

Nogaku borrowed the light comic pantomimes from the

Chinese and the serious dance from the Japanese rustic

dance of soil harvesting ceremonies. It had the distincticn

of being the chief theatrical entertainment of the shogun

from the early years of the AM&ikaga period (1336-1573).

54
 55

During the feudal period, the Noh musicians enjoyed the pa­

tronage of the shogun, who granted subsidies which assured

the musicians of a livelihood.

The komuso, who for centuries had been collecting

alms as a means of survival, were not affected financially

by relations with the feudal government, except that they

lost their favored position at the closing of the Tokugawa

power.

Western Culture in Feudal Japan.— Any Occidental

music which was in existence at the time of Perry's arrival

in Japan in 1853 was centered around the port of Nagasaki

in Southern Kyushu, a city rich in cosmopolitan flavor.

During the two-century period of isolation from

foreign influence, foreign traders, mainly Portuguese and

Dutch, were restricted to the off-shore island of Deshima.

Native scholars associated with the Dutch and the Portuguese

were taught martial fife amd drum music. In addition, they

studied navigation, history, medicine, botany, and zoology

as part of the Dutch military science curriculum.

In Nagasaki, Roman Catholic Christisinity achieved

its greatest renaissance of faith and culture. In 1549 the

 56

Jesuit priest Francis Xavier introduced Roman Catholicism

to Japatn at Kagoshima, after the Roman Catholic Church had

suffered a great blow from the Reformation and had found

new inspiration in the East for missionary work* Christian­

ity spread rapidly throughout Southern Japan with the en­

couragement of two feudal lords; Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582),

who embraced the Catholic faith, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi

(1536-1598), who felt that Christianity would counteract

the strong Buddhist movement that was partially at fault in

obstructing unification of the nation* The Tokugawa shogun

persecuted the Christians at Nishizaki Hill, Nagasaki, on

February 5, 1597. A mass extermination of 30,000 peasants

occurred during the Shimabara uprising in October, 1637.

To avoid being persecuted further, many Christians went into

hiding. The Christian faith remained obscure during the

period of isolation. Christian hymns were removed from

public consciousness, but they were sung in secret behind

closed doors in isolated areas. The people's perserverance

in the Christian doctrine emerged triumphantly from under­

ground when religious freedom was granted in 1873. There­

after the hymns resounded stronger and louder than ever

 57

before.

Adapting Western Music to the Existing Culture.— The

influence of Western music in Japan was inevitable. The

martial spirit of the mid-nineteenth century led to impor­

tation of all forms of foreign weapons and military tactics

for protection against foreign aggression. Along with the

army and navy, western-style military bands recruited men

for national defense. It is ironical to the student of

Japanese culture that the sound of the samisen (three-

stringed lute) or the koto (thirteen-stringed horizontal

harp) or an ensemble of shakuhachi players would have never

aroused such enthusiasm for military recruitment.

Traditionalists Versus Experimentalists.— It was to

be expected that with the intact of Western culture on the

national social and cultural scenes, that Occidental music,

too, should figure in the new movement. Two factions, rep­

resenting antithetical viewpoints, expressed typical reac­

tions. The one took a strongly nationalistic stsmd for the

conservation of indigenous music. Their traditionalism was

opposed by the experimentalists wanting to juxtapose the

arts of the East and of the West. Noh musicians naturally

 58

resisted the new influence, which had already created a

drastic change for the worse in their struggle for survival.

On the other hand, the Gagaku musicians favored the influ­

ence because it had improved their status. If any group of

musicicins would be influential enough to promote the admis­

sion of Western idiom into the national program it would be

the court musicians themselves. Thus many were convinced

when the Department of Music within the Imperial Household

Ministry propagandized in favor of learning Western music.

The members of the gagaku orchestra were among the first to

enroll at the government financed Tokyo Music School? later,

their matriculation ceremonies were held in public.

The players of samisen, koto, and the shakuhachi

instruments were not subsidized by the government and there­

fore were not under pressure to accept Western music. When

westernization was being introduced, these plebian musicians

had no notâtional system and could have easily incorporated

European elements into their music. The instructors, how­

ever, were insistent on preserving the classic tradition in

their schools; their continued opposition to western influ­

ences led to the use of Japanese syllabary for their

 59

systems of notation when they were finally devised.

In spite of the fact that western music has now be­

come an integral part of Japanese culture, some schools

still maintain the old traditions. Attempts have been made

in recent years to adapt Western techniques of playing and

systems of notation for Japanese indigenous instruments;

the results have been highly successful in performance in

Western musical ensembles. The eventual changeover to West­

ern notation for all Japanese instruments will eliminate the

mass confusion which exists among musicians of Japan today.

For the Myoan School, whose directors have resolved

to maintain the classic tradition of playing solo pieces on

a highly individualistic basis, the change to our system

may never be necessary. The present system is adequate as

long as the shakuhachi performers avoid playing in ensemble

with other Western instrumentalists.

The combining of the Eastern and the Western musical

heritage may someday result in an unusual musical beauty.

It would seem most desirable, therefore, to preserve and

interpret the classic forms in both cultures. Viewed in

this perspective, the succession of masters of the Myoan

 60

School has faithfully guarded a cultural treasure for all

humanity.
 61

O is r H -

I
 62

CHRONOLOGY OF THE LINE SUCCESSION

TO THE DIRECTORSHIP OF THE MYOAN SCHOOL

GENERATION SUCCESSORS DATE OF DEATH

I Kichiku (K^^ochiku) May 28, 1299

II Tengai Meifu Zogen Aug. 18, 1335

III Ungai Zenyo Feb. 6, 1340

IV Joun Chirei Jan. 21, 1370

V Kakugai Zuin Mar. 17, 1389

VI Dozan Zuishu June 4, 1413

VII Senzan Shuyo Sept. 24, 1428

VIII Togetsu Shusen Nov. 7, 1459

IX Shugetsu Kakusei April 2, 1502

X Ganryo Keiyo May 16, 1534

XI Shingetsu Junryo Jan. 17, 1568

XII Kanget6u Roshin July 16, 1609

XIII Yushin Hbkai Oct. 5, 1638

XIV Engetsu Ryogen Zagen May 23. 1695

XV Gettsan Kukei Aug. 28, 1728

XVI Isshitsu Genro Dec. 3, 1718

XVII Saiko Kaizan Miko July 1740

Figure 6
 63
GENERATION SUCCESSORS DATE OF DEATH

XVIII Kando îchu Feb. 23, 1738

XIX Juminzan Keitassu Sept. 2, 1764
XX Jushozan Chulxassu April 17, 1757
XXI JF^ozan Kaikyoku Zoen Unknown
XXII Jyozan Monsui Sept. 14, 1779

XXIII Zesoku Zendo Aug. 19, 1784

XXIV Mindo Kantetsu Nov. 23, 1800
XXV Seizan Ikki Aug. 18, 1803
XXVI Kuge Bundo March 9, 1825

XXVII Tengen Fuyoku Nov. 24, 1824

XXVIII Kukan Shosai Daitoku Jan. 2, 1825
XXIX Shinge Issho March 26, 1844
XXX Enga Mokudo Jyozo Oct. 27, 1838

XXXI Tojizenryu Kendoko April 23, 1852

XXXII Dodogen Ryoko Aug. 13, 1859

XXXIII Kanmyo Gendo Nov. 1866

XXXIV Ri so Sakui Unknown

XXXV Taizan Kodo Nov. 22, 1914
XXXVI Shizan Chido Nov. 17, 1938
XXXVII Ryoan Muchiku March 24, 1957

XXXVIII Koizumi Ryoan

Figure 6 (cont.)
 BIBLIOGRAPHE

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64
 65

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Tanabe, Hisao. Nihon no Ongaku. Tokyo; Bunka Kenkyu Sha,

1955.

Udagawa, Kodo. Shakuhachi Kogi. Tokyo; Kyobun Shoin Kan.

Yoshikawa, Biji. Nippon Ongaku no Seikaku. 1948.

 66

B. PERIODICALS

Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai. The Tones of Ancient Oriental

Music and those of Western Music. Tokyo 2 KBS
Bulletin No. 13, July 25, 1955.

Kuttner, Fritz A. Bericht Uber Den Siebenten Internationa-

len Musikwi ssenschaf11ichen Kongress Ko In 1958.
A "Pythagorean” Tone-System in China— Antedating the
Early Greek Achievements by Several Centuries.

Meian Kvokai Kisoku. Kyoto: Tofukuji, 1961.

Nippon Ongaku. Tokyo : Nippon Ongaku Sha. V. 150, May-July,

1962.

Fujita, Shunichi. Shakuhachi Kyohon. Tokyo 2 Nippon Ongaku

Sha, 1948.

C. LETTER

Yokoyama, Rampo. Shizuoka, Japan. February 12, 1951.

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 MONTY H . LEVENSON

RTHODO HIS1URIES OF THE SHAI<UHACHl generally

dwell upon the evolution of this five-hole bamboo
flute in its later manifestations, after reaching the
shore of Japan near the end of the 7th C. A six-
hole, end-blown instrument that originated dur-
ing the Tang Dynasty in China is thought to be an
early forerunner of the modem shakuhachi. Its
reedy voice can be discerned in gaga.ku, the orches-
tral music of the Imperial Japanese Court. Much later, during the
Muromachi Period (13th-14th C.), a short, single-jointed flute called the
hitoyogiri (also thought to have em erged through China or southwestern
Asia) gained popularity amongst a class of beggar priests.
Some ethnomusicologists trace the evolution of the shakuhachi back
much further, to the banks of the Nile in ancient Egypt, and follow its
movement east across the Iranian p lateau and India v ia th e
Mohamm >dan Empire before reaching China. A jump across the Sea of
Japan, however, was most decisive to this end-blown bamboo flute,
which in feudal Japan underwent a critical phase of development des-
tined to define its character forever. During the Edo Period (mid 16th to
17th C.) the shakuhachi was favored by a group of d isenfranchised samu-
rai warriors known as ko111uso. These mendicant Buddhist priests wan-
dered the streets and countryside with large baskets called tengai cove.r-

KYOTO JOURNAi.
ing their heads to symbolize spiritual haps, one where the inquiry is the
detachment from the world. A group primordial past tremendous vitality
of komuso in Kyoto established the meets a shrinking and enthusiasm one
Fukeshu (Fuke Sect) at Meian Temple vision of our future finds associated
and began to use shakuhachi to solicit in which the entire with shakuhachi,
alm and as a tool for meditation. It planet can be held thriving outside of
was in the ha.nds of these mnin turned like a ball in the its traditional con-
"Priests of Emptine s and palm of one's hand . text amongst those
Nothingness" that the shakuhachi Shakuhachi is often who are culturally
was redesigned from the heavy root of referred to as the uninitiated and
nmdake bamboo - a form the modem "sound of nature." largely lU1famiLiar
instrument retains to the present day, ln Japan, its "origi- with its basic
and one closely associated with a tra- nal music" premises. This, 1 sus-
ditional aesthetic considered to be (honkyoku) is filled pect, is no accident.
uniquely Japanese. with echoes of forest Let's regard
With such a long evolution - so and sky. WiU this shakuhachi, for the
much of it linked to traditional Japan - sound, I wonder, tra- moment, strictly as a
Los A11gclc'J TimOJS, December 23, /99 1
it is interesting to observe the renais- verse a time before means of accessing
sance shakuhachi is currently experi- history to convey our distinctly information. Going back to a time well
encing here in the "New World." ln a human, inner archetypal voice? A before the Fukeshu wandered the nar-
society barely in its infancy, by voice reflecting more than the natural row streets of Kyoto - back 20 to 40
Japanese standards, one finds world to encompass our very place in thousand years ago to the prehistoric
shakuhachi beginning to occupy a the universe? Cutting loose, going far rnves of Lascaux in France - we find
small but important niche on the back (or ahead) - in any di.rection artifacts that represent the earliest
American cultural landscape. And, as away from orthodoxy- may just make archeological evidence of human
media headlines declare each day it possible to intersect the evolution- music. Ancient end-blown flutes with
with mind-numbing redW1dancy, it is ary time line at a point that yields four to six holes, bearing an uncanny
a place shared and contrasted with a some illwninating insights relevant to resemblance to the modern
host of phenomena that point to a spi- our present condition as a species. shakuhachi. Envision a mythical fore-
raling moral anomie W1precedented in lt is often after attending a concert bear, a tool maker, courting the
our modem history. Broken families, of traditional music, hearing critical impulse to etch a SOW1d scape of his
drive-by shootings, homelessness, comments about a performance, piece habitat.Call up that ancestor who first
extremes of violence and poverty in or style of blowing or discussing the heard the wind as music and was
the face of W1mitigated wealth and politics and organization of impelled by some great force to recre-
excess are just some of the social dis- shakuhachi, that these musings come ate that sound with breath and bone
locations that indicate a growing to mind. If "blowing shakuhachi" is or, indeed, with bamboo. 1n this we
alienation from the ethical underpin- indeed synonymous with sui zen can see shakuhachi totally and purely
nings and institutions that have gov- ("blowing zen") - as one finds carved as a tool for self knowledge. Dispense
erned our moral Lives for generations. in stone at the entrance to Meianji, as with form, ideology and, surely, with
People in America are increasingly well in the liner notes of so many icon, and regard blowing through the
turning both inward and outrmrd shakuhachi CDs - can there be such a emptiness of a hollow tube as a reflec-
toward older traditional cultures for a thing as "good" or "bad" blowing? tion pointing back to one's place in the
hint to the solution of some of the fW1- Where do suspension of judgment cosmos. Breath transformed to SOW1d
damentaJ problems they face. 1n this and "beginner's mind" fit in? Why are goes out to the world, but also loops
regard, shakuhachi is neither special there so many competing shakuhachi back to the player. lt becomes a micro-
nor unique, but is part of a growing schools in Japan, each with a complete cosm of the universe with the urge to
interest in ancient forms and practices arsenal of sectarian views, secrets and blow as the catalyst. Here shakuhachi
that have gained the attention of fundamentalist approaches? If, becomes an instrument in the strictest
many who are seeking old answers to indeed, form is emptiness and empti- sense, a tool to access, directly, a sense
some very new questions. ness form, why has the iemoto system, of place. No form, no tradition, no
with its rigid hierarchy of masters and hierarchy, no licensed masters
As A ~1AKER OF SHAKUHACHI in a "bam- grand-masters emerged as the pre- required. (Not much has really
boo desert" - a place where the dominate organizational paradigm for changed in these millennia.) Just add
resource is virtually nonexistent this traditional enterprise? Why is breath'
and having my own craft evolve access to such valuable information so Returning home from my frequent
almost completely outside of the tra- proscribed and expensive, not to men- travels to Japan, I am often left ""ith a
ditional context, l find that my mind tion licensed? I suspect that these sense of having visited some indefi-
often wanders to a mythical time and questions are endemic to the human nite past, while simultaneously
place where shakuhachi (in its broad- condition and have more to do with glimpsing an equally mystifying
est sense) encounters neither the con- issues of ego, power, and organization future . This uncertain feeling is
straints of a distinctive cultural form than we might care to admit or delve immediately obscured as J am hit by
nor a set of fixed ideas defining what into right now. What stands in sharp the culturally diverse, in-yom-face,
it must be. This imaginary time is, per- contrast to the haze generated by such shoot-from-the-hipness which charac-

NUMBER 32,, "1996

 Madok• root

terizes the America I inhabit. The jum- member of the Black Panther Pa.rty in
ble of impressions soon dissipates as I the San Francisco Bay Area d uring the
roll open the doors of my workshop, late Sixti.es, and has consistent! pro~
mount the bench and begin to carve claimed his innocence of the crime for
and shape the bamboos once more. which he was convicted - even at the
Home again. Then the phone begins to expense of having his appealc; for
ring, letters arrive and the e-mail flash- parole denied, for which an admission
es across the screen. Mostly voices of of guilt might have worked in hie;
those sharing new encounters with favor. The experience of the Black
this remarkable tool. Seldom are these Panther Party, targeted by the FBI and
voices casual, but rather filled with Federal Government during this era of
excitement, wonder and enthusiasm, intense opposition to racial injustice
relating tales of some new-found wis- and the War in Vietnam, is a chapter in
dom or unanswered questi.o ns. American history that bears careful
Occupying the hub of the information- review.) Veronza is a musician, has
al wheel that is shakuhachi, I am a been studying a variety of Asian heal-
privileged repository of these wonder- ing arts - including shiatsu, acupres-
ful stories, soon to be shared in a vol- sure, tsubo and massage therapy - and
ume entitled Empty F11shi: Encounters has a strong inte.rest in Buddhist med-
with Shalwhachi. These are tales of itation, ac; well as "hands-on" healing
shakuhachi on the periphery of its techniques he has practiced at the var-
evolution here in the West: a street ious facilities in which he has been
musician blowing for over two incarcerated. Veronza is also an hon-
decades at a San Francisco subway sta- orary elder of the Lompoc Tribe of Five
tion, a worker with the homeless in Feathers, a native American spiritual
New York City, a recovering alcoholic and cultural group. Over the ten years
and cook in Minneapolis, a teenager or so that I have known him, I have
defining his own right of passage as a made Veronza three flutes and am
flutemaker, a sculptor in rural Georgia presently working on a fourth. (The
and a political prisoner who has spent bamboos ket?p splitting in the harsh
half his life in a maximum security prison environment.) Shakuhachi has
prison are amongst the many folks become a strong focus in his life and
who are rediscovering, redefining and healing work at the prison. Not only
revitalizing this time-honored form. has he developed unique abili ties on
Tak,; no michi, the road of bamboo, is a the instrument, he has composed new
path that follows no prescribed direc- music for shakuhachi and organized a
tion, but still can be traced from pre- Rastafarian Meditation Group which
historic caves in Europe through Asia centers its practice around the
to the American frontier. shakuhachi. The article that follows
describes, in words and pictures,
ALL OP TIUS BY WAY OF introducing Mr. aspects of the spiritual practice devel-
Ve.ronza Bowers, Jr. aka #35316-136, an oped by Veronza and th.is group.
inmate at the Federal Penitentiary in
Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S.A. I have
known Veronza for close to ten years,
since he first wrote to me requesting
information about shakuhachi. I often
receive such letters from convicts who Monry H. Levenson has bee11 making
have been filling the growing number sliakulwchijlllles since 1970. He nrainlai.ns a
of prisons cropping up throughout the workshop or his home JO miles l!Ortheasr of
American heartland, many of whom Willits in rhe roasral foarhills of Mcndocirw
have begun to explore the practice of Counry, California, as well as in Japan a.r rhe
Buddhist meditation. I respond to all village of Kitagawa (Tokushima Prefect,.re) 011
of these requests and usually follow Shikoku lslalld.
up with a flute if the prison authorities
allow the inmates to keep a musical
instrument in theiJ cells. At that time
S11111ic by Ko S 1rat mo11 Veronza was incarcerated at the U.S.
Federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth,
Kansas, where he had since 1970 been
serving a life sentence for murder. (I
hasten to add that Veronza was a

14 KYOTO )O\JllNAL
 VERONZA BOWERS JR .

MEDITATION HEALING
WITH SHAKUHACHI

HAVE UVEO THE PAST 1WENTY FOUR YEARS OF MY LIFE as a federal prisoner with the
Bureau of Prisons' number 35316-136 appended to my name. For those of you
who have never been inside a maximum security penitentiary, it might be diffi-
cult, if not impossible, to i.mag.i ne it as a place where the plaintive sounds of
shakuhachi can be heard. Ah' But it is true.
I am honored and happy to be able to sha.re with you a story about a young
man (whom doctors had told he would never walk again) and a piece of bamboo.
This is a story of the human spirit and wiU at its finest, and a story of the healing
power that is within shakuhachi. In 1987, this young man (let's call him Punchy)
was shot in the back in Detroit, Michigan. The shot and subsequent operation left
him completely paralyzed from the waist down. Call it coincidence, fate or sim-
ply the way things happen, but in that very same year I was introduced to
shakuhachi by a man named Monty H . Levenson, shakuhachi maker and now
dea.r friend.
Three years later, on the recreation yard of Terre Haute Federal Penitentiary in
>- Indiana, I first saw Punchy - he, being pushed in his wheelchair around the quar-
.0
u ter-mile track; me, sitting under the shade of a lone tree blowing my shakuhachi.
:E.
c. I closed my eyes and continued to blow. The song in my heart reflected what I had
e
Cl just seen and my shakuhachi began to cry.

N MBER 32, 1 996

 After about two weeks of watching Earth and the Four Directions (North,
Punchy go for his daily ride, I made East, South and West). I explained to
arranvements through one of his "dri- them Punch 's condition and w hat
ver " to meet him. I explained to was needed of each man as U as all
Punchy that I p racticed an ancient rt of them a a collecti e b y. The f !-
called "Hands-on Healing." I lowing is part of a "Self-Monitoring
explained about Touch for Health, Cross-Consdousnes " account of ou.r
Acupressure, Tsubo Therapy, Shiatsu first meditation healing session written
Therapy, Jin Shin Do, Massage Therapy immediately following the session by
and Meditation Healing usi.ng sounds Darrell, one of the participants.
and colors. We talked about Ch'i and
the circulation of energy, chak.ras, "A wounded Brother was placed on his
stretching as well as other kinds of back in the center of the room. We were
physical therapy and exercise. I looked instructed to form a circle arow1d him,
into his eyes and told him I'd like to try lying on our backs with our heads
to help him. Although he had never nearest to him and focus upon chan-
heard of such things and was unable to neling positive energy so that he might
hide his skepticism, he ii-greed. be healed.
Where? How to begin? That was the
burning question in my mind as we "We were instructed to breathe in a
made arrangements to meet the follow- rhythmic and harmoniou.s flow, inhal-
ing aitemoon . I knew that I would ing deeply to the count of five and
have to examine his entire body from exhaling deeply to the cow1t of five
head to toes and would have to work untiJ we were in perfect tmison. A flute
with him daily for quite a long time. began to play.. .. With my eyes closed, I
We would both have to be committed - can hear the melody uttering words of
to each other and to ourselves. Th.is transient delight, making it hard to
would involve much work, way resist complete relaxation. I gave
beyond physical therapy. myself totally to the Wounded One.
As agreed, we began the following
day. After a solid month (6 days a "There was a light. I used it to focus on
week, 2 1 /2 hours a day) of breathing as I attempted to channel my energy
exercies, acupressure treatments, towards the Wounded One. I concen-
s tr tching, e tc., we were basically trated on the lower half of his body, for
where we were when we started. he was unable to walk. the light was
Punchy was locked up inside of him- drawing near and growing dim, the
self where I could not touch. I knew IDtL5ical sounds freeing me from anxi-
that unless he would aHow me to come ety.... The light now, ever so near and
in, unless he could open up and share dimmer still, as the sounds of winds
with me his deepest pain, no amount of from the flute hovered over my body. I
massage and manipulation of muscles, am conscious as my body releases the
no amount of stimulation of nerves, no tension from the controlled breathing
amount of stretching, no amount of and begins to act upon its own to
anything would result in an improve- recover its natural pace .... The hollow
ment of his condition. sounds of beauty making me ever so
Were the doctors with their profes- comfortable as the dimness of the light
sional diagnosis correct in the.ir slowly turns red
approach? Or was Punchy - a young
man, who had so much energy inside "The flute player is standing over me. I
himself - being sentenced to a wheel am aware of his presence, but why am
chair for the rest of his life? Is it true I moaning? ... Why can I not respond to
that the solution (if there is a solution) acknowledge him? Where am I? ... Can
to any problem lies within the problem I help my wounded Brother, and who
itseli? and where are the drummers? My
A breakthrough was needed. body won't respond, but I am con-
I had recently started conducting scious ... .I can hear everything and the
meditation sessions with members of breaths of everyone; we are all breath-
our Rastafarian Community in the ing out of time .... Everyone has lost the
chapel during which I blow rhythm except the flutist. He has acted
shakuhach.i. I asked Punchy to attend. as a tour guide down the pathway of
For this special session I gathered total redness., almost lead ing me
together seven men, all physically towards serenity, if it weren't for the
strong and emotionally and spirirually pain. What pain?...Whose pain? ... So
well-balanced. The S€ven men would much pain, but why am I still moan-
repreS€nt the Sun, the Moon, Mother ing? Where am I?

KYOTO J URNAL
"It appears that I have allowed the I was terribly excited and anxious bined so that by the end of the sum-
flutist, the tour guide, to take me to talk with the Brother who had been mer (10 months after our first medita-
beyond the realms of my control. I can moaning and groaning and rolling his tion healing session - December 10,
sense serenity, but the pain ... Oh! The head back and forth. I needed to know 1990), Punchy could do 100 full squats
pain! And why do I feel as if I'm not what he had "seen," what he had non-stop, walk five steps on his own,
alone? The corridor, or pathway, "experienced." He and I got together walk behind his wheelchair with me
which has turned blue some time ago immediately after everyone had left sitting in it and push me one full lap
is now glowing and has a strange the chapel. As I blew shakuhach.i at around the quarter-mile track on the
aura. the top of the stairwell, he recorded yard
what you have just read. I wish I had more space to share
"The silence broke. 'Rub your hands Ah' The breakthrough! On so many with you the details of this inspiring
together.' It was the familiar voice of levels. A small piece of bamboo, 1.8 struggle of a young man determined
the tour guide, and I made motions feet long had opened doorways which to walk again and the never-ending
with my hands, which was all I could had previously been welded shut. mystery that is shakuhachi.
do to m,1ke him aware that the com- Shakuhach.i had done in 1 1/2 hours I am deeply thankful to my dear
mand had been heard. I didn't quite what no human being had done in friend Monty for introducing me to
know how to function, for I was dis- three yea.rs. Shakuhach.i had made it shakuhach.i, and I am eternally grate-
tant, incoherent and a slight bit deliri- possible, i.a Darrell's psychic bond- fuJ to shakuhachi for so graciously
ous; but I could sense that he knew, ing with Punchy, to connect with and accepting my breath and for allowing
for 1 was still trapped in space. 'Rub to deeply understand Punch's psycho- me to be an extension through which
your hands together so that they gen- logical and spiritual pain. During our healing can pass.
erate energy, and then rub the warmth next working session, Punchy and I
over your face ... wash your face with discussed all that we had both In addition to studying and practicing
energy.' I was able to comprehend the learned, and for the first time he meditation and the ancient 11enling arts
fact that this was, no doubt, a com- opened up completely. of China and japan, Veronz.a Bowers, Jr.
mand, and l found myself obedient, From then on, we began each work- is an accomplislted musician and compos-
my body began to respond, my eyes ing session with shakuhachi. A er of original pieces for the sfwktihachi.
opened ... it was over." healthy diet with vita mins; a combina- Any unshing to ccmtact Veronza am
tion of disciplines mentioned earlier; reach him at the following address:
After the session had ended and meditation and circulation of Ch'i;
everyone else had "returned" to this weightlifting for upper body strength; Veronza Bowers, Jr. #35316-136
plane, Punchy was still out. When he stretching, stretching and more FCC, MediumC-/, P.O. Box /032
finally "awoke," he blurted out, stretching for leg strength (The Coleman, FL 33521- /03'1..
"What happened? Where I been?" s trength of the Tiger lies in his flexibil-
Everyone laughed. ity); and a determined will, all com-

NUM8ER 32, 1996 17

Shakuhachi pitch and intonation: Application to computer music composition
Linda A. Seltzer

Citation: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 74, S18 (1983); doi: 10.1121/1.2020840
View online: https://doi.org/10.1121/1.2020840
View Table of Contents: https://asa.scitation.org/toc/jas/74/S1
Published by the Acoustical Society of America
 fundamentally unfamiliar but could co-exist with natural instruments in .muscially satisfying ways. (1) Because
sounds are represented numerically for digital purposes, the potential for sound editing is changed qualitative-
ly. Musical phrases were extended and transformed by replicating segments of them in ordered patterns whose
structural properties dominated those of the original without eclipsing its identity. (2) Phase vocoding tech-
niques were used to analyze instrumental sounds. Resulting data were appropriately reduced to form the basis
ofresynthesis through the MUSIC X program. In this way, independent access to arbitrary groups of partial
components was attained. Odd and even partials were presented over spatially distinct speaker channels and
subjected to dynamically changing vibrato functions with differing rates and depths. Additional distinct audi-
tory images arose in the stereo field while the sonic image of the original instrument remained. Examples of
instrumental recordings and their digital transformations are presented in isolation and in musical contexts.

9:35
Jl. Changing conceptions of pitch structure and timbre: A modest proposal. Gerald J. Balzano (Department of
Music, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093)

Two areas of musical exploration of interest to composers for which the computer is unusually well-suited
are microtonal systems and "new" timbres. Notions about how to achieve these musical extensions are doubly
theory-dependent in that they depend on both our theory of perception and our theory of the stimulus. Most
extant attempts to do microtonal music have used small-integer ratios as the fundamental description of the
musical elements involved and the basic entities to which human perceivers are presumed sensitive. For timbre,
the universe of possibilities has traditionally been characterized in terms of spectral variables (possibly time-
varying), and more recently in terms of projections on axes in a "subjective" multidimensional space. In the
present paper, alternatives to prevailing conceptions of both pitch and timbre are considered. A symmetry-
oriented group-theoretic approach to pitch structure that eschews ratios will be described; the resulting view of
pitch systems leads to some novel ideas about how to do microtonal music on a computer. For timbre, an
approach that focuses on the dynamics of the sound-producing activity rather than on the resulting spectra will
be described. This leads naturally to an interesting alternative to currently popular methods for generating
timbres and "timbre transformations" on a computer.

10:05

J3. Some experiments with compositional algorithms. Charles Wuorinen (670 West End Avenue, New York,
NY) and Mark Lieberman (Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ 07974)

(Abstract not received)

10:35
J4. Shakuhachi pitch and intonation: Application to computer music composition. Linda A. Seltzer (M/A-
COM Linkabit Corporation, 3033 Science Park Road, San Diego, CA 92121 and Department of Music,
University of California, Sail Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093)
The music for the Japanese bamboo flute, shakuhachi, contains microtonality as well as continuous change
of pitch in the course oflong notes. Shakuhachi pitch and intonation may be studied by means of pitch detection
analysis of the waveform. Or, alternatively, the pitch of a note may be described as the result of the following
parameters: fingering, vocal tract shape, distance of the lips from the mouthpiece, and direction of breath. The
melodic technique of the shakuhachi may be applied to computer music composition in the continuous fre-
quency domain, without restriction to a scale consisting of discrete frequencies

11:05

JS. Digital sound synthesis for underwater music perception. Michel Redolfi and Lee Ray (Computer Audio
Research Laboratory, Center for Music Experiment, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA
92123)
A piece of original electro-acoustic music, Sonic Waters II, was created. Software "instruments" and "note
lists," descriptions of the behavior of those instruments in the musical time of a sequence, were specified for the
cmusic synthesis program to produce, by frequency modulation, amplitude modulation, and localization and
motion within a synthesized space, morphological transformations of several harp recordings. Means of (1)
transduction of this wide-band musical work (20 Hz to 16 kHz) for human listeners immersed in water and (2)
compensating for changes of such musically significant psychoacoustic cues as depth perception and relative
amplitudes of overtones occasioned by the prominence of bone conduction in underwater listening were inves•
tigated. One pressure-loaded diaphragm and four piezoelectric transducers were positioned to broadcast the
computer-processed sound. The wavelength of some bass notes exceeded the dimensions of the pool, limiting
musically useful propagation of low frequencies due to cancellation and reinforcement of standing waves.
[Work supported by the CME, System Development Foundation and the French government.]

S18 J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Suppl. 1, Vol. 74, Fall 1983 106th Meeting: Acoustical Society of America S18
Shakuhachi Honkyoku: Motivic Analysis of Sokaku Reibo
Amy D. Simon

H onkyoku is a repertoire of original pieces played on the Japanese bamboo flute,

shakuhachi. In this study, I analyze the melodic and rhythmic content of one honkyoku
piece, Sokaku Reibo ( , “The Nesting of Cranes”). Whereas previous analyses of
shakuhachi honkyoku have relied on the frameworks of octave-species scales as well as
trichords spanning a perfect fourth,1 I favor a bottom-up approach. Although three
transpositions of the miyakobushi trichord (m2+M3=P4)2 account for a portion of what is heard
in Sokaku Reibo, several frequently occurring tones and intervals are left unaccounted for. I
will show how analysis of these smaller elements, in addition to analysis of pitch and rhythm
cells, is relevant to the greater structure of the piece.

SOKAKU REIBO: TRANSMISSION AND VARIANTS

Sokaku Reibo is a programmatic piece from the honkyoku repertoire of the Kinko-ryū, the
shakuhachi performance tradition established in the name of Kurosawa Kinko (1710–1771) in the
eighteenth century. As with all Kinko-ryū honkyoku, the composer and date of composition for
Sokaku Reibo (and variant Tsuru no Sugomori ) are unknown. However, the piece has
been traced to the mid-eighteenth century, when prototype melodies were heard in the Kyōto
and Ōsaka areas and Kurosawa Kinko was collecting shakuhachi repertoire (Tsukitani 2006,
20–21).

Sokaku Reibo, Tsuru no Sugomori, and other variants are connected by a loose program
concerning the life cycle of a family of cranes. They differ with regard to structure in that they
have different numbers of dan (sections) and different motivic content. Some versions of the
piece can be traced to the kokyū, a traditionally three-stringed bowed instrument similar to the
shamisen. Tsuru no Sugomori melodies had been transcribed for the kokyū during the Tenpō era
(1830–1844) and then re-introduced to the shakuhachi. This contributed to the large number of
variants of Tsuru no Sugomori, including the 7-dan version played by practitioners of the
Myōan Taizan-ha. Sokaku Reibo of the Kinko-ryū had developed its 12-dan form by the middle
of the nineteenth century. Tsukitani Tsuneko (2006, 20–21) calls its line of transmission the
“Edo line.”

The honkyoku are not understood as fixed objects; instead they are always “in progress”
(Fritsch 1983, 17). Modifying the standard pieces is a part of performance practice and “owning
the piece,” while also a form of composition (Matsunobu 2009, 62). The creative choices of dai
shihan (grand masters) are especially respected: they may make subtle changes, or even add or

1. For example, Tsukitani (2008), Tokita (1996), Weisgarber (1968), and Koizumi (1958).
2. This shorthand stands for “minor second + Major third = Perfect fourth.”

Analytical Approaches to World Music, Vol. 5, No. 2. Published January 25, 2017.
2 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

omit whole sections of a piece at their discretion, re-creating the piece at each performance
(Lee 1993, 228). This creative license is one factor that has led to many variants of pieces in the
honkyoku repertoire.3

Variants can retain the same name, while the composition differs in content or structure.
However, two very similar compositions could also appear under different names (Lee 1993,
173). Renaming a piece is one means of taking ownership of it (Matsunobu 2009, 62).
Shakuhachi dai shihan Yokoyama Katsuya (2003, 4) writes, “The very nature of this body of
music—with its purpose of ‘expressing one’s true intention’ or playing ‘one’s own tune’—
means that the pieces will inevitably change gradually over time along with the spirit of each
age.”

Sokaku Reibo is related to Tsuru no Sugomori and Koden Sokaku of different lineages, and
together there may be as many as 20 or 30 variants (Tamba 2003; Tsukitani 2006, 20). These
popular pieces have been recorded numerous times by master players, often more than once
in variant forms. For example, a recording of the Kinko-ryū Sokaku Reibo by Yamaguchi Gorō
appears on the album A Bell Ringing in the Empty Sky (1969, 13:13), and in longer versions on
Japan: Music of the Shakuhachi (1991, 20:54) and Great Masters of the Shakuhachi Flute (1988, 21:34).
Sakai Syōdō of the Chikuho-ryū recorded five variants of the piece from four lines of
transmission on a single album, Five Metamorphoses of “Nesting of Cranes” (2006). Masters may
also teach the same piece differently to different students or during different periods of their
lives (Matsunobu 2009, 58).

Regardless of changes made by different players and in transmission through different

lineages, variants tend to retain identifying elements. Sokaku Reibo and its variants can be
considered one piece in the repertoire because they are related by programmatic storyline
and technical elements. Each depicts the life cycle of cranes and, for example, each includes a
distinctive onomatopoeic performance technique called koro-koro. Koro-koro combines tremolo
and multiphonic effects to represent the flapping of the crane’s wings, an element essential to
the character and story of the piece.

All the same, practitioners of different schools of playing might consider their own
variants to be distinct pieces, especially when the differences are substantial and the lines of
transmission quite separate. For example, variations in melodic content and structure, and
differences in playing style and title between the Kinko-ryū honkyoku Sokaku Reibo and
Watazumi Fumon’s dokyoku crane piece titled Tsuru no Sugomori are such that the two could
be viewed as separate pieces, despite the shared program of nesting cranes and characteristic
onomatopoeic musical elements. Indeed, in the liner notes for Sakai Syōdō’s Five
Metamorphoses of “Nesting of Cranes,” Tsukitani (2006, 19) writes: “The present CD … includes
five pieces taken from among the many variants that have the same (or, similar) title but are,
in fact, different pieces.”

3. Other factors include the limited use of notation before the late nineteenth century, and the practice of monks
wandering from temple to temple, sharing pieces.
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 3

According to Riley Kelly Lee (1993), variation in honkyoku is a natural result of oral
tradition. However, “any modification or reinterpretation of Kinko honkyoku … would tend to
be minor if compared with the variation and change that can be seen in honkyoku that have
been transmitted outside the Kinko tradition” (295). In addition, “Kinko honkyoku in Kinko
notation are generally far more detailed and precise in performance prescription than are
non-Kinko honkyoku scores used by shakuhachi players who are not associated with Kinko ryū.
Furthermore, notation appears to have been used in the transmission of Kinko honkyoku since
at least the early 1800s” (294). It is for these reasons that I have chosen to analyze scores and
recordings by shakuhachi masters of the Kinko-ryū, specifically of the honkyoku piece Sokaku
Reibo. A comparison to variants of different schools, such as Tsuru no Sugomori and Koden
Sugomori, is beyond the scope of this study.

SOKAKU REIBO TABLATURE AND AUDIO RECORDINGS

Shakuhachi notation is a tablature system. The tablature mainly specifies particular

fingerings, thus absolute pitches of tones will differ depending on the length of shakuhachi
played and additional markings in the notation. In this study, I have consulted tablature
notation of Sokaku Reibo by Kurahashi Yodo I (1909–1980), as taught by Jin Nyodo (1892–1966)
(Kurahashi, n.d.), and Aoki Reibo II (b.1935), both of Kinko-ryū lineage via Kawase Junsuke I
(1870–1959).4 I also refer to recordings by Aoki Reibo II (COCJ-33975) and Yamaguchi Gorō
(1933–1999) (H-720025), both designated “Living National Treasures” by the Japanese
government under the 1950 Law for the Protection of Cultural Property. Additional available
recordings are listed in the References section.

Example 1 shows notation for the first dan of Sokaku Reibo by Aoki and Kurahashi. The
tablature is read vertically, from right to left. Approximate pitches for the tablature used in
Sokaku Reibo are given in Figure 1. Example 2 shows the first of 12 dan of Sokaku Reibo in
Western staff notation, transnotated from the two scores by Aoki and Kurahashi in Example
1.5 A legend of transnotation and transcription symbols appears in Appendix A.

On a 1.8-foot standard-length five-hole shakuhachi (played on both of the recordings I

consulted), the basic tones produced when the tone holes are fully opened one by one from
the bottom of the instrument to the top with a neutral embouchure position in the lowest
register are as follows: D1 ( ro), F1 ( tsu), G1 ( re), A1 ( chi), C2 ( ri). However, the
instrument is not limited to this anhemitonic pentatonic scale. Semitones and microtones are

4. The latter of the two notated sources is an unpublished hand-written score with the postscript, “Sheet music
for use at Boulder, Colorado, USA World Shakuhachi Festival ’98 (7/5–7/11) (written) 4/8/’98, (signed) Aoki Reibo.”
(Postscript translation by David Wheeler in email communication, October 25, 2013).
5. Avigdor Herzog (1964, 100n) defined transnotation as “transference of notation revised from one form to
another” in contrast to “transcription: notation of music already existing in performance.”
4 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

Example 1. First dan of Sokaku Reibo, notation by Aoki Reibo II, Reibo-kai guild of Kinko-ryū (left), and
Kurahashi Yodo I (right), from Jin Nyodō Honkyoku: Notation by Kurahashi Yodo, Level IV.
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 5

possible when tone holes are partially closed, forked fingerings6 are used, and/or the angle of
the breath stream against the mouthpiece is altered. The most common indication for
changing the pitch is meri. The resulting pitch and the method used to achieve it differ
from school to school, but the general meaning is to lower the pitch one to two semitones (in
contrast, kari means to raise the pitch). In the Kinko-ryū, while tsu is played F on a 1.8-
foot shakuhachi, tsu-meri is lowered to approximately E♭. The fingering system allows not
only for all tones of the Western chromatic scale, but also several fingerings for some tones to
alter the timbre, intonation, and loudness of the given tone.

1st octave 2nd octave 3rd octave

BASIC TONES

/
ro re ro re chi hi go no
hi/i
D1 G1 D2 G2 A2 C3 D3
BASIC MERI TONE

ri tsu chi hi
meri meri meri meri
B♭1 E♭2 A♭2 B♭2
OTHER, MERI TONES
/
ha (ni ichi san no go no
shi go u/u dai meri ha
no ha)

C2 G/A♭2 D3
OTHER, NON-MERI TONES
/

a/shi san a ni shi go

go no no u no ha
ha
D2 B♭2 D3 E♭3

Figure 1. Approximate tones in tablature used for Sokaku Reibo, played on 1.8-foot shakuhachi. C1 =
middle C. Tablature not used in Sokaku Reibo is omitted. Some tones have more than one possible
fingering and therefore more than one tablature symbol, e.g., D2. For some pitches, the tablature
symbol changes for the third octave, e.g., ri C2 becomes hi C3.

6. This term is not typically applied to shakuhachi fingerings. However, by “forked fingering,” I mean that below
an open tone hole there is a closed or partially closed hole. For example, san no u (B♭2): only the third hole from
the root end is open.
6 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

Example 2. Transnotation of dan 1 of Sokaku Reibo scores by Kurahashi Yodo I and Aoki Reibo II.
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 7

Additional markings in the notation indicate register (lower: otsu or ryo; upper:
kan), breath phrases (horizontal lines), dynamics (crescendo and decrescendo), meter (ura-
ma and omote-ma left and right dots), repeated figures and tones, finger articulation (e.g., the
symbol , i.e., 2, indicates that the second hole from the bottom is to be used for articulation),
as well as special tremolo ( koro-koro), flutter tonguing ( tamane), and sliding and
bending techniques (e.g., suri, nayashi, and meri-komi).

TWELVE-DAN FORM

Although a performance of Sokaku Reibo can include 12 possible dan, the player may
omit several sections. Figure 2 shows which dan are performed or notated in each of the
recordings or scores consulted in this study. Each dan appears in at least one of the two
recordings, but each recording omits two or three dan. With regard to scores, dan 8 and 11 are
absent from both, and Kurahashi includes only six of the possible dan. The five dan present in
all of the selected recordings and scores are 1, 2, 6, 10, and 12. I consulted an additional
recording by Yamaguchi (A-6139) on which he performs all 12 dan. Likewise, a score by Satō
Seibi ([1954] 1989) in Book 6 of his honkyoku compilation, Shakuhachi Honkyoku Zenshu,
includes all 12 dan.7 I used this score as a reference to confirm the locations of the dan in the
recordings and other scores when they were not clearly marked. The nature of transmission is
such that even when the dan are clearly marked in the scores, the content may differ from
score to score.

Kurahashi Yodo I Aoki Reibo II Yamaguchi Gorō

score score & recording recording
1 1 1
2 2 2
3 3
4 4
5
6 6 6
7
8
9
10 10 10
11
12 12 12

Figure 2. Dan included in selected scores and recordings.

7. Satō (1906–1983) was a student of Miura Kindo and Yoshida Seifu. He ran the Kinkosha publishing company
and sought to “consolidate and unify” the various Kinko-ryū notation systems (“Satō Seibi” 2016).
8 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

FIXED RHYTHM AND FREE RHYTHM

In honkyoku notation, dots to the right and left of the tablature columns indicate metric
pulse. These omote-ma and ura-ma (right- and left-side) beats reflect the cyclical nature of the
human breath and pulse, and create the appearance of fixed rhythm in the pieces. Notation
and performance practice differ, however. As Tsukitani (2006, 20) points out, “Generally
speaking, most classical honkyoku of syakuhati are composed in free rhythm. In the case of
Turu no sugomori, however, only the pieces from the Tōhoku district are played exclusively in
free rhythm; others insert melodies here and there in more or less fixed rhythm.”8 Rhythmic
patterns, referred to as rhythm cells in this study, are repeated throughout the Kinko-ryū
Sokaku Reibo.

In contrast to the fixed rhythm of repeated patterns, the free rhythm of Sokaku Reibo is
felt on sustained tones and breaks between phrases. A comparison of the first measures of the
Aoki transnotation (Example 3a) to the first breath phrases of his recording (Examples 3b and
3c) reveals the discrepancy between notation and practice in free passages.

bœ
j œ œ , bœ
j œ œ , bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
&
,
bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ , bœ œ ˙
& J
Figure 3a. Beginning of Sokaku Reibo, transnotation of Aoki score.

bœ œ w m w .m bœ ˙ m w m bœ œ ˙ m
&

b œ œ >œ œ œ >œ œ œ >œ œ œ >œ œ œ >œ œ œ >œ œ œ >œ œ œ >œ œ œ >œ b œ w m w m

accel.
œ
+48

&

Figure 3b. Beginning of Sokaku Reibo, transcription of Aoki recording.

8. Tsukitani uses Kunrei-shiki romanization of Japanese (syakuhati, Turu no sugomori); I use Hepburn
romanization (shakuhachi, Tsuru no sugomori).
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 9

Figure 3c. Beginning of Sokaku Reibo. Annotated image of Aoki recording (corresponding to phrases in
Example 3b) shows lengths of tones and breaths. Analysis using SPEAR software.

Gutzwiller (1992, 269) observes: “In the notation of [the Kinko] school we find a duple-
time pattern clearly depicted, although such a pattern can hardly be perceived when listening
to the music itself.” Regarding “imprecision” of durational values, Lee (1993, 355) explains, “in
the performer’s mind, a note with a ‘long duration’ is held a ‘long time,’ not ‘four seconds’ or
‘eight seconds.’ How long the note ends up being held depends upon the circumstances of the
individual performer and performance.”

Absent from the notations are indications of the durations of the rests that connect the
phrases. Phrasing in honkyoku is based on the breath of the performer: each phrase is
performed in one breath. Breath phrases are indicated in the Aoki and Kurahashi scores by
short horizontal lines separating the tablature. The quality and length of the inhalation
between breath phrases must be learned from a teacher and can be understood in terms of the
Japanese aesthetic concept of ma: “an ‘interval’ between two (or more) spatial or temporal
things and events” (Pilgrim 1986, 255). Phrases in honkyoku are thus temporal events separated
(or connected) by intervals. These intervals do not necessarily belong to the events preceding
or following them; however, the quality of a phrase ending has an impact on the quality of the
ensuing breath intake, which in turn affects how the next phrase is begun, with respect to
factors such as loudness, timbre, and duration. The durations of the rests between phrases are
not indicated in original scores, nor in my transnotations, since each performer will differ in
his or her approach from performance to performance. In a comparison of six recordings of
Hifumi Shirabe, Gutzwiller (1992, 277) concludes: “We cannot make any clear statement about
the proportional lengths of tones that holds true for a majority of players.” The same would
10 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

Example 4. Rests (circled in blue) between breath phrases of Sokaku Reibo, Yamaguchi recording.
Analysis using Melodyne software.

follow for the lengths of rests between phrases. However, to give a general idea of duration in
performance practice in two samples, in the Aoki recording I consulted, rests last up to
approximately 2 seconds, whereas in the Yamaguchi recording the longest rest is about 2.4
seconds long, with the longest rests appearing towards the end of the recording. See Example
4 for one set of rests in the latter recording. These rests are an integral part of honkyoku, and
form the interval of silence from and into which many of the motivic elements analyzed in
this study emerge.

MODE

In previous studies (e.g., Weisgarber 1968, 317; Tokita 1996, 5; Tsukitani 2008, 156),
scholars have argued that shakuhachi honkyoku can be analyzed based on octave-species in or
miyakobushi scales, illustrated in Example 5, or on miyakobushi tetrachords (m2+M3=P4).9

w w w bw w
&w bw w w bw w

Example 5a. In scale on D.

P4 P4 P4 P4

&w w w bw w w bw w
bw w bw
m2 M3 m2 M3 m2 M3 m2 M3

Example 5b. Miyakobushi scale on D, disjunct (left) and conjunct (right) forms.

9. Miyakobushi (urban) scales are so-called because they are found in the urban melodies of the koto, shamisen,
and shakuhachi. In scales are so-named in contrast to yō scales. The Japanese concept of in and yō is related to the
Chinese yin and yang.
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 11

As early as 1891, Cargill Gilston Knott related the process of tuning fourths used by
Japanese koto players to tetrachords of ancient Greek music theory. He referred to descending
three-tone koto patterns spanning a P4 (e.g., A-F-E) as “koto trichords” (380). Four years later,
Uehara Rokushirō published an analysis of Japanese music that included the octave-species in
senpō (or in) scale.

In his 1958 text, Koizumi Fumio would take these theories further in analyzing Japanese
music genres in terms of tetrachords and scales, or modes. Koizumi discussed four three-tone
patterns of intervals in Japanese music, calling them tetrachords. As in Greek theory, the
patterns he identified all span a perfect fourth with movable middle tones, resulting in
different internal intervals. However, since the patterns do not contain four tones, a second
basis for use of the term tetrachord, I will instead follow Knott in using the term trichord. The
four trichords discussed by Koizumi are shown in Example 6.

According to Koizumi (1977, 77), the miyakobushi scale made up of two disjunct
miyakobushi trichords (D-E♭-G-A-B♭-D) “is the representative scale of the music of the koto,
shamisen, biwa, and shakuhachi, all typical instruments of the Edo period (1603–1867) when
Japan’s traditional culture divergently flourished.” I will show how much, but not all, of the
melodic content of Sokaku Reibo is accounted for by three transpositions of the miyakobushi
trichord (octave-species scalar passages do not occur in the piece). These three m2+M3
trichords, on D, G, and A, outlined below in Example 7, also account for the final tones of the
12 dan: D2-A2-A2-G2-G2-A2-A2-A2-A2-A2-C3-D1.

Despite the usefulness of trichord transpositions in analyzing Sokaka Reibo,

transpositions of frequently occurring intervals also warrant independent investigation. The
m2, M3, and P4 intervals are consistent with the miyakobushi trichord (m2+M3=P4); however,
m2 and M3 are often immediately reiterated several times without the framework of P4, and
other intervals appear as well. Frequent m2 and M3 transpositions found in Sokaku Reibo are

&w bw w w Nw w w w w w #w w
miyakobushi ritsu min'yo ryukyu

Example 6. Four trichords discussed by Koizumi Fumio.

bw w w bw w
&w bw w w

Example 7. Miyakobushi trichord on D, G, and A.

12 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

& bw bw w bw w bw Nw bw
w w bw w
M3 M3 M3 m2 m2 m2

Example 8. Frequent M3 and m2 transpositions found in Sokaku Reibo.

given in Example 8. Note that both trichords and frequently occurring intervals are
transposed up a P4 and P5, and the specific tones of the frequently occurring intervals can be
extracted directly from the trichord transpositions.

In this study, rather than focusing primarily on octave species and tetrachords/trichords,
I favor a bottom-up approach to analyzing motivic content, based first on transposition of
frequently occurring intervals as well as on pitch and rhythm cells. In the following sections, I
discuss and label pitch and rhythm cells—defined by repetition within breath phrases—in
terms of frequently occurring intervals and transpositions of the miyakobushi trichord. It is
important to note that not all dan nor all cells appear in all of the sources I consulted.
However, I have consolidated information from all sources to facilitate an analysis of all 12 dan
and their cells.

PITCH AND RHYTHM CELLS

Eliott Weisgarber (1968) refers to cells in his analysis of three Kinko-ryū honkyoku (Hi-fu-
mi Hashi Kaeshi, Banshiki-no-Shirabe, and San-ya Sugaki). He states, “over three hundred
different patterns or ‘cells’ may be found” in honkyoku (318–19). According to Andreas
Gutzwiller and Gerald Bennett (1991, 58), “highly structured smaller units—what we have
called tone cells—clearly have great musical significance.” Tone cells “generally last the
length of a breath and are separated from one another by clear rests… Most of the tone cells
have three parts. They consist of a first phase, the preparatory note, a second phase, the main
note, and a third phase, the ending” (38). Gutzwiller and Bennett do not quantify the
“generally” and “most” of the preceding passage but they do qualify their comments as being
characteristic of tone cells in the 18 meditation- and ritual-related honkyoku of the 36 Kinko-
ryū pieces, as opposed to the pieces “less strictly associated with the monks’ religious
practices” (38), such as Sokaku Reibo.

I have found that tone cells are also fundamental to understanding Sokaku Reibo;
however, cells in this piece do not necessarily “last the length of a breath.” In fact, a short cell
may be repeated several times within a single breath. Therefore, I distinguish between cells of
frequently occurring pitch material and breath phrases separated by rests.

I will show how cells in Sokaku Reibo are subject to expansion and contraction of melodic
material and display common intervallic and rhythmic patterns. I refer to cells of intervallic
patterns as pitch cells, and cells of rhythmic patterns as rhythm cells, and have identified 15
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 13

Main pitch cells Frequently occurring variants

1 E♭-G-D 1.1 E♭-D
2 D♭-D
3 D-B♭-E♭-E♭-D 3.2 D-B♭
4 E♭-E♭-D-E♭-E♭-G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭-D 4.2 G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭
5 C-A♭-A♭-A♭
6 B♭-A-A-G+-G+
7 B♭-B♭-A-G+-G+-A-B♭ 7.1 B♭-B♭-A-G+-G+-A
7.1.1 B♭-A-G+-G+-A
8 B♭-B♭-A-G+-G+-A-B♭-D-G-A- E♭-E♭-E♭-G 8.1 C-A♭-A♭-G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭-G
9 (C)-D
10 F-G
11 (C)-D-E♭-D-B♭-D-(C)-A
12 A-C
13 C-C-B♭
14 C-A♭-C-D-E♭
15 (C)-D-B♭-A-G+-G+-A-B♭-A

Figure 3. Main pitch cells and frequently occurring variants in Sokaku Reibo. The note G+ in cells 6 to 8
and 12 is consistently played between G and A♭. The label G+ is meant to distinguish it from G, as the
two notes have distinct fingerings and tablature.

main pitch cells in Sokaku Reibo. A list of these and frequently occurring variants appears in
Figure 3.10 I have labeled recurring rhythm cells as 2RC (two-note rhythm cell) and 3RC (three-
note rhythm cell).

PITCH CELLS AND PRINCIPAL INTERVALS IN SOKAKU REIBO

Miyakobushi trichords account for much but not all of what is heard in Sokaku Reibo;
therefore, in this section I discuss pitch cells in terms of both trichord modulations and
intervallic relationships. I begin with an analysis of pitch cells in the first dan since it presents
much of the intervallic and trichordal material of the piece. It also offers examples of
expanded and contracted pitch cells.

Dan 1: Expansion and Contraction of Pitch Cells

In all of the Sokaku Reibo sources I consulted, the first cell (1: E♭-G-D) is repeated at least
nine times at the beginning of the first dan before any other motivic content is presented. This
cell is then repeatedly contracted to E♭-D and D throughout the remainder of the first dan.
Cell 1 is also expanded in dan 1 to D♭-E♭-G-D (where D♭ corresponds to a tremolo effect called
koro-koro). This expansion, with D♭ added to the beginning of cell 1, could also be considered
an expanded form of cell 2 (D♭-D)—a cell also repeated several times—or a merging of the
first two cells: [E♭-G-D] + [D♭-D] = D♭-E♭-G-D. In the first dan, cell 2 is also expanded to D♭-

10. See Appendix B for detailed numbering of cells and complete labeling of variants.
14 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

E♭-D and contracted to D. Cell 3 (D-B♭-E♭-D) is contracted to E♭-D.11

This compositional method of expanding, contracting, and repeating pitch cells and
fragments of pitch cells (i.e., variants) is used throughout the piece to emphasize certain
melodic and rhythmic patterns. In the first dan, the repetition, contraction, and expansion of
the first three cells highlights the important melodic material, material that includes not only
pitch patterns that will return at the end of the piece, but perhaps more significantly, the
principal intervallic content of the entire piece.

Dan 1: Principal Intervals and Trichords

Three frequently occurring intervals in Sokaku Reibo are a minor second (m2), major
third (M3), and perfect fourth (P4). The opening pitch cell of the piece sets up two of these
intervals (M3, P4), and the first dan relies on all three. Together they form the miyakobushi
trichord (m2+M3=P4). Including the koro-koro multiphonic tremolo effect (shown on D♭), one
of two exceptional cases to be addressed later, the pitch cells of the first dan are listed in
Figure 4.

Not taking into account the koro-koro effect, playable only on D♭212 and indicated with an
asterisk in the table, the dan 1 intervals shown in Figure 4 are: M3 (rising and falling), P4 (rising
and falling), and m2 (falling). Again leaving aside the D♭ for a moment, all of the remaining
tones of the first dan are accounted for by the miyakobushi trichord on D (D-E♭-G), with the
exception of B♭. The D-B♭ of cell 3 could be explained as a brief transposition down a P4 to the
trichord on A (A-B♭-D), as shown in Figure 4; however, A, the lowest tone, is not heard. The
B♭ is played directly after D, a M3 interval reiterated repeatedly in later dan as D- B♭ as well as

Dan 1 pitch cells Versions m2-M3 trichord

1 D♭2* E♭2 G2 D2 all D-E♭-G
2 D2 all D-[E♭-G] (NT: D♭*)
D♭2* D2 all D-[E♭-G]
D♭2* E♭2 D2 all D-E♭-[G] (NT: D♭*)
E♭2 G2 D2 all D-E♭-G (NT: D♭*)
3 D2 B♭1 E♭2 D2 all [A]-B♭-D / D-E♭-[G]
E♭2 D2 KY, AR, SS D-E♭-[G]

Figure 4. Pitch cells in first dan, aligned vertically to match intervallic/pitch patterns. Notes repeated
immediately are not included. The left column labels main cells by number; the far right column
shows corresponding m2-M3 (miyakobushi) trichord transpositions. Recordings and scores in which
cells appear are listed in the Versions column. For numerical labeling of all cells, see Appendix B; for
explanation of symbols, see Appendix C.

11. In discussion of pitch cells, repeated tones are left out in order to simplify the identification of frequently
occurring intervals. See Appendix B for more detailed analysis of pitch cells.
12. The koro-koro right-hand fingering pattern is also used later in trills on B♭2 and D3; however, these are not true
koro-koro.
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 15

G-E♭ and C-A♭. The occurrence of the B♭ in dan 1 without the lowest tone of the A trichord
thus immediately raises the question of whether it is appropriate to attempt to fit all of the
pitch cells into trichords, or whether an intervallic approach would be more suitable. Adding
to the problem is the D♭ of the koro-koro tremolo—this tone fits into none of the miyakobushi
trichord transpositions on D, G or A. As mentioned above, I will deal with this exceptional
case separately.

Also prominent throughout Sokaku Reibo is the major second (M2), an interval not part of
the miyakobushi trichord. It is first heard in dan 1 in the pitch cell D♭-E♭-D. Together these four
melodic intervals (m2, M2, M3, P4), recurring on specific tones in their original and retrograde
forms, make up most of the melodic material of the piece. Significantly, this dan 1 material
returns in the final dan in a sort of recapitulation of the opening.

First Exceptional Tone: D♭

D♭2 first appears in cell 2 of dan 1: D♭-D. The D♭2 notation is an approximation of the
fundamental that results from the special koro-koro multiphonic tremolo effect. I have chosen
to name it D♭ instead of C♯, since the “ro” of koro-koro corresponds to D on a standard length
1.8-foot shakuhachi. Koro-koro imitates the flapping of the cranes’ wings in the program of
Sokaku Reibo and is played using a set fingering pattern.13 The same effect is not achieved with
other tremolo fingerings.

Since koro-koro is playable only on D♭2, this non-trichord tone could be disregarded with
respect to trichords and intervals; however, this tremolo effect is integral to certain pitch
cells—it is frequently sustained and is consistently followed by D♭2, either directly (D♭-D) or
indirectly (e.g., D♭-E♭-D and D♭-E♭-G-D). It thus serves as a lower neighbor to D♭2, an
augmented prime relationship that mirrors the m2 interval E♭-D and its transpositions.

Dan 1: Rhythm Cells

Rhythmic motives, or rhythm cells, are also repeated throughout the Kinko-ryū Sokaku
Reibo, beginning in the first dan. The most prominent cell in the piece is œ œ œ and its retrograde
(labeled 3RC in Appendix B when it occurs on a single repeated tone).14 Other repeated figures
j
include œ œ (2RC), œ œ œ œ . , and œ . œ œ œ œ œ . These figures can be considered part of the fixed rhythm
sections of the piece.

The œ œ œ 3RC cell (and its retrograde) in particular appears at the end of several dan, but is
also heard at the end of longer pitch cells, in turn leading to its repetition on a single tone or

13. Tone holes 1 and 2 of the lower joint are alternately opened and closed, hole 3 is closed, holes 4 and 5 are
vented, and the instrument is played with a meri (lowered) head position.
14. Because right- and left-side beats in tablature notation do not correspond to strong and weak beats in the
j
Western sense, the 3RC cell is essentially the same inœits
.œ . œœœœ œœœœœœand œ œ œ forms. Beaming of notes in transnotation
examples corresponds to groupings in the Aoki and Kurahashi scores, but not necessarily to how the tones are
grouped in performance.
16 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

Example 9. 3RC examples from dan 1, transnotation of Aoki score.

interval. In these cases, I refer to 3RC as a terminal pattern. It appears at the end of the first
dan on a m2 interval: E♭-E♭-D, a contraction of cell 3, which directly precedes it. This rhythmic
pattern first appears in a variant of cell 2, again emphasizing the E♭-D m2 as shown in
Example 9. In later dan, the 3RC is played repeatedly on a single tone, becoming a motivic
element as recognizable as the main pitch cells and frequently occurring intervals. As shown
in Appendix B, the single-tone 3RC occurs primarily on G2 and A2, following contracted cell
variants G-E♭ and A-G+, respectively, whereas the single-tone 2RC repeats on D3, E♭2/3, and
B♭1/2.

Dan 12: Return of Dan 1 Cells

As mentioned above, the final dan (one of the five dan to appear in all sources) includes a
sort of recapitulation of the first dan and its motivic content. Partway through dan 12, cells 1, 2,
and 3 return together for the first time since dan 1, beginning with cell 2 (D♭-D) and the
programmatic koro-koro, a signal not heard since the beginning of dan 2. This cell is expanded
as it was in dan 1, to D♭-E♭-D and D♭-E♭-G-D (also a variant of cell 1), and is followed by cell 3
(D-B♭-E♭-D). After a brief return to cell 2, a single iteration of cell 1 (E♭-G-D) ends the piece,
although an octave lower and without its initial E♭: G1-D1 (P4). Example 10 gives transcriptions
of the initial and final breath phrases from Aoki’s recording.

bœ œ w m w .m
&

Example 10a. First breath phrase of Sokaku Reibo, transcription of Aoki recording.
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 17

-25
m
&œ
^

Example 10b. Last breath phrase of Sokaku Reibo, transcription of Aoki recording. Aoki plays the initial
note approximately 25 cents below G1, relative to A=442Hz.

Dan 12 pitch cells (excerpt) Versions m2-M3 trichord

2 D♭2* D2 all D-[E♭-G] (NT: D♭*)
D♭2* E♭2 D2 all D-E♭-[G] (NT: D♭*)
D♭2* E♭2 G2 D2 all D-E♭-G (NT: D♭*)
3 D2 B♭1 E♭2 D2 all [A]-B♭-D / D-E♭-[G]
D2 B♭1 all [A]-B♭-D
1v G1 D1 all D-E♭-[G]

Figure 5. Pitch cell analysis, end of dan 12.

Since the treatment of cells 2 and 3 is basically the same as in dan 1, the last dan thus also
restates the 3RC as well as the miyakobushi trichord on D and transpositions of frequently
occurring intervals. Figure 5 provides a pitch cell analysis of the end of dan 12.

ELEMENTS OF OTHER COMMON DAN: 2, 6, 10

The three remaining dan that appear in all sources are 2, 6, and 10. Repetition,
contraction, and expansion of pitch cells continues to occur throughout these dan, but
whereas new material is introduced in the second dan, dan 6 and 10 consist mostly of variants
of earlier cells and intervals. In this section, I will discuss new material presented in these
three dan.

Dan 2: Expansion and Contraction of New Pitch Cells

In the second dan, cell 1 is further expanded to E♭-D-E♭-G-A-E♭-D (cell 4) (and a koro-
koro variation: cell 4sb), which is in turn reduced to G-A-E♭ (cell 4.2), then to G-E♭, a
retrograde of the E♭-G M3 interval that had appeared prominently as the first two tones of the
piece, and finally to G, just as E♭-G-D had been contracted to E♭-D and D in dan 1. In dan 2,
contraction also occurs after the introduction of cell 5 (C-A♭). This third transposition of the
M3 interval, heard in dan 1 on E♭-G and B♭-D, reduces to A♭. Similarly, cell 6 (B♭-A-G+) is
reduced to A-G+,15 then further to a 3RC on A. As seen in the first two dan, contraction of pitch
cells frequently leads to recurring rhythmic cells, the terminal 3RC in particular. Figure 6
analyzes pitch cells in dan 2.

15. G+, a note that consistently falls between G and A♭, is explained below as an exceptional tone.
18 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

Dan 2 pitch cells Versions m2-M3 trichord

4 E♭2 D2 Eb2 G2 A2 E♭2 D2 all D-E♭-G/
A-[B♭]-D
D♭2* D2 E♭2 G2 A2 E♭2 D2 KY, AR, SS D-E♭-G/
A-[B♭]-D
(NT: D♭*)
4.2 G2 A2 E♭2 all [D]-E♭-G/
A-[B♭-D]
G2 E♭2 all [D]-E♭-G
3RC G2 all [D-E♭]-G
5 C3 A♭2 all [G]-A♭-C
3RC A♭2 all [G]-A♭-[C]
6 B♭2 A2 G+2* AR, YG, SS A-B♭-[D]
(NT: G+*)
A2 G+2* AR, YG, SS A-[B♭-D]
(NT: G+*)
3RC A2 AR, YG, SS A-[B♭-D]

Figure 6. Pitch cell analysis, dan 2.

Dan 2, 6, and 10: New Intervals

In dan 2, 6, and 10, the most frequently played intervals continue to be m2 (e.g., E♭2-D2,
B♭2-A2) and M3 (e.g., G2-E♭2, D3-B♭2, C3-A♭2), as well as M2 (e.g., G2-A2 in cell 4). In addition, an
occasional octave or falling perfect fifth (P5) is heard, but these occur between sub-phrases,
separated by quick breaths or brief breaks in the sound, as illustrated in Example 11a. The
falling augmented fourth (A2-E♭2) heard in the second dan is treated with a rising pitch bend at
the end of the A, bringing the interval closer to a P5. Example 11b gives the transnotation of
this cell.

,
b œ ^œ œ ^œ œ ^œ œ ^œ œ ^œ œ^œ œ ^œ b œ ^œ œ^œ œ ^œ œ ^œ œ ^œ œ ^œ œ ^œ . œ
& b œ^œœœœœœœœœœœœœ
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

R L R

Example 11a. Example of octave interval in dan 6, transnotation of Aoki score. On his recording, Aoki
separates octave jumps with short breaths.

b œ^œ œ œ^œ œ œ œ ^œ ^œ œ
[ ]

& J
L

Example 11b. Transnotation of cell 4 containing A4 (A-E♭) and M2 (G-A) intervals in dan 2, found in
both Aoki and Kurahashi scores. A rising pitch bend (indicated in square brackets) is added to the end
of the A in performances by Aoki and Yamaguchi.
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 19

However, if performance practice of movable pitch (e.g., bends and slides) is not taken
into account, how can the augmented fourth (A4) be accounted for? Similarly, how can the M2
G-A within a pitch cell be explained in theoretical terms? If the miyakobushi trichord on D (D-
E♭-G) is transposed up a P5 to A (A-B♭-D), the A of cell 4 (E♭-D-E♭-G-A-E♭-D) can be
understood as the lowest tone of the upper of two disjunct m2-M3 trichords: D-E♭-G-A-B♭-D.
The M2 (G-A) is then simply the interval between the upper note of the first trichord and the
lower note of the second trichord, and the A4 (A2-E♭2) results from movement from the
trichord on A back to the trichord on D.

Because cell 4 (E♭-D-E♭-G-A-E♭-D) is contracted in dan 2 to G-A-E♭, the A could also be

treated as an intermediate non-trichord tone, embellishing the G-E♭ M3, an interval soon after
transposed up a P4 to C-A♭ (cell 5) within the same dan (see Figure 9 above). The C-A♭ interval
forms part of the miyakobushi trichord on G (G -A♭-C), the tone to which the G-E♭ M3 is
contracted immediately preceding the C-A♭ cell. C-A♭ is finally reduced to A♭ before the
introduction of cell 6. The trichord on A (A-B♭-D) recurs at the end of dan 2 in cell 6: B♭-A-G+,
a cell containing the second exceptional case, G+. I discuss this tone below.

In dan 6, analyzed in Figure 7, the highest register is exploited in octave transpositions of

the E♭2-D2 (m2) and D2-B♭1 (M3) intervals from the first dan. The dan begins with a relatively
long cell with regard to successive tones (cell 11): (C3)-D3-E♭3-D3-B♭2-D3-(C)-A2-[G+2-A2], which
is gradually reduced to a terminal 3RC on A2. Before this rhythm cell, however, a descending
M3 is emphasized: D3-B♭2. This is an octave transposition of the first half of the D2-B♭1-E♭2-D2
cell (cell 3) from dan 1, but also a reminder of the C-A♭ and G-E♭ descending M3 of dan 2
(played also in dan 4 and 5). The opening pitch cell of dan 6 (cell 11) with added ending (G+2-A2)
fits into two miyakobushi trichord transpositions (D-E♭-G and A-B♭-D), with a couple of non-
trichord tones: C and G+. The first C3 of the cell is a preparatory tone to D3, performed by Aoki
and Yamaguchi as a C-D trill before the D, and the second C3 is a brief passing tone within the
framework of a descending P4 (D3-A2); G+2 is a lower neighbor to A2 (as discussed in the next
section). Within the context of D3-C3-A2, the C in cell 11 could be interpreted instead as the

Dan 6 pitch cells Versions m2-M3 trichord

11 (C3) D3 E♭3 D3 B♭2 D3 (C3) A2 all D-E♭-[G]/
A-B♭-D (NT:C)
(C3) D3 E♭3 D3 B♭2 D3 (C3) A2 G+2* A2 all D-E♭-[G]/
A-B♭-D (NT:C, G+*)
7v D3 B♭2 A2 G+2* A2 AR, YG, SS A-B♭-D (NT:G+*)
3.2 D3 B♭2 all [A]-B♭-D
2RC B♭2/1 all [A]-B♭-[D]
A2 G+2* A2 all A-B♭-[D] (NT:G+*)
A2 G+2* all
3RC A2 all A-[B♭-D]

Figure 7. Pitch cell analysis, dan 6.

20 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

middle tone of a descending min’yō (folk song) trichord (m3+M2 ascending, see Example 6
above). However, since the C is touched on so briefly, a shift of mode is unlikely.

Despite the fact that dan 6 and 10 are notated or recorded in all of the sources I
consulted, all of the principal intervals of the piece (m2, M2, M3, P4), as well as secondary
intervals (A4, heard closer to P5 in practice) are presented in the first two dan. Likewise, by the
end of dan 2, all three trichord transpositions (on D, G, and A) and most pitch and rhythm cells
have been introduced. The tones of some cells can be accounted for by a single trichord (e.g.,
cells 1 [D-E♭-G] and 5 [G -A♭-C]), whereas the tones of other cells come from two
transpositions of the trichord (e.g., cells 3 and 4). Cells 3 and 4 both use trichords on D and A;
stacked disjunctly, they form an octave scale: D-E♭-G-A-B♭-D. In the first two dan, the trichord
on G appears only on its own, within cell 5; however, it directly follows the trichord on D.
These two trichords can be stacked conjunctly: D-E♭-G-A♭-C. Thus, from the original
miyakobushi trichord on D, transpositions up a P4 and P5 result in trichords on G and A, which
when added to the trichord on D create disjunct and conjunct miyakobushi scales on D (see
Example 5b, above). Octave-species scalar passages do not occur in Sokaku Reibo; however,
these scales made up of trichords can account for the pitch content of all cells within the
piece, with the exceptions of non-trichord tones D♭ and G+.

Second Exceptional Tone: G+

A second tone unaccounted for by m2-M3 trichord transpositions is the tone I have
labeled in my analyses G+2 (i.e., it lies between G2 and A♭2); it is notated ichi san no u in the
Aoki score and u dai meri by Kurahashi. According to the Nyokai-an fingering chart, ichi san no
u sounds a G2 on the 1.8-foot shakuhachi,16 whereas according to Gunnar Jinmei Linder (2010,
217) it sounds an A♭2. Tokuyama Takashi’s (n.d., 7) chart includes a fingering for u meri,
presumably u dai meri, sounding G2. This tablature is not included in other fingering charts I
consulted. I have transnotated this tone as G2 (e.g., in Example 12c below), based on the
Nyokai-an and Tokuyama charts, but in parentheses to distinguish it from the basic G2
fingering ( re) and A♭2 ( chi-meri);17 however, in the Aoki and Yamaguchi recordings, ichi
san no u/u dai meri is played closer to A♭2 than G2, frequently between 25 and 50 cents low,
especially in later dan.

In Sokaku Reibo, G+2 first appears in the second dan in cell 6 (B♭-A-G+, or B♭-A-A-G+-G+
including repeated tones) and recurs in later dan, always after A2, and, with only one
exception in dan 12, followed by A2.18 If the tone is treated as a G, then the resulting B♭-A-G

16. A detailed Kinko-ryū fingering chart in English is downloadable at

http://nyokai.com/students/fingerchart.pdf. The Nyokai-an school was founded by Phil Nyokai James as a branch
of Kurahashi Yodo II’s Mujuan school.
17. Tablature symbols and corresponding pronunciation are indicated in this and subsequent sections for clarity.
A full list of tablature used for Sokaku Reibo is found in Figure 1.
18. In dan 12, E♭ substitutes for the A following G+. The A-G+-G+-E♭ cell leads into a repeated rhythm cell on E♭,
which in turn leads to the recurrence of the G-E♭ M3 interval. The substitution of E♭ therefore contributes to
motivic variation.
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 21

(m2-M2) cell will not fit into a single miyakobushi trichord; likewise if G+ is treated as A♭ (B♭-A-
A♭: m2-m2). A M2 (A-G) could be explained here as the interval that connects two disjunct
trichords (D-E♭-G-A-B♭-D), but A-G+ is not a true M2. This G+ (G/A♭) ichi san no u/u dai meri
fingering, frequently performed as A♭2 minus 25 to 50 cents, is sandwiched between two A2 (
chi), thus creating an interval between a M2 and m2. Aoki and Yamaguchi both tend to play
the chi (A) on either side of the ichi san no u about 25 to 35 cents high (especially in the
second half of the piece), or with a rising pitch slide at the end of the first A, resulting in a
melodic interval approaching, but not quite, a M2 (approximately 150 to 185 cents). Since G+ is
not the G of the G-A♭-C trichord, it can thus be considered a lower neighbor to A, the lowest
note of the A-B♭-D trichord.

Dan 2 and 6: Rhythm Cells

The 3RC rhythm introduced in dan 1 is heard throughout dan 2 and the entire piece on
m2, M2 and M3 intervals, as well as on a single tone separated by finger articulation. Examples
12a through 12d show several appearances of the rhythm cell.

[
œ œ
b œ œ œ œ œ œ ^œ ^œ œ
m2 ]
[ m2 ]

& J
^ ^

[ M3 ]
L

Example 12a. 3RC rhythm cell on m2, M3 in dan 2, Kurahashi and Aoki transnotations.

œ b œ^œ œ œ^œ œ œ^œ œ

&
R

Example 12b. Repetition of 3RC rhythm cell on M3 in dan 2, Kurahashi and Aoki transnotations.

œ ( œ ^œ) œ ( œ ^œ) œ ( œ ^ œ) œ
&

Example 12c. Repetition of 3RC rhythm cell in dan 2, Aoki transnotation (interval is approximately
M2).
22 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

U̇
œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœ
^ ru ^ ru ^ ru ^ ru ^ ru
&
L

Example 12d. Repetition of 3RC rhythm cell on G2 in dan 2; Aoki transnotation.

As in dan 1, the three-note rhythm cell has a terminal function throughout the piece. It
appears at the end of dan and long pitch cells, emerging as a contraction of these pitch cells. In
the second dan, it is played repeatedly on G2 ( re), as in Example 12d, then transposed up a
m2 to A♭2 ( chi-meri) following a C-A♭ M3 interval. At the end of dan 2 (but omitted in the
Kurahashi score), the rhythm is transposed up a semitone again, to A2 ( chi), leading into the
third dan, which begins on B♭2 ( san no u). In this case, the A♭ ( chi-meri) could thus be
understood as arising through successive chromatic transposition of the rhythm cell’s pitch
material: G-A♭-A-B♭ from cell 4 through 7. Alternatively, in terms of trichords, these repeated
tones could result from a transposition in dan 2 from D-E♭-G, through G-A♭-C, to A-B♭-D. In
Figure 8, highlighting of individual pitches and of trichords shows both alternatives.

In addition to this 3RC pattern, ends of dan or large segments within dan are signaled by
nayashi, a pitch slide technique used to repeat a sustained tone by beginning it approximately
a semitone below pitch and sliding upwards.19 Since nayashi figures in Sokaku Reibo consist of
(1) a sustained tone, (2) a breath, (3) a nayashi slide to the same tone, and (4) a third iteration of
the tone, sustained, this figure could be understood as an augmentation of quicker 3RC.20 In
addition to marking the end of large segments within dan, nayashi directly precede 3RC cells at
the end of dan 2 and 6, as in Example 13. This terminal rhythmic pattern is repeated in later
dan.

Dan 2 pitch cells (abridged) m2-M3 trichord

4 E♭2 D2 E♭2 G2 A2 Eb2 D2 D-E♭-G/
A-[B♭]-D
3RC G2 [D-E♭]-G
5 C3 A♭2 [G]-A♭-C
3RC A♭2 [G]-A♭-[C]
6 Bb2 A2 G+2* A-B♭-[D]
(NT: G+*)
3RC A2 A-[B♭-D]
Dan 3 pitch cells (beginning only)
7 B♭2 A2 G+2* A2 B♭2 A-B♭-[D]
(NT: G+*)

Figure 8. Pitch cell analysis, dan 2 and 3. Highlighted notes show chromatic progression of rhythm cell
and correspondence to trichord transpositions.

19. Weisgarber (1968, 317) refers to nayashi as cadential.

20. It is treated as such in Appendix B.
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 23

Example 13. 3RC cell preceding and following nayashi slide in dan 2. Nayashi in the second phrase
repeats G2 of the first phrase. Upper staff is Kurahashi score transnotation, lower staff is Aoki score.

,
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
hole 5

,
slide 5j j j j j j j
bœ^ œ^ œ^ œ^ œ^ œ^ œ^
5 5 5 5 5 5

& J J J J J J J œ
j
b œ^ œ œ
j^
œ œ
j^
œ œ
j^
œ œ
j^
œ œ
j^
œ œ
j^
KY
R
J J J J J J J
b œ ^ œ œ ^ œ œ ^ œ œ ^ œ œ ^œ œ ^ œ œ ^œ
L

AR & b œ^ œ œ ^ œ œ ^œ œ^ œ œ ^œ œ ^œ œ ^œ
R
L

Example 14. 2RC rhythm cell in dan 6.

Just as pitch cells are contracted, the three-note rhythm cell œ œ œ (3RC) is frequently
reduced to a two-note cell œ œ (2RC) in Sokaku Reibo. In dan 6, after the D-B♭ M3 is reiterated, B♭
becomes the focal point of the middle of the dan. It is repeated in octaves in a 2RC pattern,
notated or heard in most sources seven times in kan (upper octave), seven times in otsu (lower
octave), then another seven times in kan, as shown in Example 14.21 This cell is reiterated on B♭
in dan 7, 8, and 9. For additional examples of 2RC on a single repeated tone, see Appendix B,
where cells are labeled accordingly.

REMAINING SEVEN DAN: RECURRING PITCH CELLS AND TRICHORDS

As mentioned above, most of the melodic and rhythmic material of Sokaku Reibo has
been presented by the end of the second dan. Intervallic relationships and trichord
transpositions recur throughout the remainder of the piece. Below I discuss some additional
notable cells and non-trichord tones that occur in the remaining optional dan.

The first cell that uses tones from all three transpositions of the miyakobushi trichord is

21. Yamaguchi plays it only six times in kan, and not in otsu.
24 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

œ bœ œru nœ ,
œ œ œ œ.
[ 3RC ]
bœ
& J
^ ^

G --------------------------------- A ------ D ------------------------

Example 15. Cell 8.1, dan 4, transnotation of Aoki score. Letters below staff indicate trichord
transposition.

presented in the fourth dan. Cell 8.1 begins with a descending M3-m2 pattern as C-A♭-G, the
miyakobushi trichord on G, a transposition first hinted at in dan 2. The cell continues with the

Example 15, is cell 8.1: C-A♭-G-A♮-E♭-G, a cell containing tones of all three trichord
recurring G-A-E♭ pattern, combining tones of the trichord on D and A.22 The result, shown in

transpositions, as well as a terminal 3RC.

At the beginning of dan 5, two tones pose questions with regard to trichord analysis: C2
and F2. The C ( ha) of cell 9 is played quickly before the main tone of the cell, D. Because of
the manner in which it is notated and played in the sources I consulted, I consider this tone
preparatory to the D2, rather than a hint at the trichord on G. The C is treated similarly in later
dan. The F2 ( tsu) of the next pitch cell occurs only once in the piece, in cell 10 (F2-G2), and
only in the Aoki score and recording, and the Satō score. Kurahashi instead notates E♭2 (
tsu-meri) and Yamaguchi does not perform dan 5. Notably, Kurahashi notates cells 9 and 10 in
one breath; the resulting (C)-D-E♭-G thus outlines the trichord on D, with a preparatory C. In
contrast, Aoki sustains the F in performance then lowers it approximately a semitone before
sliding back up to F. Satō also notates a lowering then raising of the F before the G. Because of
the lowering of the pitch, it is conceivable that the performer considers this movable tone
(F, tsu) to be in the same pitch area as E♭ ( tsu-meri). According to Gutzwiller (1974, 103),
“moving notes,” as opposed to “main notes,” “serve to introduce the main note of a phrase,” in
this case, the G, and “[do] not have a fixed pitch.” The G in the Aoki recording is
comparatively stable.

A rare minor third interval (A-C, cell 12) appears at the beginning of dan 7. However,
since dan 6 ends on A and the A-C cell is followed by a reiteration of cell 5 (C-A♭), the A-C cell
could be understood as transitional: a brief departure from the A-B♭-D trichord to the G-A♭-C
trichord. This departure is followed by a return to cell 11, the cell introduced at the beginning
of dan 6. The highlighting in Figure 9 shows this interpretation.

Another consideration in analyzing this uncommon m3 interval is performance practice.

Aoki notates and performs a meri-komi type of pitch bend on the A before moving to the C.23
Meri-komi is primarily executed by a change in head position: lowering the head changes the

22. That is, if the A is understood as the lowest note of its trichord, and not as an embellishment of the E♭-G M3.
23. Yamaguchi does not perform dan 7.
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 25

Dan 6 pitch cells Versions m2-M3 trichord

11 (C3) D3 E♭3 D3 B♭2 D3 (C3) A2 all D-E♭-[G]/
A-B♭-D (NT:C)
(C3) D3 E♭3 D3 B♭2 D3 (C3) A2 G+2* A2 all D-E♭-[G]/
A-B♭-D (NT:C,
G+*)
D3 B♭2 A2 G+2* A2 AR, YG, A-B♭-D (NT:G+*)
SS
D3 B♭2 all [A]-B♭-D
B♭2/1 all [A]-B♭-[D]
A2 G+2* A2 all A-B♭-[D] (NT:G+*)
A2 G+2* all
A2 all A-[B♭-D]
Dan 7 pitch cells Versions m2-M3 trichord
12 A2 C3 AR, SS [G-A♭]-C/
A-[B♭-D]
5 C3 A♭2 AR, SS [G]-A♭-C
11v (C3) D3 E♭3 D3 B♭2 D3 (C3) A2 G+2* A2 B♭2 AR, SS D-E♭-[G]/
A-B♭-D (NT:C,
G+*)
B♭2/1 AR, SS [A]-B♭-[D]
(NT:G+)
A2 G+2* A2 AR, SS A-[B♭-D] (NT:G+*)
A2 G+2* AR, SS
A2 AR, SS A-[B♭-D]
3.2 D3 B♭2 AR [A]-B♭-D

Figure 9. Pitch cell analysis, dan 6 and 7. Highlighted notes show trichord transition involving m3.

angle of the airstream against the mouthpiece, resulting in lowered pitch. Thus, the notated A
of the A-C m3 cell is lowered in practice, approaching the A♭ played in the next breath.

Another analysis would be to consider the A2-C3 m3 as part of a min’yō trichord on A (A2-
C3-D3). However, the rarity of the m3 in Sokaku Reibo, the absence of the upper note in this
brief transition, and the optional nature of dan 7 make this theory less probable. Important
motivic elements are repeated and emphasized in Sokaku Reibo. This does not occur with the
m3 interval.

The more common M2 is introduced in a new transposition and pitch cell in dan 9 (13:
C3-C3-B♭2). Example 16 provides transnotation and a transcription of this cell. Unlike in
previous cases (C-D), the C here is not treated as a preparatory tone—it is sustained and
repeated in the Aoki score and recording, and in the Satō score (dan 9 is omitted in other
sources), and in fact, in the Aoki recording, it is preceded by preparatory finger articulation on
D3 (see Example 16b). The descending M2 C3-B♭2 cell is followed by an ascending M2 (C3)-D3,
where the C is preparatory, and then by a M3 (B♭)-C-A♭ (Example 16a). If these cells are
combined to create a conglomerate cell, C-B♭-(C)-D-(B♭)-C-A♭, the initial C could be heard as
belonging to the trichord on G, along with the end of the expanded cell; the B♭-(C)-D, with the
26 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

,
œ ^œ b œ . œ ^œ ˙ , œj ˙5 ((tr.) bœ
j œ bU˙
&J J
L R R

Example 16a. Beginning of dan 9, transnotation of Aoki score.

˙
j
wm w m
b+39 œ ˙
j simile
b˙ m
j
œ w m bw m
+21-33
œ +21 ^ œ ^ œ ^

&

Example 16b. First cell of dan 9, played three times, transcription of Aoki recording.

C disregarded, would form part of the trichord on A. However, since these two trichords
cannot be combined to create a rational scale (as either of them could in concert with the
trichord on D), and breaths interrupt this conglomerate cell, a simpler approach is to consider
the initial repeated C to be a foreshadowing of the C-A♭ M3, or simply an oddity with regard
to miyakobushi trichords (the C is likewise not related to the end of the preceding dan 8).
Analysis based on an alternative trichord—min’yō (m3+M2: G-B♭-C)—is not useful since there
is no G present in the entire dan to anchor a shift of modality.

The analysis in Figure 10 indicates that two new cells are presented in dan 11, but they
are composites of earlier cells. Cell 14 (notated only in Satō and not performed on either
recording) begins with the C-A♭ M3 of cell 5 (dan 2) added to (C)-D-E♭, the first cell of dan 8, to
produce C-A♭-C-D-E♭, together making use of all but the middle tone of the conjunct

Dan 11 pitch cells Versions m2-M3 trichord

E♭3 SS [D]-E♭-[G]
D3 SS D-[E♭-G]
14 C3 A♭2 C3 D3 E♭3 SS [G]-A♭-C/
D-E♭-[G]
15 C2 D3 B♭2 A2 G+2* A2 B♭2 A2 YG, SS A-B♭-D (NT:C,
G+*)
B♭2 A2 G+2* A2 B♭2 A2 YG, SS A-B♭-[D]
(NT:G+*)
D3 A2 G+2* A2 B♭2 A2 YG, SS A-B♭-D (NT:G+*)
B♭2 A2 G+2* A2 B♭2 YG, SS A-B♭-[D]
7.1.1 B♭2 A2 G+2* A2 YG, SS (NT:G+*)
3.2 D3 B♭2 SS [A]-B♭-D
C3 SS [G-A♭]-C

Figure 10. Pitch cell analysis, dan 11.

 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 27

miyakobushi scale (D-E♭-G-A♭-C). This cell does not recur. Cell 15 is a composite of (C)-D (cell
9), added to the beginning of recurring cell variant 7.1.1 (B♭-A-G+-G+-A). With an added
ending as well, together they form the cell (C)-D-B♭-A-G+-G+-A-B♭-A. Yamaguchi performs
the initial C as a trill to D, as in cell 11, dan 6, so if the C is labeled as preparatory and the G+ as
a lower neighbor to A, the remaining notes all fit into the trichord on A. Analysis of these two
cells (14 and 15) shows that the introduction of new melodic material this late in the piece can
in fact be traced to earlier dan.

Remaining Dan: Terminal Three-Note Rhythm Cell

Dan 3 through 7 conclude with the three-note rhythm cell (3RC) on a single tone, as did
dan 2. At the end of the second, third, sixth and seventh dan (as well as dan 8, 9 and 10 in the
Satō score only), the cell is repeated on A2 ( chi), whereas in the fourth and fifth it is
repeated on G2 ( re or D3 [ a] in the Kurahashi score, dan 5 only), tones that correspond to
the lowest note of the trichord transpositions.

Nayashi augmentations of 3RC directly precede 3RC cells at the end of dan 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
and 7 (and 8, 9 and 10 in Satō). A nayashi also precedes the final breath of the piece in the
Kurahashi score.

CONCLUSION

I have identified 15 main pitch cells in Sokaku Reibo (see Figure 3 and Appendix B). The
melodic content of these pitch cells can be understood in terms of frequently occurring
intervals (m2, M3, P4) and their transpositions up a P4 and P5, as well as miyakobushi trichords
(m2+M3=P4) on D, G, and A, with some exceptions, such as M2 and A4 intervals and the
exceptional tones G+ and D♭. Some pitch cells bear close resemblance to one other; for
example, the pitch content of cell 6 (B♭-A-G+-) recurs in cells 7, 8, and 15. Some pitch cells
occur only once, or rarely, whereas others occur frequently in their original or variant
(contracted or expanded) forms.

Some variants occur more frequently than the main pitch cells from which they are
contracted or expanded. For example, cell 4.2 (G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭), a contraction of cell 4, is found
in dan 2, 4, 5, 10 and 12, whereas the original cell is heard only in dan 2. Contractions that
correspond to the prominent M3 and m2 intervals of the piece also occur frequently. For
example, cell 3.2 (D-B♭), a descending M3 and part of the trichord transposition on A,
comprises the first two tones of cell 3 (D-B♭-E♭-E♭-D). This D-B♭ contraction is heard in dan 6
through 11. Additional examples of recurring contracted cell variants appear in Appendix B.
These examples include single-note rhythm cells (2RC, 3RC), patterns which also emerge as
contractions of pitch cells.

The five dan common to all of the notated and recorded sources I consulted are 1, 2, 6,
10, and 12. With respect to miyakobushi trichords and frequently occurring intervals,
28 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

transpositions on D, G, and A heard throughout the piece have been introduced by the end of
the second dan, as have M2 and A4 intervals and G+ and D♭ exceptional tones. These two
tones, though exceptional with respect to miyakobushi trichord transpositions, can be said to
function within the frameworks of frequently occurring intervals and pitch cell patterns.
Regarding the D♭, the resulting programmatic effect of the multiphonic tremolo can be
assumed to take priority over modal considerations. However, the fundamental does form a
M2 with the adjacent E♭ (cell 2am) as well as an augmented prime relationship heard as a m2
with D (cell 2). The G+, chosen perhaps for its timbral characteristics or for fingering
considerations, is performed exclusively within a 3RC pattern with A, forming an interval that
approximates a M2 (cells 6-8, 12), thereby repeating established intervallic and rhythmic
patterns.

In addition to trichords and intervals, the first two dan also present the first six of the 15
main pitch cells, as well as the 3RC rhythm cell. The main pitch cells or their variants found in
the five dan common to all sources are 1 through 9, 11, and 15, as summarized in Figure 11.

Missing from this group are cells 10 and 12 to 14. However, these four cells do not recur in
the piece. Cell 10 (F-G) appears only at the beginning of dan 5 and is notated instead as E♭-G in
the Kurahashi score. Cell 12 (A-C) is only heard at the beginning of dan 7, and cell 13 (C-C-B♭)
at the beginning of dan 9. Cell 14 (C-A♭-C-D-E♭), an extension of cell 5, occurs only in the Satō
score in dan 11. In contrast, cells 1 to 9 and 11 are heard frequently in their original and variant
forms throughout the piece, as well as in dan 1, 2, 6, and 10 (Cell 15, found only in dan 11 and 12,
is a combination of cells 9 and 7). In dan 12, cells from dan 1 recur in a sort of recapitulation of
the opening of the piece, after the recurrence of a few other prominent cell variants (4.2, 9ae
and 11.1).

Pitch
Rhythm Excep.
Dan Miyakobushi trichords or scales Intervals cells or
cells tones
variants
D E♭ G m2/A1, M2,
1 M3, P4 1–3 3RC D♭
D E♭ G [A] B♭ D
D E♭ G A B♭ D m2/A1, M2, D♭
2 M3, A4 4–6 3RC
D E♭ G A♭ C G+
D E♭ [G] A B♭ D m2, M2, M3,
6 3, 7, 11 2RC, 3RC G+
P8
A B♭ D m2, M2, M3,
D E♭ G A B♭ D P4
10 (KY only: 3, 4, 7–8 3RC, 4RC G+
[D] E♭ G A♭ C
[D] G A4, P5)
E♭
D E♭ G A B♭ D m2/A1, M2, 1–4, 9, 11, G+
12 M3, P4 2RC, 3RC
D E♭ G 15 D♭

Figure 11. Musical material found in each of the five dan common to all consulted sources.
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 29

In summary, the five dan heard in all of the sources I consulted could be understood as
containing the main musical material of the piece—that is, pitch cells (1–9, 11), rhythm cells
(2RC, 3RC), frequently occurring intervals (m2, M2, M3, P4, A4), exceptional tones (G+, D♭)
and m2-M3 trichord transpositions (on D, G, and A)—with most of this material being
introduced by the end of the second dan. Applying the framework of an octave-species
miyakobushi scale to the melodic content of the piece was not necessary to this study. Nor was
the trichord sufficient as an investigative tool. Rather, an analysis of smaller elements, notably
melodic and rhythmic motives, exposed the greater structure of the piece.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study is based on research undertaken for my Ph.D. dissertation at York University
in Toronto, Canada.24 I would like to express my gratitude to Jay Rahn, for his guidance
throughout this project, and to Gerard Yun, for sharing his knowledge of and enthusiasm for
Japanese music and all things shakuhachi. I would also like to thank AAWM’s editors and
anonymous reviewers for their valuable feedback. Any flaws in the article are my own.

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Shamisen Music: The Case of Kiyomoto Narrative.” Ethnomusicology 40(1): 1–33.

Tokuyama, Takashi. n.d. A Guide to Playing Classical Shakuhachi Honkyoku.

Tsukitani Tsuneko. 2006. “Sakai Syōdō and ‘Turu no sugomori’ (Nesting of Cranes).” Liner
notes for Five Metamorphoses of “Nesting of Cranes” by Sakai Syōdō. Translated by
Yamaguchi Osamu. Ebisu-12, compact disc.

———. 2008. “The Shakuhachi and its Music.” In The Ashgate Research Companion to Japanese
Music, edited by Alison McQueen Tokita and David W. Hughes, 145–68. Aldershot, UK:
Ashgate.

Uehara, Rokushirō. 1895. Zokugaku senritsu kō [The Melodies of Popular Music]. Tokyo:
Kinkōdō Shoseki.

Weisgarber, Eliott. 1968. “The Honkyoku of the Kinko-Ryū: Some Principles of Its
Organization.” Ethnomusicology 12(3): 313–44.

Yokoyama, Katsuya. 2003. Shakuhachi Koten Honkyoku: Practice, Techniques & Notation.
Translated by Zachary Braverman and Marco Lienhard. Willits, California: Tai Hei
Shakuhachi.
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 31

SOUND RECORDINGS

Sokaku Reibo:

Aoki, Reibo. 2006. Living National Treasures Series Vol. 6: Shakuhachi (Kinko Ryu). Columbia
COCJ-33975, compact disc.

Japan: Music of the Shakuhachi. 1991. Victor VICG 5357, compact disc.

Teruhisa, Fukuda. 2003. Shakuhachi—Kinko School. Ocora Radio France, compact disc.

Yamaguchi, Gorō. (1969) 2007. A Bell Ringing in the Empty Sky. Nonesuch H-720025, compact
disc.

———. 1988. Great Masters of the Shakuhachi Flute. Auvidis A-6139, compact disc.

Tsuru no Sugomori and other variants:

Sakai, Syōdō. 2006. Five Metamorphoses of “Nesting of Cranes.” Ebisu-12, compact disc.

Watazumi, Fumon. (1973–74) 2009. Watazumido-so: His Practical Philosophy. Columbia Music
Entertainment COCJ-35936, compact disc.

Yokoyama, Katsuya. (1976) 1988. Zen: Katsuya Yokoyama Plays Classical Shakuhachi Masterworks.
SM 1033/34, compact disc.
32 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

APPENDIX A: SYMBOLS USED IN TRANSNOTATION AND TRANSCRIPTION OF SOKAKU REIBO

Note values are approximate and loosely relative. Rhythmic groupings show
♫/♩ emphasis (e.g., a dynamic or agogic accent on the first of three beamed eighth
notes).

Ura-ma/omote-ma metric dots; given only for first note of breath phrase. Beaming
L/R of eighth notes in transnotation corresponds to R-L relationship:
♫ = R-L ♪♪ = L-R ♪♫ = L-R-L

♯/♭ Accidentals are effective until the end of a breath phrase.

, End of breath phrase in transnotation. (Barlines used instead in transcription.)

Given above the note for tones with more than one fingering (e.g., a for D2). If
tablature symbols not indicated, the basic fingering is assumed (e.g., ro for D2). Simile refers to
tablature.

^ Atari (finger articulation), using standard fingering.

Atari (hit/push) indicated hole (hole 1 is at the lower end, hole 5 is on the back); ru
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
is a special articulation fingering.

˙ œ
œ
Pitch bends and slides are shown graphically. Nayashi and hiku types are
j specifically indicated above the note. (All D3 a fingerings in the Kurahashi
bœ score are accompanied by a hiku symbol; these cases are not indicated in the
transnotation.)

Koro-koro multiphonic tremolo effect. D♭2 represents the approximate average

pitch of the tremolo. D♭ is notated rather than C♯ because the “ro” of koro-koro
refers to D.

b˙
tamane

@ Flutter tonguing; notated as tamane or tam., depending on space.

fukikomi “Strong breath,” i.e., no diminuendo.

m Yuri (vibrato); type, depth, etc. not shown.

Microtonal inflections are indicated numerically (in cents) above notes (e.g. +25).
+/- Values smaller than 10 cents (+/-) are not indicated.
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 33

APPENDIX B: SOKAKU REIBO: IDENTIFICATION OF CELLS AND THEIR VARIANTS

Versions:
KY = score by Kurahashi Yodo I (Jin Nyodō Honkyoku)
AR = score by Aoki Reibo II (variations in AR recording indicated in parentheses)
YG = recording by Yamaguchi Gorō
SS = score by Satō Seibi

Variations: Repetitions (across all 12 dan):

db = deleted beginning
dm = deleted middle immediate/iterative
de = deleted end non-immediate/recursive
ab = added beginning
am = added middle
ae = added end Notes:
sb = substituted beginning Not distinguishing between different fingerings for same tone
se = substituted end D♭* = koro-koro multiphonic tremolo effect
’ = varied a second time in this way G+* = tone between G and A♭ (occurs only after A; followed by
’’ = varied a third time in this way A with one exception in dan 12, where it is followed by E♭)
2RC = two-note rhythm cell on given note: kan = upper octave (dan 6–8)
otsu = lower octave (dan 6–8)
3RC = three-note rhythm cell on given note: or [ ] = preparatory or passing tone
(koro) = trill using koro-koro fingering in lower hand (distinct
4RC = four-note rhythm cell on given note:
from koro-koro technique)
(Only single-note rhythm cells are indicated)
34 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

Dan 1

Pitch cells
1: E♭-G-D
1.1: E♭-D
2: D♭*-D
3: D-B♭-E♭-E♭-D

1 1dm = 1.1 1 1db

KY E♭-G-D x9 E♭-D x3 E♭-G-D D
1
AR E♭-G-D x12 (13)
1
YG E♭-G-D x10
1
SS E♭-G-D x19

2 2db
KY D♭*-D x9 D
2am 2 2db 2 2db
AR D♭*-E♭-D D♭*-D x5 D D♭*-D x3 D
2am 2 2db
YG D♭*-E♭-D D♭*-D x3 D
2am 2 2db 2 2db 2 2db
SS D♭*-E♭-D x9 D♭*-D x12 D D♭*-D x3 D D♭*-D x3 D

2 2am’ 2am’’ 2am’ 2am’’

KY D♭*-D x3 D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D D♭*-E♭-G-D D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D D♭*-E♭-G-D
2 2am’ 2am’’ 2am’ (2am’’) (2am’)
AR D♭*-D x3 D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D D♭*-E♭-G-D D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D (D♭*-E♭-G-D) (D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D)
2am’’ 2am’
YG D♭*-E♭-G-D D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D
2 2am’ 2am’’ 2am’
SS D♭*-D x3 D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D x3 D♭*-E♭-G-D D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D x3
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 35

3 3db
KY D-B♭-E♭-E♭-D x2 E♭-E♭-D x5
3 3db
AR D-B♭-E♭-E♭-D x2 E♭-E♭-D x7
(3)
3
YG D-B♭-E♭-E♭-D
3 3db
SS D-B♭-E♭-E♭-D x3 E♭-E♭-D x7

Dan 2

Pitch and rhythm cells

4: E♭-E♭-D-E♭-E♭-G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭-D
4.2: G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭
5: C-A♭-A♭-A♭
6: B♭-A-A-G+*-G+*
3RC

4 4sb 4 4sb/de 4db/de = 4.2 4.2dm/de 4.2de & 3RC

KY E♭-E♭-D-E♭- D♭*-D-E♭-E♭- E♭-E♭-D-E♭- D♭*-D-E♭-E♭- G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭ G-E♭-E♭ x3 G-G-G x6
E♭-G-A-E♭-E♭- G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭- E♭-G-A-E♭-E♭- G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭
E♭-D D E♭-D
4 4sb 4de 4db/de = 4.2 4.2dm/de 4.2de & 3RC
AR E♭-E♭-D-E♭-E♭- D♭*-D-E♭-E♭- E♭-E♭-D-E♭- G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭ G-E♭-E♭ x3 G-G-G x6
G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭- G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭- E♭-G-A-E♭-E♭- x2 (1)
D x2 (1) D E♭
4 4de 4db/de = 4.2 4.2dm/de 4.2de & 3RC
YG E♭-E♭-D-E♭- E♭-E♭-D-E♭- G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭ G-E♭-E♭ x3 G-G-G x6
E♭-G-A-E♭-E♭- E♭-G-A-E♭-E♭- x2
E♭-D E♭
4 4sb 4 4de 4db/de = 4.2 4.2dm/de 4.2de & 3RC
SS E♭-E♭-D-E♭-E♭- D♭*-D-E♭-E♭- E♭-E♭-D-E♭- E♭-E♭-D-E♭- G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭ G-E♭-E♭ x3 G-G-G x6
G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭- G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭- E♭-G-A-E♭-E♭- E♭-G-A-E♭-E♭- x3
D x3 D x3 E♭-D x2 E♭
36 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

5 5db & 3RC

KY C-A♭-A♭-A♭ A♭-A♭-A♭ x3 G+*
5 5db & 3RC
AR [B♭]-C-A♭-A♭-A♭ A♭-A♭-A♭ x9
5 5db & 3RC
YG [B♭]-C-A♭-A♭-A♭ A♭-A♭-A♭ x7
5 5db & 3RC
SS C-A♭-A♭-A♭ A♭-A♭-A♭ x9

KY
6 6db 6db’ 3RC
AR B♭-A-A-G+*-G+* A-A-G+*-G+* x3 A-G+*-G+* x3 A-A-A x8
6 6db 6db’ 3RC
YG B♭-A-A-G+*-G+* A-A-G+*-G+* x2 A-G+*-G+* x3 A-A-A x8
6 6db 6db’ 3RC
SS B♭-A-A-G+*-G+* A-A-G+*-G+* x3 A-G+*-G+* x3 A-A-A x8

Dan 3

Pitch and rhythm cells

7: B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A-B♭ (similar to 6)
7.1: B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A
7.1.1: B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A
3RC

7 7de = 7.1 7db/de = 7.1.1 7db/de’ 7db’/de’ 3RC

AR B♭-B♭-A-G+*- B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A B♭-A-G+*-G+* A-G+*-G+* x4 A-A-A x8
G+*-A-B♭ x2
7 7de = 7.1 7db/de = 7.1.1 7db/de’ 7db’/de’ 3RC
YG B♭-B♭-A-G+*- B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A B♭-A-G+*-G+* A-G+*-G+* x4 A-A-A x8
G+*-A-B♭ x2
7 7de = 7.1 7db/de = 7.1.1 7db/de’ 7db’/de’ 3RC
SS B♭-B♭-A-G+*- B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A x2 B♭-A-G+*-G+* A-G+*-G+* x4 A-A-A x8
G+*-A-B♭ x3
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 37

Dan 4

Pitch and rhythm cells

4.2: G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭
8: B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A-D-G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭-G (= 7.1ae + 4.2ae)
8.1: C-A♭-A♭-G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭-G
3RC

8 8sb (or 5de + 4.2ae) = 8.1 8sb/de 8db/de or 4.2 4.2dm/de 3RC
AR B♭-B♭-A-G+*- C-A♭-A♭-G-A-E♭-E♭- C-A♭-A♭-G-A- G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭ G-E♭-E♭ x3 G-G-G x8
G+*-A-D-G-A- E♭-G E♭-E♭-E♭
E♭-E♭-E♭-G
8 8sb/de 8db/de or 4.2 4.2dm/de 3RC
YG B♭-B♭-A-G+*- C-A♭-A♭-A♭-G- G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭ x2 G-E♭-E♭ x3 G-G-G x7
G+*-A-D-G-A- A-E♭-E♭-E♭
E♭-E♭-E♭-G
8 8sb (or 5de + 4.2ae) = 8.1 8sb/de 8db/de or 4.2 4.2dm/de 3RC
SS B♭-B♭-A-G+*- C-A♭-A♭-G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭- C-A♭-A♭-G-A- G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭ x3 G-E♭-E♭ x3 G-G-G x8
G+*-A-[C]-D-G- G x2 E♭-E♭-E♭
A-E♭-E♭-E♭-G
38 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

Dan 5

Pitch and rhythm cells

1.1: E♭-D
4.2: G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭
5: C-A♭-A♭-A♭
8.1: C-A♭-A♭-G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭-G
9: [C]-D
10: F-G
2RC, 3RC

9 1de 8sb/de = 8.1 8.1de or

5de
KY [C]-D E♭-G C-A♭-A♭-G-A-E♭- C-A♭
E♭-E♭-G x2
9 10 8sb/de = 8.1 8sb/de 8db/de or 4.2 4.2de 4.2de’ 4.2dm/de 3RC
AR [C]-D F-G C-A♭-A♭ (-A♭)-G- C-A♭-A♭-G- G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭ (G-A) (G-A-E♭-E♭ x2) G-E♭-E♭ x3 G-G-G x8
(F-F-G) A-E♭-E♭-E♭-G A-E♭-E♭-E♭ x2 (1) (absent)
9 10 8sb/de = 8.1 8sb/de 8db/de or 4.2 4.2dm/de 3RC
SS [C]-D F-G C-A♭-A♭-G-A-E♭- C-A♭-A♭-G- G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭ G-E♭-E♭ x3 G-G-G x8
E♭-E♭-G x2 A-E♭-E♭-E♭ x3

9ae 2RC 9db 2RC 1.1 3RC 1.1 2RC 9db 2RC 9db
KY [C]-D-E♭ E♭-E♭ x6 D E♭-E♭ x7 E♭-E♭-E♭-D- E♭-E♭-D-D x3 D D-D x6 D
D-D x2
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 39

Dan 6

Pitch and rhythm cells

3.2: D-B♭
7: B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A-B♭
7.1: B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A
11: [C]-D-E♭-D-B♭-D-[C]-A
2RC, 3RC

11 11ae 3.2db 2RC 3.2ae 3db = 3.2 3.2ae 2RC

KY [C]-D-E♭-D- [C]-D-E♭-D- B♭ B♭-B♭ x7 [B♭-]D-B♭-[B♭-]B♭ x2 [B♭-]D-B♭ [B♭-]D-B♭- B♭-B♭ x7 kan, x7
B♭-D-[C]-A B♭-D-[C]-A- x2 [B♭-]B♭ otsu, x7 kan
G+*-G+*-A
11 11ae 7.1ab 3db = 3.2 2RC
AR [C]-D-E♭-D- [C]-D-E♭-D- D-B♭-B♭-A- D-B♭ B♭-B♭ x7 kan, x7
B♭-D-[C]-A B♭-D-[C]-A- G+*-G+*-A x3 otsu, x7 kan
G+*-G+*-A (B-B♭)
11 11ae 7.1ab 3db = 3.2 3.2db
YG [C]-D-E♭-D- [C]-D-E♭-D- D-B♭-B♭-A- D-B♭ B♭ x6
B♭-D-[C]-A B♭-D-[C]-A- G+*-G+*-A
G+*-G+*-A
11 11ae 7.1ab 3db = 3.2 2RC
SS [C]-D-E♭-D- [C]-D-E♭-D- D-B♭-B♭-A- D-B♭ x3 B♭-B♭ x7 kan, x7
B♭-D-[C]-A x2 B♭-D-[C]-A- G+*-G+*-A x3 otsu, x7 kan
G+*-G+*-A

7.1db 7db’/de’ 3RC

KY A-G+*-G+*-A x2 A-G+*-G+* x3 A-A-A x6
7.1db 7db’/de’ 3RC
AR A-G+*-G+*-A x2 A-G+*-G+* x6 A-A-A x8
7.1db 7db’/de’ 3RC
YG A-G+*-G+*-A x2 A-G+*-G+* x3 A-A-A
7.1db 7db’/de’ 3RC
SS A-G+*-G+*-A x2 A-G+*-G+* x6 A-A-A x8
40 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

Dan 7

Pitch and rhythm cells

3.2: D-B♭
5: C-A♭-A♭-A♭
7: B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A-B♭
7.1: B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A
11: [C]-D-E♭-D-B♭-D-[C]-A
12: A-C
2RC, 3RC

12 5de 11ae’ 2RC

AR A-C C-A♭ x2 [C]-D-E♭-D-B♭-D- B♭-B♭ x7 kan, x7 otsu, x7
[C]-A-G+*-G+*-A-B♭ kan

12 5de 11ae’ 2RC

SS A-C C-A♭ x2 [C]-D-E♭-D-B♭-D- B♭-B♭ x7 kan, x7 otsu, x7
[C]-A-G+*-G+*-A-B♭ kan, x7 otsu, x7 kan

7.1db 7db’/de’ 3RC 3.2 3RC

AR A-G+*-G+*-A x2 A-G+*-G+* x6 A-A-A D-B♭ x8 A-A-A x7 (8x
interrupted by D-B♭)
7.1db 7db’/de’ 3RC
SS A-G+*-G+*-A x2 A-G+*-G+* x6 A-A-A x8
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 41

Dan 8

Pitch and rhythm cells

1.1: E♭-D
3.2: D-B♭
5: C-A♭-A♭-A♭
7: B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A-B♭
7.1: B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A
9: [C]-D
11: [C]-D-E♭-D-B♭-D-[C]-A
2RC, 3RC

9ae 2RC 9db 2RC 9db 1.1 3RC 1.1 2RC 2RC 9db
SS C-D-E♭ E♭-E♭ x7 D D-D x7 D E♭-E♭-E♭-D- E♭-E♭-D-D D-D x7 D
D-D x3 x3
9ae 2RC 9db 9db 1.1 2RC 1.1 9db
YG [C]-D-E♭ E♭-E♭ x6 D D x7 E♭-E♭-D-D E♭-D x2 D x7

11ae’
SS [C]-D-E♭-D-B♭-D-
[C]-A-G+*-G+*-A-
B♭
11ae’ 9 5de [2RC including finger
articulation]
YG [C]-D-E♭-D-B♭-D- [C]-D [B♭-]C-A♭ A♭ x7
[C]-A-G+*-G+*-A-B♭

2RC 3RC 2RC 3.2ab/ae’ 2RC 3.2 2RC

SS B♭-B♭ x7 D-D-D B♭-B♭ x7 B♭-D-B♭- B♭-B♭ x7 D-B♭ x8 B♭-B♭ x7
kan, x7 otsu, B♭-B♭ kan, x7 otsu,
x7 kan x7 kan

7.1db 7db’/de’ 3RC

SS A-G+*-G+*-A A-G+*-G+* x6 A-A-A x8
x2
42 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

Dan 9

Pitch and rhythm cells

3.2: D-B♭
5: C-A♭-A♭-A♭
7: B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A-B♭
7.1: B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A
9: [C]-D
11: [C]-D-E♭-D-B♭-D-[C]-A
13: C-C-B♭
2RC, 3RC

13 9 5de 5db’ & 2RC

AR C-C-B♭ x2 (3) [C]-D C-A♭ A♭-A♭ x7
13 2RC 9 5de 5db’ & 2RC
SS C-C-B♭ x3 B♭-B♭ x21 [C]-D [B♭-]C-A♭ A♭-A♭ x7

11ae’
AR [C]-D-E♭-D-B♭-
D-[C]-A-G+*-
G+*-A-B♭
13 2RC 11ae’ 2RC 3.2ab/ae’ 2RC
SS C-C-B♭ x3 B♭-B♭ x7 [C]-D-E♭-D-B♭- B♭-B♭ x7 B♭-D-B♭-B♭-B♭ B♭-B♭ x7
D-[C]-A-G+*- x3
G+*-A-B♭

AR
7de = 7.1 7de’ & 2RC 3.2 7.1db 7db’/de’ 3RC
SS B♭-B♭-A-G+*- B♭-B♭ x7 D-B♭ x8 A-G+*-G+*-A x2 A-G+*-G+* x6 A-A-A x8
G+*-A x3
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 43

Dan 10

Pitch and rhythm cells

3.2: D-B♭
4.2: G-A- E♭-E♭-E♭
7: B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A-B♭
7.1: B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A
7.1.1: B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A
8: B♭-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A-D-G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭-G
8.1: C-A♭-A♭-G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭-G
3RC, 4RC

KY
RC 3.2de
AR C x10 (8) D (koro)
7.1.1 7.1.1 3.2 retrograde RC 3.2de
YG B♭ (koro)-A-G+*- B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A B♭-D C x8 D (koro)
G+*-A
7.1.1 7db 3de = 3.2 RC 3.2de
SS B♭ (koro)-A-G+*- B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A- D-B♭ x3 C x8 D x8
G+*-A B♭

3.2
KY D-B♭ x3
3.2 & 4RC
AR D-D-D-D-B♭-B♭-
B♭-B♭ x3
3.2 & 4RC 3.2 3.2 3db’
YG D-D-D-D-C-C-C- D (koro)-B♭ D-B♭ x3 D
C x2 [C=B♭?] (koro) x2
3.2 & 4RC 3.2 3.2 3db’
SS D-D-D-D-B♭-B♭- D (koro)-Bb (koro) D-B♭ x3 D
B♭-B♭ x3 x3
44 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

7.1.1 7.1.1 7.1.1sb 7.1.1

KY B♭ (koro)-A-G+*- B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A D (koro)-A-G+*- B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A
G+*-A G+*-A

AR
7.1.1
YG B♭ (koro)-A-G+*-
G+*-A
7.1.1 7.1.1 7.1.1ae 7db’/de’ 3RC
SS B♭ (koro)-A-G+*- B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A B♭ (koro)-A-G+*- A-G+*-G+* x3 A-A-A x7
G+*-A x5 G+*-A-G+*-G+*

7de’’ 7.1 7.1.1 7de’’ 7.1ae 8db 7.1ae 8db

KY B♭ B♭-B♭-A-G+*- B♭-A-G+*-G+*- B♭ B♭-B♭-A-G+*- E♭-E♭-E♭-G B♭-B♭-A-G+*- Eb-Eb-Eb-G
G+*-A A G+*-A-D-G-A G+*-A-D-G-A

8.1 8.1de 8db/de or 4.2 4.2dm/de 3RC

KY C-A♭-A♭-G-A- C-A♭-A♭-G-A- G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭ G-E♭-E♭ x2 G-G-G x2
E♭-E♭-E♭-G E♭-E♭-E♭ x2
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 45

Dan 11

Pitch and rhythm cells

1.1: E♭-D
3.2: D-B♭
7.1.1: B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A
14: C-A♭-C-D-E♭
15: [C]-D-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A-B♭-A
2RC

YG
2RC 1.1db 14 2RC 1.1db 2RC 1.1db
SS E♭-E♭ x7 D C-A♭-C-D-E♭ E♭-E♭ x7 D E♭-E♭ x7 D

15 15sb or 7.1.1ae’ 15sb’ 7.1.1 7db or 15db/de

YG [C]-D-B♭-A-G+*- B♭ (koro)-A-G+*- D (koro)-A-G+*- B♭ (koro)-A-G+*- B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A-
G+*-A-B♭-A G+*-A-B♭-A G+*-A-B♭-A x3 G+*-A B♭
15 15sb or 7.1.1ae’ 15sb’ 7.1.1 7db or 15db/de
SS [C]-D-B♭-A-G+*- B♭ (koro)-A-G+*- D (koro)-A-G+*- B♭ (koro)-A-G+*- B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A-
G+*-A-B♭-A G+*-A-Bb-A G+*-A-B♭-A x3 G+*-A B♭

YG
3.2 RC
SS D-B♭ x3 C x8
46 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

Dan 12

Pitch and rhythm cells

1: E♭-G-D
2: D♭*-D
3: D-B♭-E♭-E♭-D
4.2: G-A-E♭-E♭-E♭
9: [C]-D
11: [C]-D-E♭-D-B♭-D-[C]-A
11.1: [C]-D-E♭-D-B♭-D-[C]-A-G+*-G+*-A
15: [C]-D-B♭-A-G+*-G+*-A-B♭-A
2RC

KY
9ae 2RC 9db
AR [C]-D-E♭ E♭-E♭ x7 D
9ae 2RC 9db
YG [C]-D-E♭ E♭-E♭ x6 D
9ae 2RC 9db
SS [C]-D-E♭ E♭-E♭ x7 D

KY
15de 11.1db 11.1db/se 11.1db’/se 2RC 9db
or 7.1db/se
AR [C]-D-B♭-A- D-B♭-D-[C]-A- D-B♭-D-[C]- A-G+*-G+*- E♭-E♭ x7 D
G+*-G+*-A G+*-G+*-A A-G+*-G+*-E♭ E♭ x3
15de 11.1db 11.1db/se 11.1db’/se 2RC 4.2dm/de 2RC 2RC 9db
or 7.1db/se
YG [C]-D-B♭-A- D-B♭-D-[C]-A- D-B♭-D-[C]- A-G+*-G+*- E♭-E♭ x7 G-E♭-E♭ x3 G-G E♭-E♭ x7 D
G+*-G+*-A G+*-G+*-A A-G+*-G+*-E♭ E♭ x2
15de 11.1db 11.1db/se 11.1db’/se 2RC 4.2dm/de 2RC 2RC 9db
or 7.1db/se
SS [C]-D-B♭-A- D-B♭-D-[C]-A- D-B♭-D-[C]- A-G+*-G+*- E♭-E♭ x7 G-E♭-E♭ x3 G-G E♭-E♭ x7 D
G+*-G+*-A G+*-G+*-A x2 A-G+*-G+*-E♭ E♭ x3
 Simon: Shakuhachi Honkyoku 47

9ae’’ 9ae’’’
KY [C]-D-D-E♭-E♭-D [C]-D-D-E♭-G-E♭-E♭-D
9ae’’’
AR [C]-D-D-E♭-G-E♭-E♭-D
9ae’’ 9ae’’’
YG [C]-D-D-E♭-E♭-D [C]-D-D-E♭-G-E♭-E♭-D
9ae’’ 9ae’’’
SS [C]-D-D-E♭-E♭-D [C]-D-D-E♭-G-E♭-E♭-D x3

2 2db 2 2db
KY D♭*-D x3 D D♭*-D x3 D
2 2db 2
AR D♭*-D x3 D D♭*-D x3
2 2db
YG D♭*-D x3 D
2 2db 2 2db 2 2db 2
SS D♭*-D x3 D D♭*-D x3 D D♭*-D x3 D D♭*-D x3

2am’ 2am’’ 2am’ 2am’’

KY D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D D♭*-E♭-G-D D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D D♭*-E♭-G-D
2am’ 2am’’ 2am’ 2am’’
AR D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D D♭*-E♭-G-D D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D D♭*-E♭-G-D
(omitted)
2am’ 2am’’ 2am’
YG D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D D♭*-E♭-G-D D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D
2am’ 2am’’ 2am’ 2am’’ 2am’ 2am’’ 2am’
SS D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D D♭*-E♭-G-D D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D D♭*-E♭-G-D D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D D♭*-E♭-G-D D♭*-E♭-E♭-E♭-D

3 3db 3.2 2am 2db 1db’

KY D-B♭-E♭-E♭-D x2 E♭-E♭-D x3 D-B♭ D♭*-E♭-D D x2 G-D
3 3.2 2am 1db’
AR D-B♭-E♭-E♭-D D-B♭ D♭*-E♭-D G-D
3 3.2 2am 1db’
YG D-B♭-E♭-E♭-D D-B♭ D♭*-E♭-D G-D
3 3.2 2am 1db’
SS D-B♭-E♭-E♭-D x3 D-B♭ D♭*-E♭-D G-D
48 Analytical Approaches to World Music 5.2 (2017)

APPENDIX C: PITCH CELL ANALYSIS FOR EMBEDDED FIGURES

For each dan, all occurring pitch cells are given. They are aligned vertically to match
intervallic/pitch patterns wherever possible. See example below.

D♭2* = koro-koro tremolo effect on approximately D♭2

G+2* = a tone played between G2 and A♭2, using the fingering ichi san no u (AR) or u dai meri (KY)

The left column gives cell numbers for main pitch cells. Some variants are indicated with “v,”
e.g., 3v.

Versions in which cells appear are given in the second column from the right:

KY = Kurahashi Yodo I score

AR = Aoki Reibo II score and recording
YG = Yamaguchi Gorō recording
SS = Satō Seibi score
all = all of the above

The far right column shows corresponding m2-M3 (miyakobushi) trichords on D, G, or A. (NT =
non-trichord tone, [ ] = absent notes)

The note C is an NT when it is a preparatory or passing tone (notated as either a sixteenth-note

preparation to D or a grace note). It is indicated as: (C).

Dan 1 pitch cells Versions m2-M3 trichord

1 E♭2 G2 D2 all D-E♭-G

2 D♭2* D2 all D-[E♭-G]
(NT: D♭*)
D2 all D-[E♭-G]
D♭2* E♭2 D2 all D-E♭-[G]
(NT: D♭*)
D♭2* E♭2 G2 D2 all D-E♭-G
(NT: D♭*)
3 D2 B♭1 E♭2 D2 all [A]-B♭-D/
D-E♭-[G]
E♭2 D2 KY, AR, SS D-E♭-[G]
See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229001483

Multidimensional timbre analysis of shakuhachi honkyoku

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 Multidimensional timbre analysis of shakuhachi honkyoku
Deirdre Bolger, Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, University of Limerick, Ireland
deirdre.bolger@ul.ie

Niall Griffith, Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, University of Limerick, Ireland
niall.griffith@ul.ie

Proceedings of the Conference on Interdisciplinary Musicology (CIM05)

Actes du Colloque interdisciplinaire de musicologie (CIM05)
Montréal (Québec) Canada, 10-12/03/2005

Abstract
A method of analysing timbre in melody that takes account of its multidimensional
characteristic is described. The aim of this analysis technique is to uncover the role of timbre
as a structural element in melody. Gaining an understanding of how an abstract,
multidimensional sound phenomenon such as timbre is used in a structured manner can lead
to important insights into potential cognitive abilities; our ability to form mental
representations of abstract phenomena so that they can be conserved and, subsequently,
used in an organised or structured manner. This method of analysis comprises two main
components, a first which carries out a time-frequency analysis of the melodic signal and
processes the signal data using DSP techniques that model aspects of auditory processing
before calculating the timbre descriptors, and a second that represents the melody in terms of
its timbral changes rather than its absolute timbral values. A self-organising feature map is
used to reduce the timbral detail and the dimensionality of the timbral representation, and to
contrast-enhance the timbral changes. An example of the implementation of this analysis
technique is presented using an extract from a Japanese shakuhachi honkyoku melody,
chosen because of its accepted exploitation of timbre.

Introduction
Traditionally, analyses of the structure of recorded music have been notation-based in their focus,
concentrating on the musical elements of pitch and rhythm. If the musical style being analysed is
structured principally through an interaction of these two musical elements, such an analyses can
yield a very comprehensive account its structure. The fact that pitch and rhythm based analyses of
musical structure have been so popular is due, in no small part, to the fact that both these musical
elements are of central importance in Western music. However, by focussing on pitch and rhythm, we
are neglecting the possible contribution of another, very important, musical phenomenon, that of
timbre.
The timbre or sound quality of a sonic event plays a very important role in our perception of sounds
and is considered by some as the most important sound phenomenon due to its contribution to sound
identification and discrimination (Schellenberg et al, 1999; Menon et al, 2001). However, despite its
importance, the comprehensive analysis of its use in musical structuring has been hampered by its,
now, well accepted multidimensionality. Unlike pitch and rhythm, which can be well described by
changes along a single physical dimension, the timbre of a sound results from the interaction of
several physical attributes, particularly frequency and amplitude and can be described by several
descriptors. To use a sound element as a structuring device in creating music, it has to be possible to
structure that element in a systematic manner. Pitch structures take the form of scales, which consist
of orderings of discrete pitch entities according to their frequency and rhythmic structures consist of a
hierarchy of relative durations. These basic structures allow one to build up complex pitch and
rhythmic relationships that lend coherence to musical compositions. Attempts to build timbre
structures that show the same hierarchical characteristics as those of pitch and rhythm are fraught
with difficulty given its abstract, multidimensional nature (Lerdahl, 1987). However, our ability to
conserve, identify and discriminate timbre strongly suggests that we must employ some mechanism of
structuring it and these mechanisms may also apply in musical contexts.

The extent to which timbre is used in a structured manner in music creation differs depending on the
musical style in question. The dominant feature of Western music is its reliance on pitch and harmonic
pitch relations as the principal carrier of musical structure, the contrast between the timbres of
individual instruments is exploited but, as a structural element, it plays a lesser role than pitch and

CIM05, Montréal, 10-12/03/2005 1 www.oicm.umontreal.ca/cim05

 Deirdre BOLGER
Niall GRIFFITH

rhythm. In contrast, melodic music, which does not rely on harmony for structure, is more likely to
exploit timbre in this capacity. Given that a vast number of musical cultures worldwide are primarily
melodic, non-Western melodic musical styles provide a very good platform for the investigation of
timbre structures. This paper employs an example from a Japanese shakuhachi honkyoku melody to
describe the implementation of a multidimensional analysis of timbre in a melodic context.

Japanese shakuhachi honkyoku

In carrying out an investigation of timbre as a structural element in melody, it was important to base
it in a melodic style in which timbre plays an important role. For this reason Japanese shakuhachi
melodies of the honkyoku tradition were chosen. The shakuhachi is a bamboo end-blown flute that
was traditionally played by mendicant Buddhist monks called komuso. The honkyoku style of
shakuhachi melody was pioneered by the komuso as a meditative tool or hoki. For this reason the
melodies are solo, rhythmically free and have a structure that is governed in no small part by the
breathing patterns of the musician. The central role of breathing in the execution of honkyoku
melodies has given rise to "tone-cells" known as "one-breath-tones" or issokuon (Gutzwiller and
Bennett, 1991) that compose all pieces of this style. These tone-cells are executed in a single breath
and are separated by a pause during which the musicians inhales and prepares for the followng tone-
cell, thus, they can be perceived as distinct structural elements.

As a form bearing musical element, timbre plays a role in the internal structure of tone-cells.
Gützwiller and Bennet have shown that individual tone-cells have a tri-partite structure caused by
variations in pitch, tone quality and dynamics. Such variations are a result of the execution of the
techniques of meri and kari, which flatten and sharpen the tone respectively. Both are executed by
movements of the head. A meri tone has a sound that is softer and less stable in terms of pitch. In
contrast, a kari tone is strong, with a more stable pitch and higher amplitude and, as a result, is
considered the "main sound" of a tone-cell1. Gützwiller and Bennett describe the evolution within a
tone-cell as generally constituting a change from a meri to a kari and back to a meri. As will be shown
in the section on the timbre descriptors, this meri-kari evolution has implications for the timbre of the
tone-cells and the change in their timbre over time. Thus, using Tsang's concept of timbre
segmentation, each of the three phases of a tone-cell may constitute a timbral segment. Given this
pre-defined timbral structure, it provides a very good platform for investigating the effectiveness of
the timbre analysis technique in extracting significant changes. In describing the implementation of
the multidimensional timbre analysis, use is made of an extract from a recording of a famous
honkyoku melody, "Kokû", performed by shakuhachi master, Kozan Kitahara.

Timbre analysis technique

The timbre analysis technique is composed of three main parts,
1. The input melodic signal data is analysed using short-time-Fourier-transform (STFT) and
processed to take account of frequency weighting (equal loudness curves), spectral masking.
2. The timbral descriptors are calculated and the time-dependent timbre representation is integrated
over time.
3. A SOFM is used to cluster the time-dependent multidimensional timbre data allowing the
calculation of timbre differences. The calculated timbre differences are used to extract significant
timbral changes in the melodic signal.

Part 1: Analysis and processing of melodic signal

The melodic signal is analysed using a STFT, which yields a time-dependent representation.
Shakuhachi honkyoku melodies can often be in the order of 5 to 10 minutes, which means that the
analysis of an entire melody is not possible due to computational constraints. However, the fact that
honkyoku melodies are composed of distinct melodic phrases known as "tone cells" makes it possible
to isolate sections for analysis. For the following analysis, a single tone-cell has been isolated from
Kitahara's performance of "Kokû". This tone-cell was chosen as it constitutes a motif that is evident in
all performances of "Kokû" and, from listening, appears to play an important role as a perceptual

1
From communication with shakuhachi player, Jürg Zürmuhle (9/9/01).

CIM05, Montréal, 10-12/03/2005 2 www.oicm.umontreal.ca/cim05

 Deirdre BOLGER
Niall GRIFFITH

anchor in this, often very long, melody. The transcription and waveform of this motif is shown in
figure 1.

Figure 1: Transcription of tone-cell motif from recordings of "Kokû" by Kitahara.

The STFT is implemented using a sample frequency of 44.1kHz and a window length of 2048 samples,
thus giving a frequency resolution (∆f) of 43Hz and a time resolution (∆t) of 0.0116 seconds. This
time-dependent representation of the melodic signal will be preserved throughout subsequent stages
of the analysis. Before calculating the timbre descriptors, the signal data undergoes the following
processes:
1. A peak detection routine is applied to each time frame (t) of the input signal, which discards
spurious components that arise as a result of the windowing applied in the STFT calculation.
2. Equal-loudness curves (Fletcher and Munson, 1933) are applied to each of the spectral
components for every t. This converts the "sound intensity level" (dB) of a component to
"loudness level" (dB) by taking account of its frequency. Thus, values of "loudness level", also
known as "phons", are measured on a frequency-compensated decibel scale.
3. A simultaneous masking algorithm is implemented for each value of t, thus isolating those
components that are most perceptually significant. Auditory masking is not simply a function of
the relative intensity of components, but also relates to the frequency resolving characteristics of
the peripheral auditory system, which is evident in the frequency response of the basilar
membrane (BM). The frequency sensitivity of the BM is tonotopically organised so that certain
points along it display a maximum responses to particular frequencies and a progressive decay in
the response to these frequencies as one either increases or decreases the input frequencies. The
limit of the response to a particular frequency is governed by the width of the frequency band,
referred to as the "critical band", around a point of maximum response. Thus, if two components
that are so close in frequency that they fall in the same critical band are sounded simultaneously,
their BM response will interact. Based upon this understanding, this masking algorithm involves
the generation of the BM response to the input frequencies, known as the "excitation pattern"
(Moore and Glasberg, 1983, 1986 and 1987). To represent the excitation pattern, an
approximation of the shape of an auditory filter response is applied to the energy calculated at
each point along the BM, broken into steps of ¼ critical-band. This approximation is generated
using the linear gammatone filter function (Johannesma, 1972, Patterson et al, 1995). It is from
the excitation pattern that the unmasked components are isolated before the calculation of timbre
descriptors.

Part 2: Calculating timbre descriptors

Four timbre descriptors were selected to describe the timbre space of of the melodic extract: spectral
centroid, irregularity, harmonicity and roughness, all four of which are spectrally-based. While it is
accepted that a comprehensive account of timbre should include timbre dimensions that are temporal,
such as the attack time, it was decided to confine this analysis to four spectral descriptors as it is
based on melody and also because of certain characteristics of shakuhachi melody. Grey (1977)
concluded, on the basis of experiments on the discrimination of timbres in a melodic context, that the
spectral aspects of a tone are emphasised in a melodic context, while the temporal aspects of a tone
are emphasised in an isolated context. This finding along with the fact that shakuhachi honkyoku is
generally characterised by long, sustained tones that feature pitch and timbral changes is taken as a
justification for the concentration on spectrally-based timbre descriptors in this analysis. However,
future implementations of the analysis could very easily incorporate both spectral and temporal
timbral measures.

CIM05, Montréal, 10-12/03/2005 3 www.oicm.umontreal.ca/cim05

 Deirdre BOLGER
Niall GRIFFITH

Spectral centroid
This descriptor accounts for the concentration of energy in the spectrum of the input tone is correlated
with the attribute of brightness. A high spectral centroid value implies a concentration of energy at the
higher end of the spectrum, while a low spectral centroid value indicates that the energy is
concentrated in the lower frequencies. It is calculated for each value of t as follows:

⎛ N ⎞ equation 1
⎜ ∑ f n an ⎟
centroid (t ) = ⎝ n =1 ⎠,
N

∑ n
n =1
a

where t is the current time (in seconds), n is the partial index, N is the total number of partials, fn is
the frequency of partial n and an is the amplitude in linear intensity (W/m2) of partial n. The resulting
centroid(t) value is normalised by the fundamental, fo, calculated for the spectrum at time t.
Irregularity
The calculation used here defines irregularity as the sum of the squares of the difference in the
amplitude of adjacent components (Jensen, 1994). In other words, the irregularity value is based on
the magnitude of amplitude change between adjacent partials and is, therefore, related to the spectral
envelope at each time interval, t. Thus, a tone whose spectrum at time, t, is highly fluctuating will
yield a high irregularity value. Due to its reported perceptual significance (Krimphoff, 1994; Jensen,
1994), it is included among the timbre descriptors used in this analysis. It is calculated as follows:
N

∑ (a n − a n+1 ) , equation 2
irregulari ty (t ) = n =1
N

∑a
n =1
2
n

where t is the current time (seconds), n is the partial index, N is the total number of partials and an is
the amplitude of the nth partial (W/m2). This irregularity calculation yields values that are generally
below 1 and never any higher than 2.
Harmonicity
This attribute is generally described as the balance between the harmonic and inharmonic components
of a spectrum. The harmonicity calculation is composed of two parts, a first which calculates the
percentage frequency deviation from harmonic values, %fdiff_harmn , for each component, n, of a
complex at time, t, and a second part that calculates the proportion of the total intensity of the
spectrum relating to harmonic, %harmn , and inharmonic, %inharmn ,components for every n and
time, t, and which is is also expressed as a percentage. The %harmn is weighted by the %fdiff_harmn
for each n and a total inharmonicity value for time, t, is found through summation, which is expressed
as a percentage giving %harm_fdifftotal. A total value of %inharmn is also found through summation for
time, t, and expressed as a percentage giving %inharmtotal. The final harmonicity value is derived by
expressing the relationship between between %harm_fdifftotal and %inharmtotal as a signal-to-noise
ratio (SNR), which is defined in dBs, as follows:

⎛ % harm _ fdiff total ⎞

SNR=10 log ⎜
10 ⎜ %inharm ⎟⎟(dB ) , equation 3
⎝ total ⎠
The SNR of a complex can have a maximum value of 20dB. This maximum SNR value implies that
99% to 100% of the total intensity of a complex for time, t, corresponds to the energy of harmonic
components. On the other hand, a SNR of 0dB implies an equal division of intensity between harmonic
and inharmonic components in the spectrum for time, t.
Roughness
Like spectral centroid, irregularity and harmonicity, the degree of roughness of a sound is based on
the spectrum of a sound. However, a significant difference between roughness and the other three
timbre descriptors is that while they can be calculated on the basis of the acoustic data only, the
calculation of roughness requires that one takes account of both the acoustical signal data and
perceptual processes. The reason for this is that the sensation of roughness is a result of the inability
of the auditory system to resolve spectral components that are very close in frequency. Thus, the

CIM05, Montréal, 10-12/03/2005 4 www.oicm.umontreal.ca/cim05

 Deirdre BOLGER
Niall GRIFFITH

presence of stochastic components in the spectrum will have implications for the its calculated
roughness value. In relation to shakuhachi melody, a consideration of roughness is important as the
presence of noise in the shakuhachi sound is a desired characteristic. The standard "big sound" in
shakuhachi blowing techniques is produced by directing about 80% of air over the top of the flute,
resulting in the characteristic "windy" sound of shakuhachi music.

The calculation of roughness is based on a model of roughness developed by Vassilakis (2001), which
integrates a psychoacoustical model of dissonance (Sethares, 1993), which focuses on frequency
distance and a calculation of roughness that concentrates on the temporal aspect of roughness, i.e.
the phenomenon of beating. The calculation of temporal roughness used is that of Vassilakis (2001)
and equates the energy of the amplitude fluctuations caused by the interaction of components in the
time domain with the perceived roughness.

Given two components with amplitudes A1 and A2, the roughness sensation resulting from the
amplitude fluctuations, Rtemp, is calculated as follows:
3.11
⎛ 2 A2 ⎞
Rtemp = ( A1 A2 ) × 0.5⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ , equation 4
0.1

⎝ A1 + A2 ⎠

where 2 A2 is the degree of amplitude fluctuation, AFdeg.

( A1 + A2 )
Sethares' psychoacoustic dissonance calculation uses a parameterisation of Plomp and Levelt
characteristic V-curves, which relates consonance values to the relative distances of spectral
components within a single critical-band. The final expression for the dissonance of two pure tones
with frequencies, f1 and f2 with amplitudes, A1 and A2 is as follows:

(
d ( f1 , f 2 , A1 , A2 ) = A12 e
− as f1 − f 2
−e
−bs f1 − f 2
), equation 5

where a=3.5, b=5.75, s= d* , s1=0,0207, s2=18.96 and d* is the frequency point of maximum
(s1 f1 + f 2 )
dissonance, which is set at 0.24.

Integrating the two elements of the final roughness calculation gives the the following expression for
the two components in a spectrum:

( ).
3.11
⎛ 2 A2 ⎞
R( f1 , f 2 , A1 , A2 ) = ( A1 + A2 ) × 0.5⎜⎜
− as f1 − f 2 −bs f1 − f 2 equation 6
0.1
⎟⎟ ×e −e
⎝ A1 + A2 ⎠
In comparing the four timbre descriptors it has proved very useful to normalise the timbre values. This
normalisation is carried out by dividing the timbre values at every time interval, t, by the maximum
timbre value of all values of t. This limits the timbral range between 0 and 1 and allows for easy
comparison of the timbral measures.

Time integration
The timbral descriptor calculations described in the previous sections were calculated for a value of ∆t
of 0.0116 seconds, giving very detailed time-dependent representations that exceed the level of
granularity at which we are thought to perceive owing to limitations in temporal resolving ability of our
auditory system. Therefore, it was decided to apply a temporal integration to the time-dependent
timbral representations to yield representations that are more perceptually valid. This temporal
integration involves the "smearing" or averaging of temporal detail. The degree of the averaging is
determined by the chosen constant of integration, τ , over which the averaging is performed. The
method of integration used here is taken from the process of intensity summation employed in the
"long-time" theories of temporal integration (Munson, 1947; Green, 1960; Green and Swets, 1966;
Zwislocki, 1960 and 1969), which presume values of τ in the order of hundreds of milliseconds. The
value of τ employed here is set at 0.2 seconds. The "smoothing" effect of the temporal integration can
be seen in the figure 2 for a single shakuhachi tone.

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 Deirdre BOLGER
Niall GRIFFITH

Figure 2: Comparison of non-integrated and integrated spectral centroid of shakuhachi tone, re or G4.

Part 3: Extraction of timbral changes

Once the timbre descriptors have been calculated using the processed signal data and the resulting
time-dependent timbral representations have been time integrated, they proceed to the final stage of
the analysis, the extraction of points of timbral change at certain values of t in the melody with the
aim of investigating the interaction between timbre and significant elements of melodic structure.

Tsang (2002) and Malloch (2004) both tackled this question in the context of 20th century
compositions. Their analysis techniques, while different from that described here, offer very useful
insights into issues that need to be taken into account when analysing the role of timbre in a musical
context. The most crucial point emphasised by both Tsang and Malloch is the importance of relative
timbral values or timbral change. "Change" is considered an important phenomenon in cognition, if not
more significant than absolute values (Grossberg, 2000). In both analysis techniques, different
degrees of timbral change are related to structural points of varying significance. Both Tsang and
Malloch are concerned with reducing the timbral data with a view to investigating patterns of timbre
use that coincide with elements of musical structure. To this end, Tsang introduces the notion of
"timbral segments" that are isolated on the basis of their contrasting timbre and their relative
salience. Similarly, Malloch defined contrasting textures as A-textures and B-textures. Thus, in the
current analysis, it was considered necessary to find a method of clustering timbres on the basis of
some criteria of similarity to reduce the timbral data.

Grey (1975 and 1977) employed a multidimensional scaling technique (MDS) to create a timbre space
of different instrumental timbres that is representative of a cognitive map of timbre similarity.
However, this timbre classification technique required performing listening tests in which listeners
gave verbal ratings of similarity. For analysis purposes, what is desired is a purely analytical method
of deriving clustering timbres within a multidimensional timbre space but in a manner that is
cognitively relevant. Attempts to do this have led to the use of neural networks, particularly self-
organising maps (de Poli and Tonella, 1993; de Poli et al, 1993; Cose, de Poli and Lauzanna, 1994; de
Poli and Prandoni, 1997). Cosi et al (1994) used a combination of auditory modelling and Self-
Organising Feature Maps (SOFM) to classify instrumental timbres in a multidimensional space and
achieved results that compared very well with Grey's subjective timbre space generated using MDS.
The analysis method described here employs a SOFM (Kohonen, 1989) to cluster the timbre values for
every time frame, which due to time integration, has a value of ∆t of 0.2 seconds. The similarity
between the timbral events is measured by the Euclidean distance. In implementing this classification
two issues have to be carefully considered as they will strongly affect the final representation of
timbral variation within the melody analysed:

1. The number of categories or classes into which the timbral events will be clustered.
A high number of categories implies that each category will be represented by a smaller portion of the
timbre space and will capture the finer details of timbral change within the melody. However, with too
many categories it will be more difficult to derive a structured use of timbre in the melody.
Conversely, a small number of categories will mean that a larger portion of the timbre space will be
represented by each cluster, which will have the effect of smoothing the noisiness in the timbre
representation but may also cause smaller but potentially structurally significant timbral changes to be
discarded. To deal with this problem it was decided to carry out a number of classifications using a
different number of categories as part of every analysis, with the hope of achieving a hierarchical
relationship between the timbral change representations resulting from the use of a different number
of categories. As an initial test, three types of categorisations were used; a 10-by-10 (10x10) yielding

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 Deirdre BOLGER
Niall GRIFFITH

100 categories, 5-by-5 (5х5) yielding 25 categories, a 3-by-3 (3х3) categorisation yielding 9
categories and a 2-by-2 (2х2) giving 4 categories. It was hypothesised that the lower resolution
categorisations, such as 2х2 would highlight only the most significant changes while the higher
resolution categorisations, for example 10x10 and 5х5, would capture the smaller changes. Because
of the simplification of the timbral representation resulting from this classification, it was decided to
refer to the final representations of timbral change in the melodies as "timbral reductions".
2. The number of timbral dimensions (1, 2, 3 or 4D) on which the classification will be based.
As well as clustering the timbral data on the basis of similarity, the implementation of the SOFM also
has the effect of reducing the dimensionality of the timbre space by mapping the 3D or 4D space onto
a 2D feature map. In this analysis, the timbral data is presented to the SOFM in two-dimensional
(2D), three-dimensional (3D) and four-dimensional (4D) form and the results of each compared.

Timbral reduction of standard motif from "Kokû"

Once the SOFM classification has been carried out, the result is 100, 25, 9 and 4 timbral clusters that
will be used to represent the timbral changes in the timbral reduction. At this stage each time-
dependent timbral event is assigned to a particular timbre cluster by finding the cluster which yields
the lowest Euclidean distance between it and the timbral measure at time, t. However, the focus is on
the magnitude of the change between these timbral clusters so we need to find a way of extracting
and classifying these changes. It was decided to measure the timbral change by comparing the
distance between categories, d, with the maximum Euclidean distance between the categories, dmax, in
the following way:
d . equation 7
x=
d max

To categorise the values of x we applied an adapted version of Lerdahl's characterisation of timbral

change described in his "timbral hierarchy theory" (Lerdahl, 1987). Lerdahl defined three degrees of
timbre change, "strong prolongation" or an exact repetition, a "weak prolongation" or a change in a
single timbre dimension and a "progression" a change on all timbre dimensions. As an initial step it
was decided to define the change between timbral categories using the following three rules:
1. If 0<=x<=0.1, the timbral change is classed as a "strong prolongation" (SP).
2. If 0.1<x<0.7, the timbral change is classed as a "weak prolongation" (WP).
3. If 0.7<=x<=1.0, the timbral change is classed as a "progression" (P).
It may be necessary to adjust these thresholds depending on the range of the timbral space of the
melodic extract being analysed. In the timbral reductions, the timbral change categories range from 0
to 1. A SP is assigned a value of 0.25, a WP a value of 0.5 and a P a value of 1.
Figure 3 presents a 4D 3x3 timbral reduction, in green, of the standard motif of the honkyoku
melody, "Koku" (notated in figure in figure 1) performed by Kitahara. In each case it is plotted against
the pitch contour of the motif, in blue.

Figure 3. 4D, 3x3 timbral reduction of standard against pitch contour motif from "Kokû" performed by Kitahara.

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 Deirdre BOLGER
Niall GRIFFITH

The 4D reduction takes account of the inter-relationship between all four timbre descriptors and this is
reflected in the resulting timbral reduction. Due to the interaction of all four descriptors in the
classification, only the most significant changes are highlighted (circled in figure 3). Unlike 4D case,
the 2D and 3D timbral reductions cannot take account of all the timbre descriptors in a single
representation. For example, a 2D timbral reduction can only take account of pairs of descriptors at a
time, implying that one would have to compare six 2D timbral reductions for each type of
classification, 2x2, 3x3, 5x5 and 10x10. In order to make the 2D and 3D timbral reductions easier to
interpret, it was decided to integrate all the timbral reductions that result from both dimensionalities.
The resulting representations are called "summary timbral reductions" (STR). A 2D STR, for example,
comprises the mean of the timbral reductions of the pair-wise timbral classifications. The STR
emphasises features of timbral change that are consistent across all of the component timbral
reductions, thus, if a "progression" occurs in all six of the 2D timbral reductions, it will feature as a
"strong prolongation" in the STR. Figure 4 presents an example of a 2D and 3D, 3x3 STR for the motif
performed by Kitahara. The significant points of timbral change evident in the 4D timbral reduction in
figure 3 are also evident in the STRs, with the further indication of their relative significance.

Figure 4. 2D, 3x3 STR (left) and 3D, 3x3 STR (right) of standard motif from performance of "Kokû" by Kitahara.

To get a clearer picture of the relationship between the derived STR and the evolution of the timbre
measures over time in this motif, the 2D, 3x3 STR is plotted against the "mean timbral contour",
shown in figure 5a, and the first-order-difference (1OD) of the "mean timbral contour", shown in
figure 5b. The "mean timbral contour" is calculated as the mean of the four normalised, time
integrated timbre descriptors. A comparison of the STRs and both timbral contours indicates that the
reduction is effective in isolating points of significant timbre change.

Figure 5. Mean timbral contour (a) and 1OD of mean timbral contour (b) against 2D, 3x3 STR of motif in "Koku"
performed by Kitahara.

A comparison of the 4D, 3x3 timbral reduction in figure 3 and the 2D and 3D, 3x3 STRs in figure 4
reveals a consistency in the occurrence of points of significant timbral change. These common points,

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 Deirdre BOLGER
Niall GRIFFITH

which have been highlighted with red circles, occur at the attack points of each repetition of the basic
motif and at the end of the second motif. A clearer picture of the relationship between these three
timbral reductions is given in the outline "summary timbral reductions" in figure 6 (left), which were
derived by hand from the timbral reductions and STRs. Figure 6 (right) shows the relationship
between the 2D, 3x3 and 3D,5x5 STRs and a 4D, 10x10 timbral reduction.
A comparison of the 2D and 3D outline STRs and the 4D outline timbral reductions in both examples in
figure 6 indicate a strong relationship between them, especially in terms of the consistent presence of
significant points of timbre change (highlighted by blue circles). The relationship between the three
dimensionalities can be described as hierarchical due to the decreasing level of change detail evident
from the 2D STR to the 4D timbral reduction. The 4D timbral reduction provides the clearest picture of
an overall change structure but does not indicate the relative significance of the changes. In the 2D
and 3D STRs for both the 3x3 and 5x5 conditions, a relative significance between the three significant
points of change can be observed, with the first "progression" as the most dominant.

Figure 6: (Left) A comparison of 2D,3x3 STR (a), 3D, 3x3 STR (b) and 4D, 10x10 timbral reduction (c).
(Right) A comparison of 2D,3x3 STR (a), 3D,5x5 STR (b) and 4D, 10x10 timbral reduction(c) of motif.

In terms of using the timbral reductions to uncover a role of timbre as a structuring element, an
interesting question relates to the extent to which these timbral change representations account for
the tripartite, meri-kari, form of tone-cells in honkyoku melodies (Gutzwiller and Bennett, 1991). In
terms of timbral change, a progression from meri to kari involves a movement from an area of less
stability (meri) to an area of greater stability (kari). The problem with attempting to isolate the meri
and kari portions of a tone cell is that they do not have a prescribed relative duration. The dominance
of the meri or kari sound in a tone-cell is governed by the interpretation and technical ability of the
musician. In their present form, the outline STRs and timbral reductions do not show a clear pattern of
timbral change within the tone-cells, indeed, the timbre of the tone-cell appears to be in a constant
state of flux with change values oscillating around the category of "weak prolongation". However, one
could consider the significant points of timbre change at the attack and decay portions of each tone-
cell as constituting the meri portion of the tone, with the lesser changes that are characterised as
"weak prolongations" in the 4D timbral reductions being considered as the more stable kari portions.

Conclusions
We have outlined a method of analysing timbre use in melody with a view to relating values of timbre
change to aspects of melodic structure and to implement this analysis in a perceptually relevant
manner. The preprocessing of the signal data before calculating the timbre descriptors, the
subsequent time integration of the time-dependent timbre measures and the use of a SOFM to cluster
the timbre events, to reduce the dimensionality of the timbre representation and to reduce the timbral
information for easier interpretation all give perceptual and cognitive relevance to this analysis
technique. The most promising result gained from applying this analysis method to the investigation of

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 Deirdre BOLGER
Niall GRIFFITH

timbre in an extract of a shakuhachi melody is the hierarchical relationship between the timbral
reductions of differing dimensionalities. Such a representation can indicate the role of timbre at
different structural levels within a melody. For example, the 4D timbral reductions give prominence to
the most significant changes while smoothing out the smaller ones, thus highlighting its role in the
higher level structuring of the melody. The 2D and 3D STRs, on the other hand, do not indicate as
clearly these significant points of change but, in detailing the smaller changes indicate the contribution
of timbre to finer melodic structure. In the case of shakuhachi honkyoku, the higher granularity of the
timbre change representation provided by the 2D and 3D STRs can indicate the meri-kari structure of
individual tone-cells.
The analysis technique presented here is still undergoing development and its further development will
require taking into account certain issues. Firstly, given that shakuhachi honkyoku is an oral musical
tradition a particular melody can show differences from one performance to another. Therefore, in
attempting to uncover a structured use of timbre in shakuhachi honkyoku melodies, a single motif
from one version of a melody is not sufficient. What is required is an analysis of the same motif in
different versions of the same melody to obtain an understanding of the general characteristics of
timbre use. Bolger (2004) carried out such an analysis on two characteristic motifs, including the one
used here, from three different performances of "Kokû". This initial investigation revealed a pattern of
similarities at a higher level of structure along with variations at a finer level. Secondly, although the
application of the SOFM reduces timbre data, there still remains a need to identify and classify the less
significant patterns of change revealed by the 2D and 3D STRs. Lastly, any conclusions regarding the
role of timbre in melody have to be supported by input from native musicians to ensure that they have
emic relevance. To this end,further development of this work will require the input of
ethnomusicological investigation and experimentation.

References

Bolger, D. (2004). Computational Models of Musical Timbre and the Analysis of its Structure in Melody,
unpublished PhD thesis, University of Limerick.
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Fletcher, H. (1940). "Auditory Patterns", Rev. Mod. Phys., 12, 47-61.
Green, D. M. and Swets, J. A. (1966). Signal Detection Theory and Psychophysics, New York: Wiley.
Green, D. M. (1960). "Auditory detection of a noise signal", Journal of the Acoustical Society of
America, 36, 570-575.
Grey, J. M. (1975). "Exploration of Musical Timbre", Standford University Dept. of Music Technical
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the Japanese Flute Shakuhachi", Musica Asiatica, 6, 36-59.
Jensen, K. (1994). Timbre Models of Musical Sounds, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Copenhagen.
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nucleus", In: Symposium of Hearing Theory, Eindhoven, Holland, 58-69.
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complexes. II, Analyses acoustiques et quantification psychophysique", Journal de Physique IV,
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Lerdahl, F. (1987). "Timbral Hierarchies", Contemporary Music Review, 2(1), 135-160.
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Niall GRIFFITH

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Discography
Japon, Sankyoku, Ensemble Yonin no Kaï, Ocora C560070, Radio France, 1995.

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Let's say we're working on ro. Adding to the halfway point in the bore will sharpen the
pitch of ro. Removing will flatten it.

Below is the fine tuning section of my pdf: Ken

-------------------------------------------------------------
A pitch usually goes flat if material is removed at the 1/2 way point and sharpens if
removed from under the hole or utaguchi. The differences are noticed more on Jiari
flutes that are more pitch specific. Sometimes doing additions or removals on Jinashi
flutes do very little to the pitch. If a pitch is more than 30 cents off on a Jinashi flute, it
would be better to plug and move the finger hole.
-------------

Ro and ro kan octave tuning problems are often the result of 1/2 the bore length having
too much or too little volume (space). If you slide a chopstick or two into the top half of
the bore, ro kan should sharpen considerably. If it balances the two pitches, you can fill in
the upper half or remove in the bottom half.

A few other options would be to spot fill at the 1/4 and 3/4 points in the bore or remove at
the 1/2 point.

Opening from the choke point to the end of the flute will most likely sharpen both ro and
ro kan. Also, you might want to doublecheck that you are blowing ro kan with enough
power. It can be easy to play this note flat.

Some possible fixes for ro are looking at the choke point, opening up the bottom end,
adjusting the top end opening, adjusting in the middle of the bore. However, it's always
better to look at all the problems of the flute at once as well as the strong points, figure
out all the possible fixes of multiple problems without messing up the strengths, then try
to do things in the most efficient way.

If you still have a problem, note that a flat kan means that the area of the bore ~1/2 the
distance between the last open tone hole and the top of the utaguchi is too large. In your
case this would mean the point just slightly beyond the midpoint of the flute. Of course
this also means that the area above must also be filled proportionately so that the taper of
the bore is more or less even. Bamboo culms grow differently and have different
proportions, and it is not always possible to have a purely jinashi flute in tune.
Alternately, you can spend a huge amount of time opening up the whole bottom of the
bore, but if the bore is too wide the tone and response of the flute will suffer, even if it is
in tune.

Depending on where the additions are in the bore and the overall bore profile, there are
often times when an action will influence pitch and not tone or even tone and not pitch.
Or, maybe disproportionate amounts of each. Also, it's not always easy to exactly mimic
the influence of a bead with ji. It's more of an approximation.

Perry and Toby make good points about temperature and overall bore profile. Using spot
tuning to correct 30-40 cent octave differences can cause problems in other areas. That
much difference usually suggests that half the bore is disproportionately larger or smaller
than the other half. So, it's likely best to get the bore profile dimensions closer to an
established average. That should take care of the major problems before starting on spot
tuning.

The extra "compliance" (as the scientists say) added by the fingerholes is relatively
minor, especially on the shakuhachi with its small holes (as compared to sax or flute, for
instance). What effect it does have is manifested as a slight lowering of pitch when
compared to an identical bore without such fingerholes, but the effect is global, and does
not change between the octaves. There is a further effect called the "tonehole lattice
effect", in which a series of open holes acts as a kind of high-pass filter. Smaller holes
have a low cutoff frequency and so give a mellower tone, while larger holes have the
opposite effect. I think this is what you are referring to.

The sounding frequency of any hole in the bore is determined by two quantities: the
position and the size. As a rough guide, variations of 10% in the hole diameter, or 1% in
distance to the acoustical top of the instrument cause variations in tuning of about 10
cents.

True octaves depend on having the paritals line up correctly, and this is a function of the
bore profile, not the fingerholes. Because a certain amount of what is called "mode
locking" exists, bore profiles can vary somewhat and still have at least some of the
partials at the correct frequencies, but this can break down as you go higher, giving a lot
of trouble (for us) in the dai-kan. And in fact up there moving or changing the postion
and/or size of the fingerholes can have a large effect, but not so in the otsu or kan.
Trouble with any note in the otsu or kan almost always can be traced to a bore problem at
a displacement antinode of the fundamental of the problem note, or of one of its
significant partials.

It should also be realized that there is no "ideal" bore, just as there is no ideal animal or
ideal child. Each bore is a compromise, with strengths and weaknesses. For instance a
thinner bore tends to make the high notes easier to sound and the response lively, but at
the cost of thinness of tone and poorer response in the lows. A wide bore gives a strong
low register, but the sound is often rather dull and lacking focus, with slower response
and a difficult top end. I believe that what we wish to achieve is "balance".

One further note: I have been studying the acoustic effects of sharp fingerhole edges in
the bore. These always lead to significant acoustic losses, especially with small holes
such as on the shakuhachi, and especially at louder playing volumes. It is acoustically
very advantageous to undercut all your fingerholes, or at the very least to round the inner
edges. Rounding the edges on the outside is also highly recommended.

That all being said, you do have to get within certain limits in order to have a decent bore,
and this is where the published bore profiles are extremely valuable. Those will at least
get you in the right neighborhood, and from there it is the "art" that Perry speaks of that
can create a truly outstanding, balanced instrument as opposed to a merely adequate one.
But if you are outside that "sweet spot" no amount of fiddling is ever going to solve all
the various problems of response and intonation that you will encounter.

There is a reason that dedicated shakuhachi makers study and apprentice themselves for
years: it is to give them a solid foundation in the basics and a feel for and control of the
effects of fine adjustments to those basics.

There are only two "mathematically correct" woodwind bores: a cylinder and a cone.
Theoretically, only these pure shapes produce partials at perfect harmonic intervals. I'll
come back to that in a minute...

Essentially what is happening is that a standing wave is set up between the utaguchi and
the first open tone hole (although that is super-oversimplified). That determines the
fundamental frequency. However along with that frequency, the air column vibrates in
smaller segments, which (for musical purposes) should be exactly 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5...1/n
the wavelength of the fundamental. These sound as contributing pitches and add richness
to the fundamental: 1/2 is the octave, 1/3 the twelfth, 1/4 the second octave, etc.

If the bore is not of the correct shape, you get something like 1/1(fundamental), 1/2.1,
1/3.2, 1/4.4...or perhaps 1/1.9, 1/2.8, 1/3.7--the ratios are incorrect and the partials
inharmonic in respect to the fundamental.

This works OK in the otsu, where the fundamental predominates. Mistuned partials can
even be desirable, giving a complex, "hollow" "woody" tone. Many jinashi flutes have
this characteristic to some extent or another.

The problem begins in the kan. When you overblow to the kan, what you are doing is
creating a condition where the fundamental is inhibited and the first partial (1/2: the
octave) predominates. If the bore creates non-harmonic partials, your kan register will not
be in tune with the otsu.

The dai-kan gets even nastier, as it uses a shorter air jet and faster airstream to inhibit the
fundamental, first and second partials and so jumps to sounding the third partial (1/4:
second octave). Since this partial is weaker than the lower partials, and harder to maintain
in a bore optimized for a decent fundamental, it must be close to harmonic to sound at all.
If it is not, and is missing in the otsu and kan, that is not a huge problem; its absence will
only make the sound a bit less edgy, as the fundamental or first partial predominates. But
if you blow so as to inhibit the fundamental and first and second partials and there is no
decent third partial, you won't get the note in the dai-kan, no matter how good your
embouchure.

There is also a thing called "mode-locking", in which partials that should sound slightly
out-of-tune will be pulled into a harmonic relationship with other strong frequencies
present. It's a bit like "snap to grid" in a graphics app: if its close, it will jump into place,
but after a certain point it will not do so. So there is some "forgiveness" for a bore which
normally would create inharmonic partials, but only up to a point.

Now, let's back up a minute. The bore of the shakuhachi is basically a reverse cone,
which is certainly not a cylinder, so what gives with that? Essentially, this acts
mathematically like a cylinder, however with a modified impedance curve which tends to
increase pitch stability with blowing pressure. It stretches the partials somewhat, which
helps to offset an acoustic phenomenon whereby blowing harder raises the pitch, making
it possible to blow the lower notes harder and upper notes softer and stay in tune.
Piccolos are made in two styles: cylindrical and reverse conical, with the former used in
bands where volume is needed, and the latter used in orchestras where more control is
desirable. Recorders and pre-Boehm simple system flutes also have reverse-conical
bores.

So generally, as long as the reverse cone is constant (possibly with a widening at the end
to bring the partials of the lowest notes into tune (let's not go into it)), it will act
mathematically almost like a cylinder (and actually help compensate some defects of a
cylinder under real-world playing conditions), but not if the angle of conicity changes in
the main part of the bore. That will create inharmonic partials.

Of course there are small local changes to the cone angle in the bore of all reverse-conical
(and conical and even cylindrical instruments), which makers have come up with after
long empirical trial-and-error experimenting, and which are necessary to compensate for
many factors in actual instruments, such as the extra compliances introduced by side
holes, some characteristics of the way the air jet works (in flutes), etc.

There is another factor to consider, apart from generally incorrect bore profiles. There are
two important points for any standing wave: 1) a pressure node, where the air molecules
do not move, but alternately get compressed and rarefied, and 2) a displacement antinode,
where the air molecules move back and forth, but where the pressure does not change. If
you constrict the bore at a node, it raises the pitch, but if you constrict it at an antinode, it
lowers the pitch. If you widen (instead of constrict) the bore at those points it has the
opposite effect.

So perhaps you have a constriction at a certain point that is a node for note A in the kan,
but an antinode for kan note B. What happens? Even if your otsu A and B notes are in
tune because you have put the fingerholes in the right places, (and that point of
perturbation does not lie in a critical point for those otsu notes), the kan note A will be
sharp and the kan note B will be flat :-/

So you are dealing with a whole bunch of interactive factors: the overall bore profile,
local variations in the bore, and the size and position of the fingerholes, any one of which
changes tuning of a given note to some extent, but which affects the partials differently.
The main point of the game is to correctly align all factors so that the flute has decent
intonation in all three registers, and further has balanced response and timbre as well.
Shakuhachi makers, after a few hundred years of trial and error, have come up with some
reasonable bores which behave decently and allow for instruments with adequate
intonation and response across the compass of the instrument. There is some wiggle room
due to mode locking and other factors--a bit of range in which we can adjust flutes: "fine
tune" them, or create our own characteristic response or timbre. Generally, though, the
bore profile remains pretty much the same, or the profile is altered across the range--
keeping the general cone angle--without large local variations.

The intonation of jiari flutes depends in large part on the correct bore profile no matter
what the hole position (at least in terms of correct intonation of the octaves and
harmonics and response up higher, which is related), but the overall diameter has a great
effect on the timbre. This can be adjusted while keeping the geometry correct for
intonation (by enlarging or reducing the whole bore while keeping the same shape). In
addition there is much that can be done in this direction in the upper part of the bore,
which corresponds to the headjoint on a concert flute. A great deal of the global character
of the sound originates there, and adjustments can be made to it (to some extent) which
change the timbre without overly affecting the intonation, although response in the third
octave especially can be tricky.

My sensei told me that the area from around 6-8 cm down from the top should be slightly
widened before starting the contraction, and adjustments to this area can be quite critical
to the tone and overall response

Fine tuning the bore is the main challenge in constructing a quality shakuhachi. It is a
combination of mathematics, luck, educated guess, intuition, patience and perseverance.

This process is, essentially, adding and/or preferably removing space along various areas
of the bore until all the tones play well. The actual space along the bore that will need to
be removed or added will most likely be minute, but nonetheless, critical to the potential
sound quality of the instrument.

Each note has corresponding 'critical points' along the bore which can be adjusted to
affect tone and tuning. For the low octave notes, these points are found at the 1/2 point
between the blowing edge and the open hole of the note being played (1/4 & 3/4 points
for second octave), as well as directly under the open hole. If a particular note is not
playing well or out of tune, it can be corrected by adding or removing space at one or
more of these areas. To check if space needs to be added, fold up a small piece of wet
newspaper (approximately 1 1/2" by 1/2") and apply it to the 1/2 point in the bore. Play
the flute to check for tone improvement. (A long split bamboo stick with foam rubber tied
to the end works well to slide the newspaper to the desired spots.) If it improves the note,
the newspaper can be removed and the area can be built up with a dab of glue and
sawdust, ji paste, or paste resin. If there is no improvement, try adding newspaper to the
other critical points. Then try adding in different combinations, then at every centimeter
along the bore. You can also experiment with smaller or larger pieces. If there is no
improvement after exhausting all the possibilities, you will need to remove space at one
or more of the critical points. Various tools will work to remove space. You can wrap a
thin strip of coarse sandpaper around the end of a dowel or weld a 1/2" section of a
bastard file to a metal rod. A dremel sanding drum bit on the end of a long rod also works
well. If the tone improves after grinding one or more critical areas, stop and move on to
the next note that needs improvement. If there is still no improvement or the tone sounds
worse, the areas will need to be refilled. It is also possible that a combination of adding
and removing will be needed. This is where experience helps. A good rule of thumb is to
exhaust every possible simple solution before attempting the complicated combinations.
Altering the critical points for one tone can also affect the other notes as well so it is
important to work slowly to get a feel of what is happening to the flute on a whole.

It takes patience and experience to develop a mental map of the shakuhachi bore using
this fine tuning method. It may be helpful to work a little every day or two to slowly get
to know the peculiarities of each flute. Each is unique, requiring an approach which is
beyond pure mechanics. The shakuhachi is much more than physics. Listen to the
bamboo.
See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237648626

KomusØ and "Shakuhachi-Zen" From Historical Legitimation to the

Spiritualisation of a Buddhist denomination in the Edo Period

Article · January 2007

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 Max Deeg*

KomusØ and “Shakuhachi-Zen”

From Historical Legitimation to the Spiritualisation
of a Buddhist denomination in the Edo Period**

1. Introduction
The history of Zen-Buddhism in the West is well-known for its uncon­
ventional tales of monks chopping off their arms, of their burning of Buddha
statues, and their suggestions that one kill the Buddha if one meets him – these
images having been spread through such propagators of Zen 禪 in the West, like
Daisetsu TeitarØ Suzuki 大拙諦太朗鈴木 (1870-1966). As a result Zen in the West
is mainly conceived as an iconoclastic, anti-literal, anti-formal and highly mystico-
spiritual form of Buddhism. The fact that Zen in the West was mainly received
in its Japanese form has also led to the conception that it is a typical expression of
‘Japaneseness’, a reflection of Yamato-damashii 大和魂. Modern scholars such as
Bernard Faure (1991 and 1993) have shown, in fascinating depth, that there is a gap
between Zen rhetoric in the texts and the historical reality of Zen.
Early Chinese Chan 禪 did have a degree of conformity with its social environ­
ment as, without this, it could not have survived and developed into a strong
religious movement in the centuries to follow. It was, then, by no means the anti-
and a-social “freak” of Chinese Buddhism as is reflected in some East-Asian
sources and their modern epigones. An indication of this is that the relatively early
historiographical tradition of Chan (cf. Schmidt-Glintzer 1982) did not suffer a
setback when it was transferred to Japan (mainly in the Song period).
Rinzai-sh¨ 臨濟宗 inherited the Chinese tradition of demonstrating a conti­
nuous, and thus legitimate, transmission of the dharma – the “transmission of the
lamp,” Chin. chuandeng / Jap. dentØ 傳燈 – through historiographical-narrative
works that constructed an unbroken line from the Buddha Íåkyamuni / Chin.
Shijiamoni-fo / Jap.1 Shakamuni-butsu 釋迦摩尼佛 through Kåßyapa / Jiaye / Kasha
迦葉 and the first patriarch in China, Bodhidharma / Putidamo / Botdaidatsuma
菩提達摩, to their respective historical presents. This is also the case, of course, for

* Professor, Cardiff University, Wales.

** I would like to thank Dr. James Hegarty, Cardiff University, for correcting and
polishing the English of this article.
1
In this paper East-Asian names or terms are normally given in the order Chinese
(Chin.) – Japanese (Jap.) unless only either the Chinese or the Japanese form is quoted.

Japanese Religions, Vol. 32 (1 & 2): 7-38

8 Japanese Religions 32 (1 & 2)

the sub-denominations of this school which claimed certain Chinese or Japanese

founders and temples as their origin.

2. Construction of a Zen denomination?

One of the sub-denominations that is represented on a regular basis in
Japanese samurai soap-operas (dorama ﾄﾞﾗﾏ) and cartoons (manga 漫画) is the Fuke-
sh¨ 普化宗, although probably most of the Japanese are not aware of its concrete
Buddhist background. The figure representing this Zen sub-denomination is a
kind of belligerent and somewhat rough monk called komusØ 虚無僧 who bears
a head-cover resembling a bee-basket, the tengai 天蓋, which hides his face; he
also wears a kesa 袈裟, the garment of a Buddhist monk or priest, and plays a long
bamboo flute, the shakuhachi 尺八.
This somewhat naïve popularisation of a conception of a “species” of religious
specialists, the komusØ, is not solely a Japanese matter; this becomes clear when
one considers the level of general knowledge of Christian monasticism amongst
average Westerners. What is of more significance, however, is that one finds
information on the Fuke-sh¨ in dictionaries like the standard Japanese KØjien 広辞
苑 uncritically reproduced:

A subgroup (ha 派) of the Zensh¨, active in the Edo-period. Fuke 普化 of

the Tang(-period) was the founder (so 祖), and in the year 1254 (KenchØ 建
長 6) Kakushin 覚心 from TØfuku-ji 東福寺 brought this tradition (to Japan).
Its followers were called komusØ, played the shakuhachi and roamed the whole
country. The main temples were Ichigetsu-ji 一月寺 in ShimØsa 下総 and
ReihØ-ji 鈴法寺 in Musashi 武蔵; it was abolished in the year 1871 (Meiji 4).2

This image of the komusØ in Japan is counterbalanced by the Western image of a

Shakuhachi-Zen which parallels the more general reception of Zen as a spiritual
practice closely connected with Japan. This is an image which is both projected
and reinforced by Western players of the shakuhachi, as for example in Ray Brooks’
autobiography Blowing Zen.3 This ‘spiritualisation’ of an originally historical Zen

2
Shinmura 1986: 2091d. See also Takayanagi and Takeuchi 1976: 818a., entry Fuke-sh¨ :
“Also called Fuke-zensh¨. A denomination (ha) of Zen. The founder is the Zen-master
Fuke from the Tang(-period). In the year 1249 (KenchØ 1) the Zen-monk Shinchi
Kakushin went to Song-China and studied the teaching of the denomination and the
playing of the shakuhachi under the sixteenth patriarch of the Fuke-sh¨, ChØ Y¨ 張雄 ;
after he had returned to Japan he built the KØkoku-ji 興国寺 in Yura 由良 in Kii 紀伊
and it is said that he had been the first who spread the teaching of this denomination (in
Japan). Officially the denomination was recognized at the beginning of the Edo period.
Called the denomination of the komusØ it became gradually a hiding place for rØnin
because no other than members of the bushi were admitted. The main temples were the
ReihØ-ji in Musashi and the Ichigetsu-ji in ShimØsa. It was abolished in 1871.” Even
more detailed is the article Fuke-sh¨ in: ºtsuki 1956: 1788df., where a historical source
of the Fuke-sh¨ is quoted which is obviously identical with the Denki (see below).
Deeg: Komusº and “Shakuhachi-Zen” 9

denomination which had its roots in the late Edo period 江戸時代 (1603-1868) and
early Meiji period 明治時代 (1868-1912) can be comprehended with the aid of two
concepts, those of “attaining buddhahood through one sound” (ichion-jØbutsu 一音
成佛) and “the Zen of blowing (the flute)” (suizen 吹禪 ).
In the West playing the shakuhachi is connected to religio-spirit ual
connotations which it basically does not have, and never has had, in Japan.4 This
seems to reflect what the German musicologist Helga de la Motte-Haber (1995)
has stated for the history of European religious music: a gradual desacralization of
everyday’s life brings with it a complementary sacralization of music – in our case
of non-European music; and this also seems to be true for certain circles of the late
Tokugawa period 徳川時代 (Edo period) and for Japanese modernity.
My main assumptions, which I will develop on in the following paper, are:
First, flute playing mendicant monks of the early Edo period were integrated in
the late Edo period into the existing system of the Zen denominations: During
this process a line of legitimation had to be created which was connected with
the specific feature of this new denomination, the playing of the shakuhachi.
Simultaneously, t here was a process of laicizat ion, spirit ualizat ion and
aesthetization of this distinguishing feature, the playing of the shakuhachi, which
consisted of an amalgamation of virtuous musical practice and Zen-Buddhist
conceptions of spirituality. This development occured during the 19th century, and
intensified after the Meiji-restoration. Second, it was this line of interpretation
of the tradition which prevailed after the abolishment of the Fuke-sh¨ in certain
circles playing the shakuhachi. It was this that, in turn, determined the Western
reception of classical Japanese music as a kind of spiritual practice.

3. KomusØ and Fuke-sh¨ in Buddhological literature

Who are these flute-playing Zen monks? It is astonishing that the entries in
relevant Buddhist studies handbooks do not add much information to what is given
in the already quoted KØjien article. As for an early Western description, the entry
Fuke-sh¨ in the still widely used Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan by
the French Catholic missionary E. Papinot may be quoted:
A branch of the Zen sect, founded by the Chinese bonze Fuke-Zenji. In 1248,
the bonze Kakushin went to China, where the famous BusshØ-Zenji of the
Gokoku-ji temple taught him the doctrines of the sect. There was a certain
ChØy¨ in the temple who was very skilful in playing the flute (shakuhachi) and
from him Kakushin received lessons. After his return to Japan (1254), he went

3
Brooks 2000; a German translation appeared in the same year in the esoteric
publishing house Ansata-Verlag under a more suggestive title than the original: Ich ging
den Weg der Zen Flöte. Eine spirituelle und künstlerische Autobiographie, München 2000.
4
See also the content of the two published volumes of the Annals of the International
Shakuhachi Society (ISS): http://www.komuso.com/sales.
10 Japanese Religions 32 (1 & 2)

through the country preaching and playing the flute. His successors Kichiku
and Komu did likewise, and the name of the latter, komusØ has become the
generic name by which travelling bonzes of the sect were designated. Under
the Tokugawa, many samurai without masters enrolled in the Fuke-sh¨ sect,
dressed in the traditional costume and wore large hats so as to hide their faces.
They went through the country begging and playing the flute. To avoid justice
or the supervision of the shogunate, it became customary to become a komusØ;
but disorders having ensued, Ieyasu published a regulation to fix their privileges
and their obligations. The sect had seventy-three temples, all depending on
Ichigetsu-ji at Kaganei (ShimØsa). It was interdicted at the Restoration.5

Compared with the article in the KØjien we gain some complementary pieces of
information on the history of the komusØ and of their Fuke-sh¨, which is dated
back to the Tang period in China. The history of the “sect” is divided in four main
events and three periods: 1. the origin of the “sect” leading back to a Chinese
Zen master called Fuke; 2. the transmission of the tradition to Japan through
the Buddhist monk Kakushin and reference to flute-playing; 3. control of the
denomination through the Tokugawa-bakufu 徳川幕府; 4. the abolition of the
Fuke-sh¨ during the laicization and persecution of Buddhism during the Meiji
period. At the same time a negative picture of the members of the Fuke-sh¨ is
projected: it consists mainly of masterless samurai, so-called rØnin 浪人. As usual in
Papinot’s dictionary no historical sources are given, however, Papinot has become
to a certain degree authoritative for Western literature.6 The only historical and
critical study in a Western language on the Fuke-sh¨ is an article written by the
American Japanologist James H. Sanford (1977) who focuses on the history of the
denomination during the Edo period.
It is somehow striking that there is no real detailed study of the Fuke-sh¨ in
Japanese Buddhist Studies literature. In the Japanese dictionaries and encyclopaedias
there is almost the same information as in Papinot’s book. In the still very much
consulted BukkyØ-daijiten 佛教大辭典, compiled by Oda TokunØ 織田得能 at the end
of the Meiji period and edited in the year TaishØ 大正 5 (1917) there is at least a hint
that there is no proof that the alleged founder and patron of the Fuke-sh¨ had indeed
played the shakuhachi.7 It is interesting that Oda obviously did not know, or at least

5
Papinot 1973: 106; in appendix XII. “Table of the Buddhist Sects” (p. 825) Papinot
refers to six main temples (honzan 本山 ) of the Fuke-sh¨ the founder of which should
have been RØan.
6
Eliot 1935: 285; Matsunaga 1993: 261. This “myth” is repeated in German handbooks
and dictionaries – and certainly in those of other languages which I have not checked:
see Dumoulin 1986: 27; Schneider 1986: 114; von Brück 1998: 259. So one may wonder
what John Jorgensen (1991: 392), in his review of the English translation of Dumoulin’s
quoted book, means: “I would have liked to have seen more on the Fuke-sh¨, and not
just a few lines, …”: more myth or a deconstruction of it?
7
Oda 1917: 1516b, entry Fuke-sh¨: “These are the komusØ; the southern MyØan-ji with
the Great Buddha in Kyoto is their main temple; (Bodhi)dharma and the Zen master
Fuke from the Tang period are its patriarchs; because they copy the art of striking the
Deeg: Komusº and “Shakuhachi-Zen” 11

did not use, the main source by which the Fuke-sh¨ legitimized its authenticity as a
Zen denomination, the Kyotaku-denki 虚鐸傳記 a text which will be discussed below
and which refers to folk tradition (yo ni iu 世に言ふ).
In the popular terminological dictionary of Nakamura Hajime (1981: 1179c)
we only find the short remark: “Name of the founder of the sect (sh¨zo) of the
Fuke-sh¨.” Here the term Fuke-sh¨ is not explained at all, thus suggesting that
Puhua / Fuke had indeed been the patriarch of the denomination called after him.
Checking the entry komusØ in the same dictionary one reads: “[They] are also
called Komo-sØ 薦僧 or Fuke-sØ. Name of the monks of the Fuke-sh¨. They do
not wear monastic garbs, put put on a kesa 袈裟 and a hØben-bukuro 方便嚢, beg
for money by playing the shakuhachi and, as a religious practice, roam the whole
country. Their name is derived from the conception that the world is vain illusion
and has no substance and that the mind has to be emptied.” (Nakamura 1981: 351c)
In the BukkyØ-daijiten 佛教大辭典, edited by Mochizuki ShinkØ 望月信亨, the
lemma “Fuke-sh¨” gives an exact reproduction of the Fuke legend discussed below
(Mochizuki 1932-1964 [vol. 5]: 4400a ff.). The main source for the legend of the
transmission of the Fuke tradition to Japan through Kakushin is recognisably
taken from the Denki which is listed in the bibliography between other Chinese
and Japanese historiographical material of Zen or local origin.
In the light of the Japanese standard dictionary of Buddhism lacking a ‘critical-
historical’ view of the Fuke-sh¨ – and the repetition of this uncritical attitude
to the sources in the few Japanese articles on the subject published in scholarly
journals which I have been able to find8 – it is not surprising that the history of

bell of Zen master Fuke and roam the townships playing the shakuhachi they are called
Fuke-sh¨. According to a folk tradition once the wind had entered the bamboo stick
of the Zen master Fuke and had evoked a sound when he was on his way so that he
suddenly attained enlightenment and performed Buddhist rites by using the flute. At
the beginning of the era KenchØ the Japanese founder of the KØkoku-ji in Yura, (in the
province) Kish¨ (Wakayama), HottØ Kokushi Kakushin, went to Song-China, heard of
the practice of the Zen master Fuke, experienced great enlightenment and transmitted
the tradition after his return to Japan. A more detailled examination of the monks’
biographies and the Zen-historiographies (reveals) that although Fuke strikes the bell
he never blows a flute; but even if one checks the biographies of HottØ Kokushi there
is no report on his roaming by playing the flute – a fact which should raise some doubt.
In the ‘Tomeisho-zukai-sh¨i’ 都名所圖會拾遺 (‘Collection of Pictures of Famous Places
in the Capital’), section 4, we read: The grave of Fuke is located in the second town
district to the south of the Imperial Gate and the legend reports that it is there where
the patriarch of the komusØ, Fuke RyØan 良庵 , is enterred. In former times this was a
bamboo grove where the komusØ of the capital and from the countryside fought with
each other and cut bamboo to make their shakuhachis but now (this grove) is deserted.
Originally master Fuke has been a foreigner and it may well be that the mentioned
RyØan was mainly attracted by the practice of this school because he liked the
shakuhachi and roamed the country and that people therefore called him the Japanese
Fuke (wachØ-fuke 和朝普化 ).”
8
See KØchi (1958) and Shibata (1976 and 1979).
12 Japanese Religions 32 (1 & 2)

the denomination as it is constructed by the main schools of the shakuhachi, the

Kinko-ry¨ 琴古流 and the Tozan-ry¨ 都山流, and also the minor MyØan-kyØkai 明
暗教会 (founded in 1890 and seen as having received the legacy of the Fuke-sh¨),
reflect a similar and rather naïve picture. The main focus in these publications
is on the historical development of the instrument and the history of the Fuke-
sh¨ and its connection with Zen practice all of which is presented in a rather
unquestioning and traditional way. It is, however, also the case that one of the
most comprehensive historical studies originates from exactly these circles: the
Shakuhachi no rekishi, “History of Shakuhachi,” whose author, Ueno Katami,9 is the
head of the Tozan-ry¨’s headquarter in Tokyo. This book contains a quite detailed
chapter on the komusØ and the Fuke-sh¨.10

4. Shakuhachi – the instrument

The shakuhachi is made of the root- or bottom-piece of the madake 真竹,
the so-called “real bamboo,” which differs from the vulgar kinds of bamboo as a
consequence of its harder and wood-like quality and its stronger and thicker side.
The name of the instrument is derived from its normative measure or length: one
Sino-Japanese foot, isshaku 一尺, and eight (hachi 八) Sino-Japanese inches (sun 寸
– hassun 八寸). The specific feature of the flute is that the diameter is relatively large
compared with its length and that the five fingering holes – one being positioned on
the underside of the instrument – are also relatively wide, thus allowing the player
to modify the tone through different techniques of fingering and covering. The
sound is produced by blowing against a labium consisting of horn or bone. The
flutist has to cover almost the complete opening of the cane with parts of his chin
below the lower lip. The basic tone – all fingering holes covered – of the standard
length (isshaku-hassun 一尺八寸) is the small re, the basic scale being a pentatonic one.
The amazing flexibility of intermediate tones is achieved by techniques of varying
the distance between upper lip and mouth-piece – called utaguchi 歌口, the “chant-
mouth” – and thus changing the angle of embouchure. Another tone-modulating
device is the different grade of covering the fingering holes.
In contrast to modern instruments which consist of two pieces, the shakuhachi
of the komusØ of the Tokugawa period, the so-called Fuke-shakuhachi, are made from
one piece of bamboo, and are not as elaborate as the professional instruments from
the late Tokugawa period on.
The oldest examples in Japan are five shakuhachi made of stone or jade from
the seventh century, four of which came as presents of the king of the Korean
kingdom of Paekche 百濟; these instruments are now stored in the treasure-

9
Ueno 2002: 176-262. See also the entry Fuke-sh¨ in the Japanese wikipedia: http://
ja.wikipedia.org/wiki (accessed 30/10/06).
10
For a similar presentation see Gutzwiller 1974 and, as a very short overview, Gutzwiller
1996.
Deeg: Komusº and “Shakuhachi-Zen” 13

house of the ShØsØ-in 正倉院 in Nara 奈良. This early type had six fingering holes
instead of the five holes of the later flutes and was used in Japanese court music,
gagaku 雅楽, of the Heian period 平安時代 (794-1185).
In modern China, the instrument which corresponds to the Japanese
shakuhachi11 is called dongxiao 洞簫, but in the province Fujian 福建 it is still
called the “Southern shakuhachi,” nan-chiba 南尺八.12 In Medieval Japan a similar
instrument was used which was called hitoyogiri 一節切, literally meaning: “cut
from a one-knotted (piece of bamboo).” Later on, the Japanese seem to have used
the names hitoyogiri and shakuhachi 13 alternatively for different types of flutes.

5. Komo-sØ and related issues

It is exactly the hitoyogiri which was used by a class of mendicants in the late
medieval period who seem to be the predecessors of the later komusØ. These were
the so-called “straw-mat monks,” the komo-sØ 薦僧, who got their name from the
straw mats (komo 薦) which they wore as protection against the weather. In the
history of Medieval Japanese religion, they belong to a non-institutionalized class
of mendicant “saints” called hijiri 聖. They roamed the country, did not belong
to any of the official Buddhist denominations and their teachings and practices
were a hodgepodge of different religious traditions. According to the orthodox
Japanese view they were neither clerics nor laypeople but hansØ-hanzoku 半僧半俗,

11
It is an interesting side-line of the modern re-mythologisation of the shakuhachi that
Chinese circles playing the dongxiao are obviously starting to “respiritualize” their
instrument by referring to the Japanese Fuke-sh¨ tradition; see: http://www.wenhuacn.
com/guoyue/article.asp?classid=60&articleid=4436, http://www.wenhuacn.com/
guoyue/article.asp?classid=60&articleid=4438, http://www.huain.com/music_zhuanti/
news_read.php?no=566, http://www.huain.com/music_zhuanti/news_read.php?no=567,
http://donsiao.net/BIN_ANG/binan.htm (accessed 30/10/06).
12
For a description of the nan-chiba see Zhao 1992: 116b. The instruments have
approximately the same length as a shakuhachi but have six fingering holes and are
endowed with a V-shaped mouth-piece. Beside these minor differences the Chinese
flutes are cut from the same segment of the bamboo plant as the shakuhachi, namely
the root piece with the first seven knots (shakuhachi) or the first ten knots (dongxiao). In
the history of the Tang, in the Jiu-Tangshu 舊唐書 , the term shakuhachi, Chin. chiba, is
used for the first time in Chinese literature but it is used in a completely secular context
and without any religious connotation. Morohashi (1955-60: vol. 4, 129, no. 7632.77),
remarks that the chiba / shakuhachi was already used in the Tang 唐 period (618-906)
in Buddhist monasteries; but as no original Chinese sources are given but only late
Japanese texts this may have been deducted from the Japanese legend of the Fuke-sh¨.
The oldest reference to the chiba in a Chinese piece of literature is found in the novel
Youxianku 游仙窟 , “Travelling to the grotto of the immortals,” by the Tang author
Zhang Zu 張鷟 , alias Zhang Wencheng 文成 (c. 651-721): ”Wusao played the harp and a
boy played the chiba.”; cf. Luo 1990: vol. 4, 5b.
13
For the obscure history of the instrument see: Ueno 2002: 11-175.
14 Japanese Religions 32 (1 & 2)

“half-monk, half-layman,” uhatsu 有髪, “having hairs [i.e.: without the tonsure of a
monk];” in contemporary literature they are frequently called ubosaku 憂婆賽 (Skt.
upåsaka), “laypeople.” (Nakamura 1981: 92d)
From the early Kamakura period 鎌倉 (1185-1382) on, these mendicants
appear under different names such as boroboro – written with Chinese characters as
暮露々々 , literally: “dew of dawn.” This name is, as a reduplication, an allegro form
of the word boro 襤褸, “rags,” indicating the pejorative nature of the term. The
oldest occurrence is found in the Tsurezure-gusa 徒然草 by Yoshida KenkØ 吉田兼好
(ca. 1330 / 31). In the section called Shukugawara 宿河原 it is stated:
It seems to be that boroboro ぼろぼろ monks did not exist in former times; ... (it
may be that the monks Boronji ぼろむじ, Bonji 梵字 and Kanji 漢字 were the
first of them). These monks are stubborn although they have abandoned the
world and they fight constantly, even if they appear to strive for the path of the
Buddha. They are without any self-restriction and break their vows shamelessly,
but they take death lightly and do not engulf in vain deploration. – This I have
recorded as people have told me.14

There is not yet any connection of the boroboro with the bamboo flute, it is in the
commentary of the Tsurezure-gusa, the Tsurezure-gusa-nozuchi 徒然草野槌, the
“Hammer of the Tsurezure-gusa,” (section JØ-no-hachi 上之八), written in 1621
by the Confucian scholar and advisor of the first Tokugawa-shØgun Ieyasu 家康,
Hayashi DØshun Razan 林道春羅山 (1583-1657), that we find a clear identification
of boroboro with komo-sØ and a description of these mendicant monks which reflects
the general idea of the later komusØ:
These [i.e.: the boro-boro] were later on called komo-sØ; they did neither look like
monks nor like laypeople. They wore a sword (katana), blew the shakuhachi, had

14
Tsurezure-gusa 115, after Sanari 1952: 237; see also the translation by Keene 1981:
98 f. In the context of an identification of the boroboro with the later komusØ but also
considering the question of the religious orientation of these mendicants the precedent
passage of the Tsurezure-gusa is of some importance (after Sanari 1952: 236f.): “At a
place called Shukugawara many boroboro-monks had come together and they prayed
the nenbutusu of nine stages (kuhon no nenbutsu 九品の念仏 ) when suddenly an(other)
boroboro-monks entered and asked (the others): “Hey! Is someone of you called Irooshi-
bØ いろおし坊 ?” One of them answered: “Yes, that is right. Who are you?” – “My
name is Shirabonji しら梵字 . I have heard that my master so-and-so has been killed by
a boroboro-monk called Irooshi in the Eastern Provinces and therefore I ask (you). I
would like to meet him to take revenge.” Irooshi answered: “You have come to the right
place. It is true what has been reported to you. But if we fight here we would implicate
this holy place. Should we not go down to the river-bed before the temple and finish
our matter? And you, my friends, I ask you not to help any of us! The holy ceremonies
would be disturbed if there is a too big turmoil here.” After this had been arranged like
this they went to the dried-out river-bed, took position facing each other, pierced each
as they wanted to until they both fell to the ground and were dead.” Note that Keene
1981: 98, translates boroboro with “mendicant priest.”
Deeg: Komusº and “Shakuhachi-Zen” 15

a straw mat on their back, wandered in the streets, stood in front of people’s
doors and begged. It is said that they belonged to the school of the boroboro.15

The name komo-sØ first occurs in a poem in the anthology Sanj¨niban-shokunin-

utaawase 三十二番職人歌合, “Collection of poems (or: songs) from thirty-two
professions” – compiled at the end of the Muromachi 室町 period (1333-1573)
before 1539 – bearing the title KomosØ:
(uta 歌:) Inmidst of the spring flowers – who should be disturbed by the blowing?
It is not the wind but the shakuhachi of the komo こも.16
(kotobagaki 詞書:) The samådhi of the komo-sØ 17 consists of putting a paper-cape
around his shoulder,18 hanging a rice bowl19 at his hip going in front of the doors
of the rich and the poor and playing the shakuhachi – they are of no other use. 20

In the title of this poem the name of the monk is written as komØ-sØ 虚妄僧,
literally meaning: “monk of voidness and idleness” connotating at the same time
the meaning of “monk of lies, of betrayal.” The poem and the commentary show
that the kind of mendicant described was not very highly respected or was at least
regarded in an ambivalent way as were the other types of hijiri.
What can be derived from these sources is that there were, from the 14th
century on, religious mendicants who where known under different names; some
of them obviously had the special sign of playing a bamboo flute. It has to be
emphasized, however, that there is no connection to a Zen denomination and
that the name Fuke is not used. The quoted passage from the Tsurezure-gusa
demonstrates that the boroboro practiced the nenbutsu of nine stages (kuhon no
nenbutsu 九品の念佛),21 connotating the invocation of the Buddha Amida(-butsu) 阿
彌陀佛. These mendicants seem to have placed themselves, or have been placed,
in the context of Pure-Land Buddhism ( jØdo 浄土) and not in connection with
Zen. This religious type was obviously a special kind of hijiri.22 Like the hijiri,

15
Translated after Ueno 2002: 185.
16
Translated after Ueno 2002: 184. See also Blasdel and Kamisango 1988: 82.
17
Here sanmai 三 昧 is certainly used in a ambivalent and ironic way: the state of
meditative concentration is interpreted as a superficial outer phenomenon of the “three
obscurations (ignorance)” of the paper cape and of playing the shakuhachi.
18
Capes made of lacquered paper used by the mountain ascetics, the yamabushi 山武士 ,
which were also called ma-gesa 真袈裟 , “real kesa” (ºno 1982: 329a).
19
Ments¨ or mentsu 面桶 : bowls made of cypress (hinoki) or ceder (sugi) wood, having
an elliptic form and being used for one portion of food (men) (ºno 1982: 1272a, who
quotes a passage from DØgen’s 道元 ShØbØ-genzØ 正法眼蔵 in which the term occurs);
see also TØdØ 1978: 1459b.
20
Translated after Ueno 2002: 184.
21
According to the Guan-wuliangshou-jing / Kan-muryØju-kyØ 觀無量壽經 , there are nine
forms of birth into the Pure Land and accordingly nine stages of nenbutsu (Nakamura
1981: 1157a).
22
In the peotic anthology Shichij¨ichi-ban-shokunin-utaawase 七十一番職人歌合 (MeiØ-
shokunin-utaawase 明應職人歌合 ), compiled between 1492 and 1501, poem no. 46 refers
16 Japanese Religions 32 (1 & 2)

the boroboro did not belong to a specific monastic institution and spent their lives
begging for alms (takuhatsu 托鉢); the later komo-sØ used the flute as a kind of
signal instrument for begging, but also for identifying themselves as members
of the same group. This kind of identification is also found in the case of the
yamabushi 山武士 of Sh¨gendØ 修験道 who recognised each others by ritualized
dialogues, mondØ 問答,23 and this custom is designated in the same way for the
komusØ of the late Tokugawa period.
It is not clear from the sources when the “zenized” term komusØ, “monk
of voidness (ko or kyo) and nothingness (mu)” replaced the older komo-sØ. A still
somewhat polemical transitional form is found in Miura JØshin’s 三 浦 浄 心
(1564-1644) KeichØ-kenbun-sh¨ 慶長見聞集, “Collection of (Things) Observed and
Heard from the Era KeichØ” (ca. 1614), where he speaks of komusØ 古無僧, literally
meaning: “old (monk who) is no monk.” (Ueno 2002: 191) The earliest evidence of
the form komusØ seems to be in the Keichiku-shoshin-sh¨ 糸竹初心集, “Anthology
for beginners of string instrument and bamboo (flutes),” by Nakamura SØsan 中
村宗三, published in 1664.24 Up to the beginning of the 18th century, however, the
komusØ were not directly connected with any Zen denomination and were still
considered to be boro – as can be seen in the Wakan-shinsen-kagaku-sh¨ 和漢新撰下
學集 (1714) – without mentioning the instrument shakuhachi –: “In the east of Japan
the boro 暮露 are called komusØ.”25

to “horse saints,” uma-hijiri うまひじり / 馬聖 in connection with the boroboro: “The moon
of the dharma dwells broadly and calmly above Musashino 武蔵野 – o, the grass bed of
the boro who has risen (from it)! The heart of the boro – the radiance of the dharma at the
origin of the moon should, alas, be spread. Being awaken without faith – o do not forsake
the world! Even the ‚horse-ascetic’ with his heart always returning – this should be well
known – does not utter such a sound.” (Translated after Ueno 2002: 187 f.)
23
Hartmut O. Rotermund in: Hammitzsch 1984: 1547.
24
“The shakuhachi of the komusØ is cut to one shaku and eight sun: that is how it got its
name. Its origin is not clear. Even if it is now (sonokami そのかみ ) said that HottØ of Yura
is the ancestor of this Way this cannot be proved. It is said that (the shakuhachi) had
been used by members of the boroboro from ancient times on. They were called bonji 梵
士 , kanshi 漢士 , irooshi 色おし , shirabonji しら梵士 , and it is said that they practiced the
shakuhachi.” (Translated after Ueno 2002: [151 and] 182) In the YØsh¨-fushi 雍州志 (see
next note) the komusØ were connected with Roan; see Kurihara 1918: 110.
25
See Ueno 2002: 187. In the YØsh¨-fushi 雍州志 of Kurokawa DØyu 黑川道祐 (1686, JØkyØ
貞享 3) komo-sØ is the category and boroboro refers to a specific type: “In medieval times
there where some called boroboro. They also belonged to the komo-sØ.” (Ueno 2002: 152;
translated from p.187) This quotation shows that, at least at the end of the 17th century,
the komusØ were not really known as a specific group of their own right.
Deeg: Komusº and “Shakuhachi-Zen” 17

6. The Kyotaku-denki (kokuji-kai) and the Fuke-sh¨:

the construction of a legitimation
The special feature of the Fuke-sh¨ as a Zen denomination is not only the
fact that an instrument, that is sound and music, stands in the very center of
its religious and meditative practice, but that the establishing of this group in
the religious context of late medieval Japan of the Edo period was constructed
deliberately by means of a “fake” line of tradition that traced its origin to early
Chinese Chan circles of the Tang period. 26 The compilers of the respective
texts used the usual self-legitimating and historiographical patterns which were
already used by earlier Japanese denominations, namely, the (re)construction of a
transmission line from master to student (or from student to master) followed by
a link of some sort to a famous Chinese master or monk through whom the line
was further connected to the Indian patriarchs of Buddhism until it reached the
Buddha, Buddha Íåkyamuni. This scheme, which was followed by most of the
Japanese denominations, was also closely followed by the “makers” of the history
of the Fuke-sh¨.
The only source for the foundation legend of the Fuke-sh¨ is the Kyotaku-
denki 虚鐸傳記, “Traditional report of the ‘Empty Bell’” (subsequently abridged as
Denki), a treatise from the end of the 18th century said to have been composed in
classical Chinese (kanbun 漢文) by a certain Ton’Ø 遁翁. It is completely unknown
from other sources and dates to the period Kan’ei 寛永 (1624-1629). It was
transmitted in the noble family (ch¨nagon 中納言) Aya 阿野27 and compiled in its
existing form between 1765 and 1770.28 The earliest extent redaction of the Denki
is from the year 1781 (Tenmei-gennen 天明元年),29 the Kyotaku-denki-gokuji-kai
虚鐸傳記国字解, “Explanations to the Kyotaku-denki in National Characters (i.e.:
Japanese),”30 which is attributed to a certain Yamamoto Morihide 山本守秀.
The transmission line of the dharma at the beginning of the Denki is completely
in agreement with the mainstream Zen tradition, it lists the patriarchs in a

26
Sanford (1977: 412) writes: “In spite of its widespread acceptance, this picture of the
komusØ as an ancient sect of Zen Buddhism with roots in China and a long subsequent
history in Japan is in reality almost wholly false.”
27
Court nobles (kuge 公家 ) claiming as their ancestor Fujiwara SanjØ Kinnori (1103-1160).
28
Cf. Ueno 2002: 182, note 1. Sanford (1977: 416, note 21) mentions a tradition according
to which the author should be the shakuhachi-player and komusØ Muf¨ 無風 , a disciple
of Ton’Ø 遁翁 ; another tradition gives his teacher about whom nothing is known from
other sources. The text is printed in Kojiruien 古事類苑 , Sh¨kyØbu 1 宗教部一 , Tokyo
1901 (Meiji 34) (quoted subsequently as: Ruien), 1130 ff., and in Kurihara 1918: 94 ff. It
is my pleasure to thank Dr. Funayama TØru 船山徹 , Kyoto University, for sending me
copies of these texts which were not accessible in Germany and Austria when I wrote
the bulk of this article.
29
Sanford 1977: 416, note 21, gives 1779.
30
See Sanford 1977: 416, note 21.
18 Japanese Religions 32 (1 & 2)

continuous line from the Buddha to the alleged founder of the denomination, that
is, in this case: Shejiamouni-fo / Shakamuni-butsu 釋迦牟尼佛 / Íåkyamuni Buddha
to Mohejiashe / Makakasha 摩訶迦葉 / Mahåkåßyapa and A’nan 阿難 / Ónanda to
Shangnahexiu / ShØnawashu 商那和修 / Íaˆa(ka)våßa, Youpojuduo / Ubagutta 憂
婆毬多/ Upagupta, etc., including Maming / MemyØ 馬鳴 / AßvaghoΣa (no. 13),
Longshu / Ry¨ju 龍樹 / Någårjuna (no. 15), Poxiupantou / Bashuhanzu 婆修盤頭 /
Vasubandhu (no. 22), up to the first Chinese patriarch Putidamo / Bodaidatsuma 菩
提達磨 / Bodhidharma (no. 29) and then the Chinese patriarchs Huike Dashi / Eka
Daishi 慧可大師 (no. 30), Huineng Dajian / E’nØ Daikan 慧能大鑒 (no. 34), Nanyue
(Huairang) / Nangaku (EjØ) 南嶽(懷讓) (no. 35), Mazu (Daoyi) / Baso (DØitsu) 馬祖
(道一) (no. 36), Panshan (Baoji) / Banzan (HØshaku) 盤山(寶積) (no. 37) to Puhua /
Fuke 普化 as the thirty-eighth patriarch.31
The “traditional” line ends with the Chinese Zen-monk Puhua, Jap. Fuke,
who is not found as a patriarch in any other Zen source. The Denki, however,
develops its own individual transmission line:
Ton’Ø says: Fuke Zenshi lived in the Tang-(period) as a successor in the
teaching of Íåkya in the 38th generation. In his days he was a great sage and he
practised crazed idleness in Chinsh¨ / Zhenzhou 鎮州,32 beat the bell in the city
and always told people: ‘If there comes a bright head I beat the bright head; if
there comes a dark head I beat the dark head; if all the four directions and all
the eight sides come I beat like a whirlwind; if the void comes I beat with the
pestle.’ One day a (certain) ChØ Haku / Zhang Bo 張伯 of the district Ka’nan /
Henan 河南 heard these words and he very much longed for the great virtue
of the Zen-master. He asked him (to be allowed) to follow him (but) the Zen-
master did not allow it. As ChØ Haku liked the (bamboo-)can he immediately
cut a measured (bamboo-)can after he had heard the sound of the Zen-master’s
bell; he constantly played the sound (of the bell) and did not dare to play
another melody. (Thus) he imitated the sound of the bell (by using a bamboo-)
can and that is why (this piece) was called ‘Empty Bell’ (Kyotaku 虛鐸). This
(tradition) was transmitted for sixteen generations in (ChØ Haku’s) family.33

Up to this point, the only figure in the Denki who is also found in authentic Zen-
sources is the alleged founder of the Fuke-sh¨, the Chinese Chan-monk Puhua /
Fuke about whom the Chinese sources only report short episodes. These are not
very significant for the general history of Chinese Chan. According to the sources
he lived in and around the time of the famous patriarch Linji 臨齊 (Jap. Rinzai), who
died in the year 876. Puhua / Fuke’s character is marked by a peculiar eccentricity
and – at least on the outside – by his not accepting the authority of master Linji.34

31
Ruien, 1130. The list is a complete one and is similar to the one found in the Baolin-
zhuan 寶林傳 ; cf. the list in Yampolsky 1967: 8 f.
32
In the translation of the Japanese text I quote the Japanese pronunciation first and then
give the Chinese spelling.
33
Translation after Ruien, 1131.
34
There is an Indian monk called Luomo 羅 摩 (Råma?) who visits the mountain
Deeg: Komusº and “Shakuhachi-Zen” 19

The affiliation of the Fuke-sh¨ with Rinzai-Zen in the Denki is clearly connected
with the Tang-record Linji-lu (Jap. Rinzai-roku 臨濟錄), “Records on Linji”:35
(1.) As follows: Puhua often roamed the streets of the city, beat a bell and said: “If
my common essence [lit.: a bright head] comes I hit my common essence; if
there comes my hidden essence [lit.: a dark head] I beat the hidden essence;36
if all the four directions and all eight sided come I beat like a whirlwind; if
heaven (or: void) comes I beat like a pestle.” Master (Linji) ordered a servant
to approach him who first observed how he acted, kept it in his memory and
said to him as (Linji) had ordered him: “If absolutely nothing comes, what will
you do?” Puhua put (the bell) on his palm and said: “Tomorrow there will be a
vegetarian feast in Dabei-yuan 大悲院.” The servant went back and told it his
master. The master said: “I always mistrusted this fellow.”37

(2.) One day Puhua begged for a monk’s robe from the people in the streets of
the city. They gave it to him but (suddenly) Puhua did not want it (any more).
Master (Linji) gave an order to the prefect of the monastery to buy a coffin.
When Puhua came back the master said: “I ordered a monk’s robe to be made
for you.” But Puhua took (the coffin) on his shoulders and ran around in the
streets of the city and shouted: “Linji has ordered a monk’s robe to be made
for me. I will go to the eastern gate and there I will die.” The citizens of the
city followed him and wanted to watch. Puhua said: “Today I will not (die),
but tomorrow I will go to the eastern gate and will die.” Thus it went for three
days. People did not believe it any more. On the fourth day nobody followed
him to watch, and he went alone in front of the city, entered the coffin and
ordered a passer-by to nail (the cover). Thereupon (news) spread and the
citizens came running to open the coffin. They saw that his complete body had
already disappeared and only heard the sound of the bell vaguely fading away.38

The founding legend of the Fuke-sh¨ and the terminology in the Denki is full of
loans from, and allusions to, this story in the Linji-lu which was very well known in

Wutaishan 五台山 to see Mañjußr¥ and who is also called Puhua in the Dunhuang
manuscript P. 3931 (cf. Schneider 1987).
35
In the Jingde-chuandeng-lu 景德傳燈火錄 (T. 2076.253b.29 f. = T. 2036.612a.29 ff, Fozu-
lidai-tongzai 佛祖歷代統載 ; cf. T. 2077.558a). Puhua is the renitent as a pupil of the
Chan-master Baoji. In the texts Puhua is in a constant fight with Linji questioning his
authority.
36
明頭來，明頭打，暗頭來，暗頭打，… I take this meaning from Iriya 1989: 81, note 4.
37
Translated after Iriya 1989: 157 f. See also the translation by Sanford 1977, Appendix A:
439.
38
Translated after Iriya 1989: 175 f. A short version of these two episodes is found
in the Shishi-qigu-lüe 釋氏稽古略 , a chronologically structured “church history.”
(T. 2037.840b.20 ff ) Additional pieces of information on Puhua are almost absent
but this was, of course, in the sense of the Japanese compilator(s) of the Denki as he
or they could use the narrative “vacuum.” A condensed version of all stories found
in Tang-sources is given in Puhua’s biography in the Song-Gaoseng-zhuan 宋高僧傳
(T. 2061.837b.14ff.).
20 Japanese Religions 32 (1 & 2)

Japan at the end of the 18th century and it is clear that this text was one of the main
sources for the fabrication of the legend.
The Japanese nestor of Zen studies, Yanagida Seizan 柳田聖山 , in his paper
Fuke no f¨kyØ 普化の風狂 , “The craziness of Fuke,” aptly defines the function of
Puhua in the Zen tradition as follows:
If we remove the story of Fuke from the Rinzai-roku the attraction of this text
would probably be reduced by 50%. (Yanagida 1969: 1083)

Puhua / Fuke was the important, if not the only connecting element between
a Japanese form of musical activity of a Japanese Zen denomination and the
flourishing of Chan in the Tang period. In the respective processes, Puhua / Fuke is
eventually separated from his original function: almost ironically, he is transformed
in the Denki from an extreme Zen-fool who has his counter-part, the famous
Zen-excentric Linji / Rinzai, who appears as a lame hare – Yanagida calls this the
“unification of contrasts” (hantai no itchi 反対の一致) – to something which he was
never supposed to be, a Zen-master and patriarch.39 It seems to be important to note
that it is not before the Denki that the name of Puhua / Fuke is mentioned, before
this we only find flute-playing mendicants called komo-sØ or komusØ.
Let us review our observations so far: A superficial analysis of the Japanese
Kyotaku-denki already reveals some inconsistencies in the narrative and its
historical claims:

1. The Chinese monk Puhua, who was never a Zen-master but was rather a
rebel monk loosely connected to Linji. The quest of Zhang Bo / ChØ Haku
to become his lay-disciple is completely external to the Chinese sources and
reflects rather the realities of Japanese Zen of the late 18th century, where
laypeople could indeed be part of monastic life.
2. According to the Denki, it is not Puhua / Fuke but the non-historical layman
ChØ Haku40 who used the bamboo flute and identified it with Puhua’s bell.

39
Cf. Faure (1993: 200) who writes: “... his feigned madness prevents him from becoming
a master and taking a position in the authorized discourse. Because of his reluctance to
accept a patriarchal seat, he strikes us as the ‘true man without rank’ idealized by Linji.”
In note 9 he writes: “However, Puhua himself was not without spiritual posterity: he
was later ‘tamed’ by the Zen tradition, which promoted him as the ‘founder’ of the Fuke
(Ch. Puhua) school, a relatively obscure school introduced to Japan by the flute player
Kakua and Muhon Kakushin (...)” Although he quotes Sanford’s work which is critical
in this point, Faure seems to suppose that the tradition about Kakushin and the Fuke-
sh¨ is not without substance. It was Puhua’s “crazy Zen” image which recommended
him to Zenist circles in America during the sixties and early seventies, so that he
eventually became mentioned under his Japanese name Fuke in Jack Kerouac’s novel
The Dharma Bums (originally published in 1958); it was, however, still some time to go
until the musical aspect of Fuke was discovered.
40
The first Chinese novel Youxianku 遊仙窟 , “Travels to the caverns of the immortals,”
may have motivated the author of the Denki to choose the Chinese name Zhang /
Deeg: Komusº and “Shakuhachi-Zen” 21

3. The initial shakuhachi-piece, which ChØ Haku imitates rather than composes, and
which is called “Empty Bell” (or “Bell of the Void”), Kyotaku 虛鐸 and Kyorei 虚
鈴 respectively, has no direct connection with the episodes of Fuke / Puhua which
the Denki takes from other Zen-sources. Thus the connection between void and
bell is a constructed one. Indeed, a certain amount of imagination is necessary to
establish a connection between a bell and a bamboo flute.

The Denki attributes the honour of having brought the art of meditation with
the bamboo flute to Japan to HottØ Kokushi Shinchi Kakushin 法燈國師心地
覺心 (1207-1298).41 This figure is, as in the case of Puhua / Fuke, selected quite
deliberately. Kakushin is well-known for his various interests; he combined esoteric
Shingon 真言 and Zen and he spent some time between 1249 and 1254 in Song-
China where he practiced Zen under the famous master Wumen Huikai 無門慧
開, Jap. Mumon Ekai (1183-1260), who was the compiler of the gong’an / kØan-
collection 公案 Wumen-guan / Mumon-kan 無門關, “Gateless Passage.” Kakushin is
considered to be the patriarch and founder of the Rinzai sub-denomination HottØ
法燈 which made him a candidate for the construction of a personal connection
between Fuke-sh¨ and Rinzai-sh¨. In Kakushin’s own writing, however, there is no
evidence of either the events or the personal connections postulated in the Denki.42
The line of transmission perpetuated in the Denki, from the layman ChØ
Haku up to the Song period when Kakushin studied in China, consists of a
tradition of laypeople from the family ChØ / Zhang: 1. ChØ Haku / *43Zhang Bo 張
伯, 2. ChØ Kin / *Zhang Jin 張金, 3. ChØ Atsu / * Zhang Ya 張軋 (?),44 4. ChØ Ken /
*Zhang Quan 張權, 5. ChØ Tei / *Zhang Ting 張亭, 6. ChØ RyØ / Zhang Ling 張
陵, 7. ChØ Ch¨ / Zhang Chong 張沖, 8. ChØ Gen / *Zhang Xuan 張玄, 9. ChØ Shi
/ *Zhang Si 張思, 10. ChØ An / *Zhang An 張安, 11. ChØ Kon / *Zhang Kan 張
堪, 12. ChØ Ren / *Zhang Lian 張廉, 13. ChØ ShØ / *Zhang Zhang 張章, 14. ChØ
Y¨ / *Zhang You 張雄. It is remarkable that there is a gap in this line between
generation 14, ChØ Y¨ / *Zhang Zou and generation 16, ChØ San / *Zhang Can 張
參, the latter being important for what is to follow in the Denki.

ChØ for his protagonist because it is in this piece of literature that we seem to find the
oldest occurrence of the term chiba / shakuhachi. Both the author and the hero in the
Chinese novel bear the name Zhang, and the Youxianku was well-read in Japan. On the
Youxianku see Wang 1948: 153 f; Egan 1976: 136; Nienhauser 1987: 209, entry Chang
Cho; English translation Levy 1965: 75 ff. It may well be that the famous explorer of
the Western Regions of the Former Han period, Zhang Qian 張騫 , may have had an
influence on the decision to pick up the surname Zhang / ChØ (Levy 1965: 19).
41
A discussion of Kakushin’s role as the transmitter of the Fuke-practice to Japan, the
conflicting source of the transmission through the four Chinese householders (koji 居
士 ) HØfu 寶伏 , SØdo 僧恕 , Kokusa 國作 , RijØ 理生 – rather unusual names in a Chinese
context – in another source, the Fukesh¨-mon 普化宗門 , see KØchi (1958), who too
positivistically takes the sources as completely objective historical evidence.
42
Yampolsky 1993-1994; Ueno 2002: 179 f.
43
The asterisk (*) indicates that these names are not documented in Chinese.
44
I have not been able to find the character given in the Ruien: 車 + 己 .
22 Japanese Religions 32 (1 & 2)

Having reached the Song period through this constructed line of succession,
the Denki now reports a meeting between Kakushin and ChØ San; Kakushin had
allegedly moved to the monastery Lingdong-Huguo-si / ReitØ-Gokoku-ji 靈洞護
國寺 in Shuzhou / Josh¨ 舒州 to practice Zen; the name of Kakushin is written as
Gakushin 學心:

The monk monk Gakushin from our country travelled there in order to study
and (they) learnt and recited (s¨tras) together. (Gakushin) befriended (ChØ) San
(y¨zen 友善: Skt. kalyåˆamitra). Once, while they were having a conversation,
they talked about who first transmitted the (piece) Kyotaku (“Void Bell”) and
the existence of the melody to this day. (ChØ San) tuned (his instrument) and
played (the melody). As soon as he began to play (it was like) entering in a
mystery (myØ 妙). Gakushin sat reverently on his knees (kiza 跪坐) and said:
“How strange! How wonderful (myØ 妙)! One never has heard such a pure tune,
such a wonderful melody, amazing and touching the heart (kawai 可愛), from
any (bamboo) cane. I beg you45 to teach me the melody so that I can transfer
this wonderful sound to Japan.” Thereupon (ChØ San) played this melody
again for Gakushin, taught it to him, and Gakushin learnt it. One day, when
(Gakushin’s) Zen had matured, and after he had mastered the melody, he bid
ChØ San farewell, … and he returned to his home country by ship.46

As a connection between the transmission line of the Chinese Chan denomination

of Linji / Rinzai47 and a Japanese denomination tracing its origins back to Puhua
/ Fuke, Kakushin is a cleverly chosen membrum coniunctum. In Kakushin’s
biography there are at least two points which qualified him as a patriarch for the
Fuke-sh¨ and its mendicants: on the one hand he had a connection to the so-called
KayadØ-hijiri 萱堂聖, “reed-hall saints,” a group practising the nenbutsu. On the
other hand, there is the legend that Kakushin had sent a disciple, after having
given him his own name, to KØya-san 高野山, the center of Shingon 真言, to recite
the nenbutsu while using drums and bells. When the monks of KØya-san sought
to prevent these activities, the drums and bells suddenly flew through the air,
resounding.48 The motive for the connection of Kakushin and the Fuke may have
been, despite the differences in terms of context, the formal similarity of both
narratives with the Fuke legend.

45
It is strange that a fully ordained monk addresses the layman by the honorific
expression fuse 伏 ; in the twisted logic of the narrative and intentional logic of the
Denki, however, where the layman ChØ has to be the master of the monk Kakushin /
Gakushin, this wording is rather essential.
46
Translated after Ruien, 1131.
47
See the tables in Dumoulin 1986: 359 and 361.
48
Yampolsky 1993-1994: 252 f; the story is found in: Hijiri shireki 非事吏事歴 , Shintei zØho
shiseki sh¨ran 新定増補史籍集覧 32, Kyoto 1968, 387-390. One of the new conventions
introduced by Kyomu was a kind of deep-rimed hat which later was called tengai but is
called kaya-maru-gasa 萱圓笠 , “round reed hat,” in the Denki.
Deeg: Komusº and “Shakuhachi-Zen” 23

Subsequently the Denki narrates that Kakushin, after he had founded the
monastery SaihØ-ji 西法寺 in Wakayama 和歌山 (Kish¨ 紀州), accepted a disciple
called Kichiku 奇竹, literally “Mysterious bamboo,” whom he taught the shakuhachi-
piece Kyotaku, “Empty Bell,” and thus founded the transmission line of Fuke in
Japan. It is this Kichiku49 who is considered to be the real first patriarch (sh¨so 宗祖)
of the Fuke-sh¨. It is said that in a dream he had had two shakuhachi pieces revealed
to him which were, in this way, legitimated as authentic Fuke melodies.
The transmission line construed by the Denki then goes from Kichiku to
Ton’Ø is: 1. Kichiku 奇竹, 2. Jinsai 塵哉, 3. Gihaku 儀伯, 4. Rinmei 臨明, 5. Kyof¨
虚風,50 6. Kyomu 虚無, 7. GidØ 儀道, 8. JidØ 自道, 9. KashØ 可笑, 10. K¨rai 空來,
11. Jik¨ 自空, 12. Ech¨ 恵中, 13. Ichimoku 一黙, 14. FumyØ 普明, 15. Chirai 知來, 16.
Ton’Ø, (17. Muf¨ 無風51). The pattern of this transmission line seems to reflect the
sixteen generations of the Chinese line of the ChØ / Zhang family.
For the origin of the term komusØ and for some of the paraphernalia of the
Edo-period monks, the Denki presents an aetiological legend: the sixth patriarch
Kyomu 虚無 is said to have been the name-patron of the monks who, originally,
should have been the noble Kusunoki Masakatsu 楠正勝. With this figure the
Denki introduces the only historical personality from Japanese history besides
Kakushin in the entire text. In the year 1399 Kusunoki Masakatsu, together with
ºuchi Yoshihiro 大内義弘 (1355-1400), revolted against the third Ashikaga (足利)
shØgun Yoshimitsu 義滿 (1358-1408) (Papinot 1973: 335); they were both defeated
and all trace of them was lost in the mists of history. In this way, Kusunoki was
available for the role of the first bushi- and rØnin-komusØ and this was not a bad
choice for the author of the Denki. He was, after all, writing in a period in which
the Tokugawa shØguns still had relative control over the country. The author of
the Denki may have intended to please the regime with his choice: like Masakatsu,
many members of the Kusunoki clan had been opponents of the Ashikaga-bakufu
足利幕府 (1392-1573) which preceded the Tokugawas. It is said in the Denki that
Kyomu introduced the formal signs of monkhood such as the tonsure (taihatsu /
kami-zori 剃髪) and the monastic robe (hØe 法衣), and he is also held responsible
for the convention of covering the face by use of the tengai – a practice which is,
however, not found until the middle of the 18th century – nor the specific dharma-

49
Shibata 1976: 67 f, refers to a memorial stone at the “grave” of Kichiku – written as
Kyochiku 虛竹 in the quoted text – in Uji from the year 1843 (TenpØ 14) as an external
source but this is, of course, a source which has been produced after the production
of the Denki and, by the name variant Kyochiku, even may reflect some concurring
tradition or uncertainty about this patriarch at that very time.
50
The text of the Ruien (1132) drops no.3. and no. 4. but the text in Kurihara (1918: 100)
has the complete transmission line.
51
Muf¨ cannot be considered as a generation of his own in the transmission line as the
text points out that there was a kind of heterodoxy at that time – see Ruien, 1132: “I have
transmitted this (tradition) to Muf¨. Muf¨ also learnt from other teachers and made
(or: played) an infinitive number of melodies.”
24 Japanese Religions 32 (1 & 2)

rules, hotto 法度, for funerals of the komusØ. He is also said to have initiated
reference to Puhua / Fuke52 while at the same time originating the term for the
members of the denomination.53

7. Ikky¨ SØjun – a possible but unused membrum coniectum

between Kakushin and the komusØ?
The Denki, having constructed a narrative of the introduction of the “old”
tradition of Puhua / Fuke into Japan by the patriarch Kakushin, was also to
attempt to fill in the gaps between Kamakura-Japan of the 13th century and the 17th
century; the time of the first presence of organized komusØ which did not develop
in shakuhachi circles before the Meiji period and not until after the abolishment of
the Fuke-sh¨. There must have been Zen-adherents playing the shakuhachi, and
there was indeed one paradigmatic figure: Ikky¨ SØjun 一休宗純 (1394-1481), an
eccentric Zen monk and “prototype” of a kyØsØ 狂僧, a “mad monk.”54
One of Ikky¨’s poems, “Eulogy on Fuke,” San-Fuke 讚普化, clearly shows that
Ikky¨ highly venerated Fuke – a fact which is not really that astonishing when one
considers the similarity in character:
How could TØzan (Dongshan) 德山 and Rinzai (Linji) socialize with (Fuke)?
The fool in the streets and on the markets frightened people. Many die sitting
or die standing: great defeat! Softly (and) vaguely reverbates the sound of
(Fuke’s) bell.55

Ikky¨’s predilection for the shakuhachi is also well known and can be seen in
various poems as e.g. “Portrait of Ami playing the shakuhachi”56 (Dai-Ton-Ami-

52
Ruien, 1132: “The confused Kyof¨ asked (Kyomu about his outfit): ‘You foolish fellow!
What kind of appearance is this?’ (Kyomu) answered: ‘Once (our) first master, the Zen
master Fuke, roamed towns and markets, hit the bell and pretended to be fool. I humbly
want to imitate (it) …’”
53
Ruien, 1132: “Then Kyomu travelled through the five central provinces (ki 畿 , around
Kyoto) and through the seven districts (dØ 道 ) and played the sound of the Kyotaku
(empty bowl). People asked him: ‘Master, who are you?’ He answered: ‘The monk (sØ)
Kyomu 僧虛無 .’ Thereupon people called his disciples kyomu-sØ and a lot of people
imitated his appearance.”
54
On Ikky¨ and Fuke see Sanford 1981: 146ff.; on Ikky¨ and shakuhachi see Sanford 1981:
147 and 180 f, and Fritsch 1983: 7 ff.
55
No. 126, translated after Ueno 2002: 192; Sanford (1981: 147) translates: “In Praise of
P’u-k’o: Who could walk beside Te-shan and Lin-chi? That old madman from Chen really
startled the crowds. Some die in meditation, some on their feet, but he beat them all. Like
a distant bird call, his bell rang faintly.”
56
According to Sanford (1981: 180), this is the poet Ton’a NikaidØ Sadamune 頓阿二階堂
光貞 (1310-1384); according to Fritsch (1983: 29, note 37), and to (Ueno 2002: 128 f), he
was the disciple of the denraku 田楽 master ZØa(mi) 噌阿 ( 彌 ). Beside the court-music
(gagaku) denraku was a popular form of music practiced from the Kamakura period
onwards whereby flutes, shakuhachis, were used, too.
Deeg: Komusº and “Shakuhachi-Zen” 25

suishakuhachi-zØ 題純阿彌吹尺八像) in the anthology “Collection of the Crazy

Cloud,” KyØun-sh¨ 狂雲集:
The play of the shakuhachi (even) evokes feeling in ghosts. As a wanderer
between heaven and earth (I am) again without companion (tagui 倫). In all
things there is only this melody – the man steps out of the painting into the
flute from the mulberry-island.57

As Ikky¨ is officially recognized as belonging to the Rinzai tradition, and as

he roamed the country like the komusØ, he was the ideal missing link between
Kakushin, whose Zen affiliation was more connected with the SØtØ tradition, and
the Fuke-sh¨ associated as they were with Rinzai.58
However, except for Ikky¨’s playing the flute and his mendicant lifestyle,
there are no parallels with the komusØ of the Tokugawa period as e.g. the use of the
paraphernalia of the tengai or the begging for alms by using the flute. There is also
no historical relation with, or reference to, Kakushin. Ikky¨’s playing the flute is
not in any way an expression of Zen spirituality but represents, instead, Ikky¨’s
solitude59 and his unconventional lifestyle which was directed against the Zen
establishment of his time. By using the flute, he expresses his indentification with
the hijiri, the mendicants (like the boroboro) who were mistrusted by the Buddhist
orthodoxy. No connection is drawn between the shakuhachi and Fuke (Puhua).
– This is something one would expect if such a connection already existed during
the lifetime of Ikky¨.
The connection between the wind and the bell of Fuke is referred to in a
poem called “Wind Bells” (no. 111):
The realm of sight and sound is endless, Yet, imperceptibility, a pure note
crystallizes. That old fellow P’u-k’o knew a trick or two. Wind and bell hang
together, there above the jewelled railing60

57
Translated after Ueno 2002: 129; “mulberry-island” is Jap. FusØ (Chin. Fusang) 扶
桑 , which according to Chinese legends is an island lying in the east on which a huge
mulberry tree is crowing; it also means Japan: TØdØ 1978: 517c. See also the slightly
different translation of the passage by Sanford 1981: 180: “Shakuhachi music stirs up
both gods and demons. Once again the world’s number-one rake lacks a friend. In the
teeming universe just that music. He leaves the painting to enter a bamboo flute.” I am
unable to understand the reasoning behind the German translation of the last line by
Fritsch (1983: 9): “… Abbild für uns Menschen des Götterlandes.”
58
His flute is still shown today in the HØshun-in 芳春院 , a branch temple of the Daitoku-
ji 大德寺 in Kyoto, but it is an instrument of the type of the hitoyogiri different from the
shakuhachis of the later komusØ.
59
On the almost archetypical expressional spectre of flutes see Brunotte and Treibel
1999; Fritsch 1986-87. On the various poems by Ikky¨ describing the connection of the
shakuhachi with Ikky¨’s loneliness and his position as a social outcast see Fritsch 1983: 10f.
60
Translation by Sanford 1981: 146; see also poem no. 110: “With motion it rings, when
still it is silent. Does the bell hold the sound, or does the wind? An old monk jangled
out of his midday nap. How is this? The midnight bell at high noon?”
26 Japanese Religions 32 (1 & 2)

The emphasis of Puhua / Fukes’ “motto” “dark head – bright head” (Chin.
antou – mingtou, Jap. anzu – myØzu 暗頭 – 明頭) is found in Ikky¨’s poem “Monk
Fuke [P’u-k’o]”:
The Monk P’u-k’o: Arguing first the Bright Head, then the Dark, That Zen-
fellow’s tricks fooled them all. Now, blowing up again, the same old madman, A
sensual youth, howling at the door. (Sanford 1981: 148, no. 595)

A poem bearing the title “Shakuhachi” (no. 969) may have been the motivation
for scholars such as Fritsch to draw an historically problematic line between Fuke
and Ikky¨ on the one hand and with the shakuhachi-playing mendicants on the
other hand:

Shakuhachi: even now I remember the recluse of Uji. Empty belly, no wine,
colder than ice. Yet, the sound of the angel’s shining cloak. Lost among
refugees, the rural priest takes comfort.61

In the light of all this, it seems strange that Ikky¨ is not officially incorporated
into the story of the Fuke-sh¨62 and this again shows, in my opinion, that the
making of the Fuke-legitimation legend took place considerably after the lifetime
of Ikky¨.

8. Privilegation or control? The self-made official recognition

Beside the Denki which represents, of course, the view of the komusØ /
Fuke-sh¨-“ideologists” some other documents about the komusØ exist from the side
of the bakufu. In these documents, the privileges of the komusØ are recorded which,
one assumes, had been awarded to them by the first shØgun of the Tokugawa,
Ieyasu 家康 (1542-1616). One of these is the KeichØ-sadamegaki 慶長定書, “Decree

61
Translation by Sanford 1981: 181; the “angel” is a reference to the famous NØ-play
Hagoromo 羽衣 , “Robe of Feathers,” by Zeami 世阿彌 (1363-1444).
62
As, for instance, Ikky¨’s “colleague” Roan – different versions of his name are 蘆
菴 , 蘆安 , 良庵 , 朗庵 – on which the YØsh¨-fushi 雍州志 of Kurokawa DØyu 黑川道祐
(1686, JØkyØ 貞享 3) records in the chapter about the temple MyØan-ji, the later Meiji
headquarter of the Fuke-sh¨: “In the recent past there was a strange monk called Roan.
Nobody knows where he comes from. At his time he was very close to master Ikky¨ of
the Daitoku-ji, Ry¨goku-zan 龍寶山 . He had a predilection for the practice of the wind-
holes (that is: flutes) and he loved to blow the shakuhachi. He called himself ‘the ascetic
wind-hole’ ( f¨ketsu-dØsha 風穴道者 ). Originally he lived in the district of Uji 宇治 in
the (hermitage) Ky¨kØ-an 吸江菴 . He also lived in this temple (MyØan-ji) for a while.
As people say, this is the main temple of the komusØ.” (kanbun in Kurihara 1918: 109,
and Shibata 1976: 66, Japanese reading in Ueno 2002: 152) Cf. on this in more detail
Ueno 2002: 152ff. On the uncertain identification of Roan with the Fuke-sh¨ patriarch
Kichiku (RyØen) 寄 ( 奇 ) 尺 ( 了圓 ) from the Denki see Shibata 1976: 64 ff.
Deeg: Komusº and “Shakuhachi-Zen” 27

from the KeichØ era,” dated to KeichØ 19 (1614) the full title of which is Gony¨
koku-no-(migiriØse-)watasaresØrØ-osadamegaki 御入國之砌被仰渡候定書, “Decree
about bestowing entrance to the different provinces” – which, in fact, is extant in
several, quite different, versions – as Sanford remarks: “rather too many, in fact.” 63
The original does not exist any more; only late copies from the end of the 18th
century are still extant.64
These later versions enumerate in eight, eleven, seventeen or twent y
paragraphs the privileges and duties of the komusØ – not of the institution Fuke-
sh¨ (!) – such as extra-territoriality and their submission to the jurisdiction and
authority of a given main temple or of the office for religious affairs of the bakufu;
they also are allowed freedom of travel, the right to bear swords, free use of ferries,
free admission to theatres, sumØ tournaments, etc. Mention is also made of the
restriction of recruiting komusØ only from the ranks of the bushi.
The oldest attested form of the document was sent to the “office for temples
and shrines” (Jisha-bugyØ 寺社奉行) of the bakufu by the two main temples of the
Fuke-sh¨, the Ichigetsu-ji 一月寺 and the ReihØ-ji 鈴法寺 in Edo 江戸, in the year
1792. The request for this document was, in my opinion, a reaction by the bakufu
to the publication of the Denki one year earlier, a document which, quite naturally,
made the case for a considerably higher degree of historicity and legitimacy for the
Fuke-sh¨ as an institutionalised subsect of the Rinzai-sh¨. This was a far higher
status than the komusØ organisation – whatever this was – had had before.
Another even longer document, bearing the same name as the older version,
and quite consistent with the other extant versions, was sent by the two temples on
receipt of the request of the office in the year 1846 (KØka 弘化 3); this document
has a note saying that the originals from the year 1614 had been destroyed in the
temple fires of the years 1707 (HØei 寶永 4, Ichigetsu-ji) and 1703 (Genroku 元祿
16, ReihØ-ji). The authenticity of this document had already been questioned as
early as in the 18th century by the scholar Arai Hakuseki 新井白石 (1656-1725) on
the basis of linguistic and historical “irregularities.”
The character of the members of the Fuke-sh¨ became more and subject to
the suspicion of being uncontrollable by the bakufu. This became more alarming as
the sect became increasingly open to ordinary shakuhachi players and in the second
half of the 19th century the bakufu obviously tried unsuccessfully to liquidate the
privileges of the Fuke-sh¨.

63
Sanford 1977: 418. Only in Kurihara (1918: 130-143) four different versions are quoted.
From the side of the bakufu there are only documents from the year 1677 (EnpØ 延寶 5) in
64

which the infrastructure of the main monasteries is laid down, the restriction of admission
to the sect is emphasized and Ichigetsu-ji and ReihØ-ji are recognized as the principal
monasteries of the sect (cf. Sanford 1977: 420, note 38). MyØan-ji, which originally has
been a subtemple (matsuji 末寺 ) of the ReihØ-ji, in the year 1767 was recognised as a
subtemple of the KØkoku-ji 興國寺 , founded by Kakushin and thus obtained a higher
degree of independence and a legitimation of its own (cf. Sanford 1977: 431 f).
28 Japanese Religions 32 (1 & 2)

9. Fuke-sh¨ – a “late-born” Zen denomination?

It is important to keep in mind that the term Fuke-sh¨ does not actually occur
before the Denki and that the other documents (decrees) discussed right up until the
first half of the 19th century only use the name komusØ. In my opinion, this clearly
shows that it was the tradition of the Denki which first capitalised on the name of
Fuke – although there were already indirect connections between Fuke and the
shakuhachi (Ikky¨) on the one hand and Fuke and the komusØ on the other.65 One
had to make Fuke a Zen patriarch – something which he had never been in Zen
literature – in order to create a legitimate affiliation between the komusØ and the
Rinzai-sh¨. There are no Rinzai-sh¨ documents before the date of composition of
the Denki which posit a connection between the komusØ and themselves.
Another point to be discussed is the assumed repertoire of the Fuke-sh¨, which
is more or less identical with the oldest shakuhachi school Kinko-ry¨ 琴古流 (see
below). The old lists of the repertoire, none of which is earlier than the second half of
the 18th century, are comprised of pieces which do not show a direct reference to the
content and terminology of the Denki; instead they contain a large number of names
which point to the local mendicant movements of the komusØ and their “ancestors.” 66
This, again, seems to indicate that the amalgamation of the komusØ and shakuhachi-
Zen is a relatively late phenomenon of which the Denki is a culmination.
It is not before the appearance of the Denki, that is after around 1780, that
the lists demonstrate the increasing influence of the text and its symbolism. The
only list, which is said to originate from the time before the establishment of the
Kinko-ry¨ around the middle of the 18th century, is the one from the year KyØhØ
享保 17 (1732), which is signed by an “idler (sanjin 散人) Kakushin from FusØ 扶桑
(Japan).” (Ueno 2002: 248) It lists the three “original” pieces, honkyoku 本曲, of the
Kinko-ry¨, Mukai-ji 霧海篪,67 “Flute in misty sea,” Kok¨ 虛空, “Void” and Kyorei
虛鈴, “Empty Bell,” which are all either referred to, or which have their origin
described, in the Denki. There should be some doubt concerning the authenticity
of this list because of the way in which the names of the honkyoku at the beginning
of the list are written. These are too similar to the classical names of the later
Kinko-ry¨. What is more important is that in “Kinko’s notebook,” Kinko-techØ 琴

65
See Ueno 2002: 191 f, who also refers to the entry in the a dictionary of the second half
of the 15th, first half of the 16th century, the Kuromoto-Hajime-SetsuyØ-sh¨ 黑本本節用
集 : 薦僧（コモソウ）・普化（同）, which states: “komusØ is the same as Fuke”; this entry is,
however, not an historical identification komusØ = Fuke-sh¨ but, instead, only shows
an early connection between the komusØ (and their strange behaviour) and the crazy
Chinese Zen monk par excellence, Puhua / Fuke.
66
For an interpretation of these titles see Fritsch 1983: 16 ff, whose discussion of the
three original honkyoku on page 14 f follows the inner tradition of the shakuhachi schools
without any critical differentiation.
67
It should be noticed that Chin. chi, Jap. ji 篪 is a traverse flute and not a vertical flute
like the shakuhachi.
Deeg: Komusº and “Shakuhachi-Zen” 29

古手帳, a work ascribed to the founder of the Kinko-ry¨, the same three honkyoku
are registered under the year KyØhØ 享保 13 (1728) with varying titles: Mukai-ji-
reibo 霧海篪靈慕, “Longing for the flute of the misty sea,” Kok¨ 虛空, Shinkyorei
真嘘靈, “Exhaling soul of truth” 68; in this list the archetypical piece referring
to the legend of the Denki, reflecting Fuke’s beating of the bell and ChØ Haku’s
imitation on the bamboo, the Kyotaku or Kyorei, the “Empty Bell,” is absent – That
is without mentioning the inverted order of the pieces with Kyotaku = Kyorei at the
end of the list. This piece, which is, from the standpoint of the Denki, the most
important one, appears first in a repertoire-list Takuhatsu-shugyØ-shintoku 托鉢修行
心得, “Rules (or: understanding) of the religious practice of alms-begging,” which
was produced between 1789 and 1818 (eras Kansei 寛政 and Bunsei 文政) in the
context of the MyØan-ji in Kyoto. It was not recorded, however, before the second
half of the 19th century (Ueno 2002: 251 f).
From all this, we can conclude that the canonised musical tradition, and the
systematisation of certainly already existing elements legitimising Fuke-sh¨ in
the Denki, probably originated in the proto-organisation of the Kinko-ry¨ which
was itself starting towards the end of the 18th century. This proto-organisation,
with its legend and related musical tradition, consolidated the Fuke-sh¨ as a Zen
denomination in its own right. The Kinko-ry¨ was also emerging in the context
of the Tokugawa policy towards religion, but it could, at the same time, find its
“spiritual” roots in the religious institution of the Fuke-sh¨.

10. Spiritualization and laicization

Given the establishment of the Fuke-sh¨ through the – in reality rather
belated – recog nit ion of t he Tok ugawa-bakuf u and t he creat ion of t he
historiography of the Denki – which incorporated the denomination into the
mainstream Zen tradition – the creation of a religio-ideological “Überbau” was
well under way. All this took place in the context of the establishment of the
Kinko-ry¨ (1756?69) through the agency of Kurosawa KØhachi Kinko I. 黑澤幸八琴
古 (1710-1770) who originated from a lower bushi-(samurai-) family from Fukuoka
福岡 and had become a komusØ at the age of nineteen. He is said to have collected
pieces for shakuhachi while travelling through Japan and to have added thirty-five
of them to the repertoire of the Kinko-ry¨. In the year 1768, he was appointed shi’
nanban 指南番, shakuhachi teacher of the music schools of the two main temples of
the Fuke-sh¨ in Edo and also of his own schools.70

68
Ueno 2002: 248. It should be noted that kyo 嘘 is ambivalent: in a Japanese context it
may mean – and originally probably meant – “lie”; the title could also be interpreted as
“Soul of truth and lie.”
69
Cf. Gutzwiller 1974: 23.
70
See Gutzwiller 1974: 22 f; unfortunately the diaries ascribed to him were assumedly
destroyed during a bomb raid on Tokyo and the extant copies have never been
published. He is held responsible for the Zen-ideological trait which is found in
Hisamatsu F¨yØ’s work (Gutzwiller 1974: 23).
30 Japanese Religions 32 (1 & 2)

The only extant writing which really has Zen-inspired content was composed
by Hisamatsu MasagorØ F¨yØ (1790-1845) 久松雅五朗風陽 who was a disciple
and factual successor of the third head of school (iemoto 家元) of the Kinko-ry¨
Kurosawa MasajirØ Kinko黑澤雅二朗琴古 (d. 1816). These works bear the titles
Hitori-gotoba 獨言, “Monologue” (before 1830), Hitori-mondØ 獨問答, “Monologous
dialogues” (1823) and Kaisei-hØgo 海靜法語, “Dharma-words of the silent sea”
(1838).71 In them the Zen-Buddhist ideology and rhetoric is combined with forms
of musical practice. This is evident in such sentences as ichion jØbutsu 一音成仏(佛),
“to achieve enlightenment by one sound” or chikuzen ichinyo 竹禅一如, “bamboo
[i.e.: the shakuhachi] and Zen are one and the same,” which are quoted over and
over again; the instrument itself is called hØki 法器, “instrument of the dharma.” 72
A passage from the Hitori-mondØ reads: “I become the bamboo and the bamboo
becomes me: dwelling in the void, acting in reality – when this is achieved one is an
extraordinary (shakuhachi-)player (meijin 名人).” 73
Despite all these catchphrases, Hisamatsu’s texts contain amazingly few
“Zenist” expressions and instead focus on the actual practice of the playing of
the instrument. Especially in Kaisei-hØgo, Hisamatsu comments in a nostalgic
way about the Fuke-sh¨, a comment which, at the same time, expresses criticism
of the present in general74 while also directing a captatio benevolentiae towards the
Tokugawa-bakufu:

The way of the (Fuke-)order has been transmitted for thousand years75 and
during this time, since (the era) ºei 應永 (1394-1412) and the (era) EikyØ 永
享 (1429-1441) mainly warriors (buf¨ 武夫) have been ordained into the order,
but, alas, through swords, halberds, arrows and guns the religious practice of
trodding the realm of truth has not been realised. Fortunately the essence of
(the teaching) (宗旨 sh¨shi) of the order has not fallen into decay, and during
these (past) two hundred years in which the Great Peace has returned (this
teaching) 76 has become bright. Nevertheless, there are no proven masters
any more and there is nobody to show the way of practice. Only idle words of

71
Texts and German translation in Gutzwiller 1983: 164-198.
72
The connotational range of this term includes the ambiguous meaning of musical
instrument / tool and the meaning “recipient.”
73
My translation is slightly different from Gutzwiller’s (1983: 180).
74
But also of contemporary Zen: “’Not practicing, walking ten thousand (miles) without
stopping, not (reaching) the end – that is the silence of the see.’ – and that is how one
should act. What is called the dharma instrument (hØki 法器 ), the shakuhachi, eludicates
the deeper sense of the Zen of all schools, (but) the schools (shoha 諸派 ) have split off
the deeper sense of Zen (zenshi 禪旨 ), do not use the s¨tras as measures (of teaching), do
not use scriptures; that is why one should realize enlightenment (satori 悟 ) on the basis
of non-action (mu’i 無為 ) and of (spiritual) breath ( 氣息 kisoku).” See, slightly different,
Gutzwiller 1983: 192.
75
I cannot accept Gutzwiller’s (1983: 189) over-negative interpretation of megurikite 運り
來て , “hat sich sehr verändert” (“has changed a lot”).
76
I.e.: the period of the Tokugawa bakufu.
Deeg: Komusº and “Shakuhachi-Zen” 31

egocentrism are skilfully used, the narrow view77 of hypocrisy is prevailing, and
therefore the (true) meaning of the shakuhachi as an instrument of the dharma is
distorted and the (deeper) meaning of Buddhism (butsu’i 佛意) is destroyed.78

The phenomena expressed here is certainly a late spiritualisation and aesthetization

of shakuhachi practice and theory, and it is to be placed in the context of laicization of
a religious group, the Fuke-sh¨. One sign of this development is that all the iemotos of
the Kinko-ry¨ taught in their own schools in Edo, in schools which were only partly
training places for the two main temples of the Fuke-sh¨ in the capital of the bakufu;
here mainly laypeople were instructed. These headmasters were – with the probable,
but not fully proven, exception of Kinko I. – not fully ordained komusØ but, in the
terminology of the order, so-called sh¨en josui 宗縁助吹, “assistant flutists related79 to
the (Fuke-)sh¨.” The komusØ are hardly mentioned in the documents of this period,
and they seem to have been, at least, very passive in their “public relations” activities.
We might conclude from these facts that the religious and ideological “Überbau”
of the Fuke-sh¨ is not an authentic product developing from within the order but a
strategy of legitimation for a more and more bourgeois musical tradition of the late
Tokugawa-period, a tradition which, not least, was attempting to fix nostalgically the
glorious past of the komusØ as a full-fledged Zen-tradition.
Seen from this point of view, some of the inconsistencies of the Denki, the
historiography of the Fuke-sh¨, become explicable: For instance, the fact that
“Zen-master” Fuke is depicted as only an indirect patriarch, while the complete
Chinese transmission line after him up to the movement to Japan (Kakushin) is
that of a family of laypeople, the clan of the ChØ.80 This is in line with the way in
which the Denki explicitly emphasises the fact that, beside the Japanese patriarch
of the order, Kichiku, Kakushin had four other disciples who were called the “four
householders” (koji 居士) and were assumed to have been non-ordained persons.81
The function of these “lay-motives and –elements” in the Denki was probably
to be able to legitimate a stronger interest in the musical practice of the shakuhachi

77
Kanken 管見 certainly is ambiguous: “view of the (bamboo-)cane [i.e.: the shakuhachi].”
78
Text according to Gutzwiller 1983: 195, and Kuritani 1918: 216; note again that my
translation in some places is substantially different from Gutzwiller’s. It is striking that
in Hisamatsu’s text the introduction of Neo-Confucian concepts (e.g. in 陰 – yØ 陽 ) is
obviously used as a sign of “spirituality” but is at the same time a kowtow towards the
official Neo-Confucian ideology of the bakufu.
79
There is the Buddhist connotation or karmatic interconnection in the term en 縁 ,
“relation.”
80
See Ueno 2002: 179.
81
Ruien, 1131: “Other disciples (of Gakushin) were Kokusaku 國作 , RishØ 理正 , HØfu 法普
and SØjo 宗怒 (who) were also capable to learn (the art of the bamboo) cane. They were
called the ‘four householders’ (shi-koji 四居士 ) by people.” Tsuge 1977: 51, translates
shi-koji ambiguously as “Four Devoted Men.” An inconsistency is, of course, the fact that
these laypeople often have distinctly Buddhist monastic names (hØmyØ 法名 ); this may
be due to an attempt to imply a semi-religious status for these disciples.
32 Japanese Religions 32 (1 & 2)

among rich laypeople even on a historiographical level. This reflects the tendency
of the time, counteracting the official class order of the Tokugawa regime, to
facilitate social mobility, especially between the merchant and the samurai, shØnin
and buke, on the one side,82 and between monastics and laypeople on the other.
The concrete meeting places of music practitioners and connoisseurs from the
strands of the samurai and the shØnin were the so-called fukiawase(-dokoro) 吹合(所),
“(places) of common flute(-practice).” 83 These places were music schools which
had a rather loose connection with the head-monasteries of the Fuke-sh¨, and it
is completely unclear if, and to what extent, ordained komusØ were taught in these
schools. This shows again the secondary role of the assumed historical subjects
of shakuhachi-Zen. The woodblock prints (ukiyo-e 浮世繪) of the late Edo-period
depicting komusØ often show the dandy-version called date- 伊達 or santo-komusØ 三
都虚無僧. They are also known under the ironical name tabako-komusØ 煙草虚無僧,
as they were said to only stick the shakuhachi into their mouth like a cigar without
being able to really play the instrument.
This laicization, or even “bourgoisization,” 84 is in line with the art genre
and the aesthetic of ukiyo-e 浮世絵 whose name, “pictures from a floating world,”
already evokes Buddhist connotations without a real and clear Buddhist content.
There is also a counter-tendency of rationalization which can be found expressed
in the well-balanced critique of religion of Tominaga Nakamoto 富永仲本
(1715-1746) in his ShutsujØ-kØgo 出定後語).85 It can also be observed in a direct and
biting polemical attack against Fuke by the Neo-Confucian Hayashi Razan (1650):
The fool Fuke – this name – I laugh at him (whose) tricks are without success.
I would like to hear the sound of the bell in his two hands, to hear the superb
sound without sound. (Ruien, 1146)

11. National aesthetisation in the Meiji period

The Fuke-sh¨, like other Buddhist denominations, was finally prohibited in
the year 1871 during the wave of laicization and persecution (haibutsu-kishaku 廃佛
棄釋, “throw away the Buddha, abolish the monks”) in early years of the Meiji-period.
There are no direct sources that indicate that this dismantlement of the Fuke-
sh¨ was due to a special strategy of the Meiji-administration on account of the
perception that the Fuke-sh¨ was thought to have conspired with the Tokugawa

82
For a general discussion see the case-study by Bellah 1985, well-known, although not
undisputed, but still convincing in some of its basic analysis.
83
See Ueno 2002: 236 ff.
84
Another early semi-mythical figure of the merchant-Zen connoisseur is Sen no Riky¨
千利休 (1522-1591), the famous tea master and iemoto princeps of the two main tea-
ceremony branches in Japan, Ura-senke 裏千家 and Omote-senke 表千家 .
85
Cf. Pye 1990.
Deeg: Komusº and “Shakuhachi-Zen” 33

regime 86 – although it is suggested in almost all subsequent writing on the

Fuke-sh¨. Rather, the opposite is the case: the laicization of the sect’s temples in
the framework of state restrictions and the persecution of Buddhism between 1869
and 187187 occurred rather late and was relatively mild. It also seems to me that the
marginality and loose connection of the order with the main institutional body of
the Rinzai-sh¨, to which it had belonged, and the strong involvement of laypeople
in the shakuhachi practice (leading to the formation of the different shakuhachi
schools during the Meiji-period), may have been the primary reasons for the lack
of effort from the Buddhist mainstream to re-establish the Fuke-sh¨.
Another aspect of the legacy of the myth of the Fuke-sh¨ from the late Edo-
period is that it has been assumed that its bushi-monks occupied a privileged
position as spies and collaborators with the Tokugawa-bakufu which had led to the
complete ban of the Fuke-sh¨ during the first years of the Meiji administration –
this is a mixture of conspiracy theory and preconceptions regarding the decadence
of the late Tokugawa period which fit perfectly into the bourgeois, anti-Tokugawa
and conservative nationalism of the Meiji period.
Among the three main temples of the Fuke-sh¨, it is only the MyØan-ji 明暗
寺 in Kyoto which is said to continue the now secularised tradition of the order
in the form of the MyØan-kyØkai 明暗協会, the “MyØan-association,”88 which was
founded in the year 1890, one year after the establishment of religious freedom in
Meiji-Japan. Its members wore – and still wear – the costume of the komusØ during
public events.
Despite all the differences between the shakuhachi-schools – the Kinko-ry¨,
the Tozan-ry¨ 都山流 which were officially founded in 1905 by Nakao Tozan 中
尾都山 (1876-1956) (and which were very receptive to the introduction of Western
musical elements and new compositions) and the MyØan-ry¨89 (which, originally,
was a rather ideological trans-denominational institution) – they are united in
developing the tendencies towards spiritualising and aesthetisizing the legacy of

86
The text of the decree can be found in Ueno 2002, 234: “(According) to the article on
the abolishing of the rules of the Fuke-sh¨, (effective) from today, monastic officials
and monks ( jusØ 住僧 ) are to be restored into the status of citizens (minseki 民籍 ), to be
transferred to the fixed conditions and it should be arranged that they enter professions
appropriate to the region. The temples left after the abolishing of the order (haish¨ 廃
宗 ), however, be sold for an appropriate price, a duty and auxiliary service to their
original inhabitants after they have returned to laity (kizoku 歸俗 ). Shinmatsu 辛末 , 10th
month, DaijØkan 太政官 .”
87
See Ketelaar 1990: 96.
88
The MyØan-ji did not play a real role as a main temple of the Fuke-sh¨ in the documents
before the Meiji-era. It was probably gaining this value after the abolishment of the sect
as a temple which was still “available” and did not have the direct Tokugawa connections
of the two head-temples in Tokyo.
89
See Weisgarber 1968: 314. The MyØan-kyØkai 明闇教會 was established in 1889 (Meiji
22) (Shibata 1979: 5). For a short description of MyØan-“komusØ” in TaishØ-Japan, after
the institution of the Fuke-sh¨ had already been abolished, see Shibata 1976: 57.
34 Japanese Religions 32 (1 & 2)

pre-Meiji shakuhachi music. One could call these attempts the national legacy of
the komusØ in a form which had been purified of the aberrant phenomena of the
Edo period.90 At the same time, the rise of these schools constituted the clear
and consequent victory of the bourgeois shakuhachi players over the – be it real or
constructed – exclusivity of the bushi-komusØ.

12. Conclusion
The complex “real” and textual history of the komusØ, the Fuke-sh¨ and
shakuhachi-Zen is, admittedly, an example from the periphery of the history of
Japanese religions; however, what makes it special is, in my opinion, the fact that
the concept of “invented traditions,” postulated and exemplified by Eric Hobsbawm
und Terence Ranger (1983) is so relevant. This concept, was applied representatively
in the volume “Mirror of Modernity – Invented Traditions of Modern Japan” 91 in
the case of several social and cultural developments in Meiji-Japan; but it can be
dated back to late Tokugawa-Japan and thus calls into question standard narratives
of a rather abrupt change of paradigms as a consequence of the foundation and
consolidation of the Meiji regime. The formation of the history and ideology of
the Fuke-sh¨ goes back to a period which was marked by social tensions between
a wealthy class of merchant-bourgeoiserie (shØnin 商人) striving for cultural and
intellectual emancipation in the context of the decline and impoverishment of
much of the warrior class (bushi 武士). This context – despite and because of Robert
Bellah’s notion of a Weberian protestant working ethic during the Tokugawa-
period – made claims to religiosity and spirituality through the appropriation or
creation of “fictive” lines of transmission and tradition. This tradition was finally
transferred into the secular context of Meiji-Japan in order to contribute, in the case
of shakuhachi-music, to the creation of a national identity92 in the sense of an ancient

90
This development ran parallel with the official doctrine of kØsei isshin 皇制一新 ,
“renovation of Imperial rulership,” in the historical blueprint of which the Tokugawa-
bakufu represented the last one of the six “impurities” in the Imperial history of Japan
(Cp. Ketelaar 1990: 119).
91
Vlastos (1998: 3) states: “… tradition is not the sum of actual past practices that
have perdured into the present; rather, tradition is as a modern trope, a prescriptive
representation of socially desirable (or sometimes undesirable) institutions and ideas
thought to have been handed down from generation to generation.”
92
This is probably also the reason for the construction of the conspiracy “myth” around
the Fuke-sh¨ and its collaboration with the Tokugawa-bakufu: it was indeed a difficult
task for the new shakuhachi establishment to legitimize the abolition of the sect through
the Meiji administration with the help of a theory of decadence while at the same time
preserving the “lineage of tradition.” In reality the Fuke-sh¨ belonged rather to the
groups which were judged as a conspiring organisation; let alone that the MyØan-ji in
Kyoto had been a supporter of the Imperial case: see Sanford 1977: 432, note 193. on the
so-called Sengoku-case (Sengoku-sØdØ 仙石騒動 ) and on an incident in the MyØan-ji.
Deeg: Komusº and “Shakuhachi-Zen” 35

tradition which is only preserved in Japan (Cf. Kikkawa 1984). Such a musical
tradition could then eventually enter into a new, second period of spiritualisation
in the postwar period of Zen-enthusiasm in the West. Paradoxically, in Japan this
assumed spirituality was lost in the more and more secularised and formalised
world of Japanese shakuhachi practice of the main schools. It seems, however, latterly,
to be more and more the case that shakuhachi practice is constructed in terms of a
consciousness of it, “re”transferred as this has been from the West, as a spiritual
Zen-instrument.93

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Theory "Between Inside and Outside": A Response to Zachary Wallmark's

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 Theory “Between Inside and Outside”: A Response to Zachary W
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Theory “Between Inside and Outside”: A Response to Zachary Wallmark’s

“Sacred Abjection in Zen Shakuhachi”
James Rhys Edwards

Assessing the shakuhachi tradition of the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhism through French psychoanalytic optics,
Zachary Wallmark engages in a type of scholarly practice that many ethnomusicologists would find problematic––if
not, indeed, abject: the application of Western theoretical paradigms to non-Western music cultures. Wallmark is
aware of this problem: after introducing Julia Kristeva’s concept of abjection as reliant upon “a strictly policed
binary logic founded on the fundamental duality between ‘I’ and ‘not-I,’” he asks whether this logic can be
credibly mapped onto “cultures and musical systems that reject binary logic,” an appellation which Japanese Zen
Buddhism might seem to exemplify. Rather than attempting to answer this question through etic theoretical
maneuvering, Wallmark, a shakuhachi player himself, turns to fellow tradition-bearers Bill Shozan Schultz, Kentaro
Idemitsu, and Watazumi Doso (among others); scholar Tsuneko Tsukitani; and, most revealingly, a set of early
nineteenth-century manuscripts by Hisamatsu Fuyo; “virtually the only [premodern] sources for the spiritual
background of the musical practices of the Fuke-Sect” (Gutzwiller 1984:57). The resulting dialogue between
practitioners unfolds a multifaceted insider exegesis of the nuanced relationship between sound and spiritual
practice, the dynamics of which are modified in each instance by personal as well as subcultural, cultural, and
transcultural values.

Wallmark’s emic turn facilitates a suturing with ethnomusicology’s cultural relativist theoretical doxa; in light of
recent calls to re-examine the place of theory within ethnomusicology, however, I would like to temporarily re-open
the suture (see Rice 2010, etc.). Setting aside Japan for a moment, it is interesting to note that the emic/etic
binary––anthropological shorthand for insider/outsider––can itself be juxtaposed with Kristeva’s concept of the
abject. Critiquing the classical Freudian assumption that an a priori opposition exists between subject and object,
Kristeva hypothesizes that in order to establish a “defensive position” of bounded subjectivity, we must constantly
abject, or cast away, that which recalls the primal indeterminacy “between I/Other or, in more archaic fashion,
between Inside and Outside” (1982:7). Whereas for Freud, primary repression is the repression of the
already-constituted subject's forbidden desire for a particular relation to a particular object (the mother), Kristeva
suggests that primary repression is the repression of the original ambiguity of the subject-object relation itself, and
posits abjection as an almost autonomic response to objects which portend a return to this repressed
proto-subjective condition. Bodily fluids, wounds, vomit-inducing foods, and the act of vomiting: such things do not
provoke unease because they recall specific psychological traumas, but rather, because their quality of
in-between-ness recalls the fragility of the Inside/Outside border on which our individuated existence depends.

Because Kristeva's concept of abjection is not bound to any one general theory of psychodynamics, it can serve as
a pivot point between microanalysis of the subject and macroanalysis of any social field in which affectively
over-determined Inside/Outside binaries come into play. As previously hinted at, academia itself is one such field.
There is significant social capital invested in the disciplinary criteria by which areas and methods of inquiry are
deemed legitimate or illegitimate, and the disciplinary vocabularies with which we represent our ‘informants’ and
ourselves. For all the debate within ethnomusicology over the transcultural portability of certain culturally loaded
theoretical concepts––“the aesthetic,” for example, or “the abject”––other concepts are often exempted from
interrogation; perhaps, to borrow from the contemporary pop-political vernacular, they are implicitly regarded as
“too big to fail.” At the root of our own disciplinary vocabulary, of course, there is “music”––a word that is itself far
from unproblematic. To write about “Japanese music” as if the term were transparent, for example, would be to
ignore the fact that “before contact with the West, Japan had no all-embracing term referring to any [and all]
humanly organized sound, religious or secular, vocal or instrumental, aristocratic or plebian” (Hosokawa 2012:2).1

Of course, this is no longer the case: beginning in the 1880s, the Japanese state proactively introduced the word
ongaku as a translational equivalent to “music,” largely to facilitate the implementation of standardized music
education programs in the newly centralized schools and military. It is telling that the concept of “music” entered
Japan as a matter of policy; indeed, the lack of a premodern concept-word for anthropogenic sound applicable
across stylistic and social boundaries speaks eloquently to the Meiji government’s monumental task of forging “a
new concept of a national people that would overcome . . . the painful realities of a nation divided by class and
regional differences” (Doak 1996:94). While certainly useful as a classifier, this concept-word did not enter the
Japanese language without friction, nor was it devoid of baggage. In part due to the circumstances of its

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introduction and in part because it had been used in the past to refer to musics of Tang Chinese origin, ongaku
initially carried a connotation of foreign-ness (Western-ness) that made scholars of Japanese music hesitant to
adopt it (Hosokawa 2012:6). To others, this very connotation ennobled the term: when prewar ethnographer
Tanabe Hisao asked a Japanese colonial official in Taiwan whether the aboriginal population had ongaku, “the
officer’s reply was categorical: ‘they have songs but no ongaku’” (7). His meaning, of course, was that the
aboriginals had no civilized music. Introduced as a means of nationalizing structures of feeling, the concept of
“music” quickly emerged as an index of the new Japanese nation-state’s progress toward a Euro-American
standard of civilization, as well as toward the realization of its desire for geopolitical parity with the Western imperial
powers––a desire of which Tanabe’s and the dismissive colonial official’s very presence in Taiwan was
symptomatic.

Ironically, Western visitors to Japan had been making similarly dismissive pronouncements for centuries.
Portuguese missionary Luis Frois wrote in 1588 that “Japanese music, since they all howl together in one single
voice in falsetto, is the most horrid that can exist” (Eppstein 2007:192), while the first British minister to Japan, Sir
Rutherford Alcock, asserted in 1863 that “the discord they make, when they set themselves to produce what they
call music, is something that baffles all description” (195). Japan was not the only non-Western society to be
judged by its humanly organized sound: Western scholars have long deployed the music/non-music binary as a
means of marking the border between the civilized and the savage, the human and the non-human worlds. The first
work of comparative transcription, a 1636 study of Canadian and Brazilian indigenous songs by Marin Marsenne,
introduced “a logical-analytical chain of reasoning that linked the sounds of nature, inanimate objects, animals,
children, and women with non-European people and their music” (Ellingson 1992:113); just over two centuries
later, in his canonical work On the Musically Beautiful, Eduard Hanslick lamented that “when the South Sea
Islander bangs rhythmically with bits of metal and wooden staves and along with it sets up an unintelligible wailing,
this is the natural kind of ‘music’, yet it just is not music” (1986:70). Hanslick’s quasi-Hegelian speculation on the
progression of “the musically competent Spirit” from “the natural kind of ‘music’” to proper "music” foreshadowed
early comparative musicological narratives of a linear evolution from inarticulate noise, through various "primitive"
stages (of which non-Western musics are vestigial traces), to mature Western polyphony. Remarkably, this
evolutionism persisted in musicological discourse well into the twentieth century, as evidenced by Curt Sachs’s
1943 exclamation that “it is exciting to learn that the earliest known stage of music reappears in the babble songs
of small children in European countries. For once the ontogenic law is fully confirmed: the individual summarized
the evolution of mankind” (44).

It is, of course, the impulse to reject the violence implicit in such statements that drives contemporary
ethnomusicologists to police against theoretical imperialism.2 Yet might the very vehemence of our rejection––or
abjection––testify to the uncanny realization that our Eurocentric past is not as external to us as we would like to
think? In a structural sense, after all, it is very much alive; imperialism established the historical preconditions for
the development of the social structures and contradictions which we, as students of contemporary non-Western
cultures, have set ourselves to decoding––as well as the institutionalized Euro-American privilege which affords us
the luxury of doing so within the relatively autonomous social field of the academy. The "line in the sand" often
drawn between cultural relativism and (Eurocentric) universalism dissembles the fact that both ideologies are
discursive constructs of a particular expansionist political-economic system––identified by Jameson as late
capitalism, by Wallerstein as the modern world-system, etc.––which has achieved a previously inconceivable
degree of global saturation. When we ontologize cultural difference as it appears at any one point in time, we
unwittingly occlude the dialectical interplay of systemic historical forces within which real and imagined differences
(in ideology, artistic practices, the practice of everyday life, etc.) take shape. As Jameson, Wallerstein, and others
have pointed out, this occlusion cripples our ability to formulate meaningful anti-systemic critique.

My point here is not to advocate “the arrogant and wholesale imposition by Western scholars of theories created in
the crucible of one culture on other cultures” (Sorgenfrei 2007:312)––this is not a mode of scholarly practice that
deserves recuperation. Neither, however, is the thinly veiled racial or environmental determinism toward which
radical evocations of cultural relativism sometimes point (313). The concept of dwelling between these extremes is
hardly new; few ethnomusicologists today would defend either the grand theories of high modernism or the
essentialist models of culture invoked by nationalist politicians. It is, however, a perpetual challenge, one that
demands a continual testing and expansion of the limits and norms of discourse. Often, this can be done through
tried-and-true (ethno)musicological methods: in graphing the audible difference between recordings made by
master shakuhachi players Doso Watazumi and Richard Stagg, for example, Wallmark renders visible the
heterogeneity of what non-tradition-bearers might perceive as a unified "Inside," reminding us that difference
obtains within the emic and etic as well as between them. Sometimes, however, adopting an extra-disciplinary
perspective proves more fruitful: Wallmark’s use of Kristeva and Bataille to illuminate the seemingly paradoxical
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relationship between spiritual and aesthetic experience in the Fuke tradition demonstrates this admirably.

The paper’s greatest strength, though, is not these deductions but the discursive framework through which it
arrives at them: dialogue. If we are sincere in our desire to attune our disciplinary norms to the intellectual and
artistic needs of a rapidly changing and increasingly multi-polar world, we should consider the benefit of treating the
bearers of the musical traditions we study as interlocutors rather than ‘informants’; as equally capable of
theoretical and methodological inquiry as ourselves, and often invested in applying the fruits of their own
intellectual journeys to their musical (and spiritual) practice. Interestingly, Kristeva’s re-assessment of the
self-Other distinction as the permutable trace of a continual interplay of internal and external forces rather than an a
priori binary intersects with the dialogic model of ethnography adopted by Wallmark and other recent scholars.
Dialogic ethnography, which assumes an ethical and intellectual (if not necessarily political or economic) parity with
the tradition-bearer, seeks to give the Inside/Outside binary an in-between, a space of mediation. In this model, etic
theory can be introduced into discourse less as an exegetical fiat than as an incitement to further dialogue and the
collaborative creation of synthetic theory: I can testify, for example, to the tremendous contributions my Japanese
and Indonesian interlocutors have made to my own understanding and application of Euro-American theoretical
and methodological models, and am guessing Wallmark can say the same. At risk of courting the reader’s
abjection one last time with an epigrammatic cliché, perhaps the final place of theory in a developed work of
dialogic ethnography can be glimpsed in the second half of a well-worn Zen aphorism: once you have seen the
moon, you no longer need the finger.

References

Doak, Kevin M. 1996. “Ethnic Nationalism and Romanticism in Early Twentieth-Century Japan.” Journal of
Japanese Studies 22(1):77-103.

Ellingson, Ter. 1992. “Transcription.” In Ethnomusicology: An Introduction, edited by Helen Meyers, 110–52. New
York: W.W. Norton and Company.

Eppstein, Ury. 2007. “From Torture to Fascination: Changing Western Attitudes to Japanese Music.” Japan Forum
19(2):191-216.

Gutzwiller, Andreas. 1984. “The Shakuhachi of the Fuke-Sect: Instrument of Zen.” World of Music 26(3):53-65.

Hanslick, Eduard. 1986 [1891]. On the Musically Beautiful. Translated by Geoffrey Payzant. Indianapolis: Hackett
Publishing Company.

Hosokawa, Shuhei. 2012. “Ongaku.” In Working Words: New Approaches to Japanese Studies. Berkeley:
University of California, Berkeley Center for Japanese Studies.

Kikkawa, Eishi. 1984. Nihon ongaku no biteki kenkyuu [Research in the aesthetics of Japanese music]. Tokyo:
Ongaku no tomo-sha.

Kristeva, Julia. 1982. Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection. Translated by Leon S. Raudiez. New York:
Columbia University Press.

Rice, Timothy. 2010. “Disciplining Ethnomusicology: A Call for a New Approach.” Ethnomusicology 54(2).

Sachs, Curt. 1943. The Rise of Music in the Ancient World. New York: W.W. Norton and Co. Inc.

Sorgenfrei, Carol Fisher. 2007. “Countering Theoretical Imperialism: Some Possibilities From Japan.” Theatre
Research International 32(3):312-324.

Notes

1 According to Kikkawa (1984), the word ongaku was used as early as the eighth century to refer to music of
Chinese origin (courtly gagaku). During the Edo period, it was picked up by theatre musicians to refer to
gagaku-flavored sound effects used in Buddhist temple scenes, for the appearance of Chinese celestial nymphs,
and other special scenes. Shamisen music and other popular musics, on the other hand, were referred to as
ongyoku, a term which excluded religious genres, rural genres, children’s songs, and other styles.
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2 I am borrowing this term from Carol Sorgenfrei’s “Countering ‘Theoretical Imperialism’: Some Possibilities From
Japan” (2007). While Sorgenfrei does not discuss music per se, she demonstrates how “Japanese critical theories
that modify or fuse Japanese and Western psychoanalytic and aesthetic concepts” can offer new perspectives on
contemporary and traditional performing arts.

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 1

The Shakuhachi and the Ney: A Comparison of Two

Flutes from the Far Reaches of Asia

Daniel B. RIBBLE
English

Abstract. This paper compares and contrasts two bamboo flutes found at the opposite ends of
the continent of Asia. There are a number of similarities between the ney, or West Asian reed
flute and the shakuhachi or Japanese bamboo flute, and certain parallels in their historical
development, even though the two flutes originated in completely different socio-cultural
contexts. One flute developed at the edge of West Asia, and can be traced back to an origin in
ancient Egypt, and the other arrived in Japan from China in the 3th century and subsequently
underwent various changes over the next millenium. Despite the differences in the flutes today,
there may be some common origin for both flutes centuries ago.

Two reed-less woodwinds

Both flutes are vertical, endblown instruments. The nay, also spelled ney, as it is referred
to in Turkey or Iran, and as the nai in Arab lands, is a rim blown flute of Turkey, Iran, the
Arab countries, and Central Asia, which has a bevelled edge made sharp on the inside, while
the shakuhachi is an endblown flute of Japan which has a blowing edge which is cut at a
downward angle towards the outside from the inner rim of the flute. Both flutes are reed-
less woodwinds or air reed flutes. The shakuhachi has a blowing edge which is usually
fitted with a protective sliver of water buffalo horn or ivory, a development begun in the
17th century. The rim of the nay is often covered by a metal band to prevent damage to
the flute, and the Turkish ney has a separate conical mouthpiece called the baspare which is
produced from materials such as water buffalo horn, ivory, ebony or other wood (and more
recently, plastic) a development dating from the beginning of the 13th century. The Persian
ney has a cylindrical mouthpiece called the sari, often made of brass, which is to protect the
reed flute from damage.

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2 The Shakuhachi and the Ney: A Comparison of Two Flutes from the Far Reaches of Asia

The meaning of names

As for the Japanese vertical flute, the name shakuhachi refers to the length of the
instrument, shakuhachi meaning "one shaku, eight sun," the shaku being a traditional unit
of measurement in Japan regarded as equivalent to 30.3 centimeters, with the sun being
l/lOth of a shaku (Ikuya Kitahara, Misao Matsumoto, and Akira Matsuda, p. 188 ). The
standard length of shakuhachi is one shaku eight sun (1.8), equivalent to about 54.5 cm, and
is an instrument in the key of D, but other lengths are played, for example, the 1.6
shakuhachi, in the key of E, for Japanese twentieth century traditional music compositions
such as Miyagi Michio's Haru No Umi, and the common range of instruments is from about
1.3-2.4 shaku (33.3- 72.7 cm), though longer flutes are played, especially for the shakuhachi's
solo repertoire.

The shakuhachi has been traditionally constructed of bamboo though today there are
wooden models and plastic flutes which are often used by beginning students, and in
Australia, high quality wooden shakuhachis are sometimes made from various tropical
hardwoods (notably by flute maker David Brown) as Australia's climate is rather dry,
leading to problems with cracking in the bamboo shakuhachis.

The term nay derives from the old Persian word for bamboo or reed, and the instrument
was originally made from a bamboo reed, but today it is also sometimes made of wood or
metal. Nowadays, both shakuhachi and nay flutes are often constructed from the ubiquitous
PVC pipe for the beginning player. The plant traditionally used for the nay is a yellow cane
reed called Arundo Donax, a pseudo bamboo which resembles "real" bamboos in appearance
and in the uses to which it is put (David Farrelly, 1984, p.198). (The other prominent
woodwind connection arundo donax has is as a source for saxophone and clarinet reeds).
The length of the nay varies according to the region in which it is found, for example, the
Persian Nay ranges from 40-80 cm, while the Azerbaijan nay is 60-70cm long. The reed
pipe nay is said to vary in length from 20-80 cm (Stanley Sadie, ed., vol. 17, p. 854). Both
shakuhachi and nay flutes have a a similar length range.

Fundamental notes

For playing the traditional Japanese music dating from the Edo period (1600-1868) the 1.8

( 2)
 3

flute with D as the base note predominates. while in Arab music there is no predominant
length as such, but the Arabic standard nay, or nay Dukah, has D as its fundamental note.
The shakuhachi is pitched at the note made when all five finger holes are covered. as is the
Turkish ney, while the Arabic ney is pitched at the note made with the first fingerhole (the
one nearest the bottom end of the flute) open. The modern shakuhachi, which took its
present shape in the 17th century, has four finger holes in front and one thumb hole in back,
situated higher up on the flute. The Persian nay has five finger holes in front and one
thumb hole in back, also situated higher up on the flute, while the Turkish and Egyptian
neys have six finger holes in front and one thumb hole in back. There are nays with other
numbers of fingerholes, the Azerbaijan ney, for example, having from three to six finger
holes (Anthony Baines, 1992, p. 220). In recent years shakuhachis with different numbers of
finger holes have been made. in particular, seven and nine hole shakuhachis, often crafted in
order to play jazz or modern music more easily, but these have never managed to
supercede the five hole flutes in popularity, and some traditional shakuhachi players do not
even regard flutes having other than five holes as being true shakuhachi. The ancient
shakuhachi, eight instruments of which are found in the 8th century Shosoin, or National
Treasure House. in Nara, have five finger holes in front and one thumb hole in back, the
same number as today's Persian ney.

Diameter of ney and shakuhachi

The ancient flutes kept in Nara are made not only of bamboo, but also of stone and ivory,
The bamboo flutes found in Nara are made from a bamboo called hachiku (phyllostachys
nigra,. var. henonis). while shakuhachi made from the Edo period up through modern times
are in most cases made from madake (phyllostachys bambusoides), a bamboo with a wider
internal diameter. The nay has a diameter that varies between 1.5-2.5 cm (Sadie, ed.,, vol.
17, p.154), close to that of the ancient shakuhachi's kept in the Shosoin, which have an
external diameter of about 2.5 cm. Today's standard 1.8 (one shaku, eight sun) shakuhachi
usually has a slightly larger external diameter of about 3.5 cm, flaring to 5.0 cm at the root,
and an internal diameter ranging from 1.5-2.0 cm, with longer flutes having a slighter larger
internal diameter and shorter flutes having a slightly smaller diameter.

The Persian ney is commonly referred to as the ney-e haftband, which means the ney
with seven nodes (Sadie, ed .. v. 12, p. 540), while the standard shakuhachi of today also has

( 3)
4 The Shakuhachi and the Ney: A Comparison of Two Flutes from the Far Reaches of Asia

seven fushi, or nodes. The Turkish ney is usually one made up of nine segments of reed.
One length of bamboo reed is usually used for the nay, and one length of bamboo is also
used in making a shakuhachi, though today's shakuhachis are usually given a middle joint
and the one length of bamboo is cut into two pieces, though one piece flutes, or nobekan, are
still crafted by some makers of shakuhachi.

Banding

Both instruments are sometimes banded to keep the bamboo from splitting, the ney with
metal bands at the top and bottom of the flute, and the shakuhachi often with thinner metal
or ceramic bands on either side of the center joint, and sometimes with bamboo strips at
various points along the length of the instrument. The shakuhachi usually has a lacquered
inner bore, though there are also ji-nashi flutes, those without ji, or "material," consisting of
urushi, or lacquer, and tonoko, or polishing powder, and the inner bore of the ney, though
not lacquered, is often coated several times a year with almond or another type of
transparent vegetable oil. Some shakuhachi players oil the outside of their flutes with
walnut or another vegetable oil, but the majority do not, the oils from one's hands being
considered sufficient.

The nay is usually a straight length of reed, though not always, and while the shakuhachi
is sometimes a straight length of bamboo, the aesthetic ideal is a curved instrument, and the
bell of the vertical bamboo flute is often made to curve a bit outwards when the flute is
made.

Reputations as difficult instruments

Both the shakuhachi and the ney have reputations as being very difficult instruments to
learn to play. There is a well-known saying associated with the shakuhachi, "kubi furi san
nen" ("to shake the head three years") which is used to indicate the difficulty connected
with playing the instrument, and also a second part to that saying, known primarily among
shakuhachi players, "koro hachi-nen," -- "to do the koro technique (a finger tremelo), eight
years," also a reference to the long period of time needed to master the instrument. As for
the nay, according to Anthony Baines, "to most Europeans the nay is the most difficult of
flutes to sound." ( Baines, p. 220), and according to The Turkish Ney F.A.Q. on Heruka's

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Original Homepage of the Ney(www.bardoworks.it/ney.html), "it is normal that you try for
several weeks before getting the first sound."

For both instruments it is generally thought to be difficult even to produce an initial

sound. Both flutes are played at an oblique angle, and the blowing techniques for the two
flutes are somewhat different. With the shakuhachi, one must hold the flute at about a 45
degree angle, fit the lips into the top of bamboo rim while keeping them rounded and
relaxed, and blow outwards across the obliquely cut edge or utaguchi, keeping the impact
point of the breath at the center of the blowing edge. With the ney one must block off the
top of the instrument with the lips using a bilabial technique and blow against the inside
edge of the flute, aiming the air stream either towards the left or right edge of the
instrument. In addition, for the Persian ney, a blowing technique developed in the 19th
century where the player holds the top rim of the bamboo reed between the front teeth,
using an interdental technique, and air is directed by the tongue in order to produce a more
powerful tone. For both flutes, once one masters the difficult to learn technique of blowing,
one is on the road to gaining control over pitch, timbre, and the ability to play a progression
of microtones between the standard pitches, in addition to a wide range of ornamental
patterns. Both instruments have about a two and a half octave range, though talented
players of the ney are said to be able to play three octaves.

On playing one note well

In the teaching traditions of both flutes. there is an emphasis placed on the importance of
playing one note well. Ney players or Neyzen have a saying "one breath, one life," while
shakuhachi players have a saying "Ichion Jobutsu," or "enlightenment in one sound," which
comes from the komuso. or wandering shakuhachi playing monks of the Edo Period (1603-
1868). For both instruments, the term "blowing" as in "blowing ney" or "blowing
shakuhachi" generally appears to be more commonly used than the terms "playing ney," or
"playing shakuhachi."

Players of both instruments often use alternate fingerings for the same note in order to
produce different tone colors. and ney players as well as shakuhachi players use movements
of the lips and of the head for different musical effects. An essential part of playing the
shakuhachi is moving the head or chin down to get meri or flattened notes and moving the

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6 The Shakuhachi and the Ney: A Comparison of Two Flutes from the Far Reaches of Asia

head or chin up slightly to get kari or sharp notes.

Name seals

The makers of the shakuhachi stamp their hanko or name seal on each instrument after it
is made, with instruments the makers feel are exceptional pieces of work getting two or
three hanko. Egyptian and Lebanese neys also get the signature of their maker burned into
the flute or carved in and filled with ink.

Traditions of ensemble and solo music

Both instruments have distinct traditions of ensemble and solo music The vertical bamboo
flute started out as an instrument of the gagaku orchestra, thought to have been introduced
into Japan in the 8th century from the orchestra of the Chinese court along with other
instruments which are still used today in Japan's national gagaku orchestra -- the sho,
hichiriki, and ryuteki, among others -- but by the 10th century it had disappeared from the
court orchestra and also managed to vanish from the historical record for several centuries,
to reappear in the Muromachi Period (1333-1568) as a flute called the hitoyogiri (literally
"one-node cutting"), an instrument played by wandering beggar monks called komoso,
literally "straw mat monks." In the Edo period it underwent yet another transition to
become the chosen instrument of another group of monks, the komuso, "monks of
emptiness," a sect of wandering Zen priests which only admitted members of the samurai
class, who were often ronin, or masterless samurai who had lost their original ranks in
conflicts among clans in the latter part of the 16th century.

Just as the ney has legends associated with its invention, it is generally believed that the
komuso sect gave the shakuhachi a fabricated, or "legendary" history which traced the
instrument's origin back to a 9 1h century Chinese priest named Fuke, whose chanting
supposedly inspired a piece called Kyorei, or Empty Bell, the first of the "honkyoku,"
literally "original music" pieces of the Zen Buddhist sect. In association with the komuso,
and their sect of Zen, called the Fuke-shu, with its 50 or more temples (according to various
sources, the number of temples has been listed as 55, 64, 72, or 77), the distinct solo
repertoire referred to as honkyoku developed for the shakuhachi (Blaesdel, 1988, p. 108).
The instrument itself was referre.d to by the komuso as a religious instrument, or "hoki," as

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opposed to" gakki," or musical instrument. and the playing of the shakuhachi became a
spiritual discipline (though not all of the komuso were religiously inclined). The breath
became the primary element in the honkyoku. with rhythm being defined by the breathing
pattern in the "original music" pieces, which often had themes based on Zen concepts or
phenomena in nature, and which were passed down orally for several centuries before
finally being written down and arranged in the 18th century by a komuso named Kurosawa
Kinko (1710-1771), who may also have started the practice of teaching Fuke sect shakuhachi
to laymen. The kari and meri, or sharp and flattened notes on the shakuhachi were thought
to represent yo and in (yang and yin), respectively, and playing the combination of both
types of notes in traditional Zen pieces was symbolic of playing the universe itself. Ney
pieces also appear to have been passed down orally until Ottoman art music began to be
transcribed in the mid 1Th century.

It is thought that near the beginning of the Edo period the shakuhachi evolved from the
straight and narrow six holed hitoyogiri to a stouter five holed flute with a curved bell
displaying the prominent flaring root end of the bamboo, though the hitoyogiri still
continued to be used until the 18th century, both for vocal accompaniment and in sankyoku
(literally "music for three," in this case the koto, shamisen, and hitoyogiri) ensembles in the
Edo pleasure districts. The thicker walled Edo period shakuhachi, with its knoblike root-
end may have developed to serve as a defensive weapon for the komuso on their travels
through the Japanese countryside. though there is also a theory that the shape may have
been influenced by the development in South China of a similar looking vertical dongxiao
flute which may have been brought into Japan by Chinese immigrants in the 17th century
(Sadie. ed., . v. 12, p. 833).

Towards the end of the Edo Period the instrument began to be used in Japanese
ensemble music as part of a trio with the koto, a bridged, plucked zither, and the shamisen,
the Japanese banjo-like lute, just as the hitoyogiri was. In this trio, or sankyoku, the
shakuhachi took the place of the kokyu or Japanese bowed lute. which had accompanied the
sangen. or shamisen, and the koto. The shakuhachi pieces for ensemble music were called
"gaikyoku," literally, "outside pieces," to distinguish them from the honkyoku. In the early
twentieth century the music of the instrument underwent further changes influenced by by
19th century European music arriving in Japan, and pieces from that period came to be
referred to as "shinkyoku," or "new pieces," with pieces composed after the Second World

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8 The Shakuhachi and the Ney: A Comparison of Two Flutes from the Far Reaches of Asia

War given yet another name, that of "gendai kyoku," or modern pieces.

The ney also had distinct ensemble and solo traditions. In the countryside it was often an
instrument played by shepherds, but it also became the only wind instrument used in the
classical Persian orchestra, and was played along with the lute's ancestor, the oud, and with
the qanum, a plucked trapezium box zither which was plucked with plectra on the fingers,
just as the Japanese koto was, though the instruments themselves were quite different in
appearance. Later the medieval Iranian ensemble was replaced by a smaller ensemble
which included the ney and the tanbur, a long necked lute. Both the shakuhachi and the
ney were played with a lute and a zither in their respective culture's classical music
traditions. While the gaikyoku, or shakuhachi music pieces played together with koto and
shamisen, were played in the entertainment districts of Edo as well as in the home, the
Persian classical pieces were limited to special private gatherings, usually in aristocratic
homes, as Islam imposed religious constraints which tended to discourage large public
forums for musical events. (Sadie, vol. 12, p. 536). One key difference in the ensemble
traditions of the two flutes is that in the Iranian ensemble, the ney was the lead melodic
instrument, but in the Japanese classical music of the latter 19th century, the main melody
line was either played by the koto or the shamisen, with the shakuhachi playing a
supporting melody or a melismatic revision of the shamisen melody.

In its solo tradition, the nay also became associated with a particular religious sect, that
of the Mevlevi Ayin, founded by Jalal Al-Din Rumi in the 13th century; its followers known
in the West as 'whirling dervishes.' The "whirling dervishes" stressed the use of dance,
poetry, and music in their religious ceremonies, and for the Mevelvi, "ecstatic movements of
the body were recognized as expressions of a spontaneous emotion caused by experience of
the divine." (Sadie, ed.,, vol. 12, p. 603) This whirling ceremony, called the Sewa, was a
driving force in the sufi's search for truth, just as the shakuhachi in its role as a hoki, or
religious tool, provided a focus for the komuso's search for enlightenment through what was
called suizen, or blowing zen. The standardized musical form of the dervishes' ceremonial
dances, which used the ney as a solo instrument accompanied by the percussive
instruments def (a frame drum), and kudim (a small kettledrum) is thought to have
originated in the 1Th century, about the same time the komuso sect in Japan became
established and began playing their honkyoku pieces as aids to enlightenment. In the
Mevlevi Sufi sect, introductory passages before the ceremonial dance included a non-metric

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taksim (meaning" division"), or improvisatory solo, on the ney. Melodic segments of varying
length and intensity alternated with periods of silence (Bearman, P.J.. ed., volume X, p. 143) .
in some ways similar to shakuhachi honkyoku, where the "ma," or space between the notes
was and is considered as important as the notes themselves. In the case of the free rhythm
pieces on the ney, they were often supported by a rhythmic drone on one of several
percussion instruments. whereas the shakuhachi honkyoku pieces were always performed
solo (though some modern renditions of honkyoku or pieces derived from honkyoku have
been accompanied by percussion or other instruments). Komuso honkyoku pieces for
shakuhachi were also non-metric or non-rhythmic in character, with the bamboo flute pieces
retaining an improvisatory character to a degree which allowed different versions of various
honkyoku pieces to develop. The shakuhachi honkyoku tended to subject one basic melodic
idea to constant subtle variation. The ney had a repertory (radif) of pieces exclusively
reserved for it, just as the shakuhachi had its solo repertoire in the honkyoku. The taksim
pieces on the ney are thought to have originally been borrowed from vocal forms, as the
rhythm of the nonmetric music is similar to the prosody of Near Eastern poetry. Solo pieces
from both traditions often tended to progress from the lower to the higher register, and
then back again to the lower octave.

The influence of Western music

By the early 20th century, the music for the ney began to emphasize western music
notation and the use of composed forms over improvised taksim. Similarly, at the end of the
nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century in Japan, one main school of
shakuhachi, the Tozan school, developed solo pieces influenced by Western music, and
certain occidentally based symbols began to make their way into the traditional music
notation. Honkyoku and gaikyoku pieces began to be played en masse. in imitation of the
western orchestra.

Religious traditions connected with the flutes

There are certain similarities between the religious traditions connected with both flutes.
though, of course, there are great differences as well. In the Edo period, the komuso
shakuhachi players begged for alms while taking their pilgrimages across the Japanese
countryside. They received three tools and three seals before they could begin life as

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10 The Shakuhachi and the Ney: A Comparison of Two Flutes from the Far Reaches of Asia

komuso monks, The three tools were the shakuhachi itself, a tengai basket hat which
concealed most of the wearer's face and symbolized non-attachment to ego, and the kesa, a
priest's sash worn over the kimono. The three seals were the honsoku, or komuso's license,
the kai'in. or personal identity papers, and the tsuin. a pass which enabled the komuso to
travel throughout the country without hindrance. There were originally only two ranks of
komuso, the jushoku, those who were fully ordained priests who lived in the temples, and
the kyogai. or wandering monks, the latter of which made up the majority of komuso (Riley
Kelley Lee, p. 128).

The Mehvlevi sect members in the Near East also begged for alms. After the novice had
finished his instruction he received the equivalent of a license from his teacher, and a rough
cloak, which served as an external sign of his status, similar to the tengai in the case of the
komuso, though not providing the anonymity the komuso's basket hat offered. The
Mehvlevi sect member also often carried a prayer rug, a rosary, and a begging bowl.
(Bearman, ed., Volume X. p. 315). The most important practice of the Sufis was the
remembrance of God (dhiku), and for the Mehvlevi sect, dance and music could help to bring
the practicioner to the point where he could have mukashafat, or "unveilings" which he
interepreted as coming from higher worlds, or from the Absolute. (Bearman, ed., volume X,
p. 315)

Support from governments for the Mevlevi sect and the komuso

The Mevlevi Sufi order received strong support and political influence from the Ottoman
Empire and so was able to further develop its own music, just as the Edo era komuso or
wandering Zen monks were given certain privelages by the Edo era Shogunate in return
for acting as government spies. Komuso monks had permission to travel freely from place
to place, retained free access to roads and checkpoints, were assured free passages on river
boats which connected with the roads used for traveling within Japan and were allowed to
demand payment in exchange for the playing of honkyoku on the bamboo flute. The
shakuhachi with its honkyoku pieces served as an instrument of enlightenment for komuso
priests, at least for those who had a sincere religious purpose in mind, and in the Fuke sect
there were rules against teaching secular tunes on the shakuhachi or permitting commoners
to play it (though these restrictions were often flaunted). The members of the Sufi order

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were also told to avoid secular tunes, and were not allowed to use instruments other than
the ney flute and def and kudim drums for the whirling ceremony. (Sadie, ed., vol. 12, p. 603).

Under government support, and also the Shogunate's watchful eye on the activities of
komuso -- one reason the Fuke sect was given official recognition by the authorities was so
that the Shogunate could keep tabs on potentially troublesome ronin -- the Fuke sect moved
its headquarters from Kyoto to Edo, the center of the shogun's government in Japan, and
the religious center of the the Fuke sect was established in the Ichigatsuji and Reihoji
temples outside the city, while the "business" center was based in the city, in Asakusa
(William P. Malm, 2000, p. 169). Also with government support, the Mevlevi dervish order
moved their focus to the Ottoman capital of Istanbul and began making a mystical art music
which had a notable influence on the elite in urban society, with even sultans becoming
proficient players of the the flute (Sadie, ed., vol. 18, p. 809).

Trouble with the authorities

Both sects eventually ran into trouble with the authorities. The Fuke Sect, ostensibly
because of corruption and probably because it was associated with the Shogunate, was
outlawed by the new Meiji government at the beginning of the Meiji Period (1868-1912).
Following the ban of the Fuke sect, the instrument became fully secularized and an official
member of the sankyoku (three instrument trio) with the koto and shamisen, playing the
gaikyoku ("outside music") pieces, though the komuso tradition of shakuhachi as hoki was
still passed down through a guild called the Meian ryu, based in Kyoto; the honkyoku pieces
were also being passed down through the Kinko ryu, named after the samurai Kurosawa
Kinko, though with Kinko the instrument itself was regarded as a gakki, or musical
instrument, and not as a religious tool. As mentioned earlier, the Tozan ryu, which
developed in the latter 19th century, was the first main shakuhachi school to alter
shakuhachi music and performance methods due to the influence of Western musical forms
which had entered Japan in the 19 1h century.

The Mevlevi sect, along with other Sufi orders, was outlawed in 1925 by the new
government of Turkey created under Kemal Ataturk, seven years after the collapse of the
old order, the Ottoman Empire, The Mevlevi whirling ceremony is still officially outlawed in
Turkey today, but continues to be practiced in private.

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12 The Shakuhachi and the Ney: A Comparison of Two Flutes from the Far Reaches of Asia

Ultimate origins

It is interesting to speculate as to whether it is possible that the ney could have made
the journey across Central Asia to China and then to Japan, becoming the Japanese
shakuhachi. According to Stephan Blum, "Five of the ten court orchestras of the T'ang
dynasty (618-907) bore the names of Central Asian oases and city states. -Turfan, Kucha,
Kashgar, Samarkand, and Bukhara." (Sadie, ed., vol. 5, p. 369). Today the ney is found from
North Africa to Iran and the Caucasus, and it is not unthinkable that it could have been
carried across Central Asia to end up being an instrument at the Chinese court. Current
scholarship traces the origin of the shakuhachi back to a notched Chinese flute called the
chiba. Shakuhachi is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese ideograms for chiba, where
chi is equivalent to shaku, and ba to hachi. (Sadie, ed.,, volume 12, p. 832). It is not
impossible that the chiba could have been the modification of a ney that had been carried
across Central Asia by travelers journeying the Silk Road.

Flutes similar to the ney are pictorially represented in Egyptian tombs from the time of
the Old Kingdom (c 2575-2134 BCE), where the players depicted were mostly male, though
women are at times depicted playing harps (Sadie, ed., volume 6, p. 2). By the time of the
Middle Kingdom (c2040-1640 BCE) women are represented more frequently in wall
paintings of chamber groups. In tombs from the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BCE) chamber
music groups are represented, playing a lute, a lyre, and a pipe of an oboe type, perhaps the
original sankyoku (three instrument) ensemble. Surviving end-blown flutes date back to the
Egyptian Middle Kingdom (c. 2040-1640), with the number of playing holes ranging from 4-6,
though recently even older vertical flutes have been discovered, with the oldest playable
instrument discovered so far being a 9,000 year old flute carved from the wing bone of a
crane, having been found in the village of Jiahu, along the Yellow River in China (Juzhong
Zhang, 1999, p. 366). Both ney and shakuhachi continue to evolve, with some players of both
flutes using the instruments more frequently in modern compositions and genres in addition
to preserving the traditional repertoires.

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Nay

player of the popular nliy {rim-blown flute), Fez,

Morocco
shakuhachi maker in action

Bibliography

Baines, Anthony, 1992, The Oxford Companion to Musical Instruments. OUP.

Bearman, P.]., ed., 1990, The Encyclopedia ofIslam, volume X.
Blaesdel, Christopher, and Kamisango, Yuko, 1988, The Shakuhachi: A Manual for Learning. 1988.
Brown, David, "Ney: A Middle Eastern Flute," Internet article, www.larkinthemorning.com//article.asp.
Donna Lapre, Kelly, "So What's a Ney Anyway?," Internet article,
http:/ /.sprynet.com/ apothecaryI ney .h tm.
Farrelly, David, 1984, The Book of Bamboo: A Comprehensive Guide to This Remarkable Plant, its Uses, and its
History, Sierra Club Books.
Heruka's Original Homepage of the Ney, www.bardoworks.it/ney.html.
Kitahara, Ikuya, Matsumoto, Misao, and Matsuda, Akira, 1990, The Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments: The
Shakuhachi. Tokyo Ongaku-sha.
Lee, Riley Kelly, 1998, Yearning for the Bell: A Study of Transmission in the Shakuhachi Honkyoku Tradition.
Department of Music, University of Sydney.
Malm, William P., 2000, Traditional Japanese Music and Musical Instruments. Kodansha International.
Mayers, Dan, ed., Annals of the International Shakuhachi Society, volume 1.
Sadie, Stanley, ed .. 2001, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, volumes 5, 12, 17, 18.
Norton/New Grove.
TheWorld Musical Instrument Gallery, www.aza.com/iney.shtml.
Zhang, Juzhong, et al., 1999, "Oldest Playable Musical Instruments Found at Jiahu ,Early Neolithic Site In
China." Nature. 401:366-368.

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