If you’ve had a really hard day and need to unwind, visitNorth Pacific Music and order the CD: Shakuhachi Banquet, by Fukuda Teruhisa. When it arrives in the mail: turn down the lights; spark some beeswax candles; got some red wine breathing; and draw a nice bath and let your consciousness float.
Born in 1949 in Nagano Prefecture, Fukuda Teruhisa studied under Baizan Nakamura, Kohachirii Miyata, and started performing in public in 1986. He plays a mix of traditional Japanese music like Hitoyo-giri Shakuhachi and modern music. He has also performed with numerous famous Japanese orchestras including the NHK Symphony Orchestra. He is a member of the Pro Musica Nipponia and master teacher working to free the shakuhachi from its strict traditional setting.
Track Listing:
Shika no Tohne [Traditional]
Kumoi Jishi [Traditional]
Sokaku Reibo [Traditional]
Tsuyu no Eistudo (Etude for the Rainy Season) [Jackie T. Gabel]
Johi Haku Un (Ascent into Bliss) [Takayoshi Yanagida]
Ten no Io (Fish from Heaven) [Atsuke Sumi]
Shakuhachi: The Sound of Nature:
The shakuhachi is a testament to the elegance of traditional Japanese culture. Made from the root of the bamboo, its aesthetic is organic and simple. Hidden inside this rustic form, however, is a bore that is carefully crafted with the utmost precision. This instrument produces a sound that is said to replicate the full range of natural life on earth.
The shakuhachi is an end-blown flute tuned to a pentatonic (5-note) scale. By various fingerings – half and quarter holings – and by controlling the angle of mouthpiece against the lip, all twelve tones of the western chromatic scale can be produced. The mouthpiece consists of an oblique blowing edge whose design is unique in that it enables the player to control the pitch produced by changing the angle at which the flute is being blown. This, in turn, produces a delicate change of intonation – a swelling or bending of notes characteristic of the traditional music. Alterations in embouchure, intensity of blowing and cross fingerings allow the player to create a wide variety of subtle and incredible sounds. The timbre of the instrument is mellow in its low tones, although it is equally capable of producing loud, penetrating and breathy tones in its middle and upper registers. Little can be said of the sound of the shakuhachi without first hearing its hauntingly beautiful ring. With this in mind, noted ethnomusicologist Fumio Koizumi concluded: “Because of the religious origin of its music, the sound of the bamboo flute leads the mind directly into spiritual thought. Thus a single tone of the shakuhachi can sometimes bring one to the world of Nirvana.”
Traditional Japanese music played on this instrument reflects the many voices of nature. Gentle and warm, the summer rain. Frayed and gusty, the autumn breeze through the bamboos. Shrill and honking, the cry of a wild duck, winter on its tail. Quiet and sweet, a mountain lake fed by early spring runoff.
Origins & History of the Shakuhachi:
Honkyoku, the “original music” of the shakuhachi, represents one of the major genres of traditional Japanese music. The name of the instrument is derived from an ancient system of measurement, shakuhachi being the corruption of i shaku ha sun which literally means 1.8 feet, the length of the classical flute. Instruments ranging in size from 1.3′ to 2.4′ are used in concert and flutes as long as 3.2′, while less common, are also played.
The origin of the shakuhachi, according to one theory, has been traced back as far as ancient Egypt and is presumed to have migrated through India and China before entering Japan in the Sixth 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.
It’s fast, it’s a little bit funky, and you can get it at almost any convenience store in Japan! Step into any Japanese convenience store in the fall or winter and you will notice a distinctive aroma – the aroma of Oden, a traditional Japanese dish made by boiling a variety of ingredients in broth for hours.
