The Shakuhachi Flute
In Samurai Kids, Kyoko plays the shakuhachi flute.
Shakuhachi are made from the root end of a bamboo culm. Each one is unique.
The standard length of 1.8 Japanese feet (54.5 cm) is found in the name of the instrument -shaku (foot) and hachi(eight).
Sometimes the inside of the flute is lacquered.
Four fingerholes are on the front of the instrument with a thumbhole on the back. The mouthpiece is the open top of the pipe itself with the front side cut at a slight angle.
The shakuhachi player blows across the top, a bit like blowing across the top of a bottle.
Pitch is controlled by the angle of the blowing and the amount of the hole that is covered. The shakuhachi can range over two full octaves. Professional players can produce almost any pitch they want.
It is said that spies disguised as wandering komuso priests used their shakuhachi as a weapon to club an opponent to death.
The World Shakuhachi Festival will be held in Sydney in July 2008