How to Care for the Shakuhachi

At first

It is best if you take care of your own instrument. Here, I will offer some tips on tuning and preventing cracking. These two aspects are indispensable for shakuhachi maintenance.

This photograph is of my instruments: 1.6 shaku, two 1.8 shaku (two), and a 2.4 shaku. I also have a spare 1.6 shaku and 1.8 shaku. All these instruments are wrapped in plastic fishing line to prevent cracking. (After I put the 13 wrappings of tight fishing line on the 2.4 shakuhachi the evening I arrived in the US for a concert tour. By the following morning, my hands had swelled up to the size a big Mac!)

@@

The shakuhachi most easily cracks in the upper joukan section, so this is where the most wrappings should be done. Depending upon length, six or eight wrappings should be sufficient. The lower gekan section doesn't crack so easily, so three or four wrappings is probably enough.
The joukan should be wrapped in the following places: just below the utaguchi mouthpiece, just above the nakatsugi joint, between the 4th and 5th holes, between the utaguchi and the middle bamboo, and just above and below the bamboo joint.
The second shakuhachi (1.8 shaku) from the right repaired by shakuhachi maker Mr. HARA Suikyozan. He embedded the wrapping in the surface of the bamboo and then coated it with Japanese urushi lacquer. I always use this shakuhachi for my stage performances.
The 1.6 shaku instrument cracked during a tour of the U.S.A. in 1998. I soaked the instrument in water as soon as possible and wrapped it the next morning. This occurred the day before the concert! Luckily I always carry repair kits. But I always pray I don't have to use them.
The lower gekan section should be wrapped in the following places: just below the nakatsugi joint, between the 1st and 2nd hole, just above and below the bamboo joint.

This photograph shows shakuhachi whose holes have been altered and fine-tuned. You can alter the pitch of a hole by cutting or filing away the upper part of the hole (to sharpen the pitch) or adding putty to the upper part of the hole (to lower the pitch). Altering the bottom part of the hole doesn't effect the pitch. For cutting, I use a sharp Japanese knife or file and for adding putty I use normal wood putty (like for furniture repair).
I hate to say so, but it is very rare to find a shakuhachi that does not need some additional tuning.

Repair

One must take a great amount of care in maintaining shakuhachi so they don't crack. Here the old saying, "an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is certainly good advice!
For more detailed instructions on repair, please read the < Preparation page > first. Go To Preparation

sToolst


Click the tools for details. Go To Repair



Tuning

Shakuhachi tuning is very difficult, but here are some basic way sof tuning.

sToolst


Click the tools for details. Go To Tuning

If your instrument's mouthpiece is slightly broken, or you have difficulty in playing the Otsu-Ro ( lowest sound of Shakuhachi ) after making a Nana-kou-Shakuhachi ( 7 holes Shakuhachi ) see the Uta-kuchi section.Go To Uta-kuchi@