Name of the making dojo: 本音尺八 Hon-on Shakuhachi in Aomori, Japan
Shakuhachi and Zen played a big part in my own faith journey. They helped me learn to listen during prayer, and to approach life with trust instead of fear, embracing mystery and being content even when understanding doesn’t come.
I appreciate the more introverted and personal nature of older shakuhachi, as opposed to the more performance-friendly construction of modern jinashi and jiari flutes. I began exploring how to make shakuhachi that lend themselves better to meditation and prayer in 2012. After studying older techniques (and visiting the new as well) with many different teachers, and a good deal of experimentation, I finally arrived at something that I really like.
As for credentials, for whatever they’re worth: I have been playing shakuhachi since 1999, and hold kaiden (Myoan license) from Suiko Takahashi, who also got me started on making shakuhachi. I teach Myoan-ryu and Kinpu-ryu via skype and in person here in Hirosaki, and have also been speaking and holding seminars / concerts in the US and here in Japan to expose people to the meditative side of shakuhachi since 2005.
I have been making and selling jinashi, Edo-style komuso shakuhachi for playing Honkyoku (Myoan-ryu, Kinpu-ryu, etc.) since 2015, to contact me please use the contact form on my website.