Other Shakuhachi For Sale
Vintage Edo-style, Modern Jinashi, and Modern Jiari shakuhachi by various makers for sale. Contact me if you have any questions.
Currently working on several vintage ji-ari 2.0 flutes, and a Myoan-style 1.9 (nice and fat!). Stay tuned for photos.
Vintage ji-ari 2.0 弥芳 shakuhachi
I'm uncertain of the reading for the maker's name; possibly "Yayoshi." I come across his flutes every so often. This is a beautiful, old-style ji-ari 2.0. While this is a "modern" shakuhachi in that it uses ji (which has been skillfully applied - very smooth inside), it betrays its age (70+ years?) both by the caramel coloring of the bamboo and the small, evenly-spaced finger holes. Again, it plays like an older flute, with a good deal of backpressure and feedback. The notes are stable, the tone is a bit dark; I don't play ji-ari flutes very often, but this one has something different to it that makes me want to pick it up. It plays in C quite well in the winter, but you may need to play it a bit meri to do the same in the summer months. This flute came to me cracked, with a few steel-pins in it - a repair technique that can be seen around the first half of the 20th century. The old repairs have been reinforced with ample inlaid bindings, overlaid with antiqued rattan. This is a nice ji-ari for Kinpu-ryu or other honkyoku playing, but of course it can easily be used for modern pieces as well!
- Size: 2.0 (606 mm)
- Tenguchi (mouthpiece) size: 21mm
- Chiguchi (bottom) diameter: 19mm
- Weight: 398g
- Price: $900.00 USD
- Order code: O-13
星光 Seiko ("Starlight") ji-ari 2.0
This 2.0 came to me in need of some TLC: I repaired a chipped mouthpiece and a loose naka-tsugi (joint), and adjusted the finger holes a bit to make it play more in-tune. It has "2.0" etched into the back of the upper section (see photo), in case you forget how long it is. Even so, it's a charming 2.0. It plays in tune without any particular straining, but plays a little more like a jinashi in this respect, in that the player needs to adjust the upper two notes with her breath a bit to bring them to pitch. Tsu-dai-meri and "u" in the upper octave need to be played a bit gently, but are stable when played this way. The rest of the sounds are stable; I've been able to get a rather nice, open ji-ari sound out of this one. It's not a professional ji-ari, but is a good 2.0 for learning on or for day-to-day playing. It plays in the key of C, though it's a bit sharp during the warmer months.
- Size: 2.0 shaku (about 606 mm)
- Tenguchi (mouthpiece) size: 21mm
- Chiguchi (bottom) diameter: 19mm
- Weight: 420g
- Price: $325 USD
越洲 Esshū ji-ari 2.0
The first thing that I noticed about this flute was its bore: smooth and shiny, it's been carefully formed, and slightly on the narrow side toward the bottom, giving it some nice backpressure, which I like. The flute plays well and notes like tsu-dai-meri and "u" in the upper octave are nice and stable; a nice 2.0 for the price. It plays in-tune nicely, but as it is a "sho-sun" flute true to the older "shaku" measurement system, it plays slightly sharp of C. I'm used to playing a bit meri, however, and have no trouble playing it in C alongside my wife's piano.
- Size: 2.0 shaku (606mm)
- Tenguchi (mouthpiece) size: 21.5mm
- Chiguchi (bottom) diameter: 18mm
- Weight: 348g
- Price: $550.00 USD
- Order code: O-17
