I enter the small comfortable room and sit expectantly on the deshi no isu, the student’s chair. Kaoru reaches down to the rack beside him as he says, “Here it is.” The colour of the bamboo is so light. Now that I see it, I realise how long a two point four really is. He sets it in my hands and says again how I am “Mr Lucky.” I ask if he knows the word, “Auspicious.”
Why is it that I am once again so thankful to receive a shakuhachi made by Miura-san? His clients are willing to pay him large sums of money to wait for lengths of time that most people in this world today would consider unrealistic. An average wait is one to one and a half years. Kaoru told me of one man who has been waiting three years now. What is going on? Have I entered an alternative reality. Yes, there is a great deal of time and skill involved in the making of one of Miura-san’s shakuhachis. The bamboo must be of a specific type and quality. It must taper at a specific rate for each different length of flute. The urushi (http://www.stylophilesonline.com/04-05/04urush.htm) must be built up carefully to create the dual taper chamber inside the instrument. Shakuhachi’s made without urushi , ji-nashi shakuhachi, are near impossible to tune correctly. If you get one note correct, then, another one is out. The urushi inside the bamboo helps to bring the notes into pitch but also to create a different tone. It is a complex procedure. The thickness of the bamboo makes for deeper holes. The root end of a bamboo has a curve that is unique and must be taken into account.
However, there is more to it than these practical concerns. Miura-san is a perfectionist. He will say that a shakuhachi is ready on a particular date and then decide that “it needs a few more days” and it will weeks later and you are still waiting. When someone receives his shakuhachi after three years, he will know that it is the finest that can be made by a man who is constantly improving his skill.
Another difference: When Miura-san finally sent off my 2.4, he was not selling it, he was letting it go. It was not a “finished product”, instead it had reached that point where it was ready to be transferred to me to continue it’s life. This bamboo and urushi now contains a great deal of Miura in it. It was passed into my hands and we have already begun the mutual melding; Kundan into the shakuhachi and shakuhachi into Kundan.
Kaoru asked if I could smell the urushi, the lacquer that is used to form the dual tapered inner chamber of the shakuhachi. I inhaled near the top opening. The smell of the still curing urushi was soft and brown. I now have some of that lacquer in my system. I hold the bamboo and the oil from my hands soaks slowly through the natural coating to aid in the darkening, spreading out from the holes that I cover and uncover. The blond will turn an ever deeper golden as I play. In the photo, you can see the two and a half year old one point eight beside the newly arrived two point four.
When I pick up the new instrument, my hands and arms search for comfortable positioning that allows free movement while giving proper covering of the holes. The size and weight make me even more aware of the need for the integrating of the instrument with my body. My whole body engaging in the blowing. I am playing for short periods and, then, setting it aside to shake out and relax, so that, I can again approach feeling the way. And, with each breath that brings a sound, the vibration is altering the structure of the bamboo.
When I told a fellow player that I was going to get a two point four, he said, “Yes, all students want to move up to a larger instrument when they first start playing.” I have been careful to cultivate in myself an appreciation for my one point eight. I now value it for it’s own unique beauty and abilities and, also, for how it has enabled me to move forward in my playing. Just the night before the arrival of it’s new companion, suddenly, unexpectedly, I was playing in a way that created a new tone and longer notes. When I blew for the first time into the two point four, I was able to make a full sound because of my playing with the one point eight. After blowing the two point four, my blowing is better on the two point eight.
About “Mr Lucky” and “Auspicious”
When I was leaving here six months ago, I told Kaoru that I wanted to buy a two-point-four length shakuhachi. Being the kind of teacher that he is, he said that there is only one maker that he totally trusts to make a consistently high enough quality shakuhachi like I should be playing. That maker is Miura-san. He made the one-point-eight shakuhachi that I bought on my first visit here. However, my budget did not allow such a thought. I told Kaoru that I could only spend 2/3rds of what Miura-san’s beginning price for a two-point-four.
A couple months later, I spoke with Kaoru about this again. Somehow, I had negotiated with myself so that I could spend 4/5ths what Miura-san starts at.
Shortly thereafter, Kaoru wrote in an email that he had spoken with Miura-san about my wish. Miura-san said what his normal beginning price is. However, he had recently been commissioned to make a professional level two point four. He had selected the finest materials. He was part way through when a crack appeared. He repaired the crack and put bindings on the affected area. Well, the customer didn't want the shakuhachi in that condition. So... Miura-san agreed to sell it to me for the price that I wished to pay. In the phot below, you can see the inlaid bindings that I so like.
The circumstances of my two point four experience are on top of the good fortune surrounding my first shakuhachi purchase and the happening of the World Shakuhachi Festival in Sydney soon after I began playing is why Kaoru calls me “Mr Lucky”.
As for why I asked if Koaru knew the word, “Auspicious”. It was a close call whether Miura-san would feel that it was time to release the flute from his workshop before I left Japan. He is a perfectionist. And, his timing was perfect... Perfectly Auspicious in that where I was born, the shakuhachi was passed on on my birthday!
Cheers, Kundan
PS- I asked Kaoru if Japanese musicians name their instruments. He said that, yes, he had heard of a few occasions. He told me of a man he know who calls his Shakuhachi “Prelude”. The man had ordered a very fine instrument and when it was finally ready, he didn’t have enough money to pay for it. So, he sold his car, a Honda Prelude.
Thanksgiving. Last Thursday, fifteen of us gathered around two tables and carried out the ritual of eating much too much food. I had my tofurkey to keep me company. I misread the instructions and when I discovered my mistake it was too late to cook it in the oven. So, I had tofurkey on the Barbie (as in BBQ).
