Keishin 2.0

War era 2.0 jiari with full inlaid bindings (and a couple of old butterfly staples left in-place) underneath a “weathered” urushi exterior — this work was recently done to give the shakuhachi more of a historic vibe, including the exterior mentori rattan bindings with many layers of hand-rubbed urushi to achieve the desired aesthetic. It is a slender flute with an overall average diameter of 31mm +/-. Length is approx. 60.5cm, weight is 335 grams.

Urushi bore is smooth and refined, and non-original, having been poked and prodded and nudged over time, as other work was being done. Typical era towari tuning with slightly flat tsu and sharp chi, with low ro a tick above neutral–all very manageable and easily corrected for. The flute is extremely responsive and allows for wide timbre changes throughout otsu; takes very little breath to voice. Meri’s are easily accessible, dai kan is effortless. Overall tuning is a little above A440 so it is most ideal as a honkyoku shakuhachi.

This shakuhachi has a few little quirks, as mentioned above, but is still a wonderful flute that is sure to get a lot of play time, and rewards the blower for it.

Comes with leather utaguchi cap and my favorite shak bag of all-time (includes mid-1800’s 100 mon Japanese coin on the tie).

Audio sample showing the tuning and overall tone: