The shakuhachi is an ancient vertical 5-hole end-blown flute that came to Japan from China sometime before the Edo Period.  It is characterized by its method of performance and design that features microtonal pitch movements and a wide range of tonal colors.  The flute first came into Japanese gagaku ensemble, then found its way in the hands of mendicant Zen monks called komuso.  These monks developed chant-based music, and music with deep ties to the natural world, for the flute and used the practice as a Zen tool of meditation.  Shakuhachi culture developed in a complex crucible of Japanese cultural aesthetics, Zen Buddhism, music, and nature.

Today shakuhachi is the heir to these sound sutras, called honkyoku, as well as other secular genres - ensemble, minyo, and modern, music.  The shakuhachi can be an instrument of music, of meditation, or both, depending upon the hands it finds itself in. 

Shakuhachi has a large capacity for expressiveness and sound, both in terms of pitch and timbre. Each player has their own unique sound that develops with them, and through their experience and life with the flute. Traditional shakuhachi helps foster this individual voice, through its oral and musical lineage that can be followed back through the Edo Period in Japan, and into the United States in the 20th Century in the hands of masters and students.