What is the shakuhachi made of? They varied from shakuhachi made of bamboo to shakuhachi made of PVC pipe!

The shakuhachi is a very simple looking Japanese musical instrument.
To put it in an extremely simple way, it can be described as “a vertical flute made by drilling five holes in a tube.

Today, let us learn a little about the material of the shakuhachi.

Shakuhachi are made of various materials.
Starting with the most famous one, bamboo (the one that pandas often eat), they are made of wood and plastic. Some enthusiasts even make their own shakuhachi out of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe.

There are various types of bamboo, but the type used to make shakuhachi is called “madake” bamboo.
Madake is not only thick and elastic, but also strong and easy to process.
It may be chosen as a material for shakuhachi for these reasons.
Incidentally, maple trees and other trees are used for wooden shakuhachi.

Compared to the shamisen and so on, which are also Japanese musical instruments, you could see that the shakuhachi is quite simple.
However, the addition of Japanese craftsmanship to simple materials creates a profound instrument called the shakuhachi.
Doesn’t that make you a little more interested in it?