Shakuhachi and ink.

                                                             Our interests come and go every day as we fit in the things we call special or interesting. One day it is this, the next it is that. As noticed from this blog all year, I have many interests and never enough time to excel at simply one. And I won't give up 90% to concentrate at just one or two things. My interest will wane and I want to experience and try something new.

                                                            So I change my ways and switch things around,sometimes going back to the fun and educational things I did before and then going on to something else new. This week...back to my shakuhachi and a wee bit of practice to keep my embouchure steady after a few months. As noted previously, I own three of these delicious and wonderful instruments: a standard root end 1.8 earth model shak from Perry Yung.

   Then a Yuu shakuhachi 1.8, which is a poly made version that is very durable and great for practice

  And finally, my deeper and more resonant 2.2 Chikusing model shakuhachi, also from Perry Yung

                                                            And a pic of all three together...

                                     With very different responses and sounds, they give me some options when playing and even recording, which I have only done a few times.  Fortunately, in the climate of the pacific NW, I've not had issues with cracking of the bamboo and they still remain the same as the day they were made.

                                     So now I will play with these a few weeks and get back into that. No, I'm not sure what I will do later into autumn as it rapidly approaches (THANKFULLY). The shakuhachi will always be a part of my life along with many other things Japanese.

                                     My grandfather spent many years of his life in Japan
after the war and settled down there finally in the late 50's. So I have a connection of sorts in addition to the music and culture.  Add that I have Japanese tattoos and...well, you get the picture.


  This tattoo on my left arm is of Hiroshige's "Little brown owl on a pine tree", a woodcut from 1832 along with the poem in Japanese. The other tattoo is shakuhachi in Japanese kanji .

  Yes, as you can tell, I also love tattoos!!! Hope to get the remainder of my forearms filled in soon to complete both and call them done. For now ;-)

                                                        Onward toward Autumn!!!!!