Wishes

I wish that beauty, arts, music, knowledge and wisdom
enlighten your life in 2020
May Benzaiten guide you.

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2020 Updates

For 2020, I have updated the prices and reorganised the different models of Chikudo shakuhachi

Over the last 2 years, the positive feedbacks I got on my work from my master, professional makers and players met during ESS events and recently from all the people I met in Japan have convinced me to raise my prices on the repairing services and the best of my ji-nashi and ji-ari.
These prices hadn’t been changed for a long time meanwhile the general quality of my instruments has increased.
I also decided to organise differently – and more clearly – the different models of shakuhachi I build.

I however want to keep on affordable entry-level prices for the beginner’s shakuhachi which are now called GAKUSEI (“student”).

Vous pouvez consulter les nouveaux tarifs ici :

Chikudo prices

Discover the different models of shakuhachi that I build

I wish you all a happy and prosperous year 2020 !

thomas

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Japan trip 1/2 : Tokyo

During this one month trip in Japan, I had several goals focused on shakuhachi and bamboo. I fulfilled all those missions and came back home rich with meetings, experiences and contacts, well fed to dedicate myself to my art.

On the first week in Tokyo, I had a very busy program quite exhausting with the tiredness and jet lag !

3 days of workshop with the shakuhachi maker Takahashi Toyomi whom I met in London WSF2018. He is student of Miura Ryuho one of the best renowned maker these days.
Thanks to him, I could solve several technical problems accumulated in my years of making shakuhachi by myself. He taught me in particular the making of the brazed silver rings for the joints which I had already experimented since a while. It is a meticulous and time consuming task…

This stay at Takahashi sensei’s workshop was very cheering for me as his feedbacks on my work and the quality of my instruments were very positive.

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On my birthday, I was lucky to find myself in a small bar in Waseda area were happened the monthly “strange instrument party”… a nice time of laughs and improvised music as a birthday present (Thanks to Mutsumi !)

I spent most of that week in Kichijoji where I was praying daily Benzaiten goddess (of arts, musique and knowledge) in its dedicated temple in Inokashira park. I have to say that I felt very well guided thanks to her during this study trip.
In this same park, I met Fura-san, “dharma bum” (cf. Jack Kerouac), author, compositor and street musician with whom I shared music and spiritulity; he had led me to Kataha-san dedicated in komuso shakuhachi, mastering Myoan, Futaiken and Kimpu-ryu styles and living nearby. We had a short but interesting time to share our passion about shakuhachi.
The day before leaving to Kyushu, after a big shopping time in Mejiro shakuhachi (specialised shop in Tokyo), I went for shakuhachi lessons to Dr Mizuno Kohmei’s house in Kokubunji. He is the headmaster of chikumeisha branch.

Then I flew to Oita-ken a northern Kyushu prefecture famous for its Onsen (hot springs) and bamboo crafts. The plane was pretty small and flying at lower altitude, I was lucky on that sunshiny day to fly over mount Fuji admiring it’s crater; a very good sign for the rest of the journey…!

 

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✈ Voyage au Japon… ✈

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I am leaving soon for a one month trip in Japan !
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The plan is :

One week in Tokyo where I will learn more about Ji-ari making with shakuhachi master craftsman Takahashi Toyomi and take lessons with Mizuno Komei (headmaster of Chikumeisha branch). I will also visit specialized shops (such as Mejiro) and maybe meet some lacquer master…

Then three weeks in north Kyushu (I don’t like staying over a week in a big city !) where my mission will be harvesting Madake bamboo which is abundant there.
I will be back to the rural side of Japan that I loved so much during my bicycle trip in 2010 (already 9 years…!)

So if you were planning to buy one the shakuhachi currently instock, please do that before November the 7th (I will leave the 10th) or wait until mid-December…

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New videos with Max Brumberg

Here are two new videos shot with my friend Max Brumberg flutemaker based in south-east France.

He got passionate about the antique Greek double reed Aulos and is part of the crazy few constituting the revival of this antique instrument…

Here is the meeting between Aulos and Shakuhachi :

And a solo where I play one of the shortest piece of the Honkyoku repertoire :
Ashi no Shirabe

Both of them played in the great acoustic of the Roman church of Fons a village near Figeac.

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Replacing utaguchi inlay

Here are some pictures detailing steps
to replace a kinko utaguchi inlay on a shakuhachi restored this month :

An other repair on a Myoan inlay made from deer antler :

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Back to work !

I am back at the workshop with a lot to do. As may have notice, most of available shakuhachi were sold during summertime….that’s good !
I now need to make new shakuhachi (meditation, student, ji-nashi…) and have a nice ji-ari started in spring that Ihope to finish soon.
I also have few old shakuhachi to repair; some of them may be available next week…

Here are some pictures of thos vintage shakuhachi I’m working on :

 

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Chikudo Ji-ari Shakuhachi

For the last two years, I’ve been studying the making of ji-ari thanks to all the restoration work on fine flutes I was entrusted with. My goal until now was to be able to produce good ji-ari shakuhachi with non-madake French bamboos.

Here are then the last two ji-ari that I made which I feel satisfied with the result and want to go on improving.

Read more

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A challenging shakuhachi repair…

This was the last (but not least !) of the shakuhachi brought back from London; it was entrusted to me by Jose Vargas a shakuhachi maker friend from Madrid. This repair was very challenging for me and a way to prove that even the worse splits can be repaired.

Here it is in the condition when I received it; it’s an old 2.6 kinko ji-ari very well crafted :

After a few days in warm humid atmosphere, the split was reduced from 6 to 2mm but not entirely closed. So I used hose clamps which enabled to close it some more before complete binding.

Finally, I couldn’t reduce the split less than a millimetre on its worse parts so I  infiltrated glue in it. Then I had to reshape the joint which was completely deformed and fill all the gaps in the bore with ji before complete lacquering with several layers of strong urushi.

It is very pleasing for me to be able to give its voice back to a nice shakuhachi; in a way I feel I’m honouring the maker’s work.

I hope that for a next badly cracked shakuhachi, I would be able to close completely the splits…

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Bodhidharma

I was pleased this month to welcome
Bodhidharma in my workshop

sculpture bambou bodhidharma

I have been fascinated for a while by these Asian bamboo sculptures so I finally offered myself this present.
It is a beautiful Chinese sculpture (probably quite old in regard to its patina) made from a very impressive Moso bamboo root (Ph. Edeulis) representing the famous 6th century monk Bodhidharma (Daruma in Japanese) who initiated Chan Buddhism in China which became Zen in Japan.

Learn more about Bodhidharma history.

This inspiring artefact found naturally its place in my workshop and is now keeping an eye on my work !

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