One Node FluteArticles written by Nick Bellando, Shin Sosa Ryu
Nick came to Tokyo in 2008 with one suitcase and an open mind. He now lives in a city in rural Japan (Aomori) with his wife and daughters, where he makes and teaches old-style Fuke shakuhachi, as well as its ancestor, the hitoyogiri. You can read his full bio and visit his website here.
In 1818, Kamiya Juntei published Shichiku Kokin-shu in a bid to save the dying hitoyogiri tradition — introducing classical Muromachi-era pieces alongside his own newly composed 'kotake' repertoire. His attempt to bridge old and new ultimately failed to save the tradition, but the book endured long enough to be mistaken, generations later, for genuine antiquity.
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During its heyday, the hitoyogiri shakuhachi thrived in many different settings. One of them was lively candlelit temple gatherings — friends trading poetry, sake, and flute tones late into the night. Through the diaries of poets and priests like Socho and Omori Sokun, we glimpse an instrument born for the tranquil, deep communication between kindred spirits.
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Before the longer Fuke shakuhachi arrived in the mid-1600s, the name 'shakuhachi' belonged to a much shorter, one-jointed flute — the hitoyogiri — favored by Pure Land and Zen monks, samurai, and poets for quiet spiritual communion rather than performance. Tracing figures like Ton'a, Ikkyū Sōjun, and the young prince Tsukushi no Miya, Nick Bellando uncovers a lineage where this rare bamboo flute served as sonic poetry between friends, bridging the seen and unseen worlds.
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