re: travelling with shakuhachi

From: Peter Ross (peteross@cloudhandsmusic.com)
Date: Fri Sep 21 2001 - 12:18:15 PDT


Hi Dale,

I just got back from Hawaii Monday night. I gave three concerts there,
so I
had five shakuhachi with me. My flute cases were not searched, except
for
being run through the conveyer x-ray. But when I got on the plane I
overheard the pilot say to someone that I looked suspicious. He then
asked me
what was in the cases. I said Japanese bamboo flutes. He asked me if
security had checked my flutes and I said yes. That was it. They let me
go to
my seat. It's scary that they took my word for it that the flutes had
been
checked out.

Except for an incident in Australia many years ago I've never had to
show my
flutes to anyone. In 1971 I landed in Darwin, Australia with two
shakuhachi.
Customs officials insisted that they were bamboo plants and took them
from me
and had them fumigated. It took quite a while to clean them out, and
the
smell lingered.

I think when I travelled through India and Southeast Asia people left me
alone
because they thought I had a sword or some kind of weapon in the case.
In
general I've had few hassles and many great experiences travelling with
my
shakuhachi.

Peter

Dale Koenig wrote:

> This question is distantly related to the on-going discussions we've
> been having. But am curious to find out if any one has attracted
> more attention in taking your shakuhachis on board when flying.
>
> I haven't had the oppurtunity to travel this month. Probably will
> in the next couple of months, I always travel with my flute, and
> carry it on board. I have a soft case lined with thick foam. To date
I've
> had no problems from security.
>
> Just thought I would poll the group.
>
> Dale Koenig
> ourtrouver@hotmail.com
-- Peter Ross
http://www.cloudhandsmusic.com
206-587-7262
206-364-2341 FAX



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