Greetings Shakuhachi list members,
I want to share with everyone the results from the shakuhachi survey that=
I
conducted on this list last year. I wish to thank again all who participa=
ted
and I apologize for the long delay in reporting results. Even with such a=
small
number of respondents it was time consuming to comb through all the infor=
mation
I gathered.
I would also like to let everyone know that you can read about this surve=
y and
more in an article I wrote called =93The Shakuhachi as Spiritual Tool: A =
Japanese
Buddhist Instrument in the West.=94 This article can be found in the late=
st issue
of Asian Music (Volume 35, no. 2, Spring/Summer 2004) which you can proba=
bly
find in your local university library, either hard copy or electronically.
As indicated by the article=92s title, I am particularly interested in th=
e
Buddhist associations with the shakuhachi and its curious history as both=
a
musical instrument and a tool for the practice of Zen, especially as the
instrument travels outside of Japan. In the survey, however, I gathered o=
ther
kinds of information from shakuhachi players that I found quite interesti=
ng and
would like to share with you here.
Please keep in mind that this small survey (only 58 respondents) is not t=
he
most representative example of all shakuhachi players. Most of the survey=
s were
collected from this email discussion list which, as you all know, narrows=
the
field considerably. I would have liked to personally contact a number of
shakuhachi teachers and ask them to distribute the survey to their studen=
ts,
but such an undertaking would have been too big and too time-consuming fo=
r me.
My interests here were simply to test the waters in the shakuhachi commun=
ity
and I found the Internet an easy, cost-effective way to gather informatio=
n
quickly.
The original purpose of this survey was to gauge the activities of non-Ja=
panese
shakuhachi players outside of Japan, but I also duplicated the survey in
Japanese and distributed it to Japanese players as well. However, I was o=
nly
able to gather 11 Japanese respondents as I was unable to locate a simila=
r
Internet discussion group among Japanese players. This lack of Internet
discussion about the shakuhachi among Japanese players may itself be
significant.
Here are some of the specifics on the 58 respondents:
Countries in which the 58 respondents live: (47 Westerners; 11 Japanese)
30 U.S.; 14 Japan (11 Japanese; 3 foreigners); 5 Canada; 5 Australia; 2 U=
nited
Kingdom; 1 Netherlands; 1 Philippines.
Average age of respondents: 47 years old
Gender: 54 males, 4 females (all non-Japanese)
Do shakuhachi players play other instruments?
Yes. Almost all respondents have had experience with other instruments, b=
ut 28
out of 58 currently play the shakuhachi exclusively. 6 respondents have =
had no
other musical experience than shakuhachi.
How much money did respondents spend on flutes?
Shakuhachi players certainly spend a lot of money on flutes! 49 of the 58
respondents listed the total sum of money they have spent on flutes and t=
he
total figure is approximately $212,920, which comes to about $4,345 per p=
erson.
Keep in mind that the Japanese respondents are bigger spenders; 11 Japane=
se
respondents spent more money on flutes than all 38 Westerners. The most a=
ny
individual spent on flutes was approximately $40,000 by one Japanese
respondent.
What about lessons with teachers?
30 respondents (over 50%) do not have regular lessons with teachers;
7 respondents have no teacher at all, some attributing this to the genera=
l
inaccessibility of teachers while others claim that having a teacher is
unnecessary to play shakuhachi.
13 respondents teach shakuhachi to others.
How significant an impact has the instrument had on respondents=92 lives?
31 respondents claimed shakuhachi had a Very Significant impact on their =
lives.
About 6 respondents indicated that they made major changes in their perso=
nal or
family life as a result of the shakuhachi.
What was it that originally attracted players to the shakuhachi?
31 respondents claim that it was the sound (specifically the timbre) that=
drew
them to the instrument;
14 respondents attribute their introduction to the instrument with either=
Zen
or meditation (none of these respondents were Japanese).
How many respondents practice meditation?
40 out of 47 Westerners regularly practice some kind of meditation. One s=
hould
bear in mind that Westerners often use the word =93meditate=94 rather loo=
sely
(e.g., =93watering my garden is my meditation,=94 etc.).
1 out of 11 Japanese respondents practice meditation.
How many connect their meditation practice with their shakuhachi playing?
29 of the 47 Western respondents (62%) claim that they use the shakuhachi=
as an
instrument of meditation in their own personal practice to varying degree=
s.
1 respondent in the Japanese survey uses the shakuhachi for his meditatio=
n
practice.
Is the shakuhachi considered gakki, hokki or both?
40 out of 47 Western respondents consider the shakuhachi to be both a
meditation tool and a musical instrument. As most respondents are aware o=
f the
history of the instrument, this statement might also be read more as just=
a
statement of historical fact than personal belief. However, in the Japane=
se
survey, 10 of the 11 respondents considered the shakuhachi to be only a m=
usical
instrument, not a meditation tool.
How many Shakuhachi players identify themselves as Buddhists?
19 respondents (15 Westerners; 4 Japanese) declared they are Buddhist (33=
% of
all respondents).
28 respondents did not acknowledge any religious affiliation (some of the=
se
claimed that Zen was not a religion, but a philosophy).
----If anyone has any particular questions about the survey results, please e= -mail me directly at keister@colorado.edu. I welcome anyone=92s feedback on thi= s project.
-- Jay Keister Assistant Professor, Ethnomusicology University of Colorado, Boulder 303-492-5496 _____________________________________________
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