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A story is beginning here after reading Stav Tapuch's thoughts...
The most expensive new shakuhachi that has ever been purchased, according to
reliable gossip, went for issenman (1000,0000) Japanese yen. (The Japanese
language counts numbers in units of four rather than three.) Today, 2002,
January 24th, issenman yen is US$74,626.87! or 84,745.76 euro! Presumably,
all the requirements of the purchaser, whatever they were, were met to his
satisfaction. Even so, this is a long way above the traditional standard of
one months salary for a good shakuhachi and two months salary for an
excellent one.
The fellow who made and sold this most expensive shakuhachi is an older
brother in terms of shakuhachi lineage who terminated his apprenticeship at
the flute shop about six months before my arrival there. His work is
remarkable in terms of being visibly magnetic; anyone who has seen two or
three of these flutes would spot others in a crowd right off. His prices
are the highest of anyone around, commonly ni ka sanbyakuman yen (2 or
300,0000) for mid-range bamboo. If you have looked at lots of bamboo
through the process of its' accommodating a shakuhachi, then you will be
able to visually pick out those shakuhachi which have their bottom ends,
roots and all, stained with urushi to enhance their appearance. These
expensive older brother flutes are twice stained with a rather reddish
urushi and are polished until they glitter and sparkle. They have gold
bordering the mouthpiece inlay and told rings at the nakatsugi. AND the
bamboo itself is handsome in the extreme.
During days as an apprentice it sometimes happened that a business excursion
forced the vacation of the usual work space in order to move merchandise,
shakuhachi and accessories, to the location of an assemblage of shakuhachi
teachers and their students. These periodic events were (and probably still
are) the rank examinations within Tozan Sect Shakuhachi with perhaps a
hundred and fifty or more shakuhachi people all at once in the same
arrangement of examining spaces and perhaps a hundred and fifty shakuhachi
displayed in a wide well lit area so everyone could mill around while
fondling and/or playing and comparing different flutes. Through this
interaction a general consensus about shakuhachi prices was somehow agreed
upon; as low as goman yen (5,0000) and as high as gojuman yen (50,0000) when
a US dollar was around 300 yen, with a most popular price of jugo kara
nijuman yen (from 15,0000 to 20,0000), which was within the one month salary
range at that time.
It happened that the most popular items were also very attractive bamboo
specimens to begin with, meaning that they had lived long enough to mature
so as to be able to not shrink up into wrinkles around the bottom as they
had dried, had not emerged from the earth around a stone or root or
refrigerator (until quite recently bamboo groves also commonly served as
trash dumping places) so as to have grown into a more than less symmetrical
shape with thick evenly spaced undamaged roots, had not had their roots
severed too short when being dug up, had been cleaned and rough cut
expertly, had not been dropped on concrete or asphalt or something to damage
their tender green skin (don't just throw it into the back of a pickup), had
not been scorched or burnt while being roasted over a white charcoal fire
(white charcoal is actually white before burning) to an indescribably
pleasant color of green which lasts for about three days, had not split
while being bleached for two months in the direct sunlight and, finally, had
been placed in long term storage for curing. And the actual shakuhachi
construction hasn't even begun yet so there are a great many other ways to
damage bamboo for shakuhachi. The fact is that it ain't easy to get a nice
looking one. The point is that bamboo pieces which can accommodate
shakuhachi are, themselves, highly valued in Japan and that excellent
quality, which is another consensual agreement, can contribute significantly
to the price of shakuhachi in many cases.
The opposite can also be quite true as was evidenced during the three days
just before the Great Kobe Earthquake. At that time a shakuhachi exhibition
was held at a well known shakuhachi shop in the heart of one of the large
cities in Japan (luckily not Kobe), the work of five shakuhachi makers being
displayed for immediate sale. Having been fortunate enough to have been
invited to display my own work at this sale, putting in a personal
appearance there seemed like the appropriate thing to do.
Immediately upon entering the sale space the afternoon before the morning of
the quake, the promoter of the sale ushered me into his private office,
closed the door and stated that almost everyone who had attended the sale
had said that a flute from the flute shop here was the best playing
shakuhachi in the whole bunch of perhaps 250 flutes. After being asked
whether or not this particularly agreeable shakuhachi had been sold, the
promoter replied that not one person had been seriously interested in
purchasing it because the bamboo itself was extremely low quality and had
been deformed in several places, had buckled or collapsed here and there
under compression while having been straightened at the very beginning of
the construction process. (See what can go wrong now, at the very
beginning!) And, yes, this particular shakuhachi could be pointed out, the
one right there on the center table, the nanaman yen (7,0000) one lying
between the nihyakuman yen (200,0000) and the sanbyakuman yen (300,0000)
glittering and sparkling ones polished by older brother. Well, you can
guess what became of that ugly shakuhachi and surmise about who finally got
it before it was destroyed.
As for quality of the shakuhachi as a musical instrument or religious
tool...well, not at this writing. Just a quote from a well known and
respected now dead shakuhachi maker, "The only person who will know if the
flute is really good (acoustically) or not is the person who uses it and
that person will not know until having used it for four or five years".
Lastly, from a well known and respected not dead shakuhachi maker, "Anyone
can be a better player right away simply by getting a better flute".
Cheers,
Tom Deaver
--MS_Mac_OE_3094961840_6184_MIME_Part
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Bamboo and Shakuhachi</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR>
<BR>
<FONT COLOR=3D"#800000">A story is beginning here after reading Stav Tapuch's=
thoughts...<BR>
<BR>
The most expensive new shakuhachi that has ever been purchased, according t=
o reliable gossip, went for issenman (1000,0000) Japanese yen. (The Ja=
panese language counts numbers in units of four rather than three.) To=
day, 2002, January 24th, issenman yen is US$74,626.87! or 84,745.76 euro! &n=
bsp;Presumably, all the requirements of the purchaser, whatever they were, w=
ere met to his satisfaction. Even so, this is a long way above the tra=
ditional standard of one months salary for a good shakuhachi and two months =
salary for an excellent one.<BR>
<BR>
The fellow who made and sold this most expensive shakuhachi is an older bro=
ther in terms of shakuhachi lineage who terminated his apprenticeship at the=
flute shop about six months before my arrival there. His work is rema=
rkable in terms of being visibly magnetic; anyone who has seen two or three =
of these flutes would spot others in a crowd right off. His prices are=
the highest of anyone around, commonly ni ka sanbyakuman yen (2 or 300,0000=
) for mid-range bamboo. If you have looked at lots of bamboo through t=
he process of its' accommodating a shakuhachi, then you will be able to visu=
ally pick out those shakuhachi which have their bottom ends, roots and all, =
stained with urushi to enhance their appearance. These expensive older=
brother flutes are twice stained with a rather reddish urushi and are polis=
hed until they glitter and sparkle. They have gold bordering the mouth=
piece inlay and told rings at the nakatsugi. AND the bamboo itself is =
handsome in the extreme.<BR>
<BR>
During days as an apprentice it sometimes happened that a business excursio=
n forced the vacation of the usual work space in order to move merchandise, =
shakuhachi and accessories, to the location of an assemblage of shakuhachi t=
eachers and their students. These periodic events were (and probably s=
till are) the rank examinations within Tozan Sect Shakuhachi with perhaps a =
hundred and fifty or more shakuhachi people all at once in the same arrangem=
ent of examining spaces and perhaps a hundred and fifty shakuhachi displayed=
in a wide well lit area so everyone could mill around while fondling and/or=
playing and comparing different flutes. Through this interaction a ge=
neral consensus about shakuhachi prices was somehow agreed upon; as low as g=
oman yen (5,0000) and as high as gojuman yen (50,0000) when a US dollar was =
around 300 yen, with a most popular price of jugo kara nijuman yen (from 15,=
0000 to 20,0000), which was within the one month salary range at that time.<=
BR>
<BR>
It happened that the most popular items were also very attractive bamboo sp=
ecimens to begin with, meaning that they had lived long enough to mature so =
as to be able to not shrink up into wrinkles around the bottom as they had d=
ried, had not emerged from the earth around a stone or root or refrigerator =
(until quite recently bamboo groves also commonly served as trash dumping pl=
aces) so as to have grown into a more than less symmetrical shape with thick=
evenly spaced undamaged roots, had not had their roots severed too short wh=
en being dug up, had been cleaned and rough cut expertly, had not been dropp=
ed on concrete or asphalt or something to damage their tender green skin (do=
n't just throw it into the back of a pickup), had not been scorched or burnt=
while being roasted over a white charcoal fire (white charcoal is actually =
white before burning) to an indescribably pleasant color of green which last=
s for about three days, had not split while being bleached for two months in=
the direct sunlight and, finally, had been placed in long term storage for =
curing. And the actual shakuhachi construction hasn't even begun yet s=
o there are a great many other ways to damage bamboo for shakuhachi. T=
he fact is that it ain't easy to get a nice looking one. The point is =
that bamboo pieces which can accommodate shakuhachi are, themselves, highly =
valued in Japan and that excellent quality, which is another consensual agre=
ement, can contribute significantly to the price of shakuhachi in many cases=
.<BR>
<BR>
The opposite can also be quite true as was evidenced during the three days =
just before the Great Kobe Earthquake. At that time a shakuhachi exhib=
ition was held at a well known shakuhachi shop in the heart of one of the la=
rge cities in Japan (luckily not Kobe), the work of five shakuhachi makers b=
eing displayed for immediate sale. Having been fortunate enough to hav=
e been invited to display my own work at this sale, putting in a personal ap=
pearance there seemed like the appropriate thing to do.<BR>
<BR>
Immediately upon entering the sale space the afternoon before the morning o=
f the quake, the promoter of the sale ushered me into his private office, cl=
osed the door and stated that almost everyone who had attended the sale had =
said that a flute from the flute shop here was the best playing shakuhachi i=
n the whole bunch of perhaps 250 flutes. After being asked whether or =
not this particularly agreeable shakuhachi had been sold, the promoter repli=
ed that not one person had been seriously interested in purchasing it becaus=
e the bamboo itself was extremely low quality and had been deformed in sever=
al places, had buckled or collapsed here and there under compression while h=
aving been straightened at the very beginning of the construction process. &=
nbsp;(See what can go wrong now, at the very beginning!) And, yes, thi=
s particular shakuhachi could be pointed out, the one right there on the cen=
ter table, the nanaman yen (7,0000) one lying between the nihyakuman yen (20=
0,0000) and the sanbyakuman yen (300,0000) glittering and sparkling ones pol=
ished by older brother. Well, you can guess what became of that ugly s=
hakuhachi and surmise about who finally got it before it was destroyed.<BR>
<BR>
As for quality of the shakuhachi as a musical instrument or religious tool.=
..well, not at this writing. Just a quote from a well known and respec=
ted now dead shakuhachi maker, "The only person who will know if the fl=
ute is really good (acoustically) or not is the person who uses it and that =
person will not know until having used it for four or five years". &nbs=
p;Lastly, from a well known and respected not dead shakuhachi maker, "A=
nyone can be a better player right away simply by getting a better flute&quo=
t;.<BR>
<BR>
Cheers,<BR>
<BR>
Tom Deaver</FONT><BR>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
</BODY>
</HTML>
--MS_Mac_OE_3094961840_6184_MIME_Part--
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Feb 03 2003 - 09:09:50 PST