One of my four Shakuhachis is a 1.7 black urushi lacquered flute. It's a
Ji-nashi vintage flute from the Meiji era, and is about one hundred years
old. It is lacquered with black urushi inside and out.It has Kinko
utaguchi.
Urushi lacquer is the sap of the urushi (or lacquer) tree. Its scientific
name is rhus vernicifera. It is a member of the Anacardiaceae (sumac)
family, and is native to China, Korea, Japan, and the eastern Himalayas
region. The sap of this tree contains a resin-urushiol, which when exposed
to moisture and air, polymerises and becomes a very hard, durable,
plastic-like substance, lacquer! Urushi is, in fact, a natural plastic. A
similar tree, with similar properties, is found in South-East Asia.
The flute is fabulous, with a very sweet tone. It is unbound, and has no
cracks or blemishes, despite its age. I attribute this to the Urushi
lacquer, which essentially is like a plastic coating and keeps the shak
from drying out. You are lucky to own such a flute. I had thought mine was
one of a kind.
>Recently I picked up a great wooden 1.6 on EBAY. It is really a beauty and
>sounds great (It is in tune). I bought it to use it at work during my
>teaching breaks.
>
>Interestingly it is covered on the outside with black Lacquer. (The inside is
>painted brown) The other thing that is nice about it is that it is a two
>piece with shinny brass rings at the joint.
>
>Has anyone ever seen or heard of Black Lacquered shakuhachis? It has no hanko
>on it so I can't trace the maker. I'm really curious about it since it seems
>to be very well made.
>
>Thanks for any help you can give.
>Dominic
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