Hi Duke,
You asked "Does anyone know when most players stopped making Ji-ari
shakuhachi ? I know
some still do today but I assume most do not."
Most shakuhachi makers have not stopped making ji-ari flutes; ji-ari
shakuhachis are the flutes that are usually made here in Japan; ji refers
to the lacquer/tonoko mix, ari is from the Japanese verb aru - to have, so
ji-ari flutes are those flutes that are coated on the inside with lacquer
or urushi. Perhaps you meant to say ji-nashi shakuhachi, flutes without
ji, or lacquer, which recently seem to have become popular but which are
still fairly uncommon compared with the ji-ari flutes.
"I'm wondering if Sakai Chikuho I or II could have made this - or was there
another maker with a similar name?"
I'm sure someone is probably familiar with their hanko seals or their
flutes, and perhaps could tell from the photos; the kanji does read as
Chikuho. It seems a bit unusual that the flute was marked with a hanko on
the underside of its root end...I don't think that many makers stamp their
flutes there.. Then again, I haven't seen that many flutes compared with
some members on this list -- maybe the stamp on the base is not so unusual?
"I know famous names are sometimes given to others (from the owners) in
Japan, is it still the case today?"
Shakuhachi masters give a name to their students when their students take
the jun-shihan or shihan license, but usually just one kanji is given from
the master's name -- in the branch of Kinko ryu that I belong to, all
players at shihan level are given a two kanji name with the last kanji
having the reading dou, from our iemoto Fuji Jidou's name. Sakai Chikuho
I or II may have given part of his name to his master students, but not his
whole name, so the shakuhachi would probably not be that of one of his
students, though perhaps there were other Chikuhos... I think there are
some lineage charts at www.komuso.com -- perhaps you could find some
information there...that, or find a player who was/is in Chikuho ryu.
Cheers,
Dan Ribble
Kochi, Japan
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