RE: [Shaku] The Power of Urushi

Hi there.

I got to this discussion quite late as I am traveling a lot of collect
shakuhachi from different makers...
which again means...
I have had new experiences with urushi!

I have never reacted to urushi during the 18 years I have played shakuhachi.
I usually play unlacquered shakuhachi, but will, of course, take a new
shakuhachi up now and then and play - without any problem until recently.

But this time around, I have had quite severe reactions. And for me it has
so far been black urushi, but I am reacting to urushi used by some makers...
and not others (also if I play new instruments with urushi). The first time
I reacted, I had a swollen eye like David and a blistered chin. Note: eye -
not eyes! I am, after all, here in Japan to research in shakuhachi making,
and by chance I found out that my "eye infection" (which I first thought it
was) came from sticking my eye up the flute (e.g., looking into them) with
my right eye! I was looking and writing down how much of the nodes were left
etc.
It is absolutely terrible to have swollen eye(s), so I also went to the
doctor, who prescribed medicine and a mild cream with steroid (which I
really didn't want to use, but hey...). With powerful medicine my urushi
reaction quickly disappeared (at least I had eyesight on my left eye). Then
I got my hands on some other shakuhachi a couple of weeks later, and within
30 minutes of examining them, measuring them etc I got a reaction. This time
I could even follow where on my body my left hand had been... such as
scratching my right armpit as I had a milder reaction there (and the
shakuhachi came nowhere near my armpit)!!!

So for now, I am being very careful with urushi!
At least I got a good urushi story out of it! It can be dangerous to do
research into shakuhachi!!!
But I do wonder why I get my first urushi reaction after 18 years.

Hope you are all well though!
Kiku

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Received on Wed Jul 11 10:31 PDT 2007