The, sometimes romanized as or , is a Japanese aerophone, an end-blown bamboo flute, crafted from root sections of bamboo.[1] The bamboo root is cleaned and sanded, resulting in a surface patterned with many small, circular knots where the roots formerly joined the stalk. The same part of the bamboo plant is also used to produce the but, unlike the, the 's inside (bore) and outside surfaces are left unlacquered, and an inlay is not used in the mouthpiece. The membranes at the nodes inside a bore are generally left more intact than those of a, though older also share this trait. Together, these characteristics make for a visibly and audibly raw and organic instrument. are sometimes referred to as, meaning "without [a paste made of clay and lacquer, used to smooth the bore on modern {{transliteration|ja|shakuhachi}}], one-piece"; are not cut in two pieces for crafting or storage, unlike modern that are used as musical instruments.
have four holes down the front for fingers and one hole on the back for the thumb of the upper hand. The instrument is capable of a range of at least two octaves, and more if the instrument is well-crafted and in the hands of an experienced player; they can be fashioned to any length, suitable bamboo permitting, with longer instruments having their frequency range shifted proportionally lower. are typically longer than other variations of the, and almost always thicker and heavier.
The techniques for playing the are similar to techniques, although the sound resulting from is more fragile and possibly less well tuned to musical scales than are modern, refined (or tuned) . The angle of the, or blowing edge, of a is closer to perpendicular to the bore axis than that of a modern, but this is mostly a choice of the maker depending upon the size of the bamboo. Older and also share this trait, though unlike they usually have an inlaid blowing edge. This property, along with the unlacquered bore, results in a rough and breathy timbre.
Because of its extremely natural construction, the is commonly used for (blowing Zen meditation). Playing traditional is generally only attempted by highly skilled musicians, since the blowing and fingering techniques required for have to be altered considerably. Since are not generally tuned to a standard musical scale, they do not commonly accompany other instruments.
The term was popularized by Watzumi Doso. Traditional were quite similar, with three primary differences. First, modern performers such as Doso and Okuda often prefer exceptionally long, while rarely exceeded 2.1 . Second, had an inlaid mouthpiece, which protects the blowing edge from taking on excess moisture and rotting out. Thirdly, though is not used, the inside is painted with, a natural lacquer made from the sap of the urushi tree, used in Japan from antiquity. Like the mouthpiece inlay, this protects the bore from taking on excess moisture and contributes to the flute's longevity.
Lacking and a mouthpiece inlay, gradually take on moisture as they are played, making the tone less stable. Though were not tuned to a precise scale either, they could generally be played together. As their hole positions were either calculated or copied from another, a particular piece could be played roughly the same way on any . take even more freedom; some of Watazumi Doso's instruments were literally a piece of bamboo cut down with some holes seemingly randomly bored into it.
Distinguishing from in general can be difficult, as there are many types of . In addition to, there are also modern, such as those made by John Kaizan Neptune, which are tuned to be played with modern (Western) musical instruments. Again, since the abolition of the Fuke sect in 1871, modern have been made in two halves in order to tune them more precisely, but used for Zen practice have been primarily since the beginning. The term encompasses all of these, including, and should not be understood as referring only to the modern, more musical iteration of the instrument.