A Collection of Moving Shakuhachi Masterpieces | Beautiful Japanese Melodies That Stir the Heart

Melancholic mode

Kōgetsu-chō

This is one of the Honkyoku pieces of the Tozan school.

It is said to be the very first Honkyoku composed by the founder, Nakao Tozan I.

In the autumn of 1904 (Meiji 37), he visited Kanshinji Temple in Kawachinagano, Osaka, to pray for victory in the Russo-Japanese War, where he found the musical inspiration and composed the piece.

True to the characters in its title, “Kōgetsu” (Kō: to lament; Getsu: moon), the work is considered a musical expression of gazing at the moon and lamenting one’s own shortcomings.

It is also said to convey the mood found in the Chinese work Red Cliffs Rhapsody: “Its sound rings out as if resentful, as if yearning, as if weeping; the lingering tones are delicate and unending, like a fine thread.”

Phoenix General Chick

Houshousu (Phoenix General Chick) Yamaguchi Sho

A classical shakuhachi honkyoku of the Kinko-ryū repertoire, this piece is one of the Ura Jūhachikyoku (Eighteen Inner Pieces).

According to the Kinko notebook, it is said that the first-generation Kurosawa Kinko set (composed) the piece and presented it to the two masters Yūko and Taigan of Suzuhō-ji Temple.

While the characters should be read as “Hōshōsū,” in the Kinko school it is pronounced “Hōshōsu,” dropping the final sound.

As for the title’s origin, one theory (attributed to Tomimori Kyosan) suggests it derives from the “Music Bureau, Anthology of Compositions” section of the Gǔjīn bìshì lèi bèiyào compiled by Xie Jixin of the Song dynasty, specifically the entry “Fèng jiāng chú zhě, an old song—composed by Xin Yin, General of Chariots and Cavalry of the Former Han.” Another view holds that it traces back to Pang Tong Shiyuan (with the “Hō” character written as the roof radical over “dragon”), the Shu strategist of the Later Han period who was considered the equal of Zhuge Kongming and was nicknamed the “Phoenix Chick.”

Song of Azuma

Shakuhachi Classical Honkyoku: Azuma no Kyoku

A classical shakuhachi honkyoku and a type of shishi-mono (lion dance piece).

It is transmitted in the Meian Shinpō-ryū lineage, from Hakata Itchōken, and is a honkyoku of the Meian Taizan tradition.

It is also known by the alternate title Azuma no Kyoku.

According to tradition, it is said to be a shakuhachi adaptation of the flute accompaniment for the lion dance from the Azuma region of Fukushima Prefecture.

However, during its transmission the piece migrated westward, and it is no longer found in the Tōhoku region today.