The shakuhachi is a Japanese end-blown flute held vertically just like a recorder. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but it can now be made of wood and plastic. Shakuhachi literally translates to “one foot eight,” which is the standard length of the instrument. It is also available in different sizes--from 1.3 shaku up to 3.3 shaku--but its name remains the same. The longer it is, the lower the tone it creates.
The shakuhachi was widely used by the monks in the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhism to practice the blowing meditation called suizen. It produces a soulful sound that made it popular in Western pop music of the 1980s. The shakuhachi is commonly used in ensemble music along with the biwa, koto, and shamisen, jazz, folk, and types of modern music.
