Shakuhachi

The shakuhachi is a Japanese end-blown flute made from the root section of bamboo, cut at an angle at the blowing end. It arrived from Tang dynasty China and was later taken up by the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhism as an instrument of meditation, developing a solo repertoire called honkyoku that stands apart from almost anything else in the world. Tone production on the shakuhachi demands precise control of lip angle and breath pressure, and the same fingering produces different pitches depending on how the instrument is held. Players typically spend years developing a stable tone before the instrument's full expressive range becomes available.