I make all my shakuhachi flutes from MADAKE bamboo either hand picked by me, or for me from Japan and China.

Here I am just outside of Tokyo in the winter time harvesting bamboo. Madake is the only species of bamboo used by professional shakuhachi makers in Japan. Other bamboo species are used sometimes but are not acceptable for making quality shakuhachi. We harvest in the winter because there is less water in the bamboo.

Madake bamboo has a density and wall thickness that is necessary for the utaguchi blowing edge to split the air stream properly and for the finger holes to have the correct “chimney” for the desired tone color. That being said, the bore of the flute usually also needs shaping of some kind to produce the desired dynamic response and functionality.

Madake has beautiful mottling on the skin.