Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Onward Jinashi Warriors!

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       Jinashi ~ The Rodney Dangerfield of shakuhachi...

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Wow that is good news! As I talked a little bit here and there I understand de jinashi is very uncommon in Japan, so now its getting famous even there!
And no matter what: 'cast bore is best'.

Bas Nijenhuis wrote:

Wow that is good news! As I talked a little bit here and there I understand de jinashi is very uncommon in Japan, so now its getting famous even there!

There are quite a lot of people who play jinashi shakuhachi in Japan. In this performance for example Iwata Seien will also, as far as I understand, be playing jinashi. But people usually don't feel the need to announce that. It's just "shakuhachi".

edosan wrote:

Justin wrote:

It's just "shakuhachi".

Careful, Justin, lest you raise the spectre of the 'Riley/Kiku' debate, and knock the earth off its axis...

Well, I do remember Riley speaking about this. And perhaps what he said makes sense. I usually play jinashi myself and recently performed on 1.8 and 3.4, both jinashi, in the Prague festival. So I am certainly not against jinashi! I didn't personally feel any need to announce to the Prague populous that they were specifically "jinashi shakuhachi" though. Not to say it would be bad to.

I do meet some anti-non-jinashi people from time to time and sometimes wonder about that, and the background behind some of the issues involved. Whether this promotion of differentiation would promote harmony or division for example. I don't have the answers. Maybe it's just an academic thing in the end...

Last edited by Justin (2010-09-07 11:08:20)

marek wrote:

Sorry for being OT...

Experience from a recent, notably wine perfumed, jam session proved that jinashi and jiari sounds are indeed complementary.

M.

I know they are. Jim Franklin and I have actually been in the process of getting an Australian composer to write a duet for jinashi and jinuri shakuhachi... for the laugh of it! And as you say, they are complementary!

Justin wrote:

edosan wrote:

Justin wrote:

It's just "shakuhachi".

Careful, Justin, lest you raise the spectre of the 'Riley/Kiku' debate, and knock the earth off its axis...

Well, I do remember Riley speaking about this. And perhaps what he said makes sense. I usually play jinashi myself and recently performed on 1.8 and 3.4, both jinashi, in the Prague festival. So I am certainly not against jinashi! I didn't personally feel any need to announce to the Prague populous that they were specifically "jinashi shakuhachi" though. Not to say it would be bad to.

I do meet some anti-non-jinashi people from time to time and sometimes wonder about that, and the background behind some of the issues involved. Whether this promotion of differentiation would promote harmony or division for example. I don't have the answers. Maybe it's just an academic thing in the end...

Let's take it a step further. Why don't we just call it flute? We don't need to differentiate it from other flutes do we?

Do we need to say, "snare drum, bass drum, tom tom, djembe, taiko" etc.? Why not just say "drum"?

Do we really need to specify "electric guitar, nylon string guitar, flamenco guitar, hollowbody jazz box, 12-string" etc. Why not just say "guitar"?

I agree that jinashi shakuhachi and jiari shakuhachi are both shakuhachi. That doesn't mean that to say "jinashi" is a pedantic term. It does clarify things a bit.

What is "anti-non-jinashi"? Do you mean jinashi fundamentalists?

Tairaku 太楽 wrote:

Justin wrote:

edosan wrote:

Careful, Justin, lest you raise the spectre of the 'Riley/Kiku' debate, and knock the earth off its axis...

Well, I do remember Riley speaking about this. And perhaps what he said makes sense. I usually play jinashi myself and recently performed on 1.8 and 3.4, both jinashi, in the Prague festival. So I am certainly not against jinashi! I didn't personally feel any need to announce to the Prague populous that they were specifically "jinashi shakuhachi" though. Not to say it would be bad to.

I do meet some anti-non-jinashi people from time to time and sometimes wonder about that, and the background behind some of the issues involved. Whether this promotion of differentiation would promote harmony or division for example. I don't have the answers. Maybe it's just an academic thing in the end...

Let's take it a step further. Why don't we just call it flute? We don't need to differentiate it from other flutes do we?

Hi Brian,
Well, I often do refer to it as flute. Especially in circles where shakuhachi is an unknown term, and not easily remembered. People might see my flute (shakuhachi), and I'll generally refer to it as a flute (in those circumstances). Or if I want to be more specific I often say "Japanese flute". Depends on the context of course. If I am performing, such as recently in India, I will of course introduce the name, and the history of the komuso. Even then I have not told them that my particular instrument is "jinashi" and that some others are not jinashi. These guys don't have that much interest to know about such involved intricacies of the instrument making process. They're mainly there to listen.

Tairaku 太楽 wrote:

Do we need to say, "snare drum, bass drum, tom tom, djembe, taiko" etc.? Why not just say "drum"?

Do we really need to specify "electric guitar, nylon string guitar, flamenco guitar, hollowbody jazz box, 12-string" etc. Why not just say "guitar"?

Yes I used to play guitar and I use to say "I play guitar". If someone would have inquired as to what guitar, I would have told them. But I didn't tell every casual wanderer that I played a nylon string classical guitar.

Tairaku 太楽 wrote:

I agree that jinashi shakuhachi and jiari shakuhachi are both shakuhachi. That doesn't mean that to say "jinashi" is a pedantic term. It does clarify things a bit.

Yes I agree that it's not a pedantic term although that may not be to say that it may not be used pedantically!

Jeff Cairns wrote:

In some circles, it seems that there is no need to specify because the information can't/won't be processed.  However, there are situations where the information is pertinent and in those situations it would further the discourse to say, for example: 'I play a contra-bass'.  I think it's important to know who you are talking to.  If someone is receptive, then why not go all the way?

Hi Jeff,
Yes that's what I meant.

Tairaku 太楽 wrote:

What is "anti-non-jinashi"? Do you mean jinashi fundamentalists?

People who are against shakuhachi with ji. I know a few of them!

Tairaku 太楽 wrote:

Justin wrote:

Tairaku 太楽 wrote:

What is "anti-non-jinashi"? Do you mean jinashi fundamentalists?

People who are against shakuhachi with ji. I know a few of them!

Bet if they were stranded on Gilligan's Island and a jiari Miura Kindo washed up on the beach, they'd still be pretty happy!

Might take them a while to get over it but yes one would hope that in the end they would be happy!

Tairaku 太楽 wrote:

Maybe the jinashi fundamentalists in Japan are defensive because of their minority status in the shakuhachi community.

Here in the West where the Jinashi Warriors have done such a good job of brainwashing people and creating a false jinashi economy (charges I've heard from a few sources) there is no need to be militant.

Yes Brian you may be right in a way. But there is also just the general trend of defining one's own group, and then looking down on others as inferior. That is so common in human nature. Although when that is labeled as "Zen" is has a particular irony!

Last edited by Justin (2010-09-24 00:14:10)