Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Here's some pictures of the hanko. I made a second picture and highlighted the shape of the hanko based on how the real deal looks. The camera I had is absolutely horrible and just won't take accurate pictures of anything small. This was the best picture out of few hundred or so that I took using every single mode in the camera.



Here's a quick photoshop of the relevant lines that get kind of blurry in the original image.



Like said, I'm pretty sure that the left-most kanji is 手 and the right-most one is 火. 手 is better visible on the flute than it is in the picture. The top-most line is hard to see here but it is more clear in the original. The bottom character doesn't even look like a kanji to me and I'm kind of lost on how to even begin to find it.

Any ideas on who this hanko belongs to are very much welcome. Even good guesses on what the characters are and how to read the name would give me something to follow up on.

Yungflutes wrote:

Hi Amok,
The bottom Kanji is Gestu - moon.
Looks like an early Yamaguchi Shugetsu Hanko.

Hey Perry, do you remember that 1.8 nobekan that James in Texas sent you about a year ago with the really chewed up looking Tozan-ish/Meian-ish utaguchi. That (evidently) was an old cracked and repaired "Shugetsu" possibly from the 40s or even 30s. There _was_ a pretty famous maker during that period by that name (Matter of fact he was so well known that there were possibly people forging 'Shugetsu' flutes). John Singer was selling a "70+ year old" Shugetsu online quite a while ago. I just ran across the old listing.

If I remember correctly, according to James, you thought that was a pretty good flute. This one of amokrun's could be an old Shugetsu as well?

Last edited by Chris Moran (2007-12-13 23:46:12)

Yungflutes wrote:

Hi Amok,
The bottom Kanji is Gestu - moon.
Looks like an early Yamaguchi Shugetsu Hanko.

This site lists several flutes from Yamaguchi Shugetsu. His hanko is on the first picture on the top. It does indeed look a bit similar:

http://www.bamboo-in.com/shop/flutesforsale.htm

The two characters on the top are clearly the same. The last one is a bit strange though. In this picture it is clearly 月 with the tail to the left. However, in my picture the tail is missing on the left. In fact, artistic measures aside, it looks more like 日 since the left line ends exactly at the second horizontal line. Most illustrations of that kanji indeed look a lot like the one in the hanko in question. Look here for example:

http://kanjisite.com/html/start/rhsinfo/r_nichihi.html

It could be just an artistic thing but this character matches the shape somewhat better. Indeed, this site even points out that one shouldn't confuse these two kanji because they look a lot alike. I can't, however, think of any other name to go with the hanko.

Does anyone happen to have an early Yamaguchi Shugetsu so that they could confirm this? All the ones I could find pictures of carried the new hanko.

edit:

I also agree that it feels a bit too old to be made by the same Yamaguchi Shugetsu whose hanko I linked to. Quick google check tells me that he started making shakuhachi in 1979. Even if this was one of his very first instruments it would still be no older than 25 or so years. Although the condition of the flute is pretty good it does feel like it has been around longer than that.

edit2:

Quick google may have turned up something. Here's a link to a shakuhachi site:

http://www.shakuhachi.nl/hanko/hanko-S.html

Check the last hanko in the list. I think it looks very much the same. The picture is very blurry but the lowest kanji looks much like the one I have. They only list it as Shugetsu so it's hard to tell who it really belongs to. I found some flutes on google that were being sold as over 70 years old that were made by Shugetsu. Jonh Singer apparently sold one like that although sadly the pictures were no longer available.

edit3:

Searching for something like this on the net is a pain. Too many matches that give you wrong people. My promise for the upcoming New Year is that if I ever end up making a single shakuhachi or play somewhere in public, I'll adopt the name Mumei (無名) and use it for everything. That should guarantee someone endless hours of fun when he tries to track me down on the net.

Last edited by amokrun (2007-12-14 04:16:08)

Ken2t wrote:

From what I know, there is not much known about this maker. What I do know from experience is that he made shaku's around pre-war II era. He made a lot of jinashi nobekan also. There are also a lot of jiari flutes of his.

his flutes always are good in balance and tune. I have only seen kinko shaku's from him, never a tozan.

Yes the nobekan I had was a full jiari. The utaguchi had been severely damaged so it was replaced (non-pro) by someone who carved up something that resembled a wavering Tozan utaguchi.It was just kind of a wide smile of worn water-buffalo horn.

Very nice balance. A lot of care went into that flute. Amokrun, I hope you enjoy it! Brian sells some nice work.

Last edited by Chris Moran (2007-12-14 08:56:07)

Hi All,

Tairaku wrote:

If it is by "Shugetsu" it is not by the current (Yamaguchi) Shugetsu because this flute is older than our buddy Shugetsu (if I am not mistaken ). Unless he was already cranking out flutes in utero.

This explains why I always though Shugetsu san looked so young for his age!

ken2t wrote:

This hanko is from shugetsu. And as Brian said, its NOT from yamaguchi shugetsu although the hanko uses the same kanji's...
From what I know, there is not much known about this maker. What I do know from experience is that he made shaku's around pre-war II era. He made a lot of jinashi nobekan also. There are also a lot of jiari flutes of his.

Well, that explains it. Thanks for the info.

Cris Moran wrote:

Hey Perry, do you remember that 1.8 nobekan that James in Texas sent you about a year ago with the really chewed up looking Tozan-ish/Meian-ish utaguchi. That (evidently) was an old cracked and repaired "Shugetsu" possibly from the 40s or even 30s. There was_a pretty famous maker during that period by that name (Matter of fact he was so well known that there were possibly people forging 'Shugetsu' flutes)...If I remember correctly, according to James, you thought that was a pretty good flute. This one of amokrun's could be an old Shugetsu as well?

As a matter of fact, I have it here. James said to hold on to it.



A beautiful flute in a Frankenstein sort of way. James added the Green Power Pro line. It's really well done.



I didn't want to mess with the utaguchi since digging it out could disturb the old bamboo material around the top.



Yup, same guy.

I like his flutes because the upper register is easy and clear to play yet the lower register can also be firm and solid.

greeetz
Ken

Hear this flute.

I like this flute a lot. Takes a lot of air and can play like a Jiari but when played softer, feels like a Jinashi. It's a great "in between" flute.

Like Amok, I also love learning about a flute's history.

Namaste, Perry

Yungflutes wrote:

As a matter of fact, I have it here. James said to hold on to it.



A beautiful flute in a Frankenstein sort of way. James added the Green Power Pro line. It's really well done.

Frankenstien instruments are great. You guys did very nice work with that flute. I almost didn't recognize it -- except for the yellow-filled fissure above the hanko.  I really like the Green Power Pro!

Last edited by Chris Moran (2007-12-14 14:21:17)

I'd like to see the utaguchi.  Maybe in a different topic, so as not to derail this one.