Simple/Complex
The shakuhachi is one of the simplest non-percussive instruments ever created. It has no keys or pads like a western flute, and it doesn’t even have a mouthpiece like the recorder. It simply has five finger holes and one end cut to form an angled blowing edge. Despite this simple construction, the shakuhachi can produce an inconceivably broad range of musical sounds that are every bit as complex and expressive as the human voice itself.
Not one/Not two
The shakuhachi has no mouthpiece and simply blowing in one end will not produce a sound. To play a note, your lips and mouth must become part of the instrument. This non-duality of instrument and player is precisely what allows for so much flexibility in volume, pitch, tone and timbre.
Control/Flow
Suizen (blowing meditation) requires great breath control; yet, after years of training and practice, the player endeavors to not control the breath at all. Rather, the breath is simply observed. Concentrated awareness consumes both the observer and that which is being observed.
Peace/War
The sound of shakuhachi entices peace and tranquility; yet, it may have once doubled as a weapon. Since the 8th century, shakuhachi-style flutes were constructed from the middle section of a bamboo culm. Around the 17th century in Japan, the instrument was adopted by samurai monks as a tool of meditation. Ever industrious, these samurai monks began to construct their shakuhachi from the root-end section of the bamboo, as is commonly seen today. Some have suggested the spiked club looking instrument could double as a particularly brutal weapon.