The shakuhachi

In the mid-Kamakura period, the first man who played shakuhachi was a Zen priest named Kakushin. He learned it in China and return to Japan in 1254.

He taught shakuhachi to his disciples who established different temples throughout Japan.

During the Muromachi period students of Fuke shakuhachi grew very numerous and the music spread throughout Japan.

The sakuachi became a religious instrument and was forbid to play in popular music.

In the mid-18th century, a former retainer of the Fukuoka clan named Kurosawa Kohachi was a famous player of the shakuhachi and composed many pieces.

With the new Meiji governement the shakuachi was no longer a religious instrument with legal restrictions. From this time, the shakuhachi became a pure musical instrument.