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| Play for the Spirits in Kyūshū, circa 1970s. |
Monday, August 20, 2012
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Monden Tekiku 門田笛空
An 85 year old Myoan shakuhachi Sensei in Osaka, Monden Tekiku was taught by Sakurai Muteki, a student of Taizan-ha master Tanikita Muchiku.
Monden Tekiku plays a 2.5 shakuhachi, the length he prefers, at Hosshin-ji, Tokyo.
Monden Tekiku was the second head of the group and retired about 5 years ago (after his 80th birthday). The present leader and Monden Tekiku's successor is Maeda Tekifū. The aim of the group is the study and transmission of Meian-Shakuhachi music using long jinashi-shakuhachi.
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A diagram of a 1.8 shakuhachi of Monden Tekiku
At Myoan-ji with Tsuda Tekishū, also probably one of Sakurai Muteki's students.
Sensei Monden's school of students, all playing the preferred 2.5 shakuhachi.
Koten-shakuhachi-kenkyū-kai
Monden Sensei also taught his students to build their own 2.5 shakuhachi.
In 1996, Monden Tekiku played many of his teacher's shakuhachi, at age 69, for his great public recording Koku. Very highest recommendation.
On the track, Shika no Tone, Monden-sensei is accompanied by Maeda Tekifu, the oldest student and successor as leader of this great but little known school.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
Kyozan Memorial Gathering 2012
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| Memorial Concert for Grand Sensei Tominomori Kyozan on the Occasion of his 37th Year in Passing |
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| Program Notes of Pieces Played in Memorial |
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| A Remembrance and Prayer with Shakuhachi. Some Students have begun Shakuhachi in their 90's. It is always a good time to learn. |
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Grand Sensei
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Tomimori Kyozan 1899-1975; specialized in Chinese languages at Waseda University. He also taught Chinese at Qingdao Island in China.
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At one time Small Qingdao Island was an isolated island about 720 meters off shore but in the 1940s a seawall was built, connecting it to the mainland. The island is shaped like a qin (an ancient Chinese musical instrument), and when the waves 'slap' the shoreline, the sound is similar to that of the instrument being played, leading to its local name of 'Qin Island'. The island is famous for its unspoiled natural scenery, which includes steep rocky outcrops, and a variety of trees, such as cherries, pomegranates and hibiscus. Visitors can either walk along the coastline to enjoy the gentle ocean breeze, and to admire the incredible scenery, or sit on the beach to watch and listen to the gentle waves roll in.
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Saturday, June 23, 2012
Friday, June 8, 2012
WSF 2012 Myoanji Bamboo
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| Public Demonstration of Usually Private Sutra Style Bamboo Playing at Kyoto World Shakuhachi Festival June 2012 |
Monday, June 4, 2012
Those who wanted to emphasize the suizen meditation tradition found themselves drawn to Kyoto's Myôan-ji. The temple, like all komusô temples, was disbanded, and the chief priest, Jisho Sakuhi (34 th line) returned to secular life, calling himself Akekura Kakuhi and taking another profession. His departure from the temple left the suizen advocates nowhere to turn.When the Fuke sect was disbanded, Sakuhi presented some Myôan-ji artifacts to a sympathetic associate, Jikeirin Wa Shô, head priest of Zenkei-ji, a sub-temple within the compounds of Kyoto^s temple Tôfuku-ji.
The artifacts included the statue of Kyochiku(founder of the Fuke sect) and memorial stone tablets of the head and supervisor priests.Naturally, those who felt drawn to the suizen tradition followed these artifacts and gathered at Zenkei-in.
In 1881, thanks to the combined efforts of several Buddhist sects, begging was once more allowed after a 10-year hiatus, and hopes rose in the Kyoto area to reactivate the komusô tradition. At the same time, there was a fire at Tôfuku-ji shich resulted in a widespread movement to rebuild the temple and its grounds. The komusô, thinking to take part in this movement by collecting funds through begging, applied to the government for permission. Permission was granted in 1883, and the Myôan Society was established at Zenkei-in, with Lord Kyûjo Michitaka (who was in charge of rebuilding Tôfuku-ji) as its chairman and Katsuura Seizan as the head of the Kyoto branch. The present day Myôan-ji grew out of the Myôan Society. Following the establishment of the Myôan Society, Kôkoku-ji established the Fuke Society in 1888.
Later, the temple Kokutai-ji established the Myô On Society, and the temple Myôkô-ji the Hottô Society. Several other former komusô temples around the country in some form or another were also preserving and rekindling the komusô tradition of suizen. These societies together acted as a cooperative association and decided upon rules for dress, distributed licenses and identification papers (like the three seals of the Fuke sect),and established rules and time schedules for begging.
Unlike the Fuke sect, however,anyone could pay a set fee and receive a license. As a result, there grew a tendency among members to become „professional“ komusô beggars. Transmission of the music and development of an artistic style became secondary.
Higuchi Taizan (1856-1914) of the Myôan Society reformed this situation. Taizan, born in Nagoya with the name Suzuki Kôdô, first studied the Seien style and in 1890 came to Kyoto where he joined the Myôan Society, becoming an instructor. He spent his efforts collecting and organizing pieces from the Myôan tradition and many other styles. His outstanding abilities as a player and his work in expanding the artistic width of the Myôan Society revitalized the tradition, and he became the 35th successor in the lineage which had been broken when Kakuhi returned to secular life. He developed a style of shakuhachiplaying called the Taizan sect of Myôan Temple Lineage. His successorts were KobayashiShizan (36th), Tanikita Muchiku (37th), Koizumi Shizan (38th), and the recent FukumotoKyoan (39th).
In march, 1950, the Myôan Society was given permission to construct a temple, called the Fuke Sei Su Myôan-ji, which was to be built in the compounds of Zenkei'in in Tôfuku-ji.
In1952, various shakuhachi sects collaborated in creating a group to honor Kyochiku Zenji, the Kyochiku Zenji Hôsan Kai, which met twice yearly, in the spring and fall, to offer honkyoku to the spirit of Kyochiku.
Shakuhachi players from around the country continue to come every year, regardless of their affiliation, to participate in this ceremony.
In 1966, a stone memorial commemorating the spirit of suizen was erected, and in 1969, the temple's main hall was completed, creating a new Myôan-ji, which acts as a spiritual homeland for all shakuhachi players, regardless of sect or style affiliation.
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Although Taizan revitalized the Myôan Society, his efforts resulted in the introduction of many pieces from other styles into the Myôan style. Therefore, the pieces in today's Myôan repertory are not necessarily the same ones which had been handed down at the end of the Edo period.
After Taizan, the nature of the Myôan style changed. Katsuura Seizan, who inherited the Myôan Shinpô style from Ozaki Shinryû, was at one time the head of the Kyoto branch of the Myôan Society, but he left soon after Taizan's appearanceon the scene.
It was inevitable that shakuhachi players wishing to follow the suizen tradition had differing opinions and formed various styles. The end of the 19th century until present times saw the arrival of a number of such players, many of whom were centered around Tokyo. A partial listing of the more prominent players is as follows:
Nagano‒
Hasegawa Tôgaku, Konashi Reisui and his students Uramoto Setchô, all of whom wereresponsible for transmitting the pieces centered at Fudaiken Temple in Sendai.
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Jimbô Masanosuke of Renkôken Temple in Fukushima.
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Nyui Kenzô, Nagano Kyokû and Orito Jôgetsu of Hirosaki's Nezasa Sect, and Nagano's student Jin Nyôdô.
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Miyagawa Nyôzan and Itchô Fumon (later known as Watazumi Dô, the founder of theWatazumi style) of Itchôken Temple in Hakata, and Nyôzen's students Tani Kyôchikuand Takahashi Kûzan.
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Kiyomizu Seizan from Itchôken Temple and Tsunoda Rogetsu from Kumamoto. Both studied under Taizan, and Seizan started the Kyûshû Myôan sect, and Rogetsu theMyôan Rogetsu sect.
One major problem in trying to trace the styles and lineages of the Myôan-style shakuhachi players lies in the fact that each one learned from a number of teachers and was influenced by several styles.
An obvious example of this is Takahashi Kûzan, a player active until his death in the late 1980s. Kûzan not only studied under Miyagawa Nyôzan,but also with Takase Sukeharu, Kobayashi Haô, Kojitomo Tarô, Kobayashi Shizan, Ozaki Meidô, and Katsuura Seizan. Kûzan also studied the classical pieces of the Kinpû style and other styles, mastering over 150 pieces in all.
Jin Nyôdô of the Kinpû style tried to learn all the extant pieces for the shakuhachi. He took the effort to travel around the country collecting music handed down from the various komusô temples. He learnde the Myôan Shimpô style, the Taizan style, the Seien style, as well as the Kinko style, and he also composed and studied ensemble pieces, learning the koto and shamisen.
Kûzan and Nyôdô are representative of the Myôan players, therefore it is difficult to draw a distinct chart showing the relationship and lineages of the teachers and their students.
The problem is compounded by the fact that often times players who have learned several of the traditional pieces from various sources created a new style or sect. One could go so far to say that each individual player becomes a sect himself, and that the number of sects in Japan equals the number of players.
This condition has come about due to the openness of the shakuhachi world since the Meiji Restoration. Unlike the elitist Fuke sect,there were no secret or special societies and no ironclad rules to prevent a student from studying other styles or discovering his own musical expression. The Zen philosophy which allowed performers to interpret each honkyoku as they saw fit fostered individualityand kept students from being bound strictly to one style.
Nonetheless, the players of the various Myôan styles, except for a few exceptions, played only the classical suizen-honkyoku pieces and had little interest in the other genres of shakuhachi music – a situation which tended toward musical stagnation. To them, the honkyoku was not a type of music to be played in public concerts. Although this supposedly kept their music "pure“, it did little to provide public exposure and support.
After World War II, however, these classical honkyoku were rediscovered, and gained attention from modern composers, musicians, and musicologists, both from Japan and abroad. The influence of theses classical pieces on the modern shakuhachi world is quite extensive, with players from all styles absorbing and integrating these suizen honkyoku into their own performances. The Myôan-style players have been quietly learning and transmitting their pieces, providing a base from which the post-war shakuhachi world has received a tremendous inspiration. For this reason, these guardians of the suizen-honkyoku shakuhachi pieces have played a valuable role.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Komuso Love Story
Utagawa Kunisada/Toyokuni III (1786-1865) Komuso Monk and Girl, c 1830’s
It is likely that this print depicts a well known love story of a Komuso and a girl who habitually left water out for him in a bowl. The reflection of his face under the wicker hat in the water caused the girl to fall in love with him and eventually the couple eloped to a happier life.
Share the Love
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
WSF Kyoto Myoanji History
The vicissitudes of life
Bamboo sound left behind
Wind through pine forests.
(the death tanka poem of Taizan Higuchi, 35th Myoan Kansu)
During a sad age
smile at the sound
of bamboo
(the death tanka poem of Muchiku Tanikita, 37th Myoan Kansu)
Suizen Gyoke Seiganmon:
Blow once to exorcise all bad things;
Blow a second time to master all good things;
Blow a third time to save all people;
Thus everyone can attain Buddhahood.
from "The Guidelines of Myoan Temple"
There is a code of conduct ("Otai") for all Komuso monks when meeting each other while traveling on foot, as a way of distinguishing true Komuso from "fallen" monks maisu).*Maisu were punished because of corrupt Buddhist practice during in Edo era. Punishment involved the confiscation of the tengai (basket hat), shakuhachi, and kesa (Buddhist priest's stole). More extreme punishments included
physical beating with a shakuhachi, to the cutting off the middle finger of the right hand, and finally banishment.
1. The first Komuso plays yobitake ("calling" shakuhachi);
2. Another Komuso responds by playing ukedake ("receiving" shakuhachi);
3. They both show their *honsoku to each other;
4. They play "Yamato Choshi" together.
*Honsoku is a license, or certificate stating that one has entered Myoan-ji Temple and has experienced shakuhachi training.
The Roots of Shakuhachi
The World of Myoan Shakuhachi
The origin of Myoan Shakuhachi dates back to the middle
ninth century. In China, the high priest Fuke (Pu'kua) always rang a handbell
while singing the following gathas "Shidanoge":
"If attacked in the light, I will strike back in the light. If attacked in the dark, I will strike in the dark."; "If from all quarters, I will strike as a whirlwind does. If attacked from the empty sky, I will thrash with a flail."
(transl. Genichi Tsuge)
Zhang Bo, a Buddhist layman who came from Xijing Henanfu (Luoyang City) had gone about begging for alms,adored Fuke's virtue and was so attracted by his miraculous bell. Chohaku asked to become his disciple but Zhang Bo rejected his request. Chohaku then composed a piece of music by listening to the essence of swinging bell, which subsequently became "Kyorei", one of Three Myoan Kyorei, the fundamental Fuke Shakuhachi pieces.
The arrival of Myoan Shakuhachi to Japan can be traced back to Hotto, the founder of a Kokoku-ji Temple in Yura, Wakayama, who visited China in 1249 and learned Zhang Jia's transmitted "Kyorei" from Zhang Can who was the grandson of the 16th Zhang Bo. Hotto returned to Japan in 1254 accompanied by four Buddhist laymen: Guo Zuo, Zheng, Zong Shu and Fa Pu. Hotto dedicated "Kyorei" to Kichiku Ryoen who later on became Kyochiku Zenji. Kichiku, while meditating all night at the Kokudo Buddhist temple on Mt. Asama, Ise Province, "realized" music which seemed to be divinely inspired. He then composed "Koku," "Mukaiji," completing the "San Kyorei" (Three Myoan Kyorei) today commonly known as the Myoan classics. Kichiku experienced a religious transformation through the sound of the bamboo and from then on played the shakuhachi instead of ringing a wind-bell or chanting the gatha. As such he went
on begging pilgrimages throughout Kinai (counties near Kyoto). As a consequence, people called him the the latter-day Fuke.
After his death, Tengai Myofu, a legal descendent, built a temple in Kyoto and named it Kyoreizan Myoan-ji. Regarding the playing of shakuhachi as a meditative practice, Kichiku transmitted his zen understanding by blowing a bamboo flute instead of chanting sutras.
Regarding the origin of Komuso in a later era of Japanese history, Kusunoki Masakatsu, grandson of Kusunoki Masashige, entered the Fuke sect after the decline of the sixteenth century Southern Dynasty, and declared himself as "Komu" (a monk of nothingness or the void). He visited many provinces for the sake of his missionary work, seeking a chance to revive the Southern Dynasty. People at that time called him as "Komu-mono" or the "nothingness man".
Thus "Myoan Shakuhachi," or "Fuke Shakuhachi," which aims at enlightenment and the salvation of all people, arose newly as a school of suizen ("Blowing Zen"), or in the history of Japanese Buddhism.
"If attacked in the light, I will strike back in the light. If attacked in the dark, I will strike in the dark."; "If from all quarters, I will strike as a whirlwind does. If attacked from the empty sky, I will thrash with a flail."
(transl. Genichi Tsuge)
Zhang Bo, a Buddhist layman who came from Xijing Henanfu (Luoyang City) had gone about begging for alms,adored Fuke's virtue and was so attracted by his miraculous bell. Chohaku asked to become his disciple but Zhang Bo rejected his request. Chohaku then composed a piece of music by listening to the essence of swinging bell, which subsequently became "Kyorei", one of Three Myoan Kyorei, the fundamental Fuke Shakuhachi pieces.
The arrival of Myoan Shakuhachi to Japan can be traced back to Hotto, the founder of a Kokoku-ji Temple in Yura, Wakayama, who visited China in 1249 and learned Zhang Jia's transmitted "Kyorei" from Zhang Can who was the grandson of the 16th Zhang Bo. Hotto returned to Japan in 1254 accompanied by four Buddhist laymen: Guo Zuo, Zheng, Zong Shu and Fa Pu. Hotto dedicated "Kyorei" to Kichiku Ryoen who later on became Kyochiku Zenji. Kichiku, while meditating all night at the Kokudo Buddhist temple on Mt. Asama, Ise Province, "realized" music which seemed to be divinely inspired. He then composed "Koku," "Mukaiji," completing the "San Kyorei" (Three Myoan Kyorei) today commonly known as the Myoan classics. Kichiku experienced a religious transformation through the sound of the bamboo and from then on played the shakuhachi instead of ringing a wind-bell or chanting the gatha. As such he went
on begging pilgrimages throughout Kinai (counties near Kyoto). As a consequence, people called him the the latter-day Fuke.
After his death, Tengai Myofu, a legal descendent, built a temple in Kyoto and named it Kyoreizan Myoan-ji. Regarding the playing of shakuhachi as a meditative practice, Kichiku transmitted his zen understanding by blowing a bamboo flute instead of chanting sutras.
Regarding the origin of Komuso in a later era of Japanese history, Kusunoki Masakatsu, grandson of Kusunoki Masashige, entered the Fuke sect after the decline of the sixteenth century Southern Dynasty, and declared himself as "Komu" (a monk of nothingness or the void). He visited many provinces for the sake of his missionary work, seeking a chance to revive the Southern Dynasty. People at that time called him as "Komu-mono" or the "nothingness man".
Thus "Myoan Shakuhachi," or "Fuke Shakuhachi," which aims at enlightenment and the salvation of all people, arose newly as a school of suizen ("Blowing Zen"), or in the history of Japanese Buddhism.
Suizen
Hotto established suizen or "Blowing Zen meditation"
after realizing that blowing shakuhachi is an excellent means of meditation.
Later on, this Zen Shakuhachi style was called Myoan Shakuhachi. In this
way, Myoan Shakuhachi occupies a completely different dimension from other
musical environments.
Generally, the sound of music is an arrangement of tones, a musical piece composed of different sounds. In Myoan shakuhachi, one sound is produced by blowing "wedge" style (kusabi-buki), that is to say, the sound changes as one exhales. In accordance with certain breathing techniques in Zen training, blow the air in one time, in the wedge style blowing, one sound is completed by changed tune in the afterglow of "tsu", "re", "u", etc., ... producing an "unrhymed rhyme". One "song" is constructed by building auditory exhalations one by one. Moreover, the shakuhachi is regarded not merely as a secular musical instrument, but as ritual tool so that "Jinashi one shaku eight sun" (a shakuhachi not lined with powdered stone) is regarded as authentic instrument which evokes the spirit of the original bamboo sound (ne-aji) which comes from unprocessed bamboo.
Likewise, blowing Zen is not to be displayed in public since it is equivalent to Zen meditation.
However, Myoan-ji, as a part of shakuhachi culture, endorses to the objectives of the World Shakuhachi Festival.
Generally, the sound of music is an arrangement of tones, a musical piece composed of different sounds. In Myoan shakuhachi, one sound is produced by blowing "wedge" style (kusabi-buki), that is to say, the sound changes as one exhales. In accordance with certain breathing techniques in Zen training, blow the air in one time, in the wedge style blowing, one sound is completed by changed tune in the afterglow of "tsu", "re", "u", etc., ... producing an "unrhymed rhyme". One "song" is constructed by building auditory exhalations one by one. Moreover, the shakuhachi is regarded not merely as a secular musical instrument, but as ritual tool so that "Jinashi one shaku eight sun" (a shakuhachi not lined with powdered stone) is regarded as authentic instrument which evokes the spirit of the original bamboo sound (ne-aji) which comes from unprocessed bamboo.
Likewise, blowing Zen is not to be displayed in public since it is equivalent to Zen meditation.
However, Myoan-ji, as a part of shakuhachi culture, endorses to the objectives of the World Shakuhachi Festival.
Myoanji WSF program
Koku
Hoan KojimaThis piece is one of three legendary pieces of Fuke
Myoan Shakuhachi or "Three Kyorei." Kichiku experienced this piece in a
dream and was titled by Hotto of Kokoku-ji Temple, Yura, Wakayama.
Myoan Shika no Tone
Byakuren Yao
Genshin Sakai
This hade piece has been famous for centuries but the
composer and place of origin are unknown.
This is a performance by two alternating shakuhachi, expressing a feeling of the distant sound of deer echoing in the mountains.
Taizan Higuchi added netori (pre-blowing) section and fukidome (post-blowing) section which are in the gagaku style, thus completing the "Myoan-styled Shika no Tone" replete with imagery and emotion.
*The term honkyoku originally referred to the pieces that were practiced by adherents to the Fuke sect; however, following the abolition of the Fuke sect in 1871, the scope of meaning of the term expanded to include solo musical compositions unrelated to religion that were played on the shakuhachi, and even compositions consisting of more than one part for the shakuhachi came to be called honkyoku.
This is a performance by two alternating shakuhachi, expressing a feeling of the distant sound of deer echoing in the mountains.
Taizan Higuchi added netori (pre-blowing) section and fukidome (post-blowing) section which are in the gagaku style, thus completing the "Myoan-styled Shika no Tone" replete with imagery and emotion.
*The term honkyoku originally referred to the pieces that were practiced by adherents to the Fuke sect; however, following the abolition of the Fuke sect in 1871, the scope of meaning of the term expanded to include solo musical compositions unrelated to religion that were played on the shakuhachi, and even compositions consisting of more than one part for the shakuhachi came to be called honkyoku.
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