International Shakuhachi Teacher Jon Kypros
Contact me at flutedojo@gmail.com for a free one-on-one shakuhachi lesson over video chat
If you need an instrument please consider my Bell shakuhachi
Sharing the shakuhachi with others is at the heart of all of my efforts with this wonderful instrument. As a teacher, I guide my students every step of the way on their journey. The shakuhachi is an instrument of many mysteries which I strive to convey in a clear and open way. As an experienced crafts-person I often share key insights into the instruments themselves. It’s also my privilege to pass down the honkyoku to my students which are the most revered pieces for shakuhachi. You can contact me with any questions you may have and I’ll be happy to help you.
My YouTube video “How to play the shakuhachi”
My book Your Shakuhachi Journey has also helped many people with learning how to play. You can find my free guides here as well.
I began handcrafting shakuhachi and formally studying the traditional music in my teens under Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin and Kurahashi Yodo II. After years of intense study in the Jin Nyodo style I decided to learn regional honkyoku from Justin Senryu Williams. I now teach all that I’ve learned in addition to my efforts with handcrafting shakuhachi including my Bell shakuhachi which are the first jinashi shakuhachi replicas.
Utilizing Japanese Madake bamboo in America
Top – Me, my Dad, and Jim at JM bamboo (jmbamboo.com), AL, 2010. Bottom – Me and Keiji Oshima of haikubamboonursery.net, NC. 2011.
Harvested Japanese madake Bamboo grown in America
I discovered my first grove of madake Japanese bamboo growing in America just a few miles from where I was born. I positively identified this grove with the help of the Southeast Chapter of the American Bamboo Society and I learned how to identify this species on my own.
I went on to seek out more groves in other parts of the US. I met with Jim Mortensen (pictured left, top) who has identified possibly the largest concentration of old established Japanese madake groves in America. I harvested upwards of 500 pieces from these madake groves.
I later met with Keiji Oshima (picture left, lower) who’s been growing madake and other bamboo species in the mountains of Hendersonville, North Carolina for over 30 years.
I continue to look for more groves of madake Japanese bamboo as I venture around the southern United States.
The Bell shakuhachi – the first jinashi shakuhachi replicas
The Bell shakuhachi
Around 2008 I began experimenting with copying jiari and jinashi shakuhachi bores by making intricate molds of them. I began doing this after seeing the exorbitant prices of most shakuhachi while studying in NYC.
Over the years to come I found through my own harvesting and crafting of hundreds of jinashi shakuhachi that truly outstanding examples were very rare. The fact was that, even if people could afford the high prices, I could only hope to produce a handful of exceptional instruments every so many years.
In 2012 I set out to copy a jinashi shakuhachi, inside and out, to try and provide an outstanding instrument for a fraction of the cost. I succeeded but I needed to improve my process and find a truly ideal 1.8 “D” shakuhachi, the standard length used for formal study. After over a decade in the making, in 2018 I finally released my Bell shakuhachi which is made from a bamboo eco-composite material.
This is the path that I’m taking through the bamboo grove and I thank you for taking the time to read about it. I hope that your journey with the shakuhachi will be a deeply rewarding one.