Hōzan Yamamoto (山本邦山, ''Yamamoto Hōzan''; October 6, 1937 - February 10, 2014 in

Ōtsu file:Otsu City Hall.JPG, 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km². The total a ...

, Shiga prefecture) was a Japanese

shakuhachi A is a Japanese and ancient Chinese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the .

player, composer and lecturer. Yamamoto started playing the Japanese bamboo flute shakuhachi at the age of nine. He was initially taught by his father and then by Chozan Nakanishi. After graduating from

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

Junior College of Foreign Studies in 1958, he participated in

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

's World Folk Music Festival and graduated from Seiha Music College in 1962. Together with koto player Shinichi Yuize and

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as ''Top Gun'' (1986), ''Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''Day ...

, he recorded the album

Music for Zen Meditation ''Music for Zen Meditation'' is a 1964 album by jazz clarinetist Tony Scott. The album is considered to be the first new-age record. ''Music for Zen Meditation'' is mostly improvised by Scott, Shinichi Yuize (koto) and Hōzan Yamamoto (shakuhach ...

in February 1964. After forming the widely acclaimed "Shakuhachi Sanbon Kai" trio in 1966 with Reibo Aoki and Katsuya Yokoyama, he electrified the conservative traditional scene by applying his talents to a variety of crossover collaborations. These have led him to work with such world-renowned musicians as

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Ind ...

, Helen Merrill,

Gary Peacock Gary George Peacock (May 12, 1935September 4, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist. He recorded a dozen albums under his own name, and also performed and recorded with major jazz figures such as avant garde saxophonist Albert Ayler, pianist ...

and Karl Berger, and also with flute colleagues Jean-Pierre Rampal and Chris Hinze. In 1980 he was invited to the renowned

Donaueschingen Donaueschingen (; Low Alemannic: ''Eschinge'') is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar '' Kreis''. It stands near the confluence of the two sources of the river Da ...

music festival with his trio. He recorded music for the movie ''

Samurai Reincarnation is a 1981 Japanese fantasy film written and directed by Kinji Fukasaku and starring Sonny Chiba, Kenji Sawada, and Hiroyuki Sanada. It is based on the novel of the same name by Futaro Yamada. The film was nominated for three Awards of the Jap ...

'' film and the album ''Masters of Zen: Shakuhachi & Organ'' with

Wolfgang Mitterer Wolfgang Mitterer (born 6 June 1958 in Lienz, East Tyrol) is an Austrian composer and musician (organ, keyboard). Biography Wolfgang Mitterer studied with Otto Bruckner in Graz in 1977, and then from 1978 to 1983 at the University of Music an ...

. Through the 1970s and 1980s until his death he led the shakuhachi world receiving innumerable honors, including Japanese Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Education Ministerial awards for his performances, recordings (numbering in the hundreds) and compositions. He served as lecturer at the

Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music or is the most prestigious art school in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained renowned artists in the fields of painting, scul ...

and as head of the Hozan-kai Shakuhachi Guild. In 2002 he was designated

Living National Treasure of Japan is a Japanese popular term for those individuals certified as by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as based on Japan's . The term "Living National Treasure" is not formally mentioned in the law, but is an informa ...

. In 2004, he was awarded a

Medal with Purple Ribbon are medals awarded by the Government of Japan. They are awarded to individuals who have done meritorious deeds and also to those who have achieved excellence in their field of work. The Medals of Honor were established on December 7, 1881, and we ...

. In 2009, he was awarded an Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette. On February 10, 2014, he died at a hospital in Tokyo.

Discography

* 1964 Music for Zen Meditation * 1968 Oriental Bossa Sounds a Union of Koto, Shakuhachi and Big Band (琴, 尺八, ビッグ・バンドによるスタンダード・ボッサ) * 1969 Harlem Nocturne * 1970

Hibiki - Contemporary Music for Japanese Traditional Instruments Hibiki is a Japanese word which can be translated as "echo" among other meanings. It may refer to: People *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese long jumper *Reine Hibiki, a Japanese illustrator whose work includes art for ''Maria-sama ga Miteru'' *, ...

(響 - 和楽器による現代日本の音楽) * 1971 '' Ginkai'' (銀界) (

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

apan Apan is a city and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 346.9 km². Overview As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 39,247. It was an important site in the Wa ...

with Masabumi Kikuchi , Gary Peacock and Hiroshi Murakami. recorded in 1970. * 1974 Keden (怪顛) * 1974 Kyorai (去来) * 1975

Bamboo Suite Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, b ...

(竹の組曲) * 1975

Breath Breathing (or ventilation) is the process of moving air into and from the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly to flush out carbon dioxide and bring in oxygen. All aerobic creatures need oxygen for cellular ...

* 1978 Kangetsu (寒月) * 1985 Again and Again with Karl Berger * 1986 Saichi * 1986 Hozan Yamamoto vs Four Men * 1990

Sankyoku ''Sankyoku'' (Japanese: 三曲 / さんきょく) is a form of Japanese chamber music played often with a vocal accompaniment. It is traditionally played on shamisen, koto, and kokyū, but more recently the kokyū has been replaced by shakuhac ...

* 1996 Mugenkai - Ginkai II (夢幻界 - 銀界II) * 1996 Works of Hozan Yamamoto (山本邦山作品集) * 1997 Otoño * 1998 Amigos * 2000 Fascination of the Shakuhachi (尺八の魅力)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamamoto, Hozan 1937 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Japanese composers 20th-century Japanese male musicians 21st-century Japanese composers 21st-century Japanese male musicians Japanese flautists Japanese male composers People from Ōtsu, Shiga Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Shakuhachi players Tokyo University of the Arts faculty 20th-century flautists 21st-century flautists