Roshi (November 20, 1911 - December 14, 1992) was a master of the end-blown Japanese

bamboo 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, bu ...

flute. He studied

Rinzai Zen The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan E ...

, attaining the title of rōshi. Born as Tanaka Masaru, he was also known as Tanaka Fumon, Itcho Fumon, Watazumi Fumon, and Watazumi Shuso. Watazumi played unlacquered instruments that he referred to as

hotchiku The , sometimes romanized as or , is a Japanese aerophone, an end-blown bamboo flute, crafted from root sections of bamboo. The bamboo root is cleaned and sanded, resulting in a surface patterned with many small, circular knots where the roots ...

, in contrast with the modern

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 .

, stressing that to truly understand nature and oneself, one had to use an instrument of the most raw and natural origin. From this grew what he called ''Watazumidō'' "Way of Watazumi". In addition to hotchiku, Watazumi used the

jō A is an approximately wooden staff, used in some Japanese martial arts. The martial art of wielding the jō is called ''jōjutsu'' or ''jōdō''. Also, '' aiki-jō'' is a set of techniques in aikido which uses the jō to illustrate aikido's ...

for exercise, invigoration, and training.

Quotations

* "It's fine that you are all deep into music. But there's something deeper and if you would go deeper, if you go to the source of where the music is being made, you'll find something even more interesting. At the source, everyone's individual music is made. If you ask what the deep place is, it's your own life and it's knowing your own life, that own way that you live." * "When you hear some music or hear some sound, if for some reason you like it very well; the reason is that sound is in balance or in harmony with your pulse. And so making a sound, you try to make various different sounds that imitate various different sounds of the universe, but what you are finally making is your own sound, the sound of yourself." * "He who blows Ro 10 minutes every day can become a master."

Works

*''The Mysterious Sounds of the Japanese Bamboo Flute'', Everest Records 3289 **''The Art of the Japanese Bamboo Flute''. Album. Legacy International - CD 306. (Reissue of Everest 3289) *''Sokoinrancho''. Album. Philips - PH-7503. 1970. *''Rinbo Yondai''. Album. Philips - PH-7520. 1974.Rinbo Yondai
International Shakuhachi Society. *'' The Sacrifice''. Film soundtrack. 1986. *''Sukiyaki and Chips: The Japanese Sounds of Music''. Produced and directed by Jeremy Marre. A Harcourt Films production for

Channel Four Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service i ...

References

External links

Watazumi biography and recordings
a
The International Shakuhachi Society web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watazumi Doso 1910 births 1992 deaths Performers of Buddhist music Shakuhachi players Rōshi Rinzai Buddhists Japanese Zen Buddhists 20th-century Japanese musicians People from Fukuoka Prefecture 20th-century flautists

Quotations

Works

See also

References

External links