Japanese Zen Shakuhachi Pentatonic end-blown flute with natura bell root. TOZAN-ryu 1.8 feet professional quality, play all ocataves. Good for seasoned flautist, good for any level player.

I am not at all a seasoned shakuhachi player but this bamboo flute is above what I was expecting. Looks are very pleasing and is in tune on a electronic tuner and sounds very quality. The lowest octave is on the quieter/softer side so that could be a plus or minus given your preference. It has something to do with the style of flute making. I was expecting it to be louder in that range but after some research found this to be the way jinashi flutes are made to sound. I am still very pleased with the overall sound quality it produces!

If you are looking for a professional level shakuhachi from a very reputable shakuhachi maker, I most highly recommend Johnson Art. He is a very highly skilled flute maker. I have two of his flutes and very much enjoy playing them. His madake shakuhachi are excellent and exceptionally well made. His flutes have a very clear pitch, are very responsive, and are well balanced throughout the octaves. They have excellent tone color and warmth. Johnson is very attentive to your particular needs in a flute, and readily addresses them. I would highly recommend you consider getting a shakuhachi from him.

Very, very nice smooth playing Shakuhachi. Very happy with this product. Would definitely recommend to a friend or buy again worth every penny very nice tone.

My 2nd flute from Johnson arts. Bought the 2.4 as a flute for long tone exercises, breath building. I can play it but will have to work on tone; a big flute! Moving from 1.8 to 2.4 is quite a step for an intermediate player. Just as well crafted as the first one but this one seems to have a bit more bore shaping. Looking forward to beautiful sound from this with some practice.Came with all the accessories needed to keep it in good condition.I was not expecting the surprise addition of offset finger holes for both hands to improve reach! The photo on the shopping page did not show that, so I was ready for the challenge but not so difficult at all now. 😃Very pleased with this purchase! This flute will do fine for me until I play well enough to rate a much more expensive model, years away.

It's a very pretty shakuhachi, and comes in a neat box, bag, etc. It is ideal for trying out the shakuhachi and seeing if you're going to maintain an interest in playing it - it's not that hard to toot out a few notes but it takes a lot of work over a lot of time to become an adept player. It is, however, excellent breathing training, and for the purpose of breathing-meditation, this is perfect and all you need. Plus it looks good enough to hang on the wall.

This is a really well made fluteIt’s heavier than what I’m accustomed to. The lighter bamboo flute are easier to play.I’m working on getting a good sound on this one.I plan to show it to my teacher and see what he thinksMore as I learn more

I had initially ordered more directly from Johnson (through Amazon.ca) and due to spring festival, he couldn't expedite shipping. Communication was clear and quick and he sent me to Amazon.com to buy the same flute, shipped through Amazon. I ordered it for my father, who wanted the shakuhachi rather quickly to spend the rest of winter with it. Delivery was prompt and my father says it is beautiful, shows excellent craftmanship, and makes a wonderful sound.

I own both the 2.4 Kinko and the 1.8 Tozan. They both look and sound so beautiful!