Have you ever experienced being unconsciously absorbed in an experience?
The shakuhachi is more than just a musical instrument; playing it has the power to immerse you in a state of flow, where you become one with the moment, fully absorbing the experience.
In this episode of the Ikigai Podcast, Nick speaks with Kiku Day about the beneficial aspects of playing the shakuhachi and how it is more than just a musical instrument.
What gives your life meaning?
Kiku Day
Kiku Day is a shakuhachi player, a Ph.D. ethnomusicologist, and a world traveller from Copenhagen, Denmark. Her work lies at the intersections of performance of traditional shakuhachi music, contemporary music and improvisation, ethnomusicology, history, politics, meditation, and writing.
She studied shakuhachi with Okuda Atsuya, one of the foremost performers of jinashi shakuhachi, in Tokyo, Japan for 11 years before returning to Europe to study ethnomusicology at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.
She is also a founding member of the European Shakuhachi Society (ESS) for which she served as a chairperson from 2009-2019.
LINKS
Website - kikuday.com
Podcast Highlights
- Early years in Tokyo. At 2:06, Kiku shares her early years, being born in Tokyo, Japan.
- Defining the shakuhachi. At 5:56, Kiku explains what a shakuhachi is.
- Learning to play the shakuhachi. At 10:20, Kiku shares how she started getting into playing the shakuhachi.
- Two concepts on playing the shakuhachi. At 22:56, Kiku shares the two concepts she learnt from the master player, Okuda Atsuya.
- Writing a paper in shakuhachi. At 28:26, Kiku explains what motivated her to write a paper that is focused on shakuhachi.
- The difference between flow and meditation. Kiku shares her perception of the distinction between flow and meditation at 36:31.
- Ma (emptiness in space). At 49:00, Kiku explains what ma is and its importance in playing the shakuhachi.
- Kiku’s ikigai. At 55:36, Kiku shares what her ikigai is.
Early years in Tokyo
Kiku was born in Harajuku, Japan, to a Japanese mother and an American father. They lived in Japan until she was five years old. Due to her father’s political beliefs, they ended up moving to Denmark.
Defining the shakuhachi
The shakuhachi is a Japanese bamboo flute. The name of the instrument translates to "1 shaku 8", which is the standard length of a shakuhachi (about 54 centimetres). It used to be a part of Chinese court ensembles and first came to Japan in the 8th century. Traditionally, the shakuhachi was used for playing gagaku (ancient court music of Japan), but now is also used in contemporary music.Learning to play the shakuhachi
Kiku plays the jinashi shakuhachi (without ji; a mixture of stone powder and Japanese lacquer, urushi). She started learning shakuhachi back in 1990. A friend of hers shared with her a recording of the shakuhachi, which she became instantly engrossed in, and led her to go back to Japan to study playing the shakuhachi under Japanese master player, Okuda Atsuya.“A friend wanted me to listen to this recording, and I heard it and I just absolutely adored the sound. And I had been thinking that it would be nice to check out where my parents are from. So I hopped on this Trans-Siberian railroad and took the train to Japan.”
The shakuhachi is traditionally taught by imitating one's teacher by playing together. This enables the student to learn the flow of the piece in an effective way.
Two concepts on playing the shakuhachi
Kiku learnt two concepts from Okuda on the complexity of the jinashi shakuhachi sound.
That one single sound corresponds to the sound of the universe
To succeed in the union of opposites
“For me, those two concepts are very important in the way of learning shakuhachi. Trying to express and also to accept sounds. The shakuhachi has a timbre that when you play in a certain position, you always have some kind of windy sound to it. And so you made the spectrum of sounds very broad."
The music produced by playing the shakuhachi can be a reflection of one’s emotion; the sounds emitted vary depending on your state of being.
Writing a paper on shakuhachi
People’s usual understanding of shakuhachi is that it is a traditional musical instrument.
Many people come to the shakuhachi via Zen meditation or an interest in meditation. But there are basically no instructions on how this can be done. This made Kiku investigate how one can meditate while playing the shakuhachi.
Her research paper called “Mindful playing: a practice research investigation into shakuhachi playing and meditation”, focuses on careful research into how she was able to meditate while playing.
Her research paper called “Mindful playing: a practice research investigation into shakuhachi playing and meditation”, focuses on how people meditate while playing an instrument like shakuhachi.
The difference between flow and meditation
During a performance at St. John's Smith Square in London, Kiku had an interesting experience, what she believed to be a heightened awareness of her observing her own flow state. She became acutely aware her performance yet still remind in a flow state, despite fleeing anxious with this awareness.
:Kiku points out that the flow and meditative state are not the same. Contrary to a meditative state where the awareness is in focus, a flow state is when you let yourself get completely lost in the moment, unconsciously being absorbed with your experience.
Ma (emptiness in space)
Ma is an important part of every piece of music. Often translated to emptiness in space, in the context of music, ma is both the absence of sound, the space between notes, and also part of the sound itself. It’s basically how the piece flows – how musical pieces flow freely.
“It seems very much embedded in Japanese culture. I do reflect on a lot of Japanese cultural aspects, and this idea of silence or space to the point where it’s in so many forms of arts, crafts, or theatre – this emphasis on silence during performance. I guess growing up, the Japanese people learn it naturally and intuitively.” - Nicholas Kemp
Kiku’s ikigai
Kiku considers the shakuhachi as her most important ikigai source, something she cannot seperate herself from. Playing and composing music with the shakuhachi is what gives meaning to her life, as does teaching and passing on her knowledge to others.
Conclusion
To many, the shakuhachi is not just a musical instrument. It has a complex history and is used by many - especially outside Japan - as a meditation tool. The shakuhachi community is strong and many connect with others through the instrument.
