End-blown Flute (Hitoyogiri)

late 1800s

End-blown Flute (Hitoyogiri), late 1800s. Japan, Meiji period (1868-1912). Lacquered bamboo with gold and silver maki-e (sprinkled powder designs); 33.5 x 2.6 cm (13 3/16 x 1 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry F. Lyman 1921.914 The hitoyogiri 一節切 is considered one type of shakuhachi 尺八 bamboo flute and was popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. It is smaller and of weaker sound than the better known fuke 普化, and was thus known as a "small bamboo" or kotake 小竹, during a brief 19th-century revival. The node of the bamboo is positioned between the four finger holes on the front, and the thumb hole at the top of the back. This one has a design of cherry blossoms and scattered petals. The name of this flute, hitoyogiri 一節切 comes from the fact that it has a single node in the bamboo from which it is made.