Body

• The body of the shakuhachi is made from the root end of a bamboo culm. It takes a considerable amount of time and expertise to find a bore of bamboo with the proper size and shape. The name "shakuhachi" actually refers to the size of the instrument, with "shaku" (meaning "one") and "hachi" (meaning "eight") being ancient units of measurement. The typical size of a shakuhachi is 1.8 feet or 21.5 inches, though this can vary between 1.3 and 3.3 shaku.
  
  

Blowing Edge (Utagachi)

• Compared to a recorder, which uses a narrow airway over a block called a fipple, the shakuhachi has a sharp edge to blow against. (Imagine blowing across a bottle.) Therefore, whereas the recorder is only capable of limited pitch control, the shakuhachi can produce almost any pitch, as the player can control the blowing angle. Adjusting the blowing angle can bend the pitch downward (meri) or upward (kari) by a whole tone or more. The utaguchi itself is fashioned from a piece of acrylic, precisely shaped to match the angles cut into the bamboo and inserted into the bamboo top of the joint.
  
  

Finger Holes

• The shakuhachi has five finger holes (four on the front, one on the back) tuned to a pentatonic scale with no half-tones. The pitch can be lowered by partially covering these holes while playing. The versatility of the instrument, or the ability to produce multiple timbres, comes from the ability to lower pitch both through finger-hole coverage and blowing angle.
  
  

Filler

• There are two general types of shakuhachi that can be made: those with and without filler. Buddhist monks traditionally made the shakuhachi without filler, but adding filler improves tuning and response. Usually the inside of the instrument is lacquered with urushi, then filled with a mixture of tonko (a powder) and water.