Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

david wrote:

This may sound silly, but I was wondering if some makers pre crack their flutes? I have seen some very nice taimus' for sale with huge gaping cracks in them. I love the looks of them! Incredibly wabi-sabi. I thought that maybe this was done intentionally. If you could expose your bamboo to extreme temps prior to flute making, let the weakest part of the flute crack, seal it and then make the shakuhachi? Wouldn't the chances of further cracking be drastically minimised?

David,

You may be referring to fissures in the bamboo that sometimes are found in the grove before harvesting. Something like this is usually considered desirable aesthetically.

That's an interesting idea about pre-cracking. However, it might be difficult to talk makers into cracking their bamboo on purpose! Any crack can continue to open. My guess is that, on the average, maker induced cracks are going to be more problematic than shorter fissures found in the grove.

Ken