Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Perhaps you should consider getting a Yuu:

Small investment; proper pitch for what you want to do, and with western intonation. Besides, 'in tune' has more to do with the player than the flute,
even if the shakuhachi is 'perfect'.

Gutentag Christain, Have you tried making shakuhachi?  If you like Jinashi, this maybe the least expensive way to get a shakuhachi that can play in tune for you.

This old thread on how Americans purchased shakuhachi before the internet may help. http://www.shakuhachiforum.com/viewtopic.php?id=3055

- Perry

cy23 wrote:

So, what are your experiences? Is it possible to get a shakuhachi, probably a tozan or a kinko style shakuhachi, which is already good in tune with the western scales? Or is a Jinashi doing fine and I have tuning problems with all shakuhachi? I am lost here, I have never played anything else then jinashi

What kind of jinashi are you talking about? Low-price bamboo sticks with holes, or something selected and painstakingly worked into a fine instrument? Not all jinashi are out of tune, even some of the low-end ones aren't, and you should be able to do jazz improvisation even on the quirkier ones although you may need to get creative. That's something looked upon highly in jazz, but since you mention pop, your creativity may be limited in that you have to play in tune in a certain range of the instrument. You'll have those restrictions if you wanted to throw part of the melody of the song in a strategic part of the jazzy improvisation.

If you haven't stumbled across that jinashi that plays in tune easy enough to do what you want, try a yuu or a wooden shakuhachi. I haven't tried the yuu yet but the 3 wooden shakuhachi I've owned worked for playing melodic jazz or Western melodies well. If you learn it on one of those at least you know what obstacles are possible to overcome. I like using a nice jiari that I'm pretty sure plays well, especially now that with some stick-tuitiveness I'm beginning to impress myself some. I wasn't nearly as convinced it was possible when I started, but it is.