Articles & Essays on Shakuhachi, Honkyoku, and Japanese Aesthetics
I’ve recently started a Substack for my writing, as it’s easier to update than this website. My writing explores interpretation, variation, breath, and the aesthetics of sound and silence on shakuhachi and traditional Japanese music. If you’re interested in original, creative work grounded in lived experience and research, you can follow the link below.
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Older articles...
Commentary on Tsuru no Sugomori
by Watazumi Dōso
Translated by Lindsay Dugan
Tsuru no Sugomori is one of the most famous pieces in the honkyoku repertoire. The crane is a sacred icon in Japanese culture, and is frequently discussed in Buddhist texts.
Lindsay Dugan
May 2020
The Great Tōhoku Earthquake, 2011. I was just leaving my dormitory to go to a lesson when it started. As I locked the door, I glanced out the window. Power lines were whipping around, making an audible sound. I knew then that it was no ordinary earthquake.
Lindsay Dugan
May 2020
Fudaiji was a komusō temple in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture. Among the honkyoku transmitted there were Hon Shirabe (or Chōshi), and Kyorei. After the Fuke sect was abolished in 1871, the temple was used as an elementary school. In the school was an organ, related to the origins of two companies of which you may have heard...
