Novedades
This is something of a landmark for the ISS. We have officially passed one thousand shakuhachi player entries in our database, with an overall count exceeding 2800. We just wanted to note this milestone before getting back to work and adding MORE entries! Kampai!
Added or corrected name kanji - 08/07 2023
Added or corrected 50+ kanji names.
Added four Yamada-ryū players - 07/27 2023
Added listings for the following Yamada-ryū string players: Itō Shōchō II, Shigenegawa Mihagi, Yamane Ichiyo, and Ogasawara Hagiwa.
New entries for Shakuhachi Min'yo players - 02/16 2023
The following shakuhachi Min'yo players were added: Satake Shōdō, Onodera Sendō, Hayashi Yūshō, Uchida Yūsen, Yamazaki Ryō, Shimura Ōdō, Takeuchi Takashi, Abe Shōgi, Funaki Keizaburō, Shōji Kakudō, Saitō Kakushō, Kasahara Kakuyō, Yoneya Yūhō
New albums added - 02/16 2023
12 new listings for albums added, including performances by Nōtomi Judō, Nōtomi Haruhiko, Kawase Junsuke II, Yamamoto Hōzan, and others.
Additions of historic shakuhachi, koto, and shamisen players - 12/29 2022
Over the past month we've added listings for shakuhachi players Fujii Reihō, Ikeda Itsuren, Makino Itsuyō, Kawamoto Seirō, Shimizu Itsukan, Yoshikawa Itsushū, Kawamoto Itsudō II, Yanai Chōfū, Abura Itsuzu, Takasaki, Itsufū, Senzaki Itsurō, Sakaki Teitoku Itchō II, and Abe Chidō, as well as koto players Tateshiro Mamoru and Tateshige Kazue, and composer/ shamisen player Kineya Katsusaburō II. We've updated several others, too.
Added/ updated many Min'yo pieces - 11/06 2022
Added and updated a few dozen Min'yo pieces from Hokkaido, Aomori, Akita, Iwate, Yamagata, Miyagi, and Niigata Prefectures.
Spanish - 06/01 2022
Our menus are now available in Spanish. We are excited to make access to Japanese music easier for a big part of the world. The links to change language are at the bottom of every page.
String player additions - 05/25 2022
Added koto/shamisen players Tazawa Machiko, Idei Seikin, Mitsuoka Kura, Tsukahara Aiko, Oite Toike.
Updated entry for Momose Hōdō - 05/22 2022
Updated bio info and included a photo from an advertisement for his shakuhachi shop in Tokyo from 1928.
Updated entry for Hirokado Reifu - 05/22 2022
Updated entry for shakuhachi player, teacher, and composer, Hirokado Reifu with bio information, teachers, and a photo.
New string player bios - 05/03 2022
Added 14 string players from the Ikuta-Ryū/ Kikuhara lineage.
Many additional performers added to tracks - 04/19 2022
We had a limitation restricting us to listing just a single shakuhachi performer on any performance. That is gone! Now you can see the other performer in duets. The limit affected other instruments as well. Now you can see those who sing while playing shamisen.
Track your progress! - 04/19 2022
We have greatly enhanced the My Repertoire interface that lets members track the pieces they learned. Now you can view your progress vs various study lists, see the relative difficulty of many pieces, and see how many pieces you know from a particular school. Answer questions like: How many of the kinko honkyoku do I know? What's a good next piece to learn based on what i can already play?
Added entry for John Neptune interview - 03/08 2022
Added Bibliography entry for John Kaizan Neptune interview by Tom Schnabel published in Kyoto Diary, Vol. 6 No. 3, September 2001
Updated entry for Yamato Manwa - 02/26 2022
Added kanji and portrait for composer Yamato Manwa
updated entry for Iwamoto Yoshikazu - 02/25 2022
Replaced incorrect kanji and photo for Iwamoto Yoshikazu
added bio Adachi Seishū - 02/22 2022
Added historical info and photo for Adachi Seishū of Nagoya.
added new bio info and photo for Torii Kyomudo - 02/21 2022
With information found in his obituary in Sankyoku Shimpo, we updated and corrected some biographical information as well as his photo.
Added six Meiji-era shakuhachi teachers/players - 01/14 2022
Added the following Tokyo-based shakuhachi teachers: Matsumoto Keigetsu, Kogure Yoshitomo (Chikuyū), Takigawa Nagaru, Hōshō Rengetsu, Ishikawa Hajime, and Yoshida Gyokudō.
Added info for Nakanoshima Shosei I - 12/28 2021
Corrected/added biographical info and a portrait of Yamada ancestor Nakanoshima Shosei I.
Added bio for Murase Chikuga - 12/14 2021
Murase Chikuga was a longtime teacher at Chikuyusha in the early 20th century.
Added photos and bio info for Miura Kindō and Mizuno Rodō - 12/14 2021
High quality reprints of Sankyoku/Nihon Ongaku magazines provide new source photos.
Added Shichiku Kokin-Shu to Bibliography - 10/30 2021
Added Shichiku Koki-shu by Kamiya Juntei / edited and translated by Nick Hoko Bellando. This book is an in-depth examination of the music of the Hitoyogiri, originally published in 1805.
Kanji corrections and two player additions - 10/20 2021
Corrected misc. kanji names and added bios and photos for Saitō Shudō and Yamaya Kozan.
Two albums added - 10/07 2021
Added The World of Nomura Seihō and the soundtrack for Devil's Flute (featuring Yamamoto Hōzan)
New Chikuyusha score title scans - 09/05 2021
Added scans for 12 more Chikuyusha "Green Book" titles in Member Downloads
Added info on three historic Tozan-ryū players - 07/08 2021
Basic info and photos added for Katayama Yūzan, Kurakawa Shōzan, and Yasaka Reizan
Photos and info for Yamaue Getsuzan and Satō Reidō - 02/06 2021
Added photos (circa early 1970s), kanji, birth dates, and other info for Yamaue Getsuzan and Satō Reidō.
Large additions to historic player/teacher entries - 12/02 2020
Additional entries, improved photos, amendments/corrections to over 100 historic listings of shakuhachi, koto, shamisen, and kokyu virtuosos.
Historic player/teacher entries - 10/25 2020
Amended entry on Takeuchi Shikō. Added new entries for Endō Koshū and Koyama Hōshō.
Nezasa-ha/Kimpu-ryu updates - 07/26 2020
Updated/added info and photos on Nezasa and Kimpu-ryu masters. (Thanks to Kurahashi Yodo II for Jin Nyodo lineage info.)
Ueda-ryu info updated/corrected - 05/25 2020
Listings of Ueda-ryu players and iemoto have been updated to reflect a new source of information.
Added new Tozan-ryu players and corrected LP info - 05/25 2020
Added people listings for Tajima Shōzan, Uemura Shōzan, Nagata Shōzan, and added information for Isono Sazan. Also added info for album Tozan-ryu Shakuhachi Honkyoku.
Added Tomii Shunzan and his LP to People listing - 05/23 2020
Tozan Dai-Shihan player and teacher added along with his LP and track listing.
Support for mobile devices - 07/13 2019
The public pages of the site are now designed to be usable on mobile devices! The previous site did not respond to small screen sizes and was in effect unusable on phones.
At the moment, in a small set of situations, some columns of data are hidden on small screens. We are working to redesign that so the same info is always available on mobile devices.
Most of the pages one sees after logging in are not yet engineered for mobile devices. We're working on that too.
Public downloads now supported in the bibliography - 06/30 2019
Did some coding so that it is now possible for administrators to make some publications downloadable to non-members.
Added Yoshida Seifu LP box set and compositions - 03/21 2019
Added Yoshida Seifu Collection of Famous Performances vol. 1 - 3 and two new pieces.
Aoki Reibo II bio updated - 10/19 2018
Living National Treasure Aoki Reibo passed away August 21, 2018.
Added/replaced song title kanji - 10/19 2018
Added or corrected kanji titles for 14 songs (Kinko Shuppan-sha).
Modified entry for shakuhachi scholar Fujita Shun'ichi (Reiro) - 10/14 2018
Removed various alternate entries on Fujita and gave proper author credit in bibliography; added photo, name kanji, and other pertinent information.
Komuso history added - 12/10 2017
A brief history of the komuso has been added, courtesy of Elliot Kallen.
New President and Governor - 10/25 2017
I'm very pleased to announce that Elliot Kallen is taking over as president of The International Shakuhachi Society. I've been doing it for over 15 years and it's time for a break. Elliot is an excellent shakuhachi player and teacher, and a close friend. I'm positive the society is in great hands. Thank you everyone for years of wonderful memories. I'll still be around, as webmaster of komuso.com and supporting Elliot if he needs it. - Ron
Also I'm very happy that Kaoru Kakizaki has taken on a role as one of the society's governors!
Glossary edits - 09/30 2017
Miscellaneous Japanese glossary terms added
Updated Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin's biography - 06/21 2017
Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin passed away on May 30, 2017.
Glossary entries - 12/03 2015
Miscellaneous additions and corrections to Glossary kanji/katakana/hiragana
Added Chikuyusha title scan - 03/30 2015
Added the piece Yunagi (Kinko) as well as information on the composer as well as a Chikuyusha title scan.
Added Chikuyusha title scans - 08/23 2014
Five more titles added
Added and/or modified pages for 12 Nagauta pieces - 08/23 2014
Created or modified and corrected existing pages for Musume Dojoji, Sagi Musume, Matsu no Midori, Oimatsu (Nagauta), Kokaji, Tomoyakko, Azuma Hakkei, Horai, Kanjincho, Goro Tokimune, Aki no Irokusa, and Renjishi.
Added Chikuyusha title scans - 08/23 2014
Added several Nagauta title scans.
Added Chikuyusha title scans - 08/22 2014
Two titles added and linked to new piece description pages.
Corrected two Ikuta-ryu piece titles - 08/17 2014
Reset title/piece links
Added Chikuyusha title scans - - 08/17 2014
4 more scans and 2 title corrections for Chikuyusha title ID in Member Downloads
Added Chikuyusha title scans - 08/16 2014
20 more scans for Chikuyusha title ID in Member Downloads
Added Chikuyusha title scans - - 05/30 2014
19 more scans and 3 corrections for Chikuyusha title ID in Member Downloads
Added Chikuyusha title scans - - 05/30 2014
17 more title scans for Kanji ID in Member Downloads.
Added photos, kanji, and info on several historic koto and shamisen masters - 12/17 2013
info on Kawase Satoko, Tomizaki Shunsho, Imai Keishi, Yonekawa Chikatoshi, Amagasa Saiju, Koshino Eisho, and Hisamoto Genchi.
Bookmarking Translated Pages - 10/20 2012
Translated versions of the site menus have been available for some time but they were hard to use. Now it is easy to bookmark any translated version of a page you are viewing and quickly switch between different languages.
Added Essays and LPs - 04/19 2011
Added twelve more downloadable essays to the Bibliograhy, available to members only. Also added information on fifteen rare LPs donated by Riley Lee and Elliot Kallen.
Chikuho Ryû Repertoire updated - 10/25 2010
Thanks to member support I've been able complete the list of Honkyoku, and their Kanji, that are taught in the Chikuho Ryû.
Russian Interface Up and Running - 10/25 2010
Thank you Eugene Sukhorukov!
German Interface Up and Running - 10/23 2010
Thank you Christian Grobmeier for the translation.
Translations of the Interface - 10/23 2010
Members are now able to translate the site menus to many language and make them immediately available to the world.
Schools Page Update - 10/16 2010
The information about a school now includes a collection of people associated with that school.
More edit features for members - 09/28 2010
Members can now edit and add to the Publications, Glossary, and Events lists.
No more dead links - 09/26 2010
Homepage and event links that can't be reached are automatically removed once a week.
Publications are now part of the site - 09/01 2010
Created a Publications section, added information on many publications, updated people pages to display that person's publications. Select essays from the ISS library are also downloadable by members.
Sort Pieces by Date of Composition - 01/23 2009
From the list of pieces there is now a link that will show all the pieces sorted by when they were composed.
Sort Albums by Genre - 01/19 2009
On the album index page it is not possible to view albums by genre.
Edit your own Bio Page - 11/26 2008
Any one listed on the site can now log in and edit all the information on their biography page or upload a new photo of themselves. They can also choose to hide or publish their bio page at will. But can't yet add albums.
Personal Inventory of Pieces Learned - Members Only - 11/26 2008
Members now have the option of using the site to track a list of pieces they've learned and can share this information with other members if they choose. This will be espeically useful for new students to track their progress or provide a list for their teacher showing where they are at.
Personal Inventory of Scores Owned - Members Only - 11/26 2008
Members can now use the site to build and browse a list of the scores in their collection and have the option of sharing this information with others if they wish.
Personal Inventory of Albums - Members only - 09/05 2008
You can now catalog the albums you own. After logging in, on the page for any album just hit the - I own this album - button. To see the list of what you own go to the discography section and choose the link that says - View my albums. Also on the discography you can enter your own catalog numbers for each recording in order to help keep track of your physical collection.
Teacher's Page Sorted by Country - 08/31 2008
The entries on the teacher's page are now broken up by country and a country index appears at the top of the page. See Teachers.
Kanji in the Glossary - 08/31 2008
The Glossary now displays Kanji for terms. Glossary.
Sorting of Performances and Compositions - 08/31 2008
On the page for each person any of their recordings or compositions are now segragated into seperate sections. For example tracks where the person performs on Koto are listed seperately from where they play on Shamisen. Also replaced audio samples Listen links with play buttons and made the buttons easier to find.
Display Recordings by Year and Publisher - 08/31 2008
The album indexes now have links on publisher names and years to show all recordings for a particular publisher or year. See Albums.
Kanji on Piece Index Pages - 08/31 2008
The Kanji for each piece is now visible on the piece index pages. See Index.
Personal Lineage Charts - 08/31 2008
Expandable lineage charts have been added to the page for each person. By clicking boxes people can display the full set of students for a person. See Kurosawa Kinko I for example.
Romaji Versions of Poems - 08/31 2008
Romaji versions of many of the Sankyoku poems have been added to the description of the piece. See Shin Musume Dojoji.