How and when did shakuhachi originate?｜History of the Shakuhachi
The Japanese shakuhachi was brought from China
The Japanese shakuhachi was brought from abroad and has been transformed into a uniquely Japanese version.
The shakuhachi was originally from the Tang dynasty in China and is said to have been created during the time of Emperor Taizong (627-649). The name "Shakuhachi" is named from the fact that the standard length was 1 shaku 8 sun（23in.）in the measurement of that time.
The shakuhachi instrument, and name are no longer handed down in China,
But came to Japan during the Nara period(710-784) and spread across Japan.
The shakuhachi was played as a legal instrument
In the 1400s, the shakuhachi was actively performed among monks, court nobles, and samurai. In the late 1500s, people called "虚無僧（Komuso）" appeared. They belonged to the Fuke-shu sect, a sect of Zen Buddhism. The shakuhachi was not just a musical instrument, but a legal instrument (religious instrument), and playing it was a form of Buddhist practice.
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