“Countless karmic conditions have brought you here now”

Kenji Furuya

That was the phrase I read when I arrived at the studio where Sensei Akio Yamaoka taught Shakuhachi, in São Paulo’s Liberdade neighborhood.

– Shall we play?

– Yes, Sensei!

Finding Shakuhachi in my life was magical, a dream, a desire, the desire to explore music.

I asked myself, What would it be like to learn, to adopt an instrument and, through it, transmit waves, vibrations, music? What is it? What happens in this here and now? Together we play, alone I play, between rivers, mountains, and forests, in the waves of the sea, holding the full weight of the ship.

Akio Yamaoka Sensei sustained for generations, through practice, a beautiful and ancient element of Japanese culture. Thank you. We thank you for your love, care, and dedication, and for bringing us the opportunity to learn. For four years, I have been a disciple of Akio Yamaoka, and a member of the group Shakuhachi Nishakukai – Brazil, but have also explored new ways of relating to this sacred instrument.

The works below tell a little about this timeline, from this first meeting with Shakuhachi to the present moment in 2021.