Nakamura Kikufū - La International Shakuhachi Society

Nakamura Kikufū

中村菊風

10/27/1889 - 10/22/1971

Shakuhachi

Nakamura Kikufū, a man of much merit who spread the shakuhachi honkyoku Myoan style in the northern Kyushu region, spent his retirement at home at 28-1, Kami-machi Jugumi, Maebaru-cho, Itoshima-gun. He passed away at home on the night of the 22nd of October, 1971 at the age of 82. His funeral was held at 2:00 pm on the following day, the 23rd, and was attended by many of his relatives, friends, and students.

Nakamura, whose birth name was Kenjirō, was born on October 27, 1889.
After graduating from Kayamura Elementary School, Maebara High School, and Itoshima Ikuei School, he joined Benjo Dye Shop in Fukuoka City, where he worked for several years. He was then transferred to the Kumamoto branch, but at the age of 29 he resigned from the same store and opened the Miyanaka Shokai in Tsuboi Yokocho, the same city, but after just over two years he handed over the store to his brother-in-law and devoted himself to the world of shakuhachi.
Nakamura-sensei loved music from an early age, and at 10, he began playing the shakuhachi after being moved by the sound of bamboo as played by a komusō monk. He then began informal lessons at the age of 16 with Okamoto Fujisuke of Orinari Village.
When he was transferred to Kumamoto in 1915, he aspired to formal training in the shakuhachi, and studied under Kinko-ryū master Takagi Shūgetsu in Rokuken-cho of the same city, but due to his teacher's ongoing illness, he was sometimes instructed by one of Takagi-sensei's students, either Miyagawa Yanami or Koga Gochiku.
He studied the Kinko-ryū classics, and also trained in ensemble playing with shamisen and koto under the guidance of female masters Matsuura Tsune, Matsumoto Misa, Fukuda Kiku, as well as Takagi Hideyuki. When he was 31 years old, he opened an instructor's office in Tsuboi 2-chome, Kumamoto City, where he taught students from pharmaceutical college, fifth high school, and Kumako.
From around this time, he felt that the essence of the shakuhachi was in the Honkyoku, so he entered the school of Tsunoda Rogetsu, a master of the Myoan school, and continued to work hard and received the rank of Kaiden in November 1925.
He learned the artistic styles of the world's leading masters.
He moved to Fukuoka City in 1925, changed his residence from Tenjin-cho to Daimyo-cho, and devoted himself to teaching Kinko-ryū Shakuhachi and Myoan-ha Honkyoku as the founder of the Kikufū-kai for over 20 years.
After the Greater East Asia War, he was evacuated to Fukae Shokakuji Temple in Itoshima District due to air raids, and moved to Maebaru Town in 1928.
After that, he continued to travel around Fukuoka and other parts of northern Kyushu, and his achievements in revitalizing Myoan Honkyoku were widely recognized.
He was known for his playing of the honkyoku Ajikan, Kokū, Mukaiji, Oshu Saji, as well as sankyoku pieces like Yaegoromo, Zangetsu, and Hagi no Tsuyu.
His compositions include "Deshi Reibo, Busshin, Aki Gokoro" and others.
From the age of 30 he’d been involved in making shakuhachi and left behind many famous instruments.
He also had many hobbies, including martial arts, joruri, shogi, and haiku.

(Source: obituary in Sankyoku Shinpō, 1971)