The overall tonal quality can be described as “creamy”.
Do re mi style - tuned to the Western scales with superb accuracy in pitch (A4 = 442 Hz)
Added distance between the top of the flute and the mouth hole makes them bigger than other brands and provides rich resonance.
Born in the Tsugaru flute culture, where flutes are expected to compete with the loud sound of large Taiko drums, the Shoji shinobue sound commands a powerful presence.
It also has the capacity to create the most intimate and warm sound that touches the gentlest souls.
Covered in thick lacquer to prevent cracking in a dry environment with central air conditioning and heating. Recommended for customers who live outside Japan (Japan is a humid country where most houses do not have central air).
The lacquer does not contain urushi, which is made of poison ivy. Suitable for people with allergic or sensitive skin
In order to maintain the highest quality, all Shoji shinobues on this website are played and approved by my teacher, Bunta Satoh sensei!! Here is the process.
Mr. Shoji creates a professional grade shinobue and brings it to my teacher, Bunta Satoh sensei.
Bunta sensei test plays it. He only tells me about the shinobue he likes. (Mr. Shoji has been making shinobues all his life, and his standards are very high, but occasionally Bunta sensei rejects a shinobue, since Bunta sensei is VERY picky.)
You see the shinobue on this page (or receive the email notification from me as the shinobue becomes available.)
I provide customer service in English from start to finish. You pay for the shinobue of your choice in USD via this website
The shinobue gets shipped to you directly from Bunta sensei. I will email you the tracking number.
When I got my first shinobue, someone (who most likely doesn't even play shinobue) grabbed a random shinobue in stock, put it in a box, and shipped it to me. No one tried the shinobue to ensure its quality. I could not ask anyone about the shinobue I was purchasing. It was such a big and expensive risk! That's why I created a system where your questions are clearly answered in English, you know exactly how much you are paying, and there is someone who test plays the very shinobue you are buying to make sure of its quality. And who else is better to test play your shinobue than the one who's been playing shinobue all his life and even played it in Carnegie Hall!!
Bunta Satoh sensei at Carnegie Hall with his Shoji shinobue
“I received the 1 hon choshi and am very impressed with the quality of the Shoji shinobue. Thank you for selling these through your site and helping to make it easier to get quality shinobue even outside of Japan.”
To purchase a quality shinobue, one must wait for a while, even in Japan, since they are not mass-produced.
Please fill out the form below to subscribe to my Shoji shinobue notification list. When a new Shoji shinobue (of any hon choshi) becomes available, you will get a notification email from me. Please come back to this page to purchase the shinobue if you wish.
Being on this list does NOT mean a shinobue is reserved for you. Shoji shinobues are sold on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Mr. Shoji does not keep a waiting list since he only sells shinobue if the shinobue meets his strict standards. He does not want to compromise the quality because someone is waiting for it.
I apologize for any inconvenience.
Taiwan, South Korea, China = $49
The rest of Asia = $46
Canada, Australia and Europe = $56
United States of America = $56
Africa and Central America = $59
***I want to bring to your attention that the fees for foreign transactions charged by PayPal and Stripe (for credit cards), processing fees from Squarespace (this website’s host), and shipping and packaging fees were significantly higher than what I had anticipated. As a result, I had to adjust my pricing in April 2024 to compensate for these costs. I want to express my sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.***
“It’s clear that this shinobue is of amazing quality. I’m not very experienced, but the sound it makes is really beautiful, and I want to keep working on my skills to give justice to such an amazing work of art.”
