Kinko Ryū Shakuhachi
For six generations, the Araki family has carried the Kodō name and its perspective on the tradition of Kinko-Ryū shakuhachi.
There are few sounds more quintessentially Japanese than the shakuhachi, an end-blown bamboo flute. Kodō Araki the 6th is a living connection to this music dating back to the middle of the 18th century. For the Araki family, the shakuhachi is more than a musical instrument; it is a conduit handed down through his family from father to son for generations. It is as much a tool for artistic expression as it is for cultural storytelling.
Since his debut in 1988, Kodō the 6th has served as ambassador for Kinko-ryū, the primary branch of shakuhachi study, through education and performance. Araki played for the 1200th Anniversary of Kiyomizu-dera's Kannon Bodhisattva; was a featured soloist with the Seattle Symphony and performed at the Newport Folk Festival, and was invited to participate in the Interdependence Day Celebration in Mexico City and the Future of Music Coalition in Rio de Janeiro.
Named for his great-great grandfather, Hanzaburō, or Hanz as he’s commonly known, made his professional debut in 1988 in Shimonoseki, Japan where he was given the name Baikyoku by his father, Kodo Araki the 5th. He attained the name Kodo at his father’s retirement ceremony in Tokyo in 2009. Hanz performed and taught in Japan until 1992 when he returned to the United States and shifted his focus almost entirely to performing.