Kiku Day

Shakuhachi player and ethnomusicologist based in Copenhagen, who plays honkyoku, the solo repertoire of the Zen monks, on the unlacquered jinashi flute. Honkyoku is suizen, blowing zen: the breath as the practice rather than the performance. She trained in Tokyo with the master Okuda Atsuya and carries his Zensabō style in Europe.

She is closely involved with the European Shakuhachi Society, where she teaches Zensabō and Myōan honkyoku at its workshops and summer schools. She also plays contemporary repertoire written for the instrument, though the old solo pieces are the centre of her work.