About the 3D shakuhachi
This is not a single ready-made file. It is a Japanese maker's free kit for designing your own shakuhachi: template files plus a step-by-step method. The maker, Tatsuaki Kuroda, has been printing shakuhachi since 2015. First he printed an inner tube in six pieces on a DS1000 printer, glued them, set the tube inside bamboo and filled the gap with resin. A few months later he printed a whole shakuhachi on an UP BOX, using bore data from his teacher, Yokoyama Ohzan.
His printed shakuhachi have had real use. The hōgaku magazine 邦楽ジャーナル (Hōgaku Journal) featured them in May 2016, an ensemble of shakuhachi players performed on them, and the player 立花茂生 presented one at the 5th National Hōgaku Ensemble Festival in August 2018.
The templates are for a 1.8 (八寸, the standard size) and a 1.6 (六寸), each in three parts with two joints, and a 2.3 (二尺三寸, "A管") in four parts. They were made in Autodesk's free 123D Design. You add the bore profile and adjust the finger holes, and the template becomes a printable shakuhachi. The essential ingredient is bore data: if you don't have any, the maker suggests looking for published data online. He also offers a sample set of discs and a lofted tube for the 1.8, but warns that it probably won't sound good as it is.
Things to know: 123D Design has been discontinued, though the .sat and .dwg versions open in other CAD programs. The finished sample STL files the page also lists (1.6, 1.8 and 2.3, with 5 or 7 holes) were not downloadable when we checked on 22 October 2026: those links return "not found". The templates and the sample bore data still download. The site gives no licence, so ask before reusing the files.
What you'll need
Printed parts
- The shakuhachi, in 3 or 4 sections, made from a template
Bought parts
- Sandpaper (the maker uses 3M adhesive-backed paper)
- Water-based craft urushi (lacquer) or another bore finish
- Bore data for the size you want
Tools
- 123D Design or other CAD software that opens the template files
- A 3D printer
- A long steel rod wrapped in tape, to carry sandpaper down the bore
- A thin brush (he makes one from mohair tape on a wooden stick)
Build overview
Our own outline of the maker's method, which is in Japanese on shaku6.com.
- Stack discs to match the bore data. Draw a circle, then copy, paste and move it to each measured height, and set each diameter from your bore data.
- Loft the discs into a tube. Select every circle in order and use Construct › Loft to make the bore. Save it.
- Subtract the bore from the template. Import the tube into the template, copy it into each section and use Combine › Subtract.
- Choose 5 or 7 holes. For a 5-hole flute, delete the two extra hole cylinders; for a 7-hole flute, skip this step.
- Place and size the finger holes. Move the hole cylinders, resize them if needed, then subtract them from the flute.
- Round the inside edges of the holes. Use Modify › Fillet with a radius of about 3 mm. The maker notes that even this value seems to change the sound.
- Export and print. Export as STL and print each section.
- Smooth and lacquer the bore. A raw print won't sound good. Sand the bore, then coat it with water-based craft urushi. About three rounds of sanding and coating make it glossy.
Finishing tips
The maker sands with 3M adhesive-backed sandpaper stuck to a stainless-steel rod wrapped in vinyl tape, and paints the bore with a brush made from mohair tape on a wooden stick. To stop fresh lacquer from running, he first turned the flute by hand, then built a small rotating dryer from a stepper motor kit, a wristband and a toy car.
Summarised from shaku6.com.
Video
Play video: An ensemble playing the maker's 3D-printed shakuhachi (loads YouTube)
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