High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The shakuhachi is a Japanese end-blown flute. Its name means "1.8 Shaku", referring to its size. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of suizen. Its soulful sound made it popular in Western 1980s pop music. They are often made in the minor pentatonic scale. Thus, "shaku-hachi" means "one shaku eight sun" (almost 55 centimeters), the standard length of a shakuhachi. Other shakuhachi vary in length from about 1.3 shaku up to 3.3 shaku.