Shakuhachi was introduced to Japan more than 1,300 years ago. According to records, shakuhachi was passed down from China from the end of the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the beginning of the Tang Dynasty (581-618 AD), which is equivalent to the Nara period in Japan as a musical instrument for playing the elegant music of the Tang Dynasty.
From the 20th year (600) of Emperor Gaozu of the Sui Dynasty, when Japan was Prince Shotoku, Japan had repeatedly sent "Sui Envoys" and "Tang Envoys" to China, and shakuhachi and many Chinese musical instruments such as dragon flutes were passed on to Japan. So far, there are still many kinds of Tang-made shakuhachi in Japan's Shoso-in.
The first shakuhachi introduced to Japan was only used for court music, and the six holes were called "ancient shakuhachi". According to legend, Prince Shotoku of Japan was very fond of shakuhachi, and the Chinese shakuhachi he used at that time is still treasured in Horyu-ji Temple in Nara.

The five-hole "shakuhachi" that is popular in Japan today was created during the Kamakura period (from the second year of Zhaoxi in the Southern Song Dynasty to the first year of the Yuan Dynasty to the first year of Shun), when the monk Jue Xin of the Japanese Puhua sect came to China to study Zen at the Huguo Renwang Zen Temple in Hangzhou, China. Fellow lay Buddhist Zhang Shen learned to play shakuhachi, and returned to China to bring back shakuhachi and other shakuhachi pieces such as "Void Bell" and "Void". Later, Jue Xin founded the Puhua School, teaching
The technique of integrating shakuhachi playing into Zen practice is called blowing Zen. Therefore, the shakuhachi taught by him is called universal shakuhachi.
In the Shoso-in of Todaiji Temple in Nara, there are still eight shakuhachi passed down from the Tang Dynasty in my country. The No. 1 National Musical Instrument Factory in Suzhou once copied and carved eight pieces of ruler.
In addition, there is also "one cut shakuhachi" that was introduced to Japan from my country.
In the 1970s, the American kaizan brought shakuhachi from Japan to the United States. Today, modern shakuhachi is receiving more and more attention internationally.
Although shakuhachi originated in China, it has been inherited and developed by the Japanese since the Southern Song Dynasty. After the 20th century, it was also spread to other countries and regions in the world through Japan. In its hometown, China, it has been almost forgotten. The field of international studies Shakuhachi is also habitually called "shakuhachi" (Japanese: しゃくはち, Roman: syakuhachi).
In July 2008, at the World Shakuhachi Conference held in Sydney, Australia, Zhang Ting (Pinga Samadhi), a shakuhachi artist from Suzhou, China, attended the conference as the only Chinese representative, and was among nearly 100 contestants from 9 countries and regions around the world. Won the fourth place in the finals of the World Youth Shakuhachi Competition. Since then, for the first time, there have been Chinese figures on the modern international shakuhachi stage.