Vital Shakuhachi Practice in Switzerland
The Shakuhachi Society Switzerland celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2025. Members and interested parties were able to learn about and deepen their knowledge of the many aspects of playing the Japanese bamboo flute at various workshops and events.
The Shakuhachi Society Switzerland is open to all shakuhachi players in Switzerland, regardless of the tradition to which they belong. It is a section of Zenkoku Chikuyusha, the largest shakuhachi society in Japan, with which the association has close ties.
Andreas Fuyû Gutzwiller is the founder of the Shakuhachi Society Switzerland. After studying shakuhachi with Araki Kodô V and Kawase Junsuke III at Wesleyan University and in Japan, he received his teaching license in 1976 to pass on the tradition of Kawase Junsuke III. In 1980, he began teaching shakuhachi music at the Basel Music Academy. Five of his students have received the license from Zenkoku Chikuyusha in Tokyo. They are: Ueli Fuyûru Derendinger, Jürg Fuyûzui Zurmühle, Wolfgang Fuyûgen Hessler, Andrea Fuyûan Hofer, and Ursula Fuyûzi Schmidiger. This marked the beginning of shakuhachi lessons in Zurich, Lucerne, and Bern, in addition to Basel.
There are now two third-generation players who have obtained the license from Zenkoku Chikuyusha in Tokyo: Maria Rosaria Marigen Visco, a student of Wolfgang Fuyûgen Hessler, and Isabel Unjakuryûgen Lerchmüller, a student of Ueli Fuyûru Derendinger. This means that the tradition will continue into the next generation.
The club life of Chikuyusha encompasses various Events and activities such as Fukizome, the first joint performance of the new year, the annual teachers' concert, regular joint performances, and Robuki.
The practice of playing the shakuhachi continues, and the Swiss Shakuhachi Society looks forward to the next 20 years.
