Michael Chikuzen Gould, Michael Firman and Brian Purdy playing by a waterfall in Ohara. It was so cold that I couldn't feel my nose or my fingers when I was playing. I had heard of this kind of cold but being from Florida I had never played shakuhachi in weather like this.

Playing at a temple in Ohara. It was also cold here and was the beginning of losing feeling in my fingertips for the day. It was out in the middle of the woods near the waterfall and temple we stayed at for the night.

This is the temple we were playing in.

Here is my wife Tanya getting her first shamisen lesson from Chieko. It was Sakura and I was asked to play along. It was a great moment. All of a sudden my wife had a new appreciation for shakuhachi.

Here we are playing Tamuke as a group at a Buddhist Shrine in Kyoto. This was the first day and it was beautiful. There was a monk there who played shakuhachi and asked us to play. We played a few songs there. That is the day I learned the term Dai Jobu. Which is no worries or something close to that. The nice gentleman who was Japanese dropped my camera on the ground. I was told to just tell him Dai Jobu. I was glad someone offered to take pictures.