Hotchiku

Hotchiku are sometimes referred to as jinashi nobekan, meaning "without ji [a paste made of clay and lacquer, used to smooth the bore on modern shakuhachi], one-piece"; hotchiku are not cut in two pieces for crafting or storage, unlike modern shakuhachi that are used as musical instruments.Hotchiku have four holes down the front for fingers and one hole on the back for the thumb of the upper hand.

'singing mouth'), or blowing edge, of a hotchiku is closer to perpendicular to the bore axis than that of a modern shakuhachi, but this is mostly a choice of the maker depending upon the size of the bamboo.

Older komuso and myoan shakuhachi also share this trait, though unlike hotchiku they usually have an inlaid blowing edge.

Second, komuso shakuhachi had an inlaid mouthpiece, which protects the blowing edge from taking on excess moisture and rotting out.

Lacking urushi and a mouthpiece inlay, hotchiku gradually take on moisture as they are played, making the tone less stable.

Hotchiku take even more freedom; some of Watazumi Doso's instruments were literally a piece of bamboo cut down with some holes seemingly randomly bored into it.