Ryūteki

The ryūteki (龍笛, literally "dragon flute") is a Japanese transverse fue made of bamboo.

[1] It is used in gagaku, the Shinto classical music associated with Japan's imperial court.

Unlike the western flute, the holes are not covered by the fingertips, rather, the fleshy part of the finger is used.

[clarification needed] This allows for better control of "half-holing" techniques and chromatic notes, by simply raising the finger slightly above the holes.

Hans Werner Henze calls for this instrument for his El Cimarrón, and Karlheinz Stockhausen scored for ryūteki in the original Gagaku-ensemble version of Jahreslauf (act 1 of the opera Dienstag aus Licht).