About Me: Josen Jon Kypros
My connection to bamboo and flutes feels as old as I am. My dad, an avid horticulturalist and musician, instilled in me a great reverence for both plants and music. Around age fifteen, I began crafting bamboo flutes and exploring meditation. The shakuhachi unified these things in a single form.
At age nineteen, in 2005, I moved to New York City to study shakuhachi. I supported myself through flute sales and a spartan lifestyle. This enabled me to learn from masters like Ron Nyogetsu, and travel to Kyoto to study with Kurahashi Yodo II. A new chapter began in 2010 under the tutelage of Justin Senryu.
After more than a decade, he honored me with the title of Daishihan “Grandmaster”, or as I prefer, “senior instructor” (大師範). Josen (alt. Seisen; 静泉) is my Chikumei and Kaimyo, or professional shakuhachi name and Dharma name (Zen Buddhism). Together, the Kanji of my name reads, ‘clear-mind source/spring’.
Timeline
- 1985: Born Jonathan Harrison Kypros (Κυπριανός).
- 2001-2002 (Ages 15-16): Began formal meditation practice and crafting bamboo flutes.
- 2005-2008 (Ages 19-22): Moved to NYC to study the Jin Nyodo style under Ron Nyogetsu and Kurahashi Yodo II, including study in Kyoto. Granted the maker’s name Shingetsu.
- 2007: Became the first person to copy and cast the bore of a Jinashi shakuhachi (initiating the development of what would become the Bell Shakuhachi).
- 2008: Among the first to utilize YouTube for shakuhachi instruction (older videos unfortunately deleted).
- 2010: Pioneered the use of Japanese Madaké bamboo grown in America for shakuhachi.
- 2010-2022: Studied older styles of Honkyoku from Justin Senryu for over a decade, culminating in a Daishihan (‘Grandmaster’) license (大師範), the Chikumei (‘bamboo’ shakuhachi license name), and the Kaimyo (‘Dharma name’) Josen (alt. Seisen; 静泉) meaning ‘clear-mind source/spring’.
- 2011: Became the first non-Japanese person to weave a Komuso shakuhachi monk Tengai “basket hat.”
- 2012: Released the first publicly available iteration of the Bell Shakuhachi for sale, the world’s first Jinashi and Jimori copies.
- 2015: Authored Your Shakuhachi Journey.
- 2018: Released the second iteration of The Bell Shakuhachi, made from bamboo eco-composite.
- 2023: Received Zen Buddhist Precepts and the Rakusu.
- 2023: Relocated to Europe from America, settling in France in 2024.