#fuke-shu

Travel around Japan was heavily restricted by the Ashikaga shogunate during this rebellious era, but the Fuke sect managed to wrangle a rare exemption from the Shogun, since their spiritual practice demanded a mendicant lifestyle of constant pilgrimage, meditative shakuhachi playing and begging for alms (one famous song reflects this mendicant tradition, "Hi fu mi, hachi gaeshi", "One two three, pass the alms bowl"). They persuaded the Shogun to give them "exclusive rights" to play the instrument and travel about the country as they pleased. In return, some were required to spy for the shogunate, which (quickly recognizing the utility of the ruse) also began dispatching their own spies on secret missions in the disguise of komusō.[3]Ninja and ronin (masterless samurai) were also known to travel in the guise of komusō to avoid official scrutiny of their presence or intentions in a province.

Once this became common knowledge, travelers wearing the komusō outfit became subject to closer inspection, especially in restive and disputed areas. Several particularly difficult honkyoku pieces, e.g., Shika no tone, became well known as "tests": if a suspicious komusō was challenged to play one of the test pieces and was able to reproduce it in the authentic suizen manner, he was accepted as an actual Fuke. If he was unable, or if he refused, he was assumed to be a spy and would likely be immediately arrested.

Fuke Zen came to Japan in the 13th century. Komusō belonged to the Fuke sect of Japanese Zen Buddhism. Fuke Zen comes from the teachings of Linji Yixuan, a Zen teacher from China in the 9th century. Fuke, however, is the Japanese name forPuhua, one of Linji's peers and co-founders of his sect. Puhua would walk around ringing a bell to summon others to enlightenment. In Japan, it was thought the shakuhachi could serve this purpose.

Komusō practiced suizen, which is meditation through the meditative blowing of a shakuhachi, as opposed to zazen, which is meditation through quiet sitting as practiced by most Zen followers. Literally meaning "blowing Zen", suizen pieces (known as honkyoku) prioritized precise breathing control as a function of Zen mindfulness and many were designed to be played in time with a monk's footsteps as he marched long distances on pilgrimage. As Fuke Zen increased in popularity through the Sengoku Period, groups of basket-headed komusō playing for hours on street corners or wandering the roadways on pilgrimages became a common sight.