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komusō; mendicant Zen monk who plays shakuhachi
A Zen Buddhist monk of the Fuke sect who wandered while playing the 尺八 shakuhachi flute as a form of spiritual practice. Recognizable in period dramas by a large basket-like straw hat (天蓋) that covers the whole head.
Members of the 普化宗 (Fuke) school of Zen, active mainly during the Edo period. They played the 尺八 as 吹禅 ("blowing Zen")—meditation through breath and sound. The Fuke sect was abolished in 1871, but the iconic image of a tengai-hatted komusō remains a fixture of historical fiction.