CHIKU ZA, aka Hiroyuki Kodama 児玉博之 , began studying koten honkyoku playing on jinashi shakuhachi (hotchiku) with Atsuya Okuda in 1989. Very soon after finding the shakuhachi to be his path in life, he became Okuda’s main student. Chiku Za also studied jinashi shakuhachi making with Murai Eigoro for many years, He moved with his family to the mountains in Nagano, where he is able to harvest his own bamboo and devote his life to shakuhachi playing and making.