I got this question from one of my (male) students during a workshop mainly attended by men. I couldn’t answer, as I actually don’t know any Japanese female shakuhachi player. All the Japanese masters I know are men. I do know some Western female professional shakuhachi players, but we’re not a lot, so the question is still open.

I recently heard of a book researching the history of shakuhachi through old pictures and paintings. This gave me the idea to do a little research myself. Here are some Ukiyo-e I found on the web, depicting women playing the shakuhachi, during the Edo period (17th-19th century). I’m now even more curious to know about these women playing shakuhachi at that time…

Update on May 9, 2019: Here is a link to a paper discussing this question.