Kinko Kurosawa was an 18th-century komusō of the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhism. Early on he demonstrated an incredible aptitude for playing shakuhachi, such that he was soon hired to teach shakuhachi to the other members of the sect, eventually becoming head teacher at the two headquarter temples.
He was commissioned to travel and collect the spiritual shakuhachi musical pieces known as Honkyoku from his fellow mendicant monks in komusō temples throughout Japan. In order to create a lasting record of these pieces, Kurosawa invented the notation system that bears his name (Kinko) and that is still in use today. The resulting collection of 36+ honkyoku (many of which he is often credited with either composing or arranging) are the primary repertoire of Kinko-ryū shakuhachi.
(Kurosawa Kinko's gravesite can be found at: 35.680259, 139.507323)
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