HOSHIZUKIYO — 星月夜 | Japanese Zen Music for Deep Sleep | Lake Mashu, Koto & Shakuhachi 5 Hours

5 hours of Japanese sleep music | Koto and shakuhachi ambient, and a hidden lake under a sky full of stars. Leave it playing all night. The screen stays dark. 🎋 Waon An – The Traveling Monk The Path of Mountains and Water: Lake Mashu (5 Hour Version) Koto, shakuhachi and sho, with only a low shinobue flute. Five unbroken hours. In 1931 the water of Lake Mashu was measured clear to a depth of 41.6 metres — reported as the clearest lake in the world. The Ainu called it Kamuy-to, the lake of the gods. It is a lake made for seeing straight to the bottom. And yet most nights, from the rim above, you cannot see the water at all. Fog fills the caldera to the brim. The monk had been here once before. That night there was no moon. Tonight, again, there is no moon. But the sky is different. The stars are so many and so bright that the rim, the rocks and his own hands can be seen. In Japanese there is a word for a night like this — hoshizukiyo. A night with no moon, lit as if by one. Far below, in the fog, the old shape stirred again: a tortoise with a serpent coiled around it, made of nothing but mist. Last time it had vanished when he looked. This time it stayed a little longer. The monk bowed once toward the hidden lake. The clearest water in the world lay under the fog, and he could not see it. He did not think that mattered. The stars could not see it either, and still they shone on it. For five hours after that, the monk stayed on the rim. To the very end, the stars did the work of the moon. ※ The images and music in this work are original creations made with the help of AI. It is not affiliated with any real site or organisation. #sleepmusic #japanesezenmusic #deepsleep #shakuhachi #koto #meditation #5hours #lakemashu #hokkaido