The shakuhachi is a Japanese bamboo flute. This is a bamboo pipe, open at both ends, with usually five finger holes, four on the front, one on the back. Some models have seven holes. The pipe is end-blown, instead of having a separate blow hole. The name literally means 'one foot eight' because the standard model is 1.8 Japanese feet in length (54.5cm - a Japanese foot, shaku , is about 303mm, 0.5% less than an English foot). The shakuhachi has a very breathy sound similar to the pan pipes. The range is two octaves and a fourth. The bottom note with all holes covered is D on the standard model, but there are a number of sizes.