The ryūteki (龍笛; literally "dragon flute") is a Japanese flute made from bamboo. It is used in gagaku, the classical music of Shinto tradition that is connected to Japan's imperial court. The sound of the ryūteki is believed to represent dragons that move between the heavenly lights (symbolized by the shō) and the people on Earth (symbolized by the hichiriki). The ryūteki is one of three flutes used in gagaku, especially for playing songs of Chinese style. Its pitch is lower than the komabue and higher than the kagurabue.

The ryūteki is held horizontally and has seven holes. It is 40 centimeters (1 foot 4 inches) long and has an inner diameter of 1.3 centimeters (1/2 inch). Unlike the Western flute, the holes are not covered by fingertips. Instead, the fleshy part of the fingers is used. This method allows for better control of techniques such as partial covering of holes and playing chromatic notes by slightly lifting the fingers above the holes.

The composer Hans Werner Henze included the ryūteki in his work El Cimarrón. Karlheinz Stockhausen also used the instrument in the original gagaku-ensemble version of Jahreslauf (act 1 of the opera Dienstag aus Licht).