Ken's Taiko DEBUT! HOSHI DAIKO - @ Akiyoshida Culture and Music Festival

The next sweet "away" gig with my favourite people who bang big drums with precision. You may recall that I visited Akiyoshida three weeks prior with Shoko, Brett, and Jen to see the limestone caves. We left bright and early 6:15am but that didn't deter some of the men in the group from cracking a few beers in the back... about 12 hours too early for me. When we got there, I was astonished to see a whole parade ground swarming with drummers and taiko! Overhearing other people talking, I realized that the "Ibuki" piece that we had been practicing for a while (the long, difficult one) was going to be performed en masse with probably at least 15 taiko groups from around the ken. Something like 200 drummers, plus students from two jr. high schools working the bamboo sticks (long, huge pieces of bamboo that are hit with sticks... very impressive when hit in unison with about 200 students; it makes a sharp *CLACK* sound). The composer of the piece is a young woman who is also a very good conductor - kept smiling, encouraging us, kept us together, etc.

What can I say? It was incredible! The sheer power of all those drums!

The rest of the day was individual groups giving performances and they were really really good. A whole day of taiko, beautiful weather, good food, good friends... ideal.

I forgot to get a picture of me in my uniform, but I looked pretty cool. Actually, everyone looks really good in their uniform.... for some reason, all the men in my group (average age of 50) are buff. They smoke and drink and are somehow really fit. The women too, and the girls (they don't smoke or drink though). And then me. I'm still skinny and un-buff. But I am the tallest.



Here is a pic attempting to capture the whole field full of drums. You can see the bamboo sticks in the foreground and the big "odaiko" (literally, "big drums") lined up along the back...the subwoofers of the taiko ensemble. Our odaiko was the biggest one there.



Since it was a music concert, there was a performance by this male choir, composed mostly of old men trying to catch their collective breath while wearing hot suits in the hot sun.



This was a wicked show put on by a small group, I think 5 adults and 4 elementary-age girls. These two women in the middle were the showstoppers, they had a unique setup of three drums (low-middle-high range) for each of them and they worked them like magic. I would've married either of them at the drop of a hat.



This guy was in the same group as the above women. I want to be him. Look at how cool that is. It was like a mixture of martial art and music. The interesting thing about taiko is that knowing and keeping the rhythms is only half the task. Equally as important are the movements of your arms and legs and to do it in unison with everyone. So this guy had the sweetest and most impressive-looking part of playing the side-drum which I want to do before I die.



Maki, a girl in our group.