How Would You Like to Learn Taiko With Kodo?

I felt honored recently to discover that one of my readers is an apprentice with Kodo. He sent me an email in response to my Hayashi Eitetsu concert post. It was very nice to know that someone like that is interested in what I am writing. Being an apprentice with Kodo, however, he does not have much time to read it, as during training, there is very little opportunity for internet use.

After receiving his email, it occurred to me that some other readers might be interested to know more about being an apprentice with the world famous Kodo drummers. Unfortunately, I cannot give first hand experience, but I will at least pass on the information that is available from their website.

It seems that application is very open to anyone who is interested, regardless of nationality. There are some general guidelines, however. You must be at least 18 years of age, and be in good health (I would even venture to suggest you should probably be in excellent health, and if you've ever seen one of their performances, you will understand why). They also require that applicants have an advanced knowledge of Japanese. I'm sure this is for one's own good, as well as so that one can understand instructions given in training. After all, apprentices are isolated on an island in the Sea of Japan for most of their training. If one couldn't communicate, the feelings of isolation would be even greater.

Most "graduates" of the two-year program appear to be Japanese. Kodo lists the graduates of the program on their website. They only have names for graduates from the last eight years of the program. The number of graduates ranges from five people to nine, most of them from Japan, but two are noted as being from the US, and one graduate from Canada.

The apprentice program runs for two years, beginning in April. The application period seems to be in October. In order to apply, one must submit a resume, a statement of health from a physician, and two essays entitled, "What I hope to accomplish at the Kodo Apprenticeship centre" and "What I hope to do upon completion of the apprenticeship program". Applicants who pass the initial selection process are then invited to Sado Island for personal interviews in January, after which the final decisions are made.

There is a cost involved if one is selected. Apprentices pay 50,000 yen a month (slightly less than $500) to cover room and board (quite reasonable, for the training one would be getting). Some scholarships are available, but only for the second year of the program.

The curriculum is also listed on the site. During the first year, all follow the same program. The general description says you will be learning to live communally (no easy task) learning basics of Japanese traditional culture, and how to develop your body for playing taiko and dance. This includes music lessons, lectures on the island’s traditional culture, such as singing, dancing, farming, tea ceremony, and more, as well as assisting Kodo during festivals (especially Earth Celebration) and workshops.

The second year curriculum continues to develop skills learned in the first year, but also splits into two courses of study, depending on whether one desires to be a stage performer with Kodo, or work as a staff member. Those wishing to become staff members will receive practical experience assisting the Kodo office. It seems that the curriculum for those wishing to become performers seeks to provide more practical performing experiences. Apparently, acceptance into the apprenticeship program is not an automatic guarantee that you will be able to complete the full two years. The website says that everyone is evaluated at the end of the first year and it is then decided whether or not you will be able to complete the second year.

I wish I could write about this firsthand, instead of just passing on information from the Kodo website. With a family to support, however, I must find other ways to study taiko drumming. But some of you may have a bit more "freedom" and if this sounds interesting, exciting, intriguing to you, don't forget about it. Look into it, write it down as a goal and pursue it. (Write it down!)

Earth Celebration - Weather

As I mentioned in the last post, if I am able to return to the Earth Celebration next year, I would really like to participate in some of the workshops. Otherwise, the options seem to be somewhat limited. Our options were even further limited on the first day because of the weather. After two or three weeks of very hot weather and blue skies, it decided to rain on Friday morning and afternoon on Sado Island.

We had heard rumors of the possibility of such weather, but the only preparations we had made were two umbrellas. This might have been sufficient, except for two problems. First problem: both the fringe event and the evening Kodo concert were outdoors and seating was on the ground, which became wet, of course, after it rained. Second problem: umbrellas were not allowed at the evening's concert because they block the view of other audience members. (Keep this in mind, if you ever have a chance to go). So we were expecting to watch the concert sitting on wet grass while being soaked by the rain.

I also mentioned in my previous post that we had miscalculated our budget by forgetting about $80 worth of fares and fees. As soon as we arrived in Ogi, we sat down and wrote down everything we still needed to buy (meal, parking, hotel, etc.). We had just barely enough, as long as we didn't eat to fancy, or do any of the touristy things, like boat rides and such. We set aside about $20 in an emergency fund because we were not sure if we had enough gas to get home or not. Anyway, we decided that sitting in the mud and getting soaked while watching the concert was enough of an emergency to dip into the $20 and get some rain coats. As it turns out, we were not the only ones unprepared for the weather. Of course many of the other guests had not expected rain and were buying raincoats, but the shop owners in Ogi were also ill prepared and had not stocked up on coats. They were quickly selling out. The first three or four stores we went to had just sold their last ones. Luckily we found a little shop that still had some and we bought their last two. We were relieved to know that we wouldn't get completely soaked for the concert.

A little side story, as we were leaving the shop where we got the raincoats, I saw something moving on the floor. At first I thought it was an enormous spider. Japan, being a semi-tropical country, large insects and such are not uncommon. It turned out to be a little crab. This section of the town was quite a ways from the coast and the shop keeper was about as surprised as we were to see it. She shooed it out of her shop with a little broom.

How does this story end? It rained on and off just about up until about 5:30, when they began seating people for the concert. After that, it didn't rain again that evening. Our raincoats ended up being a barrier between our bottoms and the soggy grass. The grass was actually not even that wet and we were able to enjoy the concert fairly comfortably.

Here some unedited video of the Okinawa dance and music performance at the fringe festival. I apologize for the poor vantage point. I'm not sure if you can tell from the video, but there was quite a steady stream of rain coming down. We were sitting under a tent to stay dry. Unfortunately it was situated to the side, and somewhat behind it.



Again, I will close with some pictures.

The Audience at the Fringe event trying to stay dry.

Okinawan dancers performing at the Fringe event in the rain.

Waiting in line at Kisaki Jinja to go up the hill to Shiroyama Koen (Park), where Kodo would perform that evening.

The stage at Shiroyama Koen before the concert.

Earth Celebration

We woke up at 4:40. We meant to wake up at 4:30, but the first alarm did not go off. It was lucky we set two alarms. We finished packing last minute items into our bags and were on the road by 5:07. My first road trip in Japan went smoothly overall. We did, however, neglect to figure in highway tolls in our budget. If you're American, you might be thinking no big deal, but in Japan, tolls are quite a bit more. The ca. 200 km drive (120 miles?) cost about 4150 yen ($36?). So this was not such a minor mistake, yet we survived. We did not get lost, though, which was my biggest worry. We had to drive from Kanazawa to Naoetsu harbor in Niigata prefecture. From Naoetsu, we boarded a ferry to Sago Island, which was another 2.5 hours or so. The drive turned out to be about a 2.5 hour drive, so we arrived at the docks with plenty of time to pass before our 9:30 ferry.

We traveled to Sado Island to see the Earth Celebration put on by Kodo each Summer. The festival lasts three days. There are many events going on during the day, such as workshops by the drummers and guest artists, cultural presentations and what they called a "fringe event", which took place at a shrine near the concert venue. From what I understand, anyone can perform for the fringe event, as long as they register. The fringe event sometimes featured taiko, sometimes dancing, other times just a soloist and a guitar. It's kind of a nice way to pass the time, if you haven't registered for any workshops, or if you don't have a way to get around the island. There is also a harbor market/flea market right when you get off the boat. The harbor market seemed to attract a lot of Japanese hippie type of people. It was interesting to look around at what people were selling, and the people watching was interesting as well, but I didn't see much that I would have wanted to buy. By the time we decided to go to the Earth Celebration, all the workshops were full, but I think that if we are able to go back next year, I will definitely want to participate in some workshops.

Most of the workshops are put on by members of Kodo or other musical guests. An example of some of the workshops available:
Miyake style taiko drumming
Onna Uchi taiko - Women's taiko drumming styles
Making your own taiko - a small one
Okinawa style dancing
and many others.

There's much more to write, but for now, I'll close with a few pictures.

Arriving at Ogi harbor, Sado Island


View from the 3rd deck of the ship.


Our ferry in port at Sado Island, Ogi


A street in Ogi. It was near the restaurant where we finally were able to eat dinner. I know that 4:30 is a bit early to be eating dinner, but almost every restaurant in Ogi seemed to be closed. The first one that we found that was open told us they were just closing up because they had run out of rice. I guess it is an island and it's difficult to get supplies, but one would think they would be better prepared for what is probably the biggest weekend of the year for the island.