Another Taiko Blog and KODO: Behind the Scenes Video

KODO: Behind the Scenes

It has taken me twice as long to eat my meals in the past few days. I'm not eating more, probably I'm eating less. Why is it taking me so long? Because I am using my left hand to eat. (I'm right-handed, by the way). Using a fork and spoon with your non-dominant hand is one thing, trying to use chopsticks with it is another story. For many westerners, using your dominant hand to eat meals with chopsticks is challenging enough. I am also trying to brush my teeth with my left hand. I'm starting to get used to it, but at first, even as I brushed with my left hand, I couldn't keep from moving my right hand in a brushing motion. It must have been amusing to watch my spastic tooth-brushing ritual.

Using your left hand isn't a new idea. I've heard of many athletes doing the same thing in order to strengthen the non-dominant side of their body. That's what I'm trying to do as well. For taiko beginners, it is always painfully obvious that one of their hands/arms is stronger than the other. Over the past few years, I've watched several new people join the taiko groups I'm in, and almost without fail, during the first lesson, the instructor will say something like, "You're right-handed, aren't you. Your left hand is too weak."

Having one hand stronger than the other usually causes uneven beats, speeding up or slowing down and asymmetrical form when playing. There are several ways to even out your hand and arm strength. One is to practice exercises and etudes starting with your non-dominant hand (as I mentioned in a previous post about practicing shime taiko.) But using your non-dominant hand for everyday activities, like teeth brushing and eating with chopsticks, is another way to work towards becoming ambidextrous.

Although it is not the first time I've heard of this method of training, I was reminded of it in this excellent video about what it is like to be an apprentice with the Kodo Drummers on Sado Island. Apparently, one of the first tasks for new apprentices is to make their own pair of chopsticks and make their own pair of bachi (drum sticks). Then they must eat only using their non-dominant hand. If they can't do it, they go hungry until they learn how.

With a job and a family of four, many of the KODO training techniques are not feasible. After all, they are on a remote island cut off from family, friends, technology and all they have to think about is taiko. But using my non-dominant hand to eat with and brush my teeth, well, that's something I can do without too much trouble. I have found that I don't asks for seconds as often, though, just because it can be so tiring to eat that way.

Well, you probably want to see the video. Here it is. KODO Apprentice Video. Sorry, I can't embed it, so you'll have to go to YouTube to watch it. It is worth the time, though.

Another Taiko Blog

Where did I find this interesting video? I found it at the TAIKOHANA Blog. The owner of the TaikoHana blog wrote to me a week or so ago asking if I knew of any places to practice taiko in Fukuoka. (See my answer to her question here: Where to Practice Taiko in Japan.) I discovered that she also kept a blog about taiko and read through it in one sitting. Perhaps I found it interesting because her story is similar to ours in some ways. At any rate, in the interest of providing all those English speaking taiko enthusiasts out there more reading material, I thought I would recommend it to you.

Marie Ayabe is the writer of the blog. Marie was born and raised in Hawaii. She began learning taiko in the summer of 2007 at the Taiko Center of the Pacific. She enjoyed it so much that she decided to start a group at her college, which is called AIKO. This fall she will go to Japan as a JET teacher and hopes to continue her taiko studies there. She hopes to eventually be able to perform with a professional group and teach taiko to other people as well.

She will probably be busy getting ready for her move to Japan this summer, but once she gets settled in, I imagine she will have lots of interesting posts about her own taiko journey. So please check out her blog:
TaikoHana Blog

Where Can I Practice Taiko in Japan?

Every now and then I get an interesting question about taiko by email. I can't claim to be an expert on taiko, but if I don't know the answer to questions, I often know how to find them. That was the case today. I got an email from a taiko enthusiast who is moving to Fukuoka, Japan this fall and she was trying to find a group to practice with there. At first I was going to send her my apologies and tell her that I couldn't help her. After all, Fukuoka is pretty far from Ishikawa. Then I remembered TAO. Some of you know TAO, don't you? They are a group that tours around the world. I've never seen TAO perform, but apparently they're pretty, um, crazy. For example, Yamato (one of my favorites) has a pretty intense training program. For the most part, they run 10 Km just about every day. That's probably a good 45 - 60 min. run everyday. Well, I read an article last year about TAO that said they run a half Marathon everyday! That's 20 km, (13 miles). Not to say that a regular running program isn't an important part of playing the taiko, it certainly is. I do wonder, though, if 20 km a day (and very little sleep) isn't overdoing it just a tad.

Anyway, I'm getting off track. I knew TAO was based somewhere in Western Japan, so I looked them up and as it happened, they are based in Fukuoka Prefecture. I don't know if they offer much in the way of classes, but it seems that they have a few workshop offerings. I also discovered from their website that they are planning a North American Tour starting in January 2010. It looks like they'll be around the Midwest in March. I haven't seen them before and we ought to be back in Michigan by then. I suppose we'll have to check them out, maybe invite them over for dinner (start planning the menu, mom.)

I don't know how useful TAO would be in finding a place to practice taiko in Japan. I am sure they are quite involved with their own training and practice. It was while I was poking around the TAO website that I thought of the most useful place for all you taiko enthusiast moving to Japan for a summer, or a year or even longer. It's the Japan Taiko Foundation (Nippon Taiko Renmei). I looked them up. They have a Japanese and English page. As is often the case, the information on the English page is much more limited. The truly useful info is on the Japanese page. On the Japanese page, they have lists of taiko groups by prefecture. I suppose it is not a comprehensive list of taiko groups. There are probably groups that are not registered with the taiko renmei, but for someone who has nothing to go on, it's probably a good place to start. So finally, I come to the useful part of this post. Here are links to the pages for each prefecture in Japan. The link offers a list of taiko groups, a contact person and a contact number. If you don't read Japanese, you could print out the page for your prefecture and bring it to someone who does and ask them to help you get in contact with one of the groups.

Well, I intended to link each prefecture to the page listing the groups for that prefecture, but they have their website set up so you can't do that. Wait... This is ridiculous, their whole website is the same URL, I can't link to any individual pages on their site. Okay. Let's see here. This will be a lot easier if you read Japanese, if you don't, you can still do it, it will just be a bit more of a challenge. First, go to the Taiko Foundation Website. On the left is a menu bar. Try to find the heading that looks like this: 支部・加盟団体 underneath that, there is a menu item that looks like this: 加盟団体一覧 Click on it. If you know the Kanji for your prefecture, look for it and click on it and the list of taiko groups in your area should come up. If you don't know the kanji for your prefecture (you really should learn it, if you don't) Maybe this list can help you to find it:

Hokkaido East 北海道・道東支部
Hokkaido West　北海道・道西支部
Hokkaido North　北海道・道北支部
Hokkaido South　北海道・道南支部
Hokkaido Central　北海道・道央支部
Aomori　青森県
Akita　秋田県
Yamagata　山形県
Iwate 岩手県
Miyagi　宮城県
Fukushima　福島県
Niigata　新潟県
Toyama　富山県
Ishikawa　石川県
Fukui　福井県
Ibaraki　茨城県
Tochigi　栃木県
Gunma　群馬県
Saitama　埼玉県
Tokyo　東京都
Chiba　千葉県
Kanagawa　神奈川県
Yamanashi　山梨県
Shizuoka　静岡県
Nagano　長野県
Aichi　愛知県
Gifu　岐阜県
Mie　三重県
Kyoto　京都府
Nara　奈良県
Osaka　大阪府
Hyogo　兵庫県
Okayama　岡山県
Hiroshima 広島県
Shimane　島根県
Tottori　鳥取県
Tokushima　徳島県
Kagawa　香川県
Fukuoka　福岡県
Saga　佐賀県
Nagasaki　長崎県
Oita　大分県
Kumamoto　熊本県
Miyazaki　宮崎県
Kagoshima　鹿児島県

Sorry, no links for: Okinawa (沖縄), Kochi (高知), Ehime (愛媛), Yamaguchi (山口), Wakayama (和歌山) or Shiga (滋賀). I don't know why. I am certain there are taiko groups there. Perhaps they are just not members of the Taiko Foundation...

Well, I hope this helps. Good luck.

Asano 400th Annivesary Opening Concert

I guess it was nearly three weeks ago, but on June 5th, we were able to attend the opening concert for Asano Taiko's 400th annivesary. It was quite an amazing concert featuring some of the taiko world's most famous artists. There were many people and groups whom I have seen perform in the past, such as Hono Taiko, Yamato, and Miyake Taiko, but there were also many groups I saw for the first time, like Tiffany Tamaribuchi, Tokara, Hachijo Jima and current/former members of Kodo and Ondekoza: Imafuku Yuu and Fujimoto Yoshikazu.

The concert venue was the Matto Gakushu Center Hall, which is a small hall attached to a city library. I can't imagine that it would hold much more than a few hundred people, but it was standing room only. One of the benefits of the small theater, though, is the intimate feel it creates. We got very intimate seats in the second row! The mood on the stage I felt from the performers was relaxed (not in a lazy way) and celebratory. Everyone, the performers and the audience, seemed to really enjoy themselves.

Miyake Taiko was powerful and impressive, (as it always is). The groups from outside of Japan, or featuring members from outside of Japan (Tiffany Tamaribuchi and Tokara) had a slightly different feel about them. In a subtle sort of way, they were more light-hearted, they almost had a more optimistic way of playing, if that makes sense to you. Not to say that they were better or worse than any of the other groups, they just had a different, can't-quite-put-my-finger-on-it feel to them. I do remember reading somewhere, though, that one of the Asano brothers commented once on how much N. American taiko players really seem to enjoy themselves while they are playing taiko.

Yamato also certainly seems to enjoy themselves on stage, but in a slightly different way. Yamato began Ogawa-san, the leader, thanking Asano Taiko for all they've done. He said, "If Asano did not exist, Yamato would not exist." This is probably true for most of the groups there that evening. Whether groups use Asano drums or not, Ondekoza/Kodo is probably one of the main reasons for the spread of Taiko around the world, and they have always played Asano drums. Yamato performed their song which features Katsugi Oke Taiko, "Rakuda". It's one of my favorites of theirs.

Another performance that I particularly enjoyed (as did my daughter) was from Imafuku Yuu, a native of Shimane prefecture and former member of Ondekoza (I think). Imafuku san uses elements of Kagura music in his taiko performance, which include singing and dancing. (There is a short clip on his homepage, it should play automatically) For this performance he used a small nagado and was accompanied by a shime taiko played with take bachi (bamboo sticks). He played and sang (he has a wonderful voice) a song about blessings and fortune and good luck. As he played, another performer came out, dressed as one of the Seven Lucky Gods of Japan, Ebisu. Ebisu is: The God of Good Fortune, the Ocean, and Fishing Folk
Also Deity of Honest Labor & Patron of Laborers. He looked something like this. Anyhow, Ebisu danced around on stage and pretended to go fishing. First he reeled in an old boot, which my daughter found amusing (well, okay, I did too). Then he finally caught a Red Snapper, or Sea Bream fish, which is symbolic of congratulatory wishes in Japan, appropriate for Asano's 400th annivesary.

Imafuku-san's nagado taiko was actually quite interesting. On one of the heads, there seemed to be a drawing of some sort. Although I was in the second row, I still couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be. My best guess was a pig. After the concert, I was backstage and Imafuku-san happened to be there with the drum, so I asked him about it. As it turned out, the picture wasn't a picture at all, it was very artistically written arabic. Someone had written it for him as a gift when he was in ... I think it was somewhere in Northern Africa. It said something like "Playing the drum is joy." (note to self: start writing stuff down that you want to remember).

Anyhow, it was a great concert, the performances, the atmosphere, everything. And it only cost 1000 yen. At the end of the concert, Asano Senmu (Akitoshi) stood on stage beaming with happiness, with his eyes glistening looking as if tears of joy were about to overflow. He expressed his thankfulness to all the performers and how wonderful the concert was. Just before he thanked everyone for coming and wished us a safe journey home, he said "I can't wait for the next 400 years!"