More Kaga Taiko and Asano Taiko's 400th Annivesary Concert

I don't have any connecting theme or topic to write about today. Actually, I haven't had any major topic or theme for a couple weeks now, which is why I haven't been writing as much as usual. Sorry, I'll try to fix that. For now, though, I'll just share several updates with you.

I returned to the Ichikawa Juku (Kaga Taiko) last Sunday after an absence of several weeks. Aside from all the second-hand smoke, it is an enjoyable experience. It is quite different to be instructed one-on-one from a master like Ichikawa sensei. (The difference being the one-on-one instruction, our other instructors from Hono Taiko are masters as well, of course.) Ichikawa sensei told me that next Sunday they will be going to visit a nursing home to play Kaga Taiko there and he invited me to come along. I am assuming that I will get to play a little bit as well. It should be an enjoyable experience. In college, my and a group of friends would gather every Saturday evening to play folk music together. Every once in a while, we would show up at a convalescent center and ask if we could play there. The people there really enjoyed it, and we did too. Every now and then, members of that folk circle will gather for an "Old Man Roscoe" reunion. The last time they got together was last June and I, unfortunately, could not be there, but they did post some video of it:

But I digress, I always enjoyed sharing music at the nursing home and am looking forward to it again.

Also, on a Kaga Taiko note, my daughter was with us at our lesson on Sunday and she expressed an interest in learning/playing Kaga Taiko. So, she had her first lesson on Sunday. Having learned taiko at Asano in the Kid's classes for a year and a half helped her to pick up the rhythms quickly. Ichikawa sensei taught her three simple rhythms: don don don (rest) do do-n don (rest) doko doko don (rest)
Here is about 30 seconds of her lesson (which only lasted about 3 or 4 min altogether anyhow).


I was impressed by well Ichikawa sensei teaches children, as well as adults. Perhaps it helps that his granddaughter is the same age as Karen.

The other update I have is regarding Asano's 400th Anniversary Celebration (June 5, 6, 7). On Friday evening there will be a concert featuring at least 12 different performers/groups. Apparently there were so many groups that wanted to be a part of it, they were unable to accommodate all of them. Here is a list of most of the performers who will participate:
Hajijojima
Fujimoto Yoshikazu (Kodo)
Imafuku Yu
Miyakejima Geino Doshikai
Kaneko Ryutaro (Former Kodo member)
Hono Taiko
Wadaiko Yamato
Tokara (Art Lee)
Uruki　(Machiko Asano's group, played at 2008 Exstasia)
Tsurugiji Yahata Taiko (Taiko from Noto Penninsula)
Tiffany Tamaribuchi

And there is one more name that I cannot read. I'll have to investigate further and then get back to you.

The concert is Friday night (5.June) starting at 6:30 PM at the Hakusan-shi Matto Gakushu Center and it only costs 1000 yen!

I have more updates to share, but now I must get ready to go to work. More coming soon.

What is a Kaga Taiko Lesson Like?

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In January Mayumi and I decided to dedicate more time to learning the traditional Kaga style of taiko drumming. We had taken two four-month "Primer" courses through the Ishikawa Taiko Association and desired to learn more. We headed out to the Ichikawa Juku in Komatsu, where Mr. Kazutaka Ichikawa teaches. Almost everyone in the Komatsu area who plays taiko has been taught at some point by Mr. Ichikawa. As we talked with Ichikawa sensei about our plans to return to the US at the end of this year and teach and perform taiko in Michigan, he was pleased, but he also warned us that we would have to work hard if we wanted to do Kaga taiko.

"If you really want to learn Kaga Taiko, I'm not going to go easy on you any more," he said.
"That's alright," I replied, "we don't have much time, so we need to learn quickly."
"You're not going to like it. You won't want to come back next week," he warned.
"Don't worry, I can handle it. I'll be back," I said.
"I'm serious. No more "Mr. Nice Guy," he gave one final warning.
"I promise, I won't give up," I said decisively.
He turned to the person next to him and said, "Man, I hate stubborn people."

Of course it was all in good natured fun, but he was serious when he said that he would teach us more strictly than before. The few times I visited his Juku last year, I was always warmly welcomed and although I was instructed and my technique was often corrected, no matter what I played, I was almost always praised. "Wow, how long have you been learning? That was really good," and other encouragement was often offered.

This time, however, my first lesson after telling Ishikawa sensei about our plans, was a bit different. I played my 2 or 3 minutes and the first thing he said was: "Wow, that really sucked." (more or less). Then he proceeded to break down what I had played, making small corrections here and there. Actually, he wasn't all that harsh in his criticism. Following the "that really sucked" comment, he was actually pretty kind, but perhaps he didn't let me get away with as much as he might of before. There are some other students with whom he is much stricter. Still, he has been holding us to a higher standard than before and we are learning a lot.

As I have mentioned in past posts, Kaga taiko is a very old and traditional form of taiko drumming with a history of over 400 years. In contrast to the more modern styles of taiko, where there are many different styles and a lot of freedom in rhythms and movements, Kaga taiko is filled with all sorts of intricacies and theory. Certain movements are okay, and others are not. Certain rhythms are fine, but there are some rhythms or phrases that should follow other rhythms or phrases. It's all very complicated and every lesson I take, I understand why he calls the modern styles of taiko "Kindergarten" taiko. (Of course, I still love the "Kindergarten" taiko as much as I enjoy Kaga Taiko).

I don't know how proficient we will be able to become at playing Kaga Taiko by the time we return to the US, but it is enjoyable and exciting to be learning a style of taiko drumming that is unique to this area of Japan.

A couple weeks ago, my father accompanied me to the Kaga taiko lessons and recorded the whole thing on video. My mother watched it later and she said that even though she couldn't understand the Japanese, she could tell that Ichikawa sensei was an excellent teacher. In fact, she even said that if Kaga Taiko were an Olympic sport, she imagines that he is what a top coach would teach like.

It was about a 20 minute lesson and I had to split it up into three parts to get it onto YouTube. It is there, though, and hopefully it will give you an idea of what learning and playing Kaga Taiko is like.







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Kaga Taiko Lesson

Did I say the last entry would be "short"? I guess I did. Oh well. I've got to work on being less verbose.

As promised, I will write more about Kaga Taiko today. I'll try not to make it too long. There is a lot I could say (and probably will, eventually) about Kaga Taiko, but this time, I will just try to describe what Kaga Taiko practice is like.

The practice begins at 1:00 on Sunday afternoons, but people kind of show up when they are able to. Some are there right at 1:00, others show up as late at 3:00. If you are there on time, Ichikawa sensei will begin by warming everyone up together. Everyone plays on a nagado taiko, if there are not enough, some people will double up. Ichikawa sensei will play a rhythm used in Kaga Taiko, and then we all imitate it until he says stop. Then he will introduce another, slightly more complicated rhythm and we imitate again until he says stop. Usually, by the end of the warm up he has given us about 5, increaslingly complicated patterns, and then the warming up is finished. It probably took about 15 minutes.

After a short break, he begins teaching. Sometimes he will demonstrate a technique, rhythm or movement used in Kaga Taiko, and then we will each take turns trying it out while he makes corrections. Usually, however, the teaching takes the for of mini private lessons of around 15 to 20 minutes.

You see, when playing Kaga Taiko, there are usually only three people playing at a time. One is playing flute, the other is playing ji-uchi (doko don, doko don...), or "kobachi", as it is called in Kaga Taiko, and the third is playing the solo. Therefore, you cannot have all 10 people or so playing at once, you have to give individual instruction. At Ichikawa Juku the teaching is mainly handled by Ichikawa sensei, and sometimes by the assistant instructor, Chiaki sensei.

After the warm-ups, Ichikawa sensei will choose a student and say, okay, play something. If it is your turn, you come up to the front, play the best Kaga Taiko you can. When you finish your little 2 or 3 minute solo, Ichikawa sensei will instruct you and help you fix some of your mistakes. The better you are, it seems that the stricter he is with his guidance. Since my wife and I are fairly new at this, he is still pretty nice to us, but he warned us that he is going to be stricter if we continue.

Anyway, to give you a feel for the lessons, here is a short video from my wife's lesson last Sunday. The man is Ichikawa sensei and the woman is Chiaki sensei.



The drums are covered to mute the sound a little so as not to disturb the neighbors too much.

Well, again, this is becoming longer than I intended and there is still a lot more to say about Kaga Taiko. So, I'll just have to save it for next time. Until then, enjoy the video, don't forget to give it a rating, leave comments, share it with your friends, etc. and come back soon...

Learning Kaga Taiko at Ichikawa Juku

The exit off of the highway is barely noticeable. There is no sign, and hardly any deceleration ramp, just a narrow street that quickly disappears underneath a bridge as soon as it leaves the highway. You follow that street through a small group of houses clustered together, then you come out into an open space with mostly rice fields on either side of the road. On the left is a slightly run-down textile factory, which also happens to be our destination.


We park in front of the building and enter through the side door. It leads into a large room with about 6 desks pushed together in the middle of the room covered in papers, coffee cans filled with pens, ash trays and so on. The walls are decorated with several posters of swimsuit campaign models from the mid-90s for tool companies and beer.


The room behind the door in the back of the office has only a table pushed into a corner, and a few chairs lining the wall. The windows have been covered with thick polystyrene and then covered again with sheets. In the center of the room is one large naga-oke taiko and about 6 nagado taiko.

This is Ichikawa Juku in Komatsu, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan. It is one of the few places where you can learn Kaga Style Taiko, the 400 year old traditional style of taiko drumming unique to this area. We decided to attend this school as often as we could, following our December Kaga Taiko recital.

The Kaga Taiko courses we had taken only lasted from September to December. After the classes finish in December, we didn't have any opportunity to practice this style of drumming. In comparison to modern, sousaku taiko (what most of us probably are playing) Kaga Taiko is much more difficult to play and master. Therefore, if we want to continue it after we return to Michigan, we figured we needed to learn as much as we could.

Ichikawa Juku holds classes on Sunday afternoons, starting at 1 PM and lasting until...well, until the last person leaves, I suppose. It's a tough schedule for us. It probably takes 40 or 45 minutes to drive there and Sunday afternoons, there tends to be a lot of events that come up. In spite of this, we decided to attend as much as we could, at least until November or December, when we are hoping to return to Michigan.

The style of drumming and the style of teaching is much different than what we have been mostly doing/learning here. It is very complicated, challenging and interesting. And unfortunately, today, I don't have time to get into it all, so I must save it for next time. Come back soon to check for the update (with video!)

Kaga Taiko Recital Videos

It's Christmas Eve Day here, in Japan and we are sure busy. You see, Christmas is not a holiday in Japan and most people have to work today and tomorrow and the next day. Thus, for those who wish to celebrate Christmas in a major way, like in Europe or the States, it is a challenge to get everything ready because you are often working right up to, and through the holiday. It's rather depressing, actually. At least working at a school, the winter holidays cover the Christmas holidays so I have never had to work on a Christmas in all my years of working in Japan (well, it's only been four years I guess).

Anyhow, before I spend too much time writing, I just wanted to post videos of our most recent taiko recital. This past Sunday we had our Kaga Taiko recital, which was held at an Onsen (Hotel Suiko) in Katayamazu, near Komatsu Japan. Here is a link to the Hotel Suiko website, in case you want to see pictures.

It was much different than last year's Kaga Taiko Recital, and not just because it was in a different location. This year, we had both our children with us and as a result, we were unable to see many of the other performances. A two and half year old can only sit still for so long, even if he does like taiko. Also, last year's recital featured only Kaga and Fukui style taiko (traditional styles, dating back nearly 400 years), but this year there were also groups that would be considered "Sousaku Taiko" (創作太鼓) which is the more modern form of taiko that most of us probably are more familiar with. On personal level, it was also much different because my wife and I felt much more confident in our playing. I don't know that you can see a whole lot of difference between the technical difficulty of what we played this year and what we did last year, but (at least I like to think) our stage presence is slightly more confident than last year.

Anyway, here is where I will post the videos of this year's and last year's recitals, and you can decide for yourselves. (Please feel free to leave your comments, positive or "constructive")

We'll start with me (Brian)
Last year's recital (2007):


This year's recital (2008):


And now Mayumi's...
Last year (2007):


and this year's (2008):


And I'll just say goodbye with a little bonus video. My son, Kenji, seems to really be starting to "feel" taiko and he will pick up bachi (sticks) any chance he gets and start "playing" the couch, cushions, whatever he can find. The interesting thing is that when you watch him, he has a very serious, focused face, and he seems to be doing more than just "hitting". If he is playing a real drum, this is even more apparent. I was telling my mother this the other day, and she said it was the same way with my older brother (who is now a professional musician). He started learning piano at 3 years old, and although he wasn't necessarily playing songs right away, my mum said that what he played, although random notes, it was very musical. Anyway, decide for yourselves. Here is video of my son playing a cushion. You may think that my judgement is clouded by being a parent, but even if that is so, it is still kind of cute to watch...



Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
From Raion Taiko

Can Playing Taiko Drums Cure the Common Cold?

I caught a cold earlier this week. It isn’t so bad, but there were a couple days of a sore throat and now it has moved on to my nose. No matter how many times I blow it, there always seems to be ... well, leftovers. So I was looking forward to my Kaga Taiko class yesterday (Thursday). Why is that? Because taiko always seems to help my ailments. Whether it is a small cold, or the flu, if I have enough energy to drive myself to taiko practice, taiko is the most effective medicine I have found. Without fail, playing taiko will clear up my nose, lower my fever, soothe my sore throat, not to mention the inherent health benefits which come from the exercise.

Last Sunday I discovered that I was not the only person to feel this way. I visited Ichikawa Juku, a “school” in Komatsu where you can learn Kaga Taiko. It’s a very interesting place and sometime I will have to write extensively about what it is like to learn there, but not today.

A significant amount of time there is spent not playing taiko, but talking (which is actually part of learning Kaga Taiko). The head teacher asked me what jobs my wife and I did in the States and I was telling him how my wife had studied music therapy and was hoping to do something with music therapy and taiko when we return next year. He was a little skeptical about whether taiko could be therapeutic until I began sharing with him all of the research I've read about how drumming has been shown to increase antibody levels in your immune system, and how drum circles have been shown to be effective in helping people recover from addictions or strokes and so on. (Want to read those articles too? Here are the links: Sound Healing, Drums, not Drugs, Should Drums be Sold in Pharmacies?)

I guess it sort of made a connection in his head somewhere, because he then said, “Come to think of it, playing taiko always seems to cure my colds too. I’m in my 50s now and have been playing Kaga taiko since I was in my early 20s. Whenever I got sick, I hardly ever went to the doctor, except for major ailments. I found that playing the taiko always cured whatever it was that I had.”

Last Thursday was the final class of this year's Kaga Taiko course, and Sunday we will have our recital. This year we will have it at an Onsen (Hot Springs Resort), which is kind of exciting because that is the type of place where this style of taiko playing was traditionally peformed. Besides, we'll get to eat nice food and have a good bath. It will probably be a lot different than last year's recital, which included a lot more guests. Still, we'll try to get some videos, at least of ourselves, and we can post them and we'll see if you think we've improved since last year.

In the meantime, I'm curious about the rest of you taiko players out there. What types of experiences have you had with illness and taiko? Does anyone else find that playing taiko helps your colds get better more quickly? Leave a comment below and share your own stories.

How Hot Does It Get in Japan? Not Too Hot for Taiko!

"Does it get this hot in Michigan?" "Does it get this cold in Michigan?" Japanese people seem to enjoy asking these types of questions. My answer is usually "Yes, sometimes it gets even hotter (or colder)." Now we are approaching the hottest time of the year in Japan and a typhoon that passed to the north has brought with it hot and sticky weather. It's actually only in the 90s (and in the winter, it rarely gets much below freezing) but the poorly insulated buidlings (and the humidity as well) makes it feel so much hotter. Everyone seems 10 times more irritable than usual because of the heat (especially kids).

Oh well, the nice thing about this time of year is that it means Asano Taiko's Exstasia is not far off. In fact, it is this Sunday! Today, I am heading off to the concert venue (a huge, outdoor park) to help work on setting up. Last Monday we had a meeting about how the stage and so on would be set up and what it would look like. It looks pretty cool. I'll try to get a few pictures today while I'm working. I am looking forward to helping out for this huge event. It will be a lot of work, and most of us are not getting paid for it, but it will be an excellent learning experience, I'm sure.

Anyhow, I just had a few pictures to post today, so that's what I'll do. First, on Saturday, our neighborhood had their 夏祭り (natsu matsuri - summer festival), which we attended. The neighborhood taiko group, Togashi Fujin Taiko was one of the performers, so I took a few pictures of them. Usually there are 5 members, but for some reason, only two of them could perform that day.




And yesterday, my wife had her recital for the Ishikawa Taiko Federation Intermediate Course (石川太鼓連盟中級講座). I was impressed by her Odaiko playing. Here is a picture, but the lighting was not so good, so the picture is a bit dark.

The recital was for three classes, the "first time" taiko class, the beginners taiko class, and the intermediate class. They had also invited several other groups as guests, though, the most well known being dazoku (打族) of Komatsu. They were quite good and have a lot of influence from Kaga Taiko style. The rhythms were very similar and there is a lot of stick twirling as well. Here is picture of their performance (again, in poor light).