Sunday, August 17, 2008

Amanojaku

I love the sound of taiko. Taiko drums are often heard in summer in Japan. We hear them at festivals that we call matsuri.

The first taiko performance I ever saw was in Asakusa, near the famous temple we call Sensoji. I was very impressed by the performance. All the drummers were very small women. They had so much energy.

We can see taiko concerts too in summer too. I attended a great concert given by Amanojaku on the thirteenth of August at the Nerima Cultural Centre. The concert was a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Japanese immigration to Brazil. The concert was fantastic. I was very tired and sleepy but I did my best to keep my eyes open because it's important to SEE taiko as well as hear taiko. A taiko performance is like a dance!

This video is from Amanojaku's DVD called The Soul Beat of Japan. I hope you enjoy this example of traditional japanese culture as much as I did.
Do you like Taiko? Do you play Taiko? Please leave a comment?

1 comment:

  1. Hey Mick!

    Mike DeJong here. I worked with your dad at CTV.

    I'm moving to Japan in September to work at NHK.

    Let me know if you'd like to have a beer!

    Mike

    ReplyDelete