In the previous post, I (intentionally) failed to mention that Atsushi from the Sado Island Taiko Centre had told me that on Sunday, there would be a festival at the Kodo Kenshujo (the Kodo Apprentice Centre) in the town of Kakinoura. Because Kakinoura is about an hour away from Ogi and there are no public buses in between the two towns, Atsushi, very thoughtfully, arranged a ride for me.
On Sunday morning just after eleven, I was picked up two Kodo members, Shogo and Tokyo. In the pouring rain, we drove north up the coast to Kakinoura. It was a narrow, windy road, sandwiched in between the edge of a rocky forest and an even rockier ocean. The scenery and conversation made for an excellent combination, though…
Shogo spoke English very well; so I was able to learn about him and his experiences with Kodo. Mind you that Shogo and Tokyo, although they are in their early 20s, are a full-time members of Kodo. So there I was, sitting in the backseat of a van with two professional Kodo members: these guys have toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. Every August, Kodo holds an annual festival, Earth Celebration, on Sado, and there are performances from drummers from all over the world. (Yes, I know, I should have been there; next time I come to Japan, it will be to attend the EC). This year, Shogo and other members of Kodo performed with one of the other headliners, Zakir Hussain. As I wrote in the previous post, Zakir Hussain has recorded with Kodo in the past (on “Mondo Head”); and he is a phenomenal tabla player. Zakir has also played with John McLaughlin (of the Miles Davis fame) and Bill Laswell (producer of many David Byrne records). Zakir’s father was the tabla player for Ravi Shankar. So, in short, Shogo has jammed with the most distinguished tabla player alive. The more I think about it, the more remarkable it was that I was able just to ride and hang out with Shogo and Tokyo.
Tokyo has been playing taiko for over fifteen years; unfortunately, he didn’t really speak English, so I was not able to learn too much about his experiences with the group. Shogo has played around twelve years. Both spent two years as apprentices at the Kodo Kenshujo, and have been formally playing with the group for just over a year. I asked Shogo if when he was younger, when he began studying taiko, whether he aspired to someday play with Kodo, and he say that he had. So basically he is living his dream, which is so admirable and, just straight up awesome! It would be like learning to play drums listening to Led Zeppelin records and then the band asking you to join. (I think there was a Mark Walhberg movie about this idea). Anyways, that is just such a wild concept to comprehend.
Just a week or so ago, Kodo ended their annual “One Earth Tour,” which, as the name indicates, is an international tour, lasting about four months. I knew that Kodo has performed in New York City, and I asked him how they were (this was last March; I had heard about them at the time, but was in London on Spring break). Kodo played two shows at Joe’s Pub, a tiny venue in downtown Manhattan. Normally, Kodo performs at good-sized concert halls, like Carnegie Hall, but they had decided to try a more intimate space. Shogo said the shows were fantastic (both were sold-out, of course), but the loudness of the drums was amplified by the small space so much so that the wine glasses from the bar shattered!
After talking about New York City for a while, I commented to Shogo on the beauty of Sado Island, and how the Kodo Village is in an ideal setting for making music. I told him that I believe music often reflect its environment. He responded, “It is important to practice in nature. We must never forget nature.” It certainly seems that Kodo is greatly influenced by nature: between the group only using drums made of natural materials to the location of their headquarters, Kodo uses nature as a spiritual inspiration.
(((Now back to my day))) After picking up an elderly couple in Kakinoura, we made our way to the Kodo Kenshujo (the Apprentice Center), which was founded just over ten years ago. The Kenshujo is actually an old school house that was going to be torn down, but Kodo bought the building at the last minute. Every year, after many young taiko players audition, ten are inducted to the Kodo Kenshujo. The apprenticeship is a very serious commitment: the members all live together, which includes cooking and farming.
Shogo explained that it very physically difficult: every morning the group runs ten kilometers (6.2 miles). Being a member of the Kodo Kenshujo is basically like having a two-year long audition to join Kodo. Even though ten new apprentices join the program every year, only one or two older apprentices join Kodo. Shogo even said that this past year, no apprentices were inducted to the group; so, even with all that work, nothing is guaranteed.
(((I just realized I haven’t really gotten ‘back’ to my day, so here it goes!))) After we arrived at the Kodo Kenshujo, I learned that today was a very special day, the Sukakusai – the harvest festival. (Sukaku means harvest, and sai means festival). It seemed like the entire town of Kakinoura packed in this old gymnasium – there were probably about three hundred people in total, all sitting on the floor at tables.
It seemed like there was an endless amount of food, beer, sake, and most importantly, conversation. Fortunately, I met a Japanese-Canadian man named John: he was an apprentice four years ago, but since moved on. John explained many things about the festival, and was graciously enough to help translate when I was conversing with the locals.
The Kodo apprentices performed for almost two hours, playing a mix of Kodo compositions and traditional pieces. They sounded really great: it was just so neat to be eating and drinking with everyone while listening to the music. I will include some short videos in another post.
One of the most memorable aspects of the festival was when the locals were performing: on Sado, there is a folk dance, with specific drum beats, that are done to ward away evil spirits, called Oni-daiko. Just about everyone knows how to do the dance and play the beat; but the performance is only two people, the drummer and the dancer. The way it is decided who drums and dances is the best part: someone in the audience will tell the MC, “I will give X dollars (yen actually) if so-and-so dances.” So members of the community call out their friends to do the dance – and usually very intoxicated individuals are called upon. (I believe the money raised is used to fund the festival). So, as you can imagine, this can turn into a very funny scene, particularly when the would-be dancer either no interest in getting on stage, or very little capability in doing so.
In all honestly, as this was a harvest festival, there was a fair amount of drinking, so if my camera work is a bit shaky, that is why! It was actually really amusing seeing almost the entire community (of mostly very old people, I should add) getting tanked. I probably shouldn’t be writing about this; so let’s just leave it at that, to the best of my memory, the festival was a blast...
This is John performing the Oni-daiko.
This is one of the "good" demons.
Shogo does the Oni-daiko.
Sado Island
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