So I sacrificed both my lie-ins this weekend by way of musical pursuits. The first was another brass band practice, which involved me playing a ‘British Folk March’ written by Takeshi Hasegawa, whom I wonder has ever listened to anything British as it all sounded rather Balkan to me. It was my two-bobs’ worth for my bad school though, and despite the hangover, it was all in all quite an enjoyable experience.

 Today was something rather special. I went on a roadtrip with my taiko group to Shimane-ken, where my sister Rachel used to live. There we saw a whole range of taiko performers, but the stars of the show were a taiko virtuso, who I know only as Yu-san, and these wonderful female specimens, Hono o Daiko.

As the above images may indicate, I have become an instant groupie. Sherona and I came away with signed posters after a a serious papping session post-performance, which also included a SIGNED POSTER, now taking pride of place on my living room wall. We couldn’t take pictures during the performance, and I didn’t have the gumption to film during the show, so the best I can offer is this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1p548QWGh8&feature=related

This in no way does justice to the spectacle and the sound that these women produce. The woman on the right is Mizue Yamada, and she’s my new hero. The sheer speed with which they powered out these incredible sounds absolutely blew my mind, only augmented by their finale with 10 other taiko groups, where about a hundred perfomers aging from 6 to 60 took to the stage and made the entire concert hall shake. The muscles on these women were quite something, and there was certainly a sense of the androgynous about Mizue as she performed. Yet meeting them face to face, they still retained that beautiful, gracious and enviable femininity that goes with Japanese womanhood.

 One thing that strikes me about the Japanese, particularly since starting taiko, is their seemingly innate sense of cyncopation. Hono o Daiko are of course something extraordinary, but even the humble junior high school brass band players seem to be able to pick up a piece and hold together some of the most complex rhythms for western musicians to sight-read at the first attempt. Poor Baba, my taiko teacher, has had his patience tested while I ask him to show me ‘just one more time’ how this or that phrase is supposed to sound. I managed to do some bonding with him today though, along with the rest of the group, and surprised myself with just how much Japanese I understood.

Splendid times indeed.

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