I was just at one of the most amazing gatherings I’ve ever been in my whole entire life. As we all came to the entryway, they had everyone pound in one byou (tack) each on a nagado-daiko. then it was 200+ professional solo artists and group leaders and representatives from all over Japan, plus a few of us from other parts of the world. All kinds of people that I’ve learned from, trained with, performed with, toured with, taught, admired…all in one room.
There was Kagura from Shimane (with Imafuku-san), Buyo (Renjishi) by Aska-gumi, Miyake-daiko, Hachijo-daiko, and Kurumaya-Sensei, and Imafuku-san and Yoshikazu-san doing Jingi, and then AUN (the Inoue twins) playing tsugaru shamisen…and then people were calling for Yoshikazu to do a solo and Murayama-san got up and started playing fue, and then Yoshikazu eventually ended up playing a killer Odaiko solo accompanied by Ryutaro on chappa and AUN backing up with ji and fue…and then Tomida-san was running up and spraying sake on Yoshikazu and then Ryuta and Kouhei and then the audience…it was all so over the top and almost unbelievable. (Is this is where I mention seeing Bryan & Mas wearing suits…!? kidding, guys…you looked sharp).
The dinner was kaiseki ryori and also absolutely incredible.
There were toasts and more toasts and kiyari singing, and there was banzai-shouting and I had one of the very best seats in the room to take it all in.
There were a few speeches of course and one of the most heartening themes was not so much looking at the past 400 years but looking forward to the next 400 years. Shiomi-san brought up the fact that the “taiko boom” is basically over in Japan and that the economy is hitting everyone hard.
Yet, everyone seemed determined in that sort of zealous, almost crazy way pro taiko drummers usually seem to be…the way one has to be to be a pro taiko drummer, really…and when Senmu started talking about looking ahead to the next 400 years, the energy in the room was palpable. Even more touching was the sincere appreciation expressed by the entire staff of Asano Taiko to everyone. It’s was an incredible expresseion of “En” — a profound, fundamental sense of mutual obligation and respect…joy and gratitude.
There were so many reminders of how incredible Taiko can be and how much I love it all…
What comes next? Idunnno, but for tonight I feel a strange sense of camaraderie and I am looking back at 20 years, and at the next 20 years, because that’s what comes up next on my plate with Sacramento Taiko. Seeing folks celebrate a 400th Anniversary puts a 20th Anniversary into a certain kind of perspective.