I’m writing this quite a while after our recent “Matsurine” performances with Miyake-jima Geino Doshi-kai on June 1 in Minami Ozawa and June 2 in Yokohama. They both went very well and I want to truly thank everyone who came along.

Almost a month has passed since those performances but I can still feel those good vibrations echoing throughout my body. I’m used to back-to-back concerts on our usual tours, but I poured absolutely everything into these two days and I couldn’t move for several days afterwards… haha.

Every single moment of every scene was packed with excitement, but I think the greatest pleasure of this programme was being able to experience how fun it is to play just one taiko drum with simplicity, whether I was out on stage or in the wings.
When we all took turns playing one taiko, it was clear that each person’s sound is different. I’m sure we were able to show even the first-time audience members just how simple yet captivating taiko can feel.

During the programme, there were three pieces that featured one Kodo member and one Doshi-kai member paired up to play together. I got to perform with Hidenori from Doshi-kai.

We didn’t get to rehearse with Doshi-kai until two days before the performances, so we honed the pieces by sending videos back and forth between our groups.

I thought it was going to be difficult to convey the musical phrases as we created the pieces, but they really understood what we said. And I was really happy that I got to feel the trust that Doshi-kai and Kodo has fostered to date.

Through these performances, I became an even bigger fan of Miyake-jima Geino Doshi-kai.

Doshi-kai x Kodo collaborations evolve with every performance.
I’ll keep beating the drum with all my might so I can show more growth next time, too.

Next, we’ll perform together on July 14 at Hakusan International Taiko Extasia 2024! I’m looking forward to it and seeing Doshi-kai again there.

For the second year in a row, Kodo appeared at Narita Taiko Festival in April alongside Miyake-jima Geino Doshi-kai at the Saturday night performance event, Narita-san Night Drum Concert.
Personally speaking, it was my first time back at Narita Taiko Festival since going along to watch it as a high school student.
Blessed with fine weather, this year we were able to give our performance outside in front of the main hall of Narita-san Shinsho-ji Temple.

I didn’t take part in the collaboration at Narita Taiko Festival last year, nor the 2023 Matsurine tour with Miyake-jima Geino Doshikai, so I went in with mixed feelings: worried about getting into the zone they’d created together last year, wondering if I could get in amongst them and run with it. And so excited for what was to come.

But when we got underway, my feelings were blown away by the powerful sound, the incredible people drumming around me, and the audience’s excitement.

I gave myself over to it, drumming with an immense awareness that if I zoned out for even a moment, my presence would disappear amongst all that sound, energy and fervor.
I put everything I had into each and every beat.
It made me really want to see how much I could evolve moving forward when I keep giving it my all like that.

I’m thrilled to shared that Kodo and Miyake-jima Geino Doshi-kai are going to have a concert in my hometown in Kanagawa. It will be on June 2 at Sakae Public Hall in Sakae Ward, Yokohama City.

Last year, I wasn’t a cast member for the Matsurine tour, but Kazuhiro Tsumura from Miyake-jima Geino Doshi-kai heard that I had been taking part in the lunchtime Miyake Taiko practice sessions at Kodo Village. That led to him coaching me one-on-one for Miyake Taiko, and us working on physical maintenance together. He really helped me. Kazuhiro suggested to me that we hold a concert in my hometown, and it’s actually happening!

I have a lot of memories at Sakae Public Hall, from performing there when I was a student with my local taiko group to school choral competitions and other events growing up. I’m really grateful to that place.

I’m really looking forward to returning there to perform with Doshi-kai and my fellow Kodo members, and our sound echoing throughout the hall.

It’s a chance for me to show the place that helped raise me just how much I can put into each beat.
I’m the youngest cast member… I’ll do my best to hold my ground!
I’m really looking forward to welcoming everyone to this performance.

June 2 (Sun), 2024
Kodo × Miyake-jima Geino Doshi-kai Yokohama Performance (Kanagawa Prefecture)

We almost had no 0on (zero on, which literally translates as “zero sound”) releases in 2023, so I’m really glad I got this album out in time. Phew! No sound was not the intention.

“Hamon” is available exclusively on bandcamp to stream and buy.
https://0on-tapes.bandcamp.com/

I hope you enjoy it!

Yuta Sumiyoshi’s 2nd Home-Recorded Solo Album “Hamon”

The sounds of shinobue (transverse bamboo flutes), marimba, and an analog drum machine weave together to create original minimal music from diverse polyrhythms.
Feel-good attack coupled with seemingly endless loops of eclectic beats.
All stitched together by shinobue melodies.
Five tracks. All recorded at home. Digital release only.

“On the ferry heading towards Sado Island, I looked over the side of the boat, down into the water.
The hull created ripples as it cut through the sea.
There I saw regularity and randomness, coexisting within continuity.
Each simple repetition, layering over and over again, producing ripple after ripple.
I felt inspired to try to create a world of sound like that.”

Our short tour with Miyake-jima Geino Doshi-kai is about to begin. We’re heading to Hachinohe, Yokohama, Iruma, and Sakura in Tochigi, so if you’re in the area, please come and see us!

Every time Kodo performs with Doshi-kai, we create new pieces and our collaboration evolves. We would love to share our performance with you.

One of the members of Doshi-kai, Kazuhiro Tsumura, trained at Kodo Apprentice Centre with me. We were in the same cohort. Last spring, we created a piece for the two of us to play on stage.

We’ve been honing it through each performance. When I perform with Kazuhiro, it feels like we are breathing in perfect sync. I realized he is a truly one-of-a-kind friend.

It’s been almost 20 years since we first met. Who’d have thought we’d get to tour together like this with our respective groups?

I never imagined it. We have both gained a lot of experience apart, honing our sound and performing over the years. Bringing that together to create new sound and expression has been really fun.

I hope we can perform at each other’s 60th birthday gigs one day.

Our “Matsurine” performance is about upholding traditions and expressing them with creativity and simplicity. We’re bringing this powerful festival to the theater. Don’t miss it!

Tour Schedule

*All links lead to Japanese pages.
Oct. 27 (Fri), 2023 Kodo Appearance “Matsurine 2023” (Hachinohe, Aomori)

Nov. 1 (Wed), 2023 Kodo Appearance “Matsurine 2023” (Yokohama, Kanagawa)

Nov. 4 (Sat), 2023 Kodo Appearance “Matsurine 2023” (Iruma, Saitama)

Nov. 5 (Sun), 2023 Kodo Appearance “Taiko Festival 2023” (Sakura, Tochigi)

The course content is split into four phases.
In Phase 1, we work on the fundamentals of fuse-uchi (upright taiko playing).
In Phase 2, we apply those techniques to playing o-daiko (the big drum).
As we progress through Phases 3 and 4, we look at stance, using your body, learning to play set phrases, and bringing it all together as you work towards your own ideal form.

When it comes to taiko, there is a broad range of drumming methods and styles, aesthetics, and schools of thought. At Kodo Taiko School, I would like to share with you one of the ways of playing taiko that Kodo has developed over the years. I want to teach you what I know and hope to invigorate you. I’m also looking forward to learning throughout the course as we all talk and discuss taiko playing.
These online courses enable free-flowing communication, which makes them an opportunity for us all to grow and boost our skills together.

We know some people would like to take part, but they can’t because of the noise involved or their internet setup.
There’s no need to hesitate because you don’t have a drum at home, or somewhere to play one online. During the lessons, you can use a mat or cushion instead of a drum. Please feel free to get creative and make it work for you.
If you like, you’re also welcome to video yourself between lessons, playing the tasks I give you on a taiko drum. If you send me your video, I’ll give you some feedback and advice.

Some of my past class participants came to Sado Island this summer for Earth Celebration. We’d only be in touch online before, and I got to meet them in person at long last.
I also got to teach some of them in person, giving them private lessons playing an actual taiko. I was so happy to see the participants coming together at our festival and to see the progress they are making beyond the course.
To take the course, you do need to have some taiko playing experience already. But you don’t need to speak Japanese: We have an English interpreter for all our lessons.
I hope you’ll take this opportunity to join me and taiko players from around the world online to learn together and expand your own circle of taiko friends.
Who’s in?

The next O-daiko Masterclass starts in January 2024. It’s an 8-class course.
On Saturday November 18, we’re going to have Online Information Sessions. We hope to see you there!

Kodo Taiko School | O-daiko Masterclass with Tomohiro Mitome 2024

When I started planning this course, we decided I should create an O-daiko piece that everyone can play together. So I’ve been working on that since last year. As I travel the world, I’ve been thinking about the imagery for this piece. I wanted it to be something people who gather from a range of different places could all have in mind as they play, and something that was fun to play together.

I love the sea. When I’m on Sado Island, I’m always looking at the sea.

And when the towns I visit on my travels have a beach or river, that makes me so happy. I feel really good when I think about how the sea and rivers here and there and Sado Island are all connected. When we send the O-daiko to Europe for our tours (I’m in Europe now), we use sea freight. The ship sails across different oceans to foreign lands, far, far away from Sado Island, and I get to play that taiko. It makes me think that the world feels connected by the power of water. When I was reflecting on that, I thought I’d like to try turning water journeys into sound.

Another theme of this upcoming course is the body, which is made up of a lot of water, too.

Water ties people to nature and land.

During this course, the participants will tune into the unique characteristics of their body and channel the sound of a drop of water from somewhere in the world that flows into a river and takes its own journey out into a vast ocean. I’m already excited just thinking about the sound that awaits us based on that idea.

My composition notebook. I add drawings as I explore the imagery.

I’d like to chat with the participants and find a title for this piece together.

I’m creating phrases for the ensemble, and we’ll add a solo part for each person, and tune in to each story as we go.

I warmly welcome participants from far and wide to gather around the 0-daiko with me for some quality time, tuning into our bodies and the sound of taiko together.

Working on the composition at a theater in Europe. I play the phrases over and over, refining my body’s movements and the sound.

Body Mechanics for O-daiko Expression with Kenta Nakagome
Course Dates: Apr. –June 2024
Application Period: Feb. 1 (Thu)–Mar. 31 (Sun), 2024

Body Mechanics for O-daiko Expression with Kenta Nakagome

I want them to paint vivid images, and I want them to resonate with the audience’s hearts.

When I direct, my goal is the same.

When I was offered the opportunity to direct a new Kodo production, I set out on a quest to find what it was that I wanted to portray.

I asked myself: What do I want the audience to feel?

As I dove deeper, the same question popped up over and over again.

“Why do we, Kodo, play taiko?”

It’s easy to say that playing taiko is a calling.

But why do I, or my colleagues, play taiko as a member of Kodo? I think that’s a completely different question.

Ever since the world came to a standstill in the Spring of 2020, there have been countless times where I’ve felt like we are incredibly powerless in the face of adversity.

I’ve questioned how much we are living up to the “One Earth” mantra, without taking strong stands and courses of action on various issues around the globe.

I’ve been reminded time and time again how incredibly fortunate we are to be able to play taiko for a living, and that we shouldn’t take anything for granted.

Over these past three years, I have been asking myself the same question: “What are we doing?”

It was during this time of self-loathing and trepidation that I had the opportunity to perform in front of Ukrainian war refugees in Estonia.

This turned out to be one the most memorable moments of my career; all I wished for in that moment was to give these people hope, to offer them a moment of peace.

It was a state of pure emotion and altruism; something I didn’t know I was capable of.

It’s hard to put in words, but it was at that moment I felt I wanted to create something that was truly altruistic in nature.

Something that can inspire people, something that can have a positive effect on the world.

Whether or not I’ll be able to achieve this is a question for another time. For now, I am extremely grateful I’ve been given the chance to try.

This is my calling.

Ryotaro Leo Ikenaga

Photo: Takashi Okamoto
Art Director: Hiroomi Hattori (COM Works)

Director

Ryotaro Leo Ikenaga

Cast*

Kenta Nakagome, Shogo Komatsuzaki, Yuta Sumiyoshi, Koki Miura, Mizuki Yoneyama, Masayasu Maeda, Seita Saegusa, Yuki Hirata, Kei Sadanari, Moe Niiyama, et al.
*Subject to change without notice.

Kodo Performance in Asakusa 2023 “Calling”

• June 22 (Thu)—June 25 (Sun), 2023 Asakusa Public Hall, Taito Ward, Tokyo

Kodo now has a decade’s worth of experiences at this place, and I feel so happy that we’re back here again this year.

There is so much going on right now all over the world, and here in Japan. It feels like we’re living our usual daily lives with chaos either close by, or all around us.

It makes me think…what can we do as taiko players?
What should artists share in times like these?

Tomorrow is uncertain, but I’ve made it to tomorrow each day thus far. So I want to keep creating and expressing myself as an artist, giving my all each day.

I want to express what it means to be born in this era, and what I’m doing with Kodo now.

I want to turn that into power that helps get us all through to “tomorrow” again.

I want to take all the moments when I laugh and feel excited and deeply moved, and pack them all into this performance with along with my gratitude.

I sincerely hope that our performances bring the joy of spring and the sounds of Shukunegi to many people.

Kodo Sado Island Performances in Shukunegi (2022)

Apr 29 (Fri)–May 7 (Sat), 2022 Shukunegi Community Hall, Ogi Peninsula, Sado Island, Niigata

Dates & Times

• Apr 29 (Fri) 14:30　[O-daiko: Yoshikazu Fujimoto]
• Apr 30 (Sat) 11:00　[O-daiko: Tomohiro Mitome]
• Apr 30 (Sat) 14:30　[O-daiko: Yoshikazu Fujimoto]
• May 1 (Sun) 11:00　[O-daiko: Tomohiro Mitome]
• May 2 (Mon) DARK
• May 3 (Tue) 14:30　[O-daiko: Yoshikazu Fujimoto]
• May 4 (Wed) 11:00　[O-daiko: Tomohiro Mitome]
• May 4 (Wed) 14:30　[O-daiko: Yoshikazu Fujimoto]
• May 5 (Thu) 11:00　[O-daiko: Tomohiro Mitome]
• May 6 (Fri) DARK
• May 7 (Sat) 11:00　[O-daiko: Yoshikazu Fujimoto]
• May 7 (Sat) 14:30　[O-daiko: Tomohiro Mitome]

Kodo Sado Island Performances in Shukunegi (2022)

In January, a fellow Niigata-based artist, Jo Kanamori, gave me his new book, Dance Company of Struggles. Mr. Kanamori is a dancer and the artistic director of Noism Company Niigata and this is his first book. I read it with great interest. Then in February, I went to see Noism’s new production, Der Wanderer. Mr. Kanamori’s artistic direction is always exciting. This time, he really brought the physicality of each and every cast member to the forefront while creating a sense of unity within the cast led by dancer Sawako Iseki. It was a wonderful performance. Having just read Mr. Kanamori’s book, I could feel even more color and depth as I watched them perform. That really stayed with me. This experience made me think a lot about the importance of recording our words.

Melanie Taylor, a member of our team who handles our English translation, has launched a project to share the book that Kodo published in 2011, Inochi Moyashite, Tatakeyo, with the world. This book describes Kodo’s history in a straightforward manner from various perspectives. For me, it’s an important book that I read over and over again as things crop up along our journey.

Melanie has been watching Kodo perform for years and years. She carefully weaves my words into English, bringing the true meaning of each word into her translation by checking the background and my intention. She is a trustworthy friend of mine, and I’m really looking forward to seeing her translation of this book take shape. I sincerely hope that many people will feel more depth and color when they watch Kodo’s performances after reading this book.

Over ten years have already passed since we published this book and I strongly feel the need to start preparing to publish the sequel—the next part of our history. For now, I am grateful that Melanie has kicked off this project to translate our first book. I really hope that many people will support this project.

Incidentally, in my Japanese profile it says my hobbies include reading and enjoying pro wrestling, Rakugo storytelling, and Takarazuka theatrical performances. I have a lot of books about my various interests, lining my bookshelves. When I learn all sorts of things about each group and each person, and their history and background, my feelings intensify and my enjoyment doubles.

Yuichiro Funabashi
Kodo Ensemble Leader
March 2023

■ Kodo Book Translation Project “Drum Your Heart Out” Crowdfunding Campaign on PledgeMe
https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/7438-kodo-book-english-translation-drum-your-heart-out
This site’s currency is New Zealand dollars.

■ Kodo Book Translation Project “Drum Your Heart Out” Intro Video

The campaign video is fully subtitled in English and Japanese. If subtitles don’t appear, click the settings cog on YouTube and switch them on.

Most of the times I met up with Takashi were when I was on tour overseas with Kodo. With the pandemic and other things going on, I haven’t been able to go overseas for quite a while. So even now, I feel like he’s going to be there waiting for me at the airport when I travel next.

We were right in the middle of recording last year when we heard about Takashi’s illness. The album we were making then is the one we are releasing today: Kizashi.

This time last year, we had way less performances. We were holed up at Kodo Village, feeling worried and wondering what we could do while we couldn’t tour. So we filled our days with trial and error—composing, playing new pieces, and recording them.
Takashi was the first one to sense the possibilities in recording our own sound and sharing it with the world.

In 2020, Kodo had started talks with Pitch & Sync, a London-based creative agency, about new music collaborations. Takashi was Kodo’s point of contact with Pitch & Sync from the very first meeting, and we were also working on that project at this time last year.

Every time we came up with a new track, I’d get a message from Takashi. His words radiated with passion and kindness, and I could hear his signature way of storytelling as I read. He would always end with: “I’m looking forward to what’s next, too.”

Our new album, Kizashi, is the first Kodo album ever to be recorded entirely by Kodo performers. We had some issues with our planning, and there was a lot of trouble along the way. We had to work hard together to get this project over the hurdles and past the finish line.

I want to keep exploring the many possibilities that Takashi sensed for Kodo. Kizashi means an omen or sign, and this album is a sign of what’s next. So we decided to release it today, on the anniversary of Takashi’s death.

We dedicate this album to Takashi Akamine.
As we release it from Sado Island to the world, we hope and pray this music reaches him, too.

Yuta Sumiyoshi

Translator’s Note: In the original Japanese version, Yuta calls Takashi Akamine “Akamine-san” (Mr. Akamine) throughout. Because it sounds too formal in English, the translator has changed it to “Takashi,” knowing that is what Takashi preferred in English.

Listen to Kizashi

“In Memory of Takashi Akamine” by Yasuko Homma

[Obituary] Kodo Staff Member Takashi Akamine