ANCIENT ART FORM This photo taken on May 7, 2022 shows Japanese taiko drum performer Hana Ogawa of the Kodo troupe taking part in a performance on Sado island. Japanese taiko drumming is a musical form with roots in religious rituals, traditional theater and the joyous abandon of seasonal festivals called matsuri. But for all its ancient pedigree, taiko as stage performance is a fairly modern invention, developed by a jazz musician and popularized in part by one of Japan's most famous troupes: Sado island's Kodo. It was founded partly to attract people to Sado, off Japan's west coast, and tours internationally, spreading the gospel of taiko. "Contemporary taiko drumming took a lot of inspiration from this local festival drumming and combined with more formal traditional performing arts to evolve into what we see as taiko drumming today," explained Yoshihiko Miyamoto, whose company Miyamoto Unosuke has made taiko for over 160 years.

Source: Manila Times May 20, 2022 16:31 UTC