Inadani. 2. Blisters.

We did tachiuchi. We did yokomenuchi. And we did suwariuchi. We learned bits of traditional compositions like Miyake, and Tombane, and of original ones such as Art's Kando. And we played the big $60,000 odaiko that Art has on loan from Asano. On occasion Art gave us a bit of taiko history and theory. Why, you might ask? Most likely, so as to give us a little rest before throwing us back at the drums. We did taiko for 5 hours a day, 4 days straight. And in the evenings we watched more taiko, on video or even live.

Warming up at the start of practice

Taking a break from playing Kando. Art on the left, victims on the right

Jay in suwariuchi (sitting stance)

Getting into the swing of things

Art Lee is a superlative taiko practitioner and a dedicated teacher. Approachable, knowledgeable, energetic. It is impossible to convey fully in writing how wonderful it was to have him as sensei. Simply put, If you get a chance to attend his Inadani course, you simply must not pass it up.

Art and his toys

Now, kids, pay attention to Mr. Lee.

Art's lessons were ably assisted by his wife Yukari and followed by extracurricular taiko instruction over beer and sake by Mr Toyama-san, bartender, hotel-keeper, chauffeur, and one of the earliest students of Daihachi Oguchi(!).

Marcin and Joe learning the ropes (ahem), while Art and Yukari supervise

Art and Yukari showing how it's done

Our classes were held at the Achi Village Community Centre, where Art regularly leads two local community taiko groups and where he holds the practices of his semi-professional Wadaiko Ensemble Tokara. Typically, our day would start at 8am with breakfast. At 9:40 or so Mr Toyama-san would load us onto his bus and drive us to the Achi Village Community Centre. We would warm up for 10 or 20 minutes by playing drums. Thereafter, we would train until 4pm, with a one-hour break for lunch at 12:30. The practice would end with Art leading us through a kakegoe drill - a highly re-vitalizing and re-energizing ritual. And at 4pm Mr Toyama-san and his bus would take us back to Misaka Ryokan and a welcome soak in the ryokan's ofuro followed by dinner, beer/sake, and either conversation or a little cultural excursion to do kareoke, or watch kyogen or live local taiko.


It is impossible to convey with words or even pictures how good the course was. We sweated a lot. We learned a lot. And most of us had blisters. And it was all extremely worth it.

Inadani. 2. Blisters.

We did tachiuchi. We did yokomenuchi. And we did suwariuchi. We learned bits of traditional compositions like Miyake, and Tombane, and of original ones such as Art's Kando. And we played the big $60,000 odaiko that Art has on loan from Asano. On occasion Art gave us a bit of taiko history and theory. Why, you might ask? Most likely, so as to give us a little rest before throwing us back at the drums. We did taiko for 5 hours a day, 4 days straight. And in the evenings we watched more taiko, on video or even live.

Warming up at the start of practice

Taking a break from playing Kando. Art on the left, victims on the right

Jay in suwariuchi (sitting stance)

Getting into the swing of things

Art Lee is a superlative taiko practitioner and a dedicated teacher. Approachable, knowledgeable, energetic. It is impossible to convey fully in writing how wonderful it was to have him as sensei. Simply put, If you get a chance to attend his Inadani course, you simply must not pass it up.

Art and his toys

Now, kids, pay attention to Mr. Lee.

Art's lessons were ably assisted by his wife Yukari and followed by extracurricular taiko instruction over beer and sake by Mr Toyama-san, bartender, hotel-keeper, chauffeur, and one of the earliest students of Daihachi Oguchi(!).

Marcin and Joe learning the ropes (ahem), while Art and Yukari supervise

Art and Yukari showing how it's done

Our classes were held at the Achi Village Community Centre, where Art regularly leads two local community taiko groups and where he holds the practices of his semi-professional Wadaiko Ensemble Tokara. Typically, our day would start at 8am with breakfast. At 9:40 or so Mr Toyama-san would load us onto his bus and drive us to the Achi Village Community Centre. We would warm up for 10 or 20 minutes by playing drums. Thereafter, we would train until 4pm, with a one-hour break for lunch at 12:30. The practice would end with Art leading us through a kakegoe drill - a highly re-vitalizing and re-energizing ritual. And at 4pm Mr Toyama-san and his bus would take us back to Misaka Ryokan and a welcome soak in the ryokan's ofuro followed by dinner, beer/sake, and either conversation or a little cultural excursion to do kareoke, or watch kyogen or live local taiko.


It is impossible to convey with words or even pictures how good the course was. We sweated a lot. We learned a lot. And most of us had blisters. And it was all extremely worth it.