A trip to Ishikawa-ken. 1. Hono-o-daiko

Last weekend saw a trip north to Hakusan City near Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture. In addition to your faithful corespondent, the crew was Hideyo, Ted-o-san, and Noriko - Canadian friend and taiko fiend now teaching English in Shizuoka. And the occasion was Hono-o-daiko's 20th anniversary concert.

Hono-o-daiko is Asano Taiko's house band and consists of three women led by Jige Akemi. I have been a long-time fan and have raved about her and them already earlier. So this was a concert to look forward to. And, boy, were we not disappointed.

Kanazawa and the nearby tiny Hakusan City in relation to everything else. Click on the image for a larger view

The concert was in a very rural Hakusan City which, for some reason likely connected with Japanese electoral politics, boasts a huge ultra-modern community centre with a state-of-the art theatre that could easily accommodate over a thousand people. All in the middle of rice-paddy no-where. And so after a two-hour ride on a JR express to Kanazawa, we first transferred to a local JR commuter line, then to a small rural train, and then hoofed the remaining kilometre or so to the concert hall. Adventures in taiko fandom, you might say.

Waiting for the local rural train at a tiny suburban station. Ted, never one to sit still, doesn't miss an opportunity to work on his golf swing.

But, of course, it was all so worth it. Not only did we get to see the amazing Hono-o-daiko (who were, as expected, amazing), but also several fantastic guest performers. Including the unsurpassed Fujimoto Yoshikazu of Kodo. But enough talk. The concert was free, there were no camera restrictions, and so here are the photos...

The three Hono-o-daiko principals

Kodo's Fujimoto-san is leftmost, Hono-o-daiko's Jige-san next in line.
Wow.

Hono-o-daiko's affiliated youth group.

Hono-o-daiko. Jige-san going wild in the middle.
The astronomers in particular will appreciate the backdrop

The final bow. Hono-o-daiko and guests

And here is one of them new-fangled moving pictures:

You know where to click to make it play
The concert was 1.5 hours before intermission and then another 1.5 hours after. We saw enough really amazing taiko to make your head spin.

After the concert our heads were spinning...

Ted, never one to sit still, doesn't miss an opportunity to work on his tsuzumi drumming technique

...while Noriko and I don't miss the opportunity to add to my photo collection of taikomobiles. This one is Asano's

A trip to Ishikawa-ken. 1. Hono-o-daiko

Last weekend saw a trip north to Hakusan City near Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture. In addition to your faithful corespondent, the crew was Hideyo, Ted-o-san, and Noriko - Canadian friend and taiko fiend now teaching English in Shizuoka. And the occasion was Hono-o-daiko's 20th anniversary concert.

Hono-o-daiko is Asano Taiko's house band and consists of three women led by Jige Akemi. I have been a long-time fan and have raved about her and them already earlier. So this was a concert to look forward to. And, boy, were we not disappointed.

Kanazawa and the nearby tiny Hakusan City in relation to everything else. Click on the image for a larger view

The concert was in a very rural Hakusan City which, for some reason likely connected with Japanese electoral politics, boasts a huge ultra-modern community centre with a state-of-the art theatre that could easily accommodate over a thousand people. All in the middle of rice-paddy no-where. And so after a two-hour ride on a JR express to Kanazawa, we first transferred to a local JR commuter line, then to a small rural train, and then hoofed the remaining kilometre or so to the concert hall. Adventures in taiko fandom, you might say.

Waiting for the local rural train at a tiny suburban station. Ted, never one to sit still, doesn't miss an opportunity to work on his golf swing.

But, of course, it was all so worth it. Not only did we get to see the amazing Hono-o-daiko (who were, as expected, amazing), but also several fantastic guest performers. Including the unsurpassed Fujimoto Yoshikazu of Kodo. But enough talk. The concert was free, there were no camera restrictions, and so here are the photos...

The three Hono-o-daiko principals

Kodo's Fujimoto-san is leftmost, Hono-o-daiko's Jige-san next in line.
Wow.

Hono-o-daiko's affiliated youth group.

Hono-o-daiko. Jige-san going wild in the middle.
The astronomers in particular will appreciate the backdrop

The final bow. Hono-o-daiko and guests

And here is one of them new-fangled moving pictures:

You know where to click to make it play
The concert was 1.5 hours before intermission and then another 1.5 hours after. We saw enough really amazing taiko to make your head spin.

After the concert our heads were spinning...

Ted, never one to sit still, doesn't miss an opportunity to work on his tsuzumi drumming technique

...while Noriko and I don't miss the opportunity to add to my photo collection of taikomobiles. This one is Asano's