John Daub: So here we are on Sado Island. This festival is one of the biggest
taiko festivals in all of Japan, and I've come here to find out
what makes this, and the Kodo group the soul of Japan! Announcer: "Irasshaimase!" (Welcome!) Peter von Gomm: ONLY in JAPAN. John Daub: Taiko drumming's
origin in Japan is believed to have started 1500 years ago, although it's only
recently become a performance art. Kodo is one of the most recognized
Taiko groups in Japan, helping taiko elevate to an art form. Touring the world like Cirque du Soleil,
there's a lot inside those drum beats, connected to a small island on the
Sea of Japan, that resembles a butterfly. Do you see it? That's "Sadogashima", or Sado Island,
and it's beautiful. These traditional Japanese fishing
boats are called "Tarai-Bune", and you can see them down at Ogi Creek. I returned to Sado Island in winter to see
how Kodo lived and trained. I'm back, it's January,
here on "Sadogashima", it's really really cold and chilly,
but I wanted to come back because after the Earth Celebration, you
can't really see what daily life is like, because they kind of take a break after
all the training during the year. What you see on the stage is
actually a direct representation of the way they live their lives. At dawn, the training centre where they
live when not touring, starts to wake up. The group has a a disciplined regiment,
especially for apprentices who train for two years before being
accepted or denied membership. Breakfast, there's no staff to cook for
them, or clean for that matter! Each member has responsibilities
beyond music, which makes them more complete musicians. This is more than
just a drum school, it's a way of life. When at home, or on tour, they're family.
Full-time performers who train hard. Kodo has 34 performing members,
31 staff, and about 100 total, with apprentices and assistants
from all over Japan, and the world. The schedule, their daily routine,
will take them to sunset, practicing for an upcoming European tour. Before that, the building
must be spotless. There are many warm-ups,
techniques used for years to help performers stay sharp and healthy. Kodo goes beyond taiko drums. They're all
musicians and learn other instruments, such as the flute or "shamisen", and
performers perfecting an action of motion that uses muscles normal people
rarely use. Many lives have changed through
the taiko apprenticeship. Very much like the military. Waking
up at dawn for a 10K run, doing tasks not related
at all to drumming, like Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid! Painting
the fence, or waxing cars on and off! Sado Island and the group are
very much inseparable. The natural ways learned here, translating
into the beats you hear on the stage. There are many drums in the training
centre, some made here on Sado Island. Each one having a sound used in the
composition of original music. Breathing and vocal warm-ups. [performers breathing and hissing] [performers trilling] [performers trilling to piano melody] [performers conducting vocal exercises] These drills also help the team get in
unison, working and playing as one. One heartbeat, that's the meaning of Kodo! The history of the group
going back over 40 years. Chieko Kojima: (My name is Chieko Kojima.
I am one of Kodo's founding members.) (I have various solo projects
where I dance and play taiko.) John Daub: Chieko was part of the newly
formed Kodo group in 1981. Dreamers with a talent to create and
inspire with music and dance. Chieko Kojima: (Back in the day, taiko
wasn't widely known,) (and people certainly didn't see it
as a career choice.) (Taiko was only played at shrines
or during the Bon Festival,) (and not used for artistic expression.) (Taiko was used in
traditional folk music,) (but it wasn't seen as a
professional instrument.) (That's why when we first started,) (we had no idea whether we
could succeed playing taiko.) (We practiced very hard, but
there was always that uncertainty.) (The future was very blurry,) (but we kept holding on to our
passion and striving forward.) (It's different now because people who
are drawn to Kodo have clear goals.) (They want to become a Kodo member,
play a certain type of taiko,) (be acknowledged for their skills,
and express themselves onstage.) (They play taiko with a clear direction.) (Traditionally, taiko is played
at the Bon Festival) (to invite our ancestors
to dance with us.) (At the shrines, taiko is used
to welcome the gods) (and ask them to provide good harvest
and rid evil spirits.) (These are the traditional
purposes of taiko.) (Kodo uses taiko for an...
artistic purpose today,) (we channel the same spiritual power it's
always had.) (I believe taiko's spirit is what
draws people to it) (and energizes whoever plays it.) (Those who listen to taiko can also
feel invigorated. Feel refreshed.) (This has always been
the effect of taiko,) (but the only difference now
is a greater number of people) (can experience it across the globe.) (The power of the Japanese taiko
continues to live strong.) John Daub: To be a professional performer,
you have to be the best, and as the years went by, Kodo's
reputation increased, and they started giving performances
around the world, often away from Japan. They've started in the 1970s as
'Sado no Kuni Ondekoza', then a new group, Kodo, formed in 1981, taking their
performance art around the world. The Earth Celebration started in 1988. International collaborations has
been another way Kodo has both widened its brand, and also
enhanced its playing style, like inviting the drummers from Burundi to
Sado for Earth Celebration in 1988. And recently with South Korea's
traditional music master, Kim Duk-Soo. They've created musical pieces for
commercials and movies, like this one, for 1995 flick, called 'The Hunted'. For every member, becoming a drummer and
performer has changed their life, in some way, making them leaders, giving
them confidence, finding something inside themselves they didn't know existed! Taiko
challenges both the body and the mind. Ami Akimoto: Taiko itself is very special
in that... I loved it at the beginning because it was a combination between sport
and music, which is both my passions, but once I started performing taiko, I
felt this energy from the audience, that gave back to me and the performing
members, and I thought 'Wow, this is a feeling that you don't get normally, doing
a normal job'. So taiko actually... I was a very shy child, I didn't speak a word,
and once I started taiko and performing, that was my way of expressing, and that
changed me as a human being, to be able to speak to people more freely, and be
myself when I'm playing taiko. So Kodo has a motto: 'One Earth', and
obviously their technique and their lifestyle is so unique, and
the motto for Kodo is: 'Whatever your lifestyle becomes the
performance', so that struck me in so many chords, meaning I need to make myself, who
I am, in everyday life, and that will be projected, who I am, when I'm around
everyone. So that kind of lifestyle, and the way they train, the way they live, is
so simple, but so important. John Daub: As I said before, this is more
than a school, more than a job, it's a way of life that can
lead you to greater things. Ryotaro Leo Ikenaga: So I was an economics
major, and I was going to become an investment banker, [chuckles] so I did lot
of internships, and then I just thought to myself, 'I don't want to wake up when I'm
forty, and wonder what it could've been'. So I just wanted to kind of challenge
myself, do something that I can do only once in a lifetime. I happened to find
Kodo, because they had this apprenticeship program, which is crazy. You wake up at
five in the morning and you run 10K. You make your own rice, you kind of really
really, are put into a position where you have to look deep inside your soul, and
kind of ask the important questions. You know, you'd think it would
just be practicing basics and just hitting the drum all day, which
we do, but it's more than that, 'cause all this tradition, all this Japanese culture,
folk arts, they're rooted into this... the culture of, like, agriculture, all
this movements come from these traditional movements of planting rice. These dances,
these songs come from harvest, they come from fishing, all this, and it's very
important to learn these traditions, these backgrounds, this history,
in order to do what we do. 'Cause the drum is really simple, right?
Anyone can hit it, but to perfect that? To get that perfect sound? There's much
more than just the physical element, that's what I believe in. John Daub: The two-year Kodo
apprenticeship is grueling. Most don't make it, but it changes
everyone who tries for the better. Chie Yamawaki: (During the apprenticeship,
I couldn't do many things) (everyday from the start. Things like
running, cooking and...) (taking on a leadership role. Everything
was a new challenge in the beginning.) (It was strict... and hard, but I could
use this time to reflect about myself.) (So it was a rewarding time for me.
Hard... and fun.) John Daub: This is part of the Earth Cele-
bration, which takes place every August. It's a chance to collaborate, hear new
sounds, like at this fringe performance, where tap-dancing is part of the beat. The Earth Celebration mainly takes place
in Ogi, and there are loads of vendors selling clothes, souvenirs, and street
food! Loads of street food. As the sun sets, the crowd gets
excited for the main event. Earth Celebration is on. I'll share with you some of the highlights
from the event. Alright, they're getting ready to start,
here we go! You'll see when coupled with performance
art, it reaches a new level, crossing cultures, and bringing so many
people in. [applause] A more traditional approach to taiko drum-
ming is wearing a "fundoshi" loincloth. [performers chanting] [performer yelling] [applause and cheering] This unique style of sitting while
playing the taiko drum originated in Saitama prefecture, at the "Chichibu
Yomatsuri" (Chichibu Night Festival). The two-storey Yatai floats had a drummer
inside a very cramped space, sitting was the only practical way to play. The style
truly is an art, the strength to perform it in full view on stage. Above all, the Earth Celebration is fun.
A homecoming, when all traveling members of Kodo return to perform together.
A homecoming party of sorts! A collection of all their skills
coming together, on display. When you know what's inside each
of those beats, it has a new meaning. Kodo connects the natural world
with Japanese traditions, and as music truly does bring people
together, the traveling troupe are one of Japan's best ambassadors. [performers yelling]
[applause and cheers] Despite them being extremely tired, and
working really hard, they all had this! And I think that that makes them
really special, and you see that, and you feel it, because drumming, the reason I
like taiko is you could not just hear it, but you can feel it! Kodo is
such a unique brand, I think. When I think of it, I think of discipline,
I think of all the things that are very spiritual about this country, and you can
hear it through the music. I'll be back on Sado Island and
Earth Celebration to live inside those beats again,
and find happiness in letting go. Submitting myself to the sounds of Japan, that have echoed throughout the
country for thousands of years. If you liked it, click that
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the ONLY in JAPAN series videos. "Mata ne!" (See you later!)
