Theatre & Dance

Yamato Drummers

The critically acclaimed Yamato Drummers present an evening of traditional Japanese ensemble drumming at the Norwich Theatre Royal on on Friday, 25 April, 2008.

While in the city, the Yamato team will also assist with a pioneering project which helps young people struggling with schooling in Norfolk.

Young people from the Interface Learning Project based in Anglia Square, Norwich, have been finding out how to make traditional Japanese drums and play them.

The pupils are part of the Myaku arm of Interface Learning where they learn about a number of aspects of Japanese culture including drumming and manga animation.

A number of the students will meet the famous Yamato Drummers before their evening performance. Alice Kemp-Welch heads up the project and feels it really gives the young people a good boost.

"We help them to make the drums and then play the drums they make. Learning to play them is a very specialised skill and it is quite similar to learning a martial art," said.

April marks the Yamato group's first performance in Norwich since 2003. Their latest show, called Shin-on which translates as 'heartbeat', uses their huge bass drum to dominate the stage creating a deep earthshaking roar.

The show is built around the Japanese proverb 'treasure every encounter, for it will never recur'. Every beat, of every drum acting by way of reflection upon Yamato's history.

Founded in Japan's ancient capital Nara, the company have been touring the world for more than 10 years. Martin Barber spoke to the groups founder and director Masaaki Ogawa.

Yamato were formed in 1993, but why did you bring the group together?

Before founding Yamato I was one of the members of Wadaiko Ichiro. In 1993 I decided to leave this company to form Yamato. I had my own views of how Taiko music should be presented abroad.

From the beginning the group has always consisted of five female and five male performers.

In many of the reviews and interviews I've read about Yamato, your music is described as the 'rhythmic beatings of the human spirit' - what do you mean by that? 

Yamato tries to communicate the so called "pulse of life". We believe that everything alive has a rhythm, just as human beings do. It is not just a heartbeat, but it describes the energy that people feel when they are together.

Has drumming always played an important role in Japanese culture?

It is a way to communicate to each other (comparable to the churchbell in Europe), but also a way to communicate to the spiritual world. For instance in Buddhist temples they are used to call out to the spirits.

What would you say are the differences between Japanese drumming and the drumming of other cultures?

That is a hard question to answer. I think Japanese drumming is very much connected to the way African and other indigenous people use the drum - as a way to communicate to each other, to their gods and ancestors.

Western drumming originates from this, but is much more used as a purely musical instrument. Yamato tries to combine these two aspects.

Why is it unusual to have female drummers in the group?

It's not really unusual that women are members of Taiko groups. The difference is that in Yamato the women play the same part as the men.

In other groups the women hardly ever play the big drums. With Yamato they do.

Is drumming still taught to young people in Japan today? I don't mean just as a way of expression through music, but as something spiritual.

Drumming is still very much part of Japanese society.

People play drums for pleasure. There more than 10,000 amateur groups in Japan. They perform during local festivals, ceremonies and in temples. In the past they were also used to communicate emergencies or important happenings.

Explain to me a little about the different types of drums you use? How do they differ, what are their origins? 

We use three main types of drum. The Taiko drums are barrel shaped drums that are made out of one piece of wood. The skins are attached with large tacks or nails.

The biggest drums with a diameter of more than 84 centimetres or 33 inches are called Odaiko,  the smaller ones are called Miya-daiko. These are the drums are prototypical for Japanese Taiko drumming.

We also use an Okedo type - these drums have a stave construction. The skin is attached with ropes. These are often horizontally placed on stands and played by two drummers at the same time, one on each side.

The other drum we regularly use is a Shimi-daiko, small drums that are tuned by tightening ropes around them.

It is said that most of the drums were imported from mainland Asia in the middle ages. One of the oldest factories in Japan is Asano Taiko. They build drums for all the major Taiko groups in Japan. They exist already for about 300 years.

I'm a little confused - what's the difference between a Taiko and a Wadaiko?

Taiko and Wadaiko basically mean the same thing. The prefix "wa" is used in the Japanese to put more emphasis on a word.

You train daily using taiko-do? What is this and how does it help your performance?

"do" should be read as expressing "everything that has to do with (in this case) taiko in a spiritual sense".

It means "taiko culture", "taiko feeling". Taiko-do is the ultimate motivation for the performers to do the hard work that they are doing.

Is the music you perform traditional, or do you write new compositions?

Yes, I've composed all the songs played by Yamato. The music is not traditional, the instruments are, but the music and the entire performance are quite contemporary.

Is the show just about drumming or do you use other instruments too?

No, a variety of other instruments are used. Gongs, cymbals, string instruments (koto and shamisen), flute; there is also singing and sometimes the show is quite comical.

The group loves to interact with the audience. Performing is their life. It would be impossible to do it without the fun and the humour.

The show has quite a few funny parts in it, especially before the intermission. The second act builds into a very big climax.

As a group, you're regularly touring the world with your show. Why do you think you're so popular? 

The sound of the drums, the energy of the players, the interaction with the audience - they all help to make this show into a success.

It is not only nice to go to new places, to meet new people, but also to go back to places where you have been before, where the people knew you.

It's always nice when you see people in the audience that wear the T-shirt of the last tour. You once more feel how people appreciate the show.

Finally, what do you hope the audiences takes away from a performance of the Yamato Drummers?

We hope that the audience will carry with them the energy that we feel in the theatre, when we are performing.

The Yamato Drummers perform at the Norwich Theatre Royal on Friday, 25 April, 2008.