KODO drummers of Japan
captivate with muscle and finesse

By Jennifer Pencek

Japan’s KODO is more than a group of percussionists. Members are teachers, historians, and even athletes. From the intense training involved in becoming a member of KODO to the focus on Japanese culture and pride, the 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, performance at Eisenhower Auditorium is sure to entertain and educate.

“Typically speaking, mainstream drumming is the core of the performance,” says Company Manager Jun Akimoto, speaking by phone from the midwestern leg of KODO’s North American tour. “But there is also vocal singing, flute and string instruments, symbols, gongs, and chimes. Each piece is supposed to carry an image or story behind it.”

KODO is touring with its One Earth program, which features eleven works using a variety of Japanese instruments. In Monochrome, members use the roped shime-daiko to create continual rhythmic patterns that are woven together with irregular ones. Audience members may interpret the sounds, which spiral to an exciting climax, as those of seasons changing or even life progressing.

O-daiko utilizes a 900-pound decorated drum carved from the trunk of a single tree and played by two men.

The program, which explores the limitless possibilities of the ancient Japanese drum, the taiko, is meant to bring diverse people together, Akimoto says.

“With One Earth, we want to welcome people who come to the theatre to feel everyone is united with the sounds of the drums,” he says. “We try to make it very entertaining. It might seem abstract, but that’s our intention not to add a lot of concrete stories.”

Unity was at the core of KODO’s creation thirty-eight years ago. A small group of young people in Japan yearned for a new way to live. Disappointed with the direction of modern Japanese society and eager to rediscover traditional values, they left their busy urban cultures behind and traveled north to remote Sado Island in the Sea of Japan. For centuries, Sado Island had been an isle of banishment for politicians, artists, writers, and others who found themselves at odds with the established culture of the times. The group also had a vision of creating a school in which the traditional Japanese performing arts could be learned by a new generation.

Today, Sado Island is home to KODO’s own village, cultural foundation, apprentice center, and more. Since exploding onto the world stage at the Berlin Festival in 1981, KODO has performed more than 3,100 times in more than forty-five countries.

In order to become a member of KODO, prospective students must undergo a rigorous two-year apprenticeship program that includes waking up at 4:30 a.m. daily. Participants are trained not only in diverse traditional performing arts but also in many related disciplines, including rice culture and vegetable farming, cooking and cuisine, history, calligraphy, and more. Graduates are selected on an individual basis to become junior performing members.

Akimoto says the training—similar to programs used by athletes—can be so hard that students have quit.

“It’s a very important period for beginners,” he says.

Although the group is anchored in tradition, changes are underway. Akimoto says the ensemble is trying to implement more contemporary aspects to routines, including using more female drummers. That’s something he says may change the common view of KODO.

“We used to be regarded as a very masculine, demanding group,” he says. “But we find [female members] add a new flavor.”

Another change is the makeup of the ensemble. Akimoto says the casting of younger members is intentional to carry KODO over to the next generation and give audiences something new.

“People in North America get to see more historical changes in KODO,” he says. “I hope people will appreciate it and enjoy.”

Charlotte Eubanks, assistant professor of comparative literature and Japanese at Penn State, has seen KODO perform and plans to attend the Eisenhower concert. She says she enjoys the ensemble’s “balance of traditional and modern takes on the traditional.”

“That is the heart and soul of Japanese-style music and drumming, but some of the artistry is new and exciting,” she says. “It’s not as if they’re just memorizing songs from 800 years ago. There’s a sense the song is a living element. [KODO artists] go through something of a physical sacrifice or ordeal to make the music.”

When not performing, KODO artists work to improve outreach to communities on tour, Akimoto says. While on tour, there isn’t always time to participate in workshops or lectures, but Akimoto says he hopes more activities can be added to correspond with performances.

Part of that goal is being met with KODO Arts Sphere America, a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles with a mission to support the vibrant taiko community and culture in North America. Its activities include small group, solo, and workshop tours; tours to Sado Island; and various educational projects in schools and other organizations.

“We hope to have people in North America have more of an understanding of KODO, Japanese culture, and Japanese drumming itself,” Akimoto says. “We’re trying to be in touch with as many people as possible so we can spread as much information as possible.”

Artistic Viewpoints, an informal moderated discussion featuring Akimoto, is offered in Eisenhower Auditorium one hour before the performance and is free for ticket holders. Artistic Viewpoints regularly fills to capacity. Seating is available on a first-arrival basis.

Foxdale Village, a Quaker-Directed Continuing Care Retirement Community, underwrites family presentations at the Center for the Performing Arts.

 

	KODO Photo by Joji Ide
	KODO Photo by Shinji Miname
	KODO Photo by Buntaro Tanaka