Taiko Concert in Chiba

This is a short post on what I did last weekend. My first Taiko Concert!
I’ve already seen quite a lot of performances in the open, but now I got a free ticket to see a High School Taiko Performance play in Chiba.

When I look at the ticket I wonder: What could be so different between an outdoor stage performance and an indoor concert? I love taiko so I’m going regardless, but I’m still curious.

I arrive at the Chiba City Meeting Hall (千葉市民会館) and receive the programme for today’s show. When I first open it this insert jumps out at me:

It’s an advertisement for another taiko concert. The one I went to had a lot more.. clothes.

The performing band is mainly 八千代 high school’s 3rd year students, and the first and second year students also come by to say hallo. The main instruments are taiko drums, whistles, and small cymbals held in the hands. The players are also very vocal and bring up the pace as they shout various Japanese things such as ‘SAY YA SAY YA SAY YA SAY YA!!’ or ‘ROKU SHO ROKU SHO!!’

Sadly we weren’t allowed to take pictures or video, so I can’t show you what it was like. However I tell you this: Taiko Concerts are powerful. The energy of the drummers, the shouting and the flutists take you into a special place.

My question of what would be so different is soon answered: The screen in the back goes blue, mood lights go on, and the sound of waves begins to come from the stage. In ten seconds I’m at the beach. The players come forward with large barrel-shaped objects filled with beads to make the wave sounds. Then other players come with their instruments. The shrill sounds of the flutists and the rumbling of the drums match the scene perfectly. Voila! Taiko performance at the beach, just like that.

There are various themes played and a lot of humour is used. There is a lot of creativity at the one I’m at; amongst other things they ‘play a game of badminton’ with the sounds of their instruments. First time I saw that at a concert. 🙂 All in all a big change in concert scenery for me, and time well spent.

If you ever have the chance to go to a taiko concert, don’t think it’s just a bunch of drums. I can guarantee that you’re in for a treat.

Feel free to post any questions, comments, etc. in the responses below. 😉

Chōshi: The Tip of the Ear

Sunday we, the Chiba+Kun Ambassadors, went on our first Chiba tour to Chōshi.

Wait! Where are we going? Where is this Chōshi?!
Relax, it’s a city on the tip of our dog Chiba-kun’s ear.
If this sounds fishy to you, you’d be right.
Chōshi’s Fishing Port has the largest catch of sardines, bonito and tuna fish throughout Chiba prefecture. 😛 Chōshi’s main catch is the sardine いわし.
Okay, I’ll stop fishing for jokes and show you with this picture I snagged from wikipedia.

That highlighted tip of Chiba-kun’s ear is Chōshi.

Chōshi giving us a warm welcome!

We leave in the travel bus bright and early in the morning and arrive two hours later to the beating of drums!

The performance has several different songs, each with their own story. There is also a special dance in which the Taiko drummers hold the taiko supported by a beam of wood and dance around in circles. (video coming soon)

Food Adventure

Where’s the food?!
Next we head off to eat one of Chōshi’s specialties: Fish! Chōshi’s sashimi (raw cuts of fish) is probably the best I’ve ever tasted. Very fresh. Raw fish should be fresh yes, but it could have come straight from the docks judging the taste. I also had some light-battered tempura shrimp. Delicious!

I could eat that meal again and again.

So what’s for desert?
How about some soy sauce ice cream? If it doesn’t sound good, just trust me, it really is a treat. The first impression is that it tastes of caramel and coffee, licking on it also has an essence of cheese. So it has quite a bit of a cheesecake flavour. However, it is definitely a unique type of ice cream not to be confused with these tamer variants. 😛 We even see the shopkeepers pour in the soy sauce that mixes with the ice cream!

Soy sauce ice cream: A must try!

I have to confess there is more. The next one on the menu is just as strange, perhaps even more so in taste. Soggy rice cracker ice cream is the extremely unappealing name I shall give this one. Not because it’s bad, but just to scare those of you with less adventurous taste buds off. 😉 You see, this ice cream is sweet yet it has salty chunks of cracker in it. The result: An exotic mixture of all sorts of flavours, usually enjoyed separately, popping up in the mouth. It makes me think of Willy Wonka’s factory by how unique it is.

Onward!

Next we take a train past two soy sauce factories; Higeta and Yamasa, both are based in Chōshi. Soy sauce is a thing here. 😉 Then we stop by Inubōsaki Lighthouse, created in 1874 by a Scot called Richard Brunton. It has survived many earthquakes, and still stands fully capable. There is also a museum section concerning the lighthouse. We climb to the top for a good view of the area, and the lighthouse delivers.

There is something romantic about lighthouses I like a lot. Their beacons guiding ships through fearsome storms and treacherous fog, always standing tall and firm. Maybe you’ve seen the kid’s show ‘Around the Twist’, I guess that contributed to the cool and mysterious image of lighthouses I have.

A view from the lighthouse.

Great views and a bit of international history.

I have more pictures uploaded for the public on my FaceBook account.

The Entrance to the Observation Plateau

Another point of interest we stop by before heading home is an observation plateau called 地球の丸く見える丘展望館. Here we have a great panoramic view of all of Chōshi, and more. On a good day you can see Mt Fuji. There are many things to see. The pictures are on my FaceBook. (A video in which I attempt to capture this 360 degree view is on its way to my Youtube channel.)

The tour guides tell us they have the Eastern variety of the white cliffs of Dover here. (It does look quite similar.)

The trip to Chōshi has been swell. Great views, great food, and a unique history as a great fishing port. There is a tour booklet being produced in English which will make exploring Chōshi easier for non-Japanese speakers. It’s a nice day out if you are in Chiba, unless you have other fish to fry. 😉

I hope you enjoyed my account of this tour of Chōshi.
Please leave any questions/ requests/ remarks in the responses below.

Cheers,
Kyle

Japanese Taiko Festival at Shinjoji Temple, Narita

Sunday April 15th, Naritasan’s Annual Taiko Festival.

I’ve been wondering for a while how to share this experience with my friends… I was here all day watching the Taiko drummers work their magic in Narita. There were so many performances and they were all great! The down side of that is that I have more footage of it than I know what to do with. So I’ll show you how it began in this video I made, and if you like it you’ll be able to see more as I post them to my channel. I think I’ll make a ‘best of’ compilation once I have it all sorted and post that here on my blog as well.

So let’s get to what happened that day.

Sunday, it’s sunny outside as I head for Narita around 8 in the morning. It feels like Spring and the clear, warm weather quickly wakes me up in a pleasant manner.

Following the people.

I get of the train close to Shinjoji temple and follow the masses down to the event they’ve all gathered around for; The Annual Taiko Festival. At this festival Taiko groups from across the nation gather to show their performances along the street of omotesando that goes alongside Shinjoji Temple. It starts of at Shinjoji Temple itself. All the performers are sitting down in front of the temple in a large square as the crowds gather around them. On the main stage the first thing I notice are the words ‘震災に勝つ’ which mean ‘beat the earthquake disaster’. They didn’t have this festival last year because of the march 2011 quake, but this year is a different story!

The Temple Drum

Then a large drum with a temple sign gets hauled unto the main stage. A man starts beating the large drum and the beginning performance starts with around ten people lasting almost 15 minutes. The drummers are drumming very rhythmically to a particular tune that gets repeated often. Then there is the occasional shouting and the drummers end up taking some of their clothes off! It was pretty intense, very mystical. I don’t think it quite does the performance justice but you can get a taste of it in my video!

So many drums, such little time.

After the opening performance, all the different Taiko groups have their individual performance in the square they’re sitting in. All their performances vary greatly lasting at least 20 minutes. There are drummers from cold, snowy Hokkaido and drummers from warm, sunny Okinawa. I’m also surprised to see drummers from Africa, taking the variety to the next level. 😀

At the end there is the grand finale, where all the drummers drum toget her for a solid 10 minutes of awesome drumming. The atmosphere is incredible, and I’m thinking: Geez, more people should know about Taiko drums…

After the big performance all the drummers split up along the venue of the omotesando street and the audience is free to look at whichever group they please. I end up looking at a very orange group, a group that drums about fairytales and the African group. It’s all very cool and the atmosphere along the entire street is amazing; the shops selling their goods, the crowds buzzing through the streets, and the sound of drums everywhere.

The African Group

The Orange Group

Omotesando has Many Customers Today

Everyone is Eager to get Bitten by a Dragon...

Then around 17:00 there’s this huge parade that every band partakes in. They each have their own parade car and special routine they perform as they go down the street. My favourite is the band with 2 people in a dragonsuit. However there are many many bands with all sorts of styles, so I’ll update with a video on that later as well. There are Taiko drummers wrestling their way down the street, drummers wearing silly masks, drummers with a more primal-punk swing to them, and many more. Young and old, generations of Taiko drummers come dancing down the street.

I end up spending the entire day at this Taiko Festival, making it back home around 20:00. The day has flown by, and I had such a good time.

I get the feeling this isn’t the last of the Taikos I’ll see.