Taiko

The new academic year started on April 10th here. With a new start at school, and fresh desires/ longings to be more involved in the school & community, I've started going along to a taiko drumming group in my town.
Things to note: Aside from the friendliness and welcome, which you almost come to expect here (!), * sometimes when I've watched the members perform (mainly all sorts of school aged children & teenagers), they all move around their drums together at the same time & dance about. The earth (wooden floor in the gym...) literally shakes. I would not be surprised if the small tremors felt frequently in this part of the country are caused, not by friction or whatever it is, between tectonic plates; but rather because a group of particularly genki and energetic taiko drummers just co-incidentally seem to be practising & dancing around at the same time!
* I now understand why the members wear no shoes or socks when drumming... you can really feel the vibrations. Was a strange sensation when I was sitting on the floor, drumming & feeling the vibrations rise up from the ground and go through my body.
(Taiko is maybe 3/4 drumming, 1/4 dance, altho am not entirely sure. It seems very Japanese in the group setting: everyone drums together at the same time; is technically really difficult!; and when playing and performing, everyone looks so serious, facing the front with faces of concentration!)
[...curiously the word for gym in Japanese is taikokan. This seems to suggest 'taikoplace'... in the olden days, were big recreational indoor spaces only used for taiko drumming?!]
...actually, many months later, i realise the word is taiikukan so my assumption wasn't quite right!!