taiko finale

Yesterday, I received a photo from one of the members of the taiko group I’ve recently left, who happens to be a student at my school. [Different to the one above.]
It was a really nice photo, from my penultimate performance. Made me think that now is a good chance to write up that experience now it’s completely over!

The performance was at the annual festival in my town- called Tofu no Sato festival. The location was right opposite my school, in a field the football club members often practice at. Given the fact that the festival is held in typhoon season, I think that the pitch becoming a mud field is not an unusual occurrence. On the day, it was extremely windy. It started out fine but did include the odd bit of rain.

I didn’t know the schedule at all, only that I was due to turn up at 3pm. That I did, got changed into my ‘uniform’ and kitted myself out in a warm long- sleeved cardigan. After setting up outside- carrying the drums through the mud, we all put on our ‘tabi’ – footwear which are Japanese shoes, whereby one toe has its own section and the other smaller toes are lumped together (sorry that is a really awful explanation). At first we were all really careful not to get our white tabi muddy, but after a while everyone gave up and seemed not to care. (Altho after instructions, everyone had them perfectly clean and clear again the next morning.)

What I hadn’t realized, was that I wasn’t needed for the first number. Well, I knew I wouldn’t be playing in it, but I hadn’t realized how long that would be for. Luckily for me, I could wait in the safely of the taiko truck, guarding myself against the wind and rain, when the rest of the group were exposed to the elements on stage. I’d heard a few days previously from one of the other ALTs in my town, that there’s a dance festival as part of proceedings. Different groups (mostly old women or teenage girls) wear outfits, hold brightly coloured sticks and do a dance routine – all to the same piece of music. The judges choose the best one to, presumably win a prize and dance again at the end of the night.
What I hadn’t realized was that Rifu taiko was playing the accompanying music to these dances – all 18 or so of them all together. So I was waiting in the truck, not realizing how long for, hearing the same piece over and over again. Eventually I worked out what was going on. I saw lots of the ladies wearing their outfits and queuing up to go on the stage, but didn’t actually get to watch any of the dances in the competition stage.

Eventually it was my turn to join proceedings. I’d been given a ‘staff’ windbreaker jacket, which was great. But without it on stage, it was pretty cold. But the two short pieces I was involved in, didn’t last long. After us, a visiting group from Okinawa graced the stage with their presence. I’d met them a bit earlier during a rehearsal but hadn’t realized how far they’d come (from Japan’s tropical islands), and their energy and ‘differentness’ from mainland Japanese fitted in with what I’d heard about them from various other places.

What I felt uncomfortable with, was their chanting, dancing and singing with such gusto (they were an all adult group, as opposed to the kids one I was involved in), all centered around Buddhist and idol worship. Well, that just sums up Japanese religion I guess! Our group had been practicing some Okinawan stuff, which I then realized, had been in preparation for a joint performance with the Okinawan group. I’d decided I hadn’t wanted to do it, so managed to tell one of my group’s adults (leaders) this. I just wasn’t comfortable with shouting out other names and worship terms when I’d be rather worshipping Jesus (whose name I’d say under my breath as others would say other idol names during practices…). Anyway to cut a long story short, I got out of the stuff I’d felt uneasy about, and ending up watching an entertaining performance, including some members of the Okinawan group, dressing up as si-sa. (Now I’m still not sure if sisa is a god or an idol, but the whole piece(s) were about them anyway.)

After that, Rifu group got ready for the winner of the dance competition to be announced. At the end of the conversation with the lady about the previous number, she asked if I’d remembered/ learnt the piece to accompany the dancing. Well, having heard it 18 times, I had quite a good idea I thought, even though I hadn’t been listening all that closely. For some reason, a space was free on stage. Maybe one of the girls had come down with a cold, or been blown away by the wind or something…. But anyway, I took that place and did a bit of drumming one of the ‘miyadaiko’ drums – not big in itself, but the biggest I’d drummed on in performance. So that was good. And to crown it all, at the end there were fireworks. So playing the drums standing up (as opposed to sitting on the floor banging a small drum), watching the winners of the weird silly dance waving glittery sticks, with an audience of no-one I could see, due to the evening darkness and bright stage lights, and fireworks filling the sky, was probably the best experience I’d had during my 5months of doing taiko.
It would have been quite a good finale, but I’d said I’d play the next day as well. I got home after 9pm, starving hungry and had to wake up early the next morning and clean my tabi. I hadn’t been feeling well anyway, and at the rendez-vous point, said I’d rather go back home. So then my last performance was postponed til the other week at Grandy. Now it’s over, hooray, but that festival in Rifu did have its moments. Sorry for such a long and long winded post!