YAMATO REPORT


	1st Dec

This is the stage seen from the top seat.

“History”

We are here in Boston, Town of Music.　We visited the town four years ago and two years ago. The venue this time is a theater built in the 1800’s. It has magnificent decorations. I wonder what kind of music was played here in old times. Today we, Japanese drummers ‘Yamato’ have come to play the taiko. I wish the sound of the taiko would reach the days of 200 years ago!


	2nd Dec

The big taiko the size of which is about 1.2 m. We need four people to move it.

“Two Performances a Day”

We have two performances today! We’ve been very busy preparing for the show, saving time for practice. We finished the matinee in a hot mood. Without taking a rest, we got changed into sweat suits and prepared for the next show. We had to do everything in a hurry; changing the stage, stage cleaning, the taiko setting, tidying up in the wings and fortifying ourselves with a meal before performance. The opening time is coming!


	3rd Dec

We cannot decide which one to have!

“Bread Festival”

We are so happy to see various kinds of bread and sweet rolls including pizza lined up before us. The daughter of the producer is a baker and her bakery has sent us all of them. As they are particular about material they use, the vegetables, olive and oil as well as the bread are all different from those we are used to. The dried tomato and the sandwiches with herb in them are marvelous! We truly admire the taste!


	4th Dec

A dance performed in a lion’s mask. Mr.Takaoki Masui and Ms. Maiko Toi are in them.

“Linkage through the Taiko”

Today’s schedule was very tight. We did two school performances in the morning, put away all the stuff, traveled to the next venue by bus and prepared for the next performance. Though we were very tired, a very good meeting drove away the fatigue. We had an exchange meeting with members of ‘Burlington Taiko.’ We visited their practice place before preparing for the show. We hear that they’ve been getting together to play the taiko drums in their spare time for more than 20 years while doing their own jobs. They are 40 years old in average and have 2 to 20 years’ experience of playing the taiko. Listening to them play a piece, we couldn’t help feeling how they love the taiko. We found their love in everything all around such as tires for practice beating, the taiko drums and drum stands. It seems that they gave us energy.


	5th Dec

I won’t be outdone!

“Rekka (Intense Fire)

“Rekka” is one of our numbers played at school performance. In that number two drummers compete with each other, standing in either side of the stage. The drummers are Mr. Takaoki Masui and Mr. Gen Hidaka. Their combination on the stage started during this US tour. Since they have quite different characters, I wonder how they will compete in the number “Rekka.”


	6th Dec

A Christmas tree.

“Back in New York”

We are back in New York after a month! Last time we spent a holiday in a town a little to the east of here. What has changed since we left New York last? The season has changed of course, from fall to winter. The town is now full of Christmas atmosphere. And our hair has grown long. We want to get a hair cut! We have four performances to do and five days to spend until going back to Japan. A countdown has begun!


	7th Dec

Look at this table!

“Fabulous!”

We finished all the performances in New York! Then we started packing right away. We seemed to be quicker than usual because we were supposed to go to a Korean restaurant in Manhattan to have grilled slices of meat. We arrived at Manhattan at midnight. The Korean restaurant which is our favorite is just around the corner of the Empire State building. It’s open around the clock. It’s crowded all the time and voices are flying. Hot dishes are served one after another. The restaurant is filled with excitement. Ah, it couldn’t be better! How can we convey our happiness to you? We are really, really happy!
We swear we will work hard tomorrow too!


	8th Dec

We are marking the position of the big taiko of about 12 m.

“Last ~”

The last day of the US tour is approaching and we’ve begun to add “last~” to everything. Today we did the ‘last’ position marking on the stage in the ‘last’ city. But we don’t have time to be sentimental! We are going to act briskly today too! The last venue is a hall in a high school. We have one usual performance and one school performance to give.


	9th Dec

We love lobster!

“We’ve Got Our Dearest Wish!”

Please read the reports of November 20th in 2003 and November 17th in 2005. It is becoming one of our tacit pleasures during our US tour to eat “lobster” of Portland, Maine. It tastes so good that we always see if we are going to visit Portland, Maine during our US tour. This time we couldn’t find the name of Portland in our tour schedule and we almost abandoned the plan to eat lobster. But wait! Rockport, where we are now, is located to the north of the same coast as Portland. Today we had a party one day before the end of the US tour. It was the lobster of Maine that we enjoyed at the party. It tasted great! We recommend you to have lobster in Maine when you visit the USA. It tastes good and is inexpensive.


	10th Dec

The taiko in the cover

“Finished!”

We’ve finished the USA tour in 2007! The world tour began in Europe and we flew to Mexico via Japan. During the 76 day-long US tour, we visited 35 cities and gave 57 performances. We are thankful to all the staff members of the theaters and all the people concerned. And also to the crew members of ‘Yamato’ we really feel thankful! We’d like to say “Thank you!” to the people who arranged the concerts, to the audience, to the staff behind stage, to the members on stage, to other members both in Europe and in Japan and all the people supporting us! We feel grateful to all of you from the bottom of our heart.


	11th Dec

Thank you very much, everybody!

“Coming Back to Japan Safe and Sound”

Anyway, we are glad to be back in Japan. The world tour of ‘Yamato’ in 2007 was successfully finished. Thank you for reading our tour report. We are going start 2008 tour in Paris, France. We hope you will enjoy reading our report next year, too! See you!