July 5th Workshop for Beginners by “Yamato”

Today we gave a demo lesson of the Taiko or Japanese traditional drums for beninners.
The instructor was Mr. Tetsuro Okubo and the assistant instructor was Ms. Mariko Nito. He had been working on the lesson plan for the workshop and was very nervous just before the demo lesson. At first there was a tense atmosphere because of Mr. Okubo’s strain but the participants were all so cheerful that his tension was immediately blown away.
They beat and beat the taiko with little rest. I’m afraid they will have muscular pain tomorrow. I hope they will have a good rest today and will participate in another workshop next time.

July 6th Workshop for the Experienced

We had a workshop today, too. Today’s lesson is for people who have experienced playing the taiko.. As we had expected, they played the taiko well. I felt their energy even when they were singing in time to the music. Their drum stick-movement was stable and they knew how to use their bodies. After the satisfactory practice of two hours we all had lunch together.
In fact it was a hard practice, but they all concentrated to the end without becoming dull. “I’m tired,” they said but “When are you going to give another lesson?” they asked.
The whole lesson was 4 hours long but it seemed like just a moment. To the participants, “You did a good job!”

Tanabata (Star Festival) and Nagashi-Somen (Japanese vermicelli floating
down the half-cut bamboo tube)

Hello, Readers! It’s July 7th, Star Festival Day today. We decided to do Nagashi-Somen for Star Festival.

Whenever we try to do something new, we cannot do it without arranging everything by ourselves. We began it with cutting a bamboo tree. In about one hour we completed making the half-cut bamboo tube where somen or Japanese vermicelli floats down in the running water. Then we made bamboo cups for the sauce for somen。too.
Now it’s time for eating. Each of us waits for somen to come down the half-cut bamboo tube and catch it with chopsticks. It’s just a simple action but how enjoyable it is!

Today’s reporter is Ms. Marika Nito.

We had the third workshop of the Taiko today.
At first the participants looked a little nervous but gradually were getting used to drumming the taiko as they shouted in a loud voice and moved their bodies vigorously. They were absorbed in beating the taiko in half an hour.
Among those adult participants, were two elementary school girl students. We were surprised to see how well the two girls beat the taiko. Some even said they could not be beginners. (Actually they played so well as to become model players for other participants.)
In so doing, two hours passed like an arrow and the first-met participants made friends with one another. Now they were friends who had practiced the taiko together until their hands grazed. We finished the workshop with their harmonized performance.
It was the moment we appreciated the taiko again.

Today’s reporter is Tetsuro Ohkubo

Today we had a workshop of the carry-on-the-shoulder-type drums for beginners.
It was four- hour- long workshop (two hours in the morning and another two hours in the afternoon). It was a pretty hard schedule for beginners. Before the workshop we had wondered if the participants could keep up with the hard practice but once the workshop began, we found that we didn’t have to worry. The participants were so tough.
They were working feverishly and we, the instructors became all the more enthusiastic.
It was even moving how hard they were working on beating the unfamiliar type of the drums. They gripped the drum sticks tightly, shouted in a loud voice and made use of their whole bodies. I hope they would have another opportunity of beating the taiko!