August 11 Departure  Japan to Spain
Here we go!

Here we go!

Finally itfs time to start the second half of the Yamato 2008 European Tour. For those of us who have been here for a few years, 3 months was a long time to be in Japan.
Now we are off to complete the second part of the tour!
 
August 12 Traveling Day Country: Spain City: To Zaragoza

Takaaki Kado looking just like a tourist, in front of the train to EXPO Zaragoza.

Train trip

Today, we are going to travel by train. It is unusual for Yamato to travel by train and it only happens a few times every year. We will take a high-speed train from Madrid Spain to Zaragoza. We have lots of luggage and lots of people. This time, including staff, there are 19 of us in total.
 

August 13 Country: Spain City: Zaragoza

There were big screens on both sides of the outdoor stage.

Expo 2008
The first concert of the second half of European tour was the outdoor concert in Zaragoza. At this Expo, many artists from all over the world are invited to perform, and Yamato was invited to play as one of them.
We arrived in Zaragoza late at night on the day before our performance From one o`clock in the morning till 7 AM we were working on moving around our equipment and setting up the stage. After the set-up was finished, we were able to sleep. We had lunch and around 4 o`clock in the afternoon and then went back to the theater. We had a sound check and went on for the performance at 11 o`clock at night.
Tiredness and sleepiness were at a peak, BUT there were 9000 people in the audience! Looking around, it was like a mountain of people. Just seeing this all the jet lag, and the tiredness from the previous dayfs events just seemed to fly away and vanish.

The audience really seemed to enjoy our show. After we finally finished everything, we returned to our hotel at 4 AM. Phew, we finally reached the end of a very long day.
 
August 14 Country: Spain City: Madrid
The EXPO mascot and Midori Tamai.

Back to Madrid

The next evening, following our performance at the EXPO, we, once again, got on the high-speed train to return to Madrid. For the next three days, we will be performing outdoor concerts at a venue here, in Madrid. Again, we were unpacking and setting up all our equipment in the middle of the night. Spain is 7 hours behind Japan. So I guess as we were unloading all our equipment, it was around the same time as everyone in Japan was just waking up. As we work through the late hours of the night, we can feel that our bodies are still running on Japanese time a little bit. It goes without saying, that as soon as we had finished our unloading and setting up, we went straight to our hotel, crawled into bed and fell right to sleep.
 
August 15 Country: Spain City: Madrid
gItfs the same haircut as my favorite dinosaurh c Doesnft he look happy?

The Birth of a New Character!
Hello everyone, Here is the Yamato Report for today!

Tetsuro Okubo, one of our members, who has played with Yamato for 8 years now, has changed his hairstyle to a mohawk! With a head that looks like this, he is going to play everything from shime taiko to Odaiko. I wonder how long he is going to keep this hairstyle? Tetsurofs hair grows fairly quickly, so if anyone wants to see the mohawk in person, you had better get to the airport right away and come and see us. The Yamato members will be waiting for you!
 
August 16 Country: Spain City:Madrid
Special dish, Squid Ink Pasta!!

Lunch Party!
Today, the people who took care of us at our Spain concerts invited us to a lunch party. It was in a large yard, and there was even had a pool! Food and drinks were set out on a lovely wooden deck. It was an unforgettable time.

Then, speaking of the pool, although none of us had planned to go in the water, all of a sudden, the boys from Yamato, and the boys from the Dutch staff jumped in the pool and proceeded to hold the Yamato Olympics! The bus home was a complete mess. And by the way, we actually had a performance right after thatc
 
August 17 Country: Spain City:Madrid
Yamato members listening instruction

Practice
Yesterday we had plenty of opportunity to relax and play at the lunch party, but today, it is back to work and practicing.

For the second part of this European tour there are some members who have new parts to remember. Remembering a new part, of course, takes more concentration, and more practice.
 
August 18 (Monday) Traveling Day From Spain to Germany
Hasta Manana!!!

Hasta Manana!

Todayfs Report title, gHasta Manana!h is Spanish for gSee you tomorrowh. We finished our Zaragoza concert, as well as our three outside concerts in Madrid without any problems and now Yamato is ready to move on to the next country. We are very happy for all the many guests who came to see our four concerts in Spain. Thank you very much!
 
August 19@Traveling Day Country: Austria City: Linz
Here we go!

gFootprintsh

Yesterday we left Spain to travel to Linz, Austria, the next stop on our concert tour. Today, on our way to Linz, we stopped to stay overnight in Munich. As long as wefre talking about Munich, we cannot fail to mention, gCircus Kroneh! In 2003, 2004 and 2007 Yamato performed concerts at this famous venue. So today, we planned our morning running route to take us by the Circus Krone theater.
 
August 20 Country: Austria City: Linz
Preparing curry for tomorrow.

gMaking our own dinnerh
Itfs the 10th day now since we started our tour anew. Finally, we have the ability to prepare our own meals. Todayfs lunch is ramen.

When we got on the plane, we were each limited to the strict luggage guidelines of 20 kilograms per person. After packing our costumes, training clothes, and other items needed for the performances, there wasnft much space room for anything else. BUT, not wanting to waste any space, we tried to stuff in as much as we could, wherever we could. The easiest thing to stick into the few remaining spaces was this ramen. Itfs compact, easily prepared, and sooo good!
 
August 21 Country: Austria City: Linz
Member, Takaoki Masui taking measurements.

gBeautyh

Second day of the Linz concerts. We have concerts at the same theater for the next week. What does that mean? That means we do not need time for loading and unloading. Instead, we can take that time and spend it practicing, and making little adjustments to all of our stage items. During our four outdoor performances in Spain, we could find a little time to wipe down and polish our drums and equipment, but today, we are putting in even more effort than usual. These are the drums and stage equipment that has been kept beautiful for so many years by the senior members of Yamato. gYamatofs stage is always beautiful.h We want to work hard to continue this tradition of excellence and beauty.
 
August 22 Country: Austria City: Linz
Practicing the shimedaiko solo with focus, concentration and spirit!

gA New Method of Practicingh

During todayfs rehearsal, we came up with a new method of practicing. One person, on the stage, all alone for 15 minutes. To put it simply, everyone takes a turn doing individual practice for 15 minutes.@There is no teacher or instructor, each individual decides for him or herself what to practice. Obviously, the only thing one can hear is onefs own sounds and rhythms. Even though it is only 15 minutes, there is an intense atmosphere that requires a great deal of concentration. By the time each person reached the end of their 15 minutes they were soaked in sweat. We always want to make a conscious effort to create the best performance possible!
 
August 23 Country: Austria City: Linz (Day 4)
How about a newspaper?

gOn the streets of Linzh
This is an unmanned newspaper stand, which you can sometimes see on the streets of the towns in Europe. In Japan it would most likely take the form of a vending machine, but here, there is only a place to insert the money (this newspaper was 1 Euro, about 160 yen) and you can freely take the newspaper. You can see this same method of selling in our hometown of Asukamura. In Asukamura, itfs not newspapers, though, it is seasonal fruits and vegetables that are being sold.

This method of selling is shows a trusting of peoplefs conscience. The product is different, but the method is the same. It is one cultural aspect that has continued form long ago in many different countries and cities all around the world.
 
August 24 Country: Austria City: Linz (Last performance in Linz)
The view of the stage from the very back row of the theater.
I want to see what Yamatofs show as an audience member! I want to see what I look like standing on the stage, performing. I wonder how my expression and stage presence comes across to the audience. The more we stand on the stage and the more fans we meet, the more we feel that way.  
August 25 Moving Day Austria to Germany
NIPPONI

gNippon!h

We have finished our concerts in Linz, Austria and today we are traveling to our next city, Dortmund, Germany. Itfs about a 10 hour bus journey. At a rest stop during the trip, we found a snack with gNIPPONh written on the packaging in great big letters!!! @Why is this chocolate snack called gNipponh? It seems very strange to us.
 
August 26 Country: Germany City: Dortmund First day concert
The gMusic Rhinoh in front of the theater. He never moves.

gWefre back!h

This year marks our third time to play concerts in Dortmund. Along streets of Dortmund you can find a lot of rhino statues that have been decorated by artists. Once you see them, it leaves an impression you cannot forget. These statues of winged rhinos are all over the town and each one is painted in a different way. It is really fun to walk around the town and see all the different designs. On the last day of our stay in Dortmund, Yamato will select their No. 1 Rhino and introduce it to you here. Which one will it be?
 
August 28 Country: Germany City: Dortmund Third Dayfs Concert
5 cm shorter than our normal bachi (sticks)

gConcert Hallh

This morning we met a Japanese woman during our breakfast at the hotel where we are staying. The conversation we had with her was very interesting. She told us about a friend she has who had a problem with a constant ringing in her ears. (It seems that it is an older German person), but several years ago, she attended a Yamato concert and after that the ringing just stopped! Since then, they have always attended Yamato concerts whenever they could. We are so happy to hear about this experience. When we hear this type of story, it makes us feel the reality of the strange power in the sound of taiko drums.
 
August 29 Country: Germany City: Dortmund Fourth Day Concert
Anyone want a poster?

gNice Find!h

In town we found a store selling Yamato DVDs and CDs! Finding a CD shop in a foreign country, so far away from Japan selling our CDs and DVDs somehow makes us feel happy. Our intensity level for tonightfs concert just got a lot higher.
 
August 30 Country: Germany City: Dortmund Fifth Day Concert
After the matinee, preparation for the next concerts starts right away!

gSet Change!h

Well, today is the first time during the second half of our European tour that we have two performances in one day. If you donft get in the gtwo concert mindseth right from the start of the day, you wonft be able to keep up with the schedule. The matinee is from 4 PM to 6 PM. As the matinee finishes and you begin to think, gAh, wefre finished, time for a breakch, you realize that you donft have any time for a break. In only an hour and a half, the guests for the next concert will begin to arrive. We really have to hurry, (we donft even have time to change out of our costumes); we must immediately get started on getting the stage set. We have to re-arrange the stage, set up the taiko needed for the first song of the concert, get everything in order backstage; therefs not even a second to rest!

The audience at the evening concert really got into the performance. We were called back out for three encores! Maybe, in spite of our exhaustion, there is some strange power being radiated from us.
 
August 31 Country: Germany City: Dortmund Last Day
This is it! Yamatofs No. 1 favorite rhino of 2008!

gGluck Auf!h

To the citizens of Dortmund: gGluck Auf!h
This German phrase is a type of greeting used especially by the people who live in and around Dortmund. gSee you laterh is one of its meanings. Thatfs right, we have finally reached our last concert, and last day in Dortmund. For several days, many people came to see our shows. After the encores, when the hall lights came up, we could see that the audience seats were still completely filled all the way up to the third floor. It was inspiring to look up from the stage and see people in the seats far way standing and clapping for us. It touched our hearts.

To the citizens of Dortmund: gGluck Auf!h