3 Month Summary of Taiko, Tokyo, and Tawoo
Top 6 lists to sum it up.
Today marks my fourth month in Japan! Time goes by fast!
Here’s a reflection of the first 3 months slammed into one post. Keep in mind, I came on visa during a time the country was closed to visitors because of the coronavirus:
Top 6 Things I’ve Learned as a Foreigner in Japan.
Checking out at a kombini can be intimidating. I’m mistaken for a local and can’t keep up with their questions. Rather than explaining, check out this video below":
Initially, Tokyo was not as English friendly as I was told. this view has changed after the first month adjustments and it’s scary how doable it would be to live in the city without knowing the language.
The alleys are streets. Don’t overlook the small stuff.
There’s a process for everything. Learning the details leads to the big picture.
I rarely drink water with meals, and don’t expect a readily available fountain.
Being in and respecting nature is essential to the soul. 65%-70% of Japan is made up of forests.
Obviously, there’s much more that can’t be constrained to a simple process like listing, and who knows if this is actually my “top.” There’s too much! Maybe the goal of this is to convince you to come to Japan, but especially to study with Kaoly san.
So who is Kaoly san? Is she a sensei? A witch? Is she playing wadaiko, taiko, or none of the above? She taught her piece ELEVEN during the KaDON retreat in 2019. ELEVEN was written following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011. There was nationwide confusion and sadness, and they stopped playing taiko during this time. When the group reunited, this piece was born in just 1 day. Below is her message about the piece.
With this piece and her magic, Kaoly Asano brought 50ish strangers to Wisconsin, USA, and in 3 days helped us form connections and trust which created an environment of vulnerability with one another. Although her English is quite good, I’ve never been a part of something this deep that transcended language barriers.
Like in her description of ELEVEN, I began to question what my life purpose is as a taiko player.
Context to when I arrived in Japan: The group was preparing for their 25th anniversary show, Tawoorhythm and their first large performance in almost 3 years.
There are two groups. GOCOO is hand selected by Kaoly san, and they perform and collaborate with other professional groups and artists. TAWOO (pronounced “Tahh-oh”) is a dedicated community of over 100 taiko people. This could be considered their dojo. You could say they are students, but the goal of this dojo is not to become a member of GOCOO or a perfect taiko player. It’s more complex than that.
Top 6 TAWOO/ GOCOO Reflections:
They’re not “traditional” wadaiko people in the Meiji and Edo sense, but perhaps they represent the tradition of another, farther back period of Japan.
Their style of playing circles around specific fundamentals (tanden, breath, rotation, teinei, and circles, incidentally). Beyond that, such as foot placement and headbanging, it’s up to the individual because everyone is different and feels taiko differently.
Their physicality may look different, but it still uses the tanden and focuses around the spine similarly to other groups
They often say “Anything is okay,” but they have serious commitment and passion. For example, they have casual 10 hour practices in 1 day
Taiko is important because of the people that play it. You are the one that makes the sound waves.
GOCOO and TAWOO values its members and audience. They write songs for its members using themes that anyone can relate to. TAWOO’s songs allow all taiko levels to play.
OMG so many nuggets to dive into, but for now, let’s focus on #6. Many of the Tawoo pieces are Called T# or Beat T#. “T” indicates a Tawoo song, but the rest is for interpretation by the player, or viewer. Although all of their songs have a specific feeling and some actually have a storyline, Kaoly san creates pieces with enough room to allow for the individual to draw their own conclusions.
The first practice I joined was practicing T9 in preparation for Tawoorhythm. The players were conveying a sort of raw emotion, almost as if fighting sadness, during their practice. Following, I was told by bilingual Tawoo member Yoko chan that T9 is a piece about saying goodbye to a deceased loved one as they cross a spiritual bridge to forever leave life, and it was expressed that some members cried when learning this piece because it was relatable to what was going on in their life.
A few days later, I sat in the dark back row of Asakusa Public Hall, watching the runthrough of T9, sobbing into a tenegui. An hour later, Gocoo member Chiyo asked me if I had a tenegui to open up and use for something. I brought it out and it was covered in snot.
Some members knew me as the one who cried a lot at the KaDON retreat. I’m just holding true to the name.
OH AND FOOD -
...and drink! Terada Honke is located in Chiba and using techniques that dates back to Edo. The microorganisms that ferment the rice are in the air of the place they brew, which has also been around since Edo. There was one small, but important matsuri in Kamogawa, Chiba celebrating the rice harvest season, and I was fortunate enough to go with Tawoo to perform. There was plenty of Terada Honke and another company’s sake who actually used the farmers’ rice who were at the festival! As we were leaving, I realized all I had to drink that day was sake and coffee! It was so smooth, I guess I didn’t realize I didn’t drink any water.
This was amazing to read 😃 thank you for doing this!!
This makes me so happy and ancy to get to nihon someday. Im so curious about those loooong shime they have