What is Taiko?

Power, passion, artistry and Oriental grace; Japanese taiko drumming is an amazing experience to behold.

Using sets of large wooden drums played in synchronised fashion by a choreographed group, taiko is a captivating performance art that has thrilled audiences worldwide for decades. It's an intensely physical experience as much as it is musical; combining powerful tribal drumming with martial arts style movements and wild vocal shouts and chants.

The most well known Japanese group is the professional taiko group Kodo who live communally on Sado Island, a centre for traditional Japanese folk art. Their first international performance involved running the Boston marathon and then jumping up on stage to perform a 2 hour set - an outstanding feat which demonstrates their unsurpassed fitness and stamina.

Kodo are one of many professional taiko groups in the world. Alongside these professional groups who live and breathe taiko and get paid for it are community groups which are usually made up of people who have normal jobs and drum for the love of it - at universities, schools, community halls and sometimes in people's homes. These groups often make their own drums from wine barrels or have a connection with Japan and gradually build up sets of imported taiko. They'll perform at any event from festivals to weddings, conferences to openings, exhibitions to movie premieres.

Taiko is a very special form of percussion because of the unique combination of the aural with the visual and as such, taiko is permeating the entire planet. There are thousands of taiko groups performing around the world, with an estimated 5,000+ in Japan alone, as well as roughly 2,000 across the USA, Canada, Europe and Oceania.

For a detailed history of taiko from its roots to the present day check out our history of taiko page.

Lianne Stephenson and Corinna Watts