Taiko Music of Japan

The taiko is a Japanese drum that comes in different sizes and it is used to play a variety of musical genres, this has become particularly famous in the current years as the central instrument of drumming bands whose performance is based on a variety of folk and festival music of the past. Such taiko music is played by large drum bands known as kumi-daiko. Its roots are uncertain, but can be stretched out as far back as the 7^th centuries when a clay figure of a drummer indicates its existence. China influences accompanied, but the instrument and its music remained uniquely Japanese.  Taiko drums during this era were used during fight to intimidate the opponent and to communicate commands, taiko continued to be used in the religious music of Buddhism and Shinto. The previous players were holy men, who played only at special occasions and in small orchestras, but in time secular men (rarely women) also played the taiko in semi-religious festival like the bon dance.

source of picture: en.wikipedia.org

The present band taiko is said to have been invented by Daihachi Oguchi in 1951, a jazz drummers. Oguchi incorporated his musical background into the large bands, which he had also created. His energetic pattern made his orchestra famous all over the Japan, and made the Hokuriku area a center for taiko music. Artists to arise from this wave of popularity include Sukeroki Daiko and his band-mate Seido Kobayashi. The year 1969 saw an orchestra known as Za Ondekoza established by Tahayasu Den, Za Ondekoza gathered together young artists who invented a new roots renewal version of the taiko, which was used as a way of life in communal lifestyles,. During the 1970s, the Japanese government allocated funds to preserve Japanese tradition and several community taiko orchestras were established. Later in the century, the taiko orchestras spread all over the world, especially to the United States, the video game of taiko drum master is based around taiko.