Japanese Taiko Drums
Taiko is the Japanese word for drum.
And while the literal translation is “big drum,”
taiko come in many shapes and sizes.
The origins of taiko are unclear,
but archeological evidence shows their use in performances
at least as early as the 6th century CE.
These days taiko drums are used in traditional events like shrine festivals,
artistic plays such as Noh, Kabuki, and Kyogen,
and of course, performances.
Today we visit the taiko drum family Miura, at the Miura Taiko Ten.
The Miura family has been building and repairing taiko drums for 6 generations,
and all family members take part of the process.
Some of them even play the drums themselves.
The founder’s name is Yaichi Miura,
and each successive owner inherits not only his pride and techniques, but also his name.
The 6th Yaichi, Kazuya Miura
Could you stand on the edges?
This is the rawhide used for taiko drums.
From this we'll cut out the drum skins.
This is the back of the cow. Its head, spine, stomach...
Each part has a different quality and thickness.
So different types of taiko drums need to use different parts of the skin.
When we make big drums, you can see the line of the spine on them.
Now I'm going to shave the skin.
Dry hides are too hard to work with,
so before Kazuya can shave the skin, it must be soaked in water.
First he stretches the skin, releasing excess water,
and then he shaves it thinner to create the perfect taiko sound.
This is our founder, the 1st Yaichi Miura.
Next year will be our 150th anniversary. (Founded 1865)
When we make or fix drums, we write our name and the date inside.
Sometimes we find really old drums.
The oldest drum we repaired was made in 1577.
There are 10 names written inside this drum in the past 500 years.
This is the first, second, third, fourth, fifth...
sixth, seventh, eighth...
The eighth one is actually our name, Yaichi Miura.
Ninth, and then us.
The drum has been repaired about every 50 years.
While Kazuya works with the raw hides, and Shiho paints drum skins,
the 5th Yaichi, is shaping a finished skin onto a drum body.
The 5th Yaichi, Hiroshi Miura
I'm making a hole to put in a stick and hook a rope around.
It needs to be stretched further to achieve the precise sound
that their family has spent decades perfecting.
To do this, wooden sticks will be inserted into the skin
and then pulled downward with rope.
This is what the rope wraps around.
To prevent the skin from tearing,
thread is sewn around the wooden sticks, fixing them firmly in place.
This used to be a taiko skin so it has holes.
This prevents the drum from getting scratched.
I'll stretch the skin by stepping on it.
It's impossible to stretch the skin fully by myself,
so I'll use hydraulic jacks.
Taiko drums are actually communication tools.
So you can't really get the message by watching performances through videos.
You have to hear the sound of taiko drums in real life and feel the energy to understand it.
These days you can search and get any information you want easily.
But there's no direct interaction there.
You may be able to get a hint of taiko, but you can't actually feel it through videos.
So if foreigners want to understand taiko...
Right! Please come here!
Lightly.
We'll play quietly.
1...2...3...4...
Quietly!
That was too loud.
I'm sorry.
No, it was great!
I could feel it!
Japanese drums