is a six-man

taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming ...

drumming group. founded in 1995 by Jin-ichi Hiranuma. The name comes from the city the group is from (

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

) along with the Japanese words for group (dageki) and “strike hard” (dan). One of their main goals is to revive and conserve traditional

drumming, such as that heard in imperial palaces, with their focus on the various sizes and styles of these drums from the odaiko to the shime-daiko. However, they have experimented with adding other elements to the traditional rhythms, both to modernize and experiment with what the drums can do. Despite the name not all the drumming is loud. There are more subtle performances as well as accompaniment by other instruments such as flutes,

cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. Although they are t ...

gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

s and vocals. The group has collaborated with Chinese percussionist Meng Xiao Liang, tomback drummer Esfandiar Lali of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and vocalist Sergio Vargas of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. Tokyo Dagekidan first performed publicly with the Japanese Drumming Concert sponsored by the National Theater of Japan. They perform at various taiko festivals, as well as cultural and educational events around Japan. Abroad, the group has performed in countries such as

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

(1996), tours of France and Africa in 2000, Europe (U.K.,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and Germany) in 2000, Russia (2003), toured the Caribbean in 2004 (Barbados, Cuba and Dominican Republic), toured Thailand, Malaysia and Brunei in 2007. They played representing Japan at the closing ceremonies of the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. In 2012 and 2014, the group toured various cultural festivals in Mexico and inaugurated the

Festival Internacional Cervantino The Festival Internacional Cervantino (FIC), popularly known as ''El Cervantino'', is a festival which takes place each fall in the city of Guanajuato, located in central Mexico. The festival originates from the mid 20th century, when short play ...

, a performance attended by Prince Fumihito Akishino and his wife Kiko. Tokyo Dagekidan also appeared in ''Kyoki no Sakura'', a film produced by Toei.

Members

* Murayama Jiro on Bansuri * Tomofumi Tagawa on Taiko * Kato Takuya on Taiko * Yokoyama Ryosuke on Taiko * Tsuyuki Kazuhiro on Taiko * Sato Akihiro on Taiko * Hasegawa Toru Taiko (alternate)

References

{{reflist 1995 in Japanese music Musical groups from Tokyo Performing groups established in 1995 Japanese traditional music