Yoichi watanabe taiko drummers

Yoichi Watanabe, photo by Naokazu Oinuma leader of Tokyo taiko group Amanojaku, is relating his life history and his thoughts on taiko to Isao Tokuhashi and me. It is a project that has just begun.

Yoichi Watanabe founded Amanojaku in But his story _ one man's journey in taiko _ began in the late s, when he was about 10 years old.

And a lot of work still awaits. But it fascinates me for what it promises to deliver in understanding of a great artist, an important era of post-war Japanese creativity and the conceptual and spiritual backbone of modern music called taiko. Yoichi Watanabe founded Amanojaku in To be honest, I am not sure anyone would want to read a book about my life.

Besides, 10 years from now, my thoughts are bound to have changed, and I would need to write another book. I have been doing it all my life. I was in fourth grade when I decided I wanted to be a taiko drummer. And I have never swerved from that path.

I believe that being a taiko drummer was the best job for me.

And it was just one path. It was not an easy path, one filled with thorny bushes along the way. But I have developed a way of looking at life through taiko. And so this book is not a manual about how to play taiko. Please look at a DVD or a read a manual textbook for that.