My last real post was about Yasukuni, I'm prepping for a visit to Hiroshima this week, and I haven't touched the Yushukan yet, so I want to give political material a rest.

A couple weeks ago, the program I am studying with set up an opportunity for us to visit a taiko drum studio to watch a performance, and even participate in a short lesson. Of course I went. Taiko is one of the coolest things I've seen/heard since coming here. The amount of noise one of these drums can produce is terrifying, so you can only imagine what some group performances of 20 or more drums are like.

I took some videos. Bad, grainy quality, but that's what I've got to work with.

First performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTSUeZD2yDY

Second performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h2nc1mRXJU

The instructors explained how the drums are made. Cow hide from the back of the cow stretched over a drum carved from a single piece of wood taken from the trunk of a tree.

Taiko drums record in at around 110 dB when struck from the center. A symphony is around 90 dB. 130 dB is enough to cause permanent ear damage. Every time the drum was hit, my eyes slammed shut on reflex. They were so loud up close I could feel the blasts with my whole body.

The lesson was a lot of fun. The instructor would teach us a pattern, we'd repeat it, and he would add to it. Like an loud game of Simon. Hitting the drum usually involved bringing the sticks down from over the head in big, exaggerated strokes. So, a lot of fun, but my arms were sore for about 3 days afterwards.