Kodo, a Japanese professional taiko drumming troupe, performed its latest repertoire “Warabe” at the IU Auditorium on Friday.
In the Japanese language, the word " Kodo" has two meanings. It can mean "heartbeat" — the fundamental source of all rhythm. However, the characters used for the group's name have a different meaning, combining the words for "drum" and "child." This choice reflects Kodo’s aspiration to approach drumming with the pure heart of a child.
For its 40th anniversary in 2021, Kodo created two works inspired by its name. "Tsuzumi” draws from the character for "drum," while “Warabe” is rooted in the meaning of "child." The ensemble toured North America for “Tsuzumi” in 2023 and is set to bring “Warabe” to North America this year through March 29.
“Warabe” revisits the ensemble’s classic repertoire and aesthetics from its early years, incorporating simple yet powerful forms of taiko expression. The production highlights the distinct sound, resonance and physicality that define Kodo— remaining, at heart, eternal children of the drum.
Yui Kamiya, Kodo’s production manager, responded to Indiana Daily Student’s questions over email.
He said many of the current performers of Kodo started to play taiko since their childhood with a local group in their hometowns. He said Kodo’s precedent group was formed in 1971 with the intent of creating a university to study traditional performing art forms and crafts.
Since 1971, Sado Island in Japan served as Kodo’s home and creative foundation, deeply influencing its artistic philosophy. The island inspired Kodo’s pursuit of harmony between people and nature and as the group traveled across the world, members encountered diverse cultures, learning from both their similarities and differences, effectively shaping their artistic identity.
Since debuting at the Berlin Festival in 1981, the group performed over 7,000 times across five continents, spending a third of each year touring internationally, another third touring in Japan and the remainder rehearsing new material on Sado Island.
The Kodo Cultural Foundation, established in 1997, expanded the group’s capacity for outreach projects on Sado Island. As a nonprofit, it focuses on social education and community engagement while preserving local traditions.
The foundation leads initiatives such as habitat conservation, revitalization of rare crafts and cultural research. It also organizes workshops, manages the Sado Island Taiko Centre and plans events like the annual Earth Celebration music festival, furthering Kodo’s mission of sustaining and evolving traditional arts.
The Kodo Apprentice Centre, housed in a former school in Kakinoura on Sado Island, trains the next generation of Kodo performers irrespective of their background. Apprentices live communally for two years, learning taiko drumming, dance, song and physical discipline. Each January, select apprentices became probationary junior members, and after an additional year of training, the most dedicated individuals joined Kodo as full members.
Kamiya said the Kodo members also work on themselves individually in preparing for long tours, both physically and mentally. While Kodo’s music is deeply rooted in Japanese tradition and the taiko drum, Kamiya said the ensemble travels all around the world and the members get inspired by everything they see and feel, thriving to seek the limitless possibilities of the instrument.
“For our North America tours, performing at a university venue is becoming common,” Kamiya said. “We love that we get to share our music and performance with scholars and younger generations, as well as the surrounding supportive community.”
Kamiya said taiko is a non-verbal instrument, where performers and the audience can connect with just the sound of the drums. The sound of the taiko drum is said to be similar to the sound of a mother’s heartbeat when heard in the womb.
“The sound resonates with your heart and soul, whoever you may be, or where you come from,” he said. “It’s a common vibration and sound that we all share as human beings.”
Kamiya said while the taiko drum is easy to strike and produce sound, mastering it requires years of training and experience. He also noted that taiko is unique in its highly physical nature, demanding precision and attention to detail to perform at a professional level.
The “Warabe” repertoire at the IU Auditorium featured 11 performances and lasted 2 hours, with the audience clapping along during the encore towards the finale.
Ethan Krieger, an IU student, said he had never seen a production of this quality.
“(It was) so cool,” Krieger said. “Sometimes I couldn’t believe the things they were doing were humanly possible.”
John Walker, another audience member, said he previously saw Kodo perform about two decades ago.
“The aesthetic, the attention to detail and the rigor they put into it was flat-out outstanding,” Walker said. “They’re all young people but they’ve spent many years under training and practice to bring this alive and give it the quality that draws in an international audience.”
