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Shoten Taiko Drummers: Sharing the heartbeat of Japanese Taiko Drumming with the Middle East

Established in 2014, the group have been performing Taiko Drumming in many countries around the region.
Established in 2014, the group have been performing Taiko Drumming in many countries around the region.
Established in 2014, the group have been performing Taiko Drumming in many countries around the region.
Established in 2014, the group have been performing Taiko Drumming in many countries around the region.
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14 Aug 2024 03:08:51 GMT9
14 Aug 2024 03:08:51 GMT9

Amin Abbas

Shoten Taiko Drummers, the Middle East’s first Japanese Taiko Drumming performing group founded in Dubai in 2014, have been bringing the thunderous sounds and pounding rhythms of Taiko across the region for the past 10 years, with energizing and enthralling performances.

Founder of Shoten Taiko Drummers, James shared exclusively to Arab News Japan the story of establishing the Taiko Drumming performing group: “Shoten was established in 2014 when I moved to Dubai from my home country of the UK. I had been playing taiko (Japanese drums) for several years in the UK with a local group, having been to Japan a number of times and seen some professional groups perform there. Upon arriving in Dubai, I have found that no taiko groups existed here – not only in the UAE, but actually across the entire Middle East region. It was then that I reached out to Dubai Drums, a long-established drumming and teambuilding company based in Dubai, and found that they actually already had some taiko drums, but never used them as no one knew how to play them. And that basically was the day that Shoten was formed.

Since then, we have gone on to play events including Japan National Day at Expo 2020 in the Al Wasl dome, New Year’s Eve at The Atlantis, Japan Festival in Dubai, Brave MMA in Bahrain, high-end Japanese restaurants including Netsu and Nobu, and for many Japanese corporations including Toyota, Shiseido, Asics and Mitsubishi to name but a few.”

About the challenges that he has faced for establishing Shoten Dubai Taiko Drummers, James said: “10 years ago, very few people in Dubai knew what taiko drumming was, aside from the Japanese expats living here. There had been a few taiko artists flown in for special one-off events on a couple of occasions, but that was the extent of the exposure taiko had received in the UAE.

“The UAE was also going through a transition period of being attracting and facilitating more varied international acts and artforms, with world-class performance venues such as Dubai Opera still being either under construction or just recently opened.

“The diplomatic relations between the UAE and Japan have also been as strong as ever, and with a huge global interest in Japanese culture in general, including food and music, there was intrigue and curiosity in what this form of drumming from Japan was about.

“For the first time, it also gave Japanese companies and restaurants the opportunity to present this traditional Japanese artform at their venue or event without the costs of flying people, and very large and heavy drums, in from Japan. So, our biggest challenge was raising general awareness of what taiko was from almost zero.”

About Shoten Dubai Taiko Drummers’ main goals, James said: “Our goals are quite simply to allow people in the Middle East to experience another unique side of the Japanese culture in the form of taiko drumming, that they wouldn’t otherwise easily be able to find outside of Japan – although taiko in general is becoming much bigger globally, with many groups now in the US and Europe.

“We perform both modern and traditional repertoires, which are quite different and appeal in different ways to different audiences, and the great thing about the UAE is that it gives you such a diverse audience. We’ve also performed a number of collaborations with artists from other musical styles, which is something we are always open to exploring creatively to find new, original ideas”.

About the feedback of the people who attended to Shoten Dubai Taiko Drummers’ activities so far, James said:” Taiko is often something that people have never experienced before – at least not in person. Initially, people are usually surprised by just how loud the drums are and how much the beats reverberate through their body and into their soul – much more so than other styles of drumming, such as Arabic that are much higher pitched and just not as loud.

“Taiko is also quite different to other forms of drumming in that it uses full body movements, rather than just using your hands or wrists, and therefore it is often as much dance or theatre as it is music.

“In general, people are usually enthralled by experiencing something so different to what they are used to, although we have had a few people say that it is just too loud for them to comfortably enjoy.”

Regarding Shoten Dubai Taiko Drummers upcoming activities, James said: “We will be performing at ADIHEX at ADNEC, Abu Dhabi for 3 days at the end of August and beginning of September – this is our 3rd year performing at the event, and the largely Emirati crowds are always very receptive.

“In October, we have the debut performance of our show entitled “The Echoes of Japan” by our new ensemble, TOKIWA, with Shakuhachi (bamboo flute) player Kyle Chomei, and Koto (Japanese strings) player Mai Taniguchi joining us on stage at TODA (Souk Madinat) in Dubai.

“This will be a very unique one-hour feature-length show, featuring both traditional and modern pieces of Japanese music, set to a 360° visual show. TODA is a very unique venue that we are extremely excited to debut this show at, and our aim is to immerse you both audibly and visually into the world of Japan through the ages – we hope to see many people and Japan-enthusiasts there on Saturday 12th October.”

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