Entertainment at Japanese festivals: taiko drum performances

Over the last couple of years, I have been showcasing some of the festival food available at "matsuri", Japanese festivals. But what about entertainment? Well, there is that too! Last year, I did introduce one of the uniquely Japanese forms of festival entertainment - the monkey shows known as sarumawashi. This year, I hope to introduce a few more.

Entertainment ranges greatly from festival to festival, and some forms of entertainment are more common than others. Such as, live performances either music or dance, or both. In that group, is taiko performances. They are very common at Japanese festivals around Japan. Taiko (太鼓) refers to Japanese drums and the powerful, rhythmic style of ensemble drumming built around them.

A taiko performance is so common at a festival, that I think it is fair to say that it is rare to attend a festival without at least one taiko performance. Even at my area's tiny, local festival we have a taiko performance! The taiko in the photo in this post is performed by children. I took it at a children's day festival last year, hence the flying carp (koinobori), left of the photo. Children's Day Festivals are coming up soon, usually held on May 5th or at some time during Golden Week.