I was fortunate to be a part of about twenty taiko players from North America selected travel to Sado and study with the world famous Kodo and Hanayui.

The tour, organized by Janet Koike of RhythMix Cultural Works, included the Nihon Taiko concert in Tokyo, a visit to the Miyamoto Drum Museum and retail store, a visit to Kodo Village and a Bunya puppet show. Of course the highlight of the tour was the stay at the Kodo Apprentice Center and the various workshops.

Staying at the Kodo Apprentice Center was a special, once in a lifetime experience. Though they went easy on the Americans, we got a small taste of what it is like to be a Kodo apprentice.

We started each morning at 6:30 am with exercises and a morning run - it was only two kilometers instead of the ten that the real apprentices run. Then, we had breakfast and then were assigned cleaning chores.

After the chores came the morning and afternoon workshops by each member of Hanayui and Eiichi Saito. It was an unbelievable experience to be in workshops conducted by world class instructors at the Kodo Apprentice Center on Sado Island.

I was overwhelmed by the way everyone shared with each other. The instructors, the apprentices and the workshop participants themselves had a positive energy that flowed through everything from chores to meals to workshops. The common love of taiko bonded everyone together and over came the differences in language and culture.

Once the workshops and touring was over there was still lots of excitement. First of all we had to leave Sado a day early to avoid a typhoon. Then, some of us had to spend an extra three days in Tokyo because we were scheduled to leave on September 12. (Japan is one day ahead of the U.S.)

I was happy to return home to my family but spending time on Sado was a truly memorable experience.