Finally back after many years, the INADANI Taiko Course GRAND TOUR will return in 2025.
The GRAND TOUR is a two week special intensive taiko course that only happens once every three years.
June holds a great moment in time as the
INADANI Taiko Course GRAND TOUR is paired with the
Saiwai Shimoina Wadaiko Festival.
Taiko Course participants will have a chance to join perform one piece in the Fringe Festival during the week and receive free tickets to the Super Show concert.
Registration for the INADANI Taiko Course will open December 2024:
Follow this link to see all of TOKARA Workshops in Japan
Thank you to everyone who came to the Saiwai Shimoina Wadaiko Festival.
The day was a great success with the Fringe Festival in the morning, the Katsugi Okedo workshops at noon, and the Super Show in the afternoon.
We were so happy that we could finally bring Oedo Sukeroku Taiko back to Nagano Prefecture for a performance with us in the grand theater.
It was such a great performance, and great that we could end the concert with a collaboration song together.
Tokara's next concert will take place on August 20th in the Ena Bunka Center Grand Theater in Ena City, Gifu Prefecture.
This will be a free concert which is organized by Ena Juki. The poster is viewable on the left.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Making History!!
We were happy to once again participate in the Narita Taiko Festival, the world's largest taiko festival, in April.
What was extra special was that we were honoured to create the first time in the 33 year history of the festival a group of participants
from different countries coming together to participate as one registered group during the opening ceremony of 800+ taiko performers.
We are already in conversation with the festival about continuing this as an ongoing yearly project.
Tokara is now getting ready for the summer season with concerts in Tokyo and Ena City, as well as our yearly curated
festival, the Saiwai Shimoina Wadaiko Festival. And the INADANI Taiko Drumming Course in June.
We are also very much looking forward to touring in Europe again after four years!!
Art and Yukari will be looking forward to meeting our many European friends from years past, and making new friends.
More details as we get closer to mid-Summer.
Birthday Celebrations in March
March is the start of a very busy few months for Tokara, but we are very happy to be busy again performing, teaching and meeting many people from around the world.
During the week of March 6 - 10, we were joined by 15 participants from around the world to Iida, Japan for Tokara Bootcamp 2023.
At the end of the course, the group will travels to Kurokawa, Shirakawa-cho, Gifu Prefecture, for Art Lee's 30th Anniversary Concert "Kobushi" at the Azumaza Kabuki Playhouse Theater.
Immediately after this concert, Art Lee and Yukari Ichise will travel to Singapore to continue teaching one of Tokara's taiko pieces, 'POP'.
Since Art Lee composed this piece in 2017, it has been performed by many taiko groups throughout 15 countries. Now this will expand to 16 countries as
Singapore will be the first country in Asia, after Japan, to have a group performing this piece in their repertoire.
Thank you to everyone who continues to support us. We are looking forward to more concerts and performances,
with the Art Lee 30th anniversary concert tour this year and TOKARA's 20th anniversary concert next year in 2024.
Art Lee 30th Anniversary Tour begins in Iida City - February 12, 2023
The first concert of Art Lee's 30th Anniversary World Tour begins in the Iida Culture Theater on February 12, 2023.
Having been in isolation for nearly three years due to both liver transplant and covid restrictions, Art, joined by Tokara members, plan to
begin touring the world again from next year.
Tickets for the Iida Concert go on sale from December 20th.
Click here for more details
Art Lee and TOKARA were featured in a documentary on NHK World starting May 29th.
See the full documentary online
Here
