In a hall on Japan's Sado island, 71-year-old Yoshikazu Fujimoto strikes the imposing drum mounted before him, producing a boom so powerful that it reverberates through the floorboards. Fujimoto is a veteran performer of Japanese taiko drumming, a musical form with roots in religious rituals, traditional theatre and the joyous abandon of seasonal festivals called matsuri. But for all its ancient pedigree, taiko as a stage performance is a fairly modern invention, developed by a jazz musician and popularised in part by one of Japan's most famous troupes: Sado island's Kodo. Fujimoto is the oldest of the 37 musicians that make up the group, which recruits members through a rigorous two-year training programme. It was founded partly to attract people to Sado, off Japan's west coast, and tours internationally, spreading the gospel of taiko. "Taiko itself is like a prayer," said Fujimoto, who came to Sado in 1972 to join the group that evolved into Kodo. This photo … [Read more...] about ‘Straight to your soul’: Japan’s taiko reinvents drum tradition