Sun, sea and Sado island

Sado island is the home of taiko drummers Kodo, the Earth Celebration Festival and hundreds of years of history. KS cruises off to a unique summer getaway.

As we pull up in the rental van in the parking lot at the Sado Island ferry, a mixed group of foreigners and dreadheaded Japanese huddle around in a makeshift drum circle and pound out an upbeat rhythm on bongos and djembes. A few feet away, a group of tie-dye and hemp-clad women lick dripping ice cream cones between spurts of excited chatter. A little ways past the streams of animated fun-seekers, inside the terminal, a mommy and daddy hand out ferry tickets to their four curious tykes. For all the differences between these people, there is one common tie: palpable excitement for their trip to Sado’s Earth Celebration.

Over the next hour, the masses pile onto the huge cruise ship-like ferry and it slips away from Niigata’s Honshu coast and into the ocean’s expanse. After 35 km it will reach Sado Island (Sadogashima, population 77,000), Japan’s sixth largest island at about 855 square kilometers.

Two and a half hours later, as the lush green- ness of the island pulls itself into view, the rustling leaves of the treecovered rolling hills — the peaks of which are 1,173 meters along the O-Sado range in the island’s north — seem to whisper tales of Sado’s rich nature, culture and history.

In medieval times, around the eighth century, the island became a place of exile for many political dissidents and other “difficult” important figures — the first of whom was poet Hozumi no Asomioyu, in 722, as a punishment for his criticism of the emperor. Other not- able dissidents banished to the island include Emperor Juntoku, famed Buddhist priest Nichiren and Noh dramatist Zeami Motokiyo.

At the turn of the 17th century, gold was found at the river Aikawa and prisoners were forced to work as slaves to mine the metal. When there weren’t enough prisoners to perform the back- breaking labor, the homeless were shipped out to work in the grueling conditions. The mine closed in 1989, but a visit to the island today might include a tour of the Sado Kinzan Gold Mine with a reproduction played out by electric-powered dolls, a nearby museum or any of several other historical landmarks, temples or shrines — remnants of the island’s past.

Since 1988, a group of dedicated taiko drummers has harnessed the island’s boot camp-like nature to give birth to Kodo — arguably the nation’s most revered taiko drumming group.

Every year, Kodo accepts a group of apprentices who undergo intense train- ing deep in the mountains, where they must live and breathe the beat of the drum every waking and dreaming hour for two years. Apprentices must abstain from sex, television, radio, cigarettes and alcohol. Through each day of all four extreme seasons — through the scorching heat of the summer sun, the bitter whips of winter cold and the weeks of unrelenting rainy season — everyone must walk one kilometer up a mountain as part of the rigorous physical and mental training.

Apprentices also attend lectures on culture, history and traditions. They must study dance and drumming, and learn how to play the flute as well as other traditional instruments. They must learn the art of tea ceremony; must carve their own drumsticks and chopsticks; must learn how to eat with their weak hands so they become ambi- dextrous. To cultivate the communal-living experience, they grow and prepare all of their own food and live together under the same roof, in a once-abandoned schoolhouse in Kodo Village, nestled among 25 acres of forest in the island’s southern Ogi Peninsula.

At the end of the two years, only a tiny fraction of the group (usually one or two people) are chosen to become Kodo members, so the outsider can only begin to imagine the strength and cohesiveness of this group.

The group has traveled around the globe to give over 2,900 performances in 44 countries since holding its six-month world tour in 1984, transcending all genres and borders on a journey into a new age of music as it continually collaborates with various distinctive artists — many of whom have been invited over the years to per- form in the lush natural paradise setting at Earth Celebration.

As the ferry docks, the sound of Kodo’s soul reverberate from the rocky green hills under the azure skies. A large grassy lawn hosts a village made up of market stalls selling Asian and ethnic clothing and accessories, along with international foods of various kinds. For the next three days, the area will be packed full with workshops and performances.

Flute-making workshops, games of capoeira, photography exhibitions, wind ensembles and lectures on music are among a few of the events at Shiroyama Park and the other locations.

Local buses wind around the island, and on the opposite side, about a 15-minute ride away, Sobama beach offers a sweet view and a place to cool off just a few minutes’ walk from the campgrounds. If campers arrive after sundown, it would be wise to remember to pitch tents under trees if they don’t want to wake up the next morning in a sauna. Other lodging in the Ogi area tends to get scooped up quickly, so reservations should be made well in advance.

After setting up camp, possibly taking a dip and then enjoying some of the water-front entertainment at Shiroyama Park (or catching a few of the numerous random street performances), a walk up the side of a small mountain leads to Kisaki Shrine’s massive open air stage. Hundreds sit on the grassy expanse of lawn while others stand along the side- lines ready to get their collective boogie down to the eclectic mix of musicians.

This year’s festival boasts an impressive lineup of past favorite guests, including tap dance wizard Tamango, whose spectacular skills have been garnered from his experiences in Cayenne, Paris and New York (and he wowed the audi- ence last year with his rapid-fire jazzy Afro-Caribbean footwork), and Tokyo native jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita, who performed at the first ever Earth Celebration and returned again to help celebrate the 10th anniversary.

Indian music master Zakir Hussain, contemporary Latin music luminary Giovanni Hidalgo, Portuguese folk-song (“Fado”) vocalist Miho Matsuda, Okinawan dance troupe Ryukyu Geinou-Dan and traditional drumming group Miyake Geino Doshikai are also among the lineup of all-star performers this year at Kisaki Shrine. After the main shows end each evening, those who aren’t ready to call it a night head back to Sobama beach for more drumming, dancing and drinking around bonfires.

With such talent placed in truly delightful natural surroundings, a marvelous fusion of the international community and traditional Japan is born again for the 20th time. Kodo continues to forge ahead into new artistic frontiers, providing all in attendance with a most memorable weekend.

Text: Thomasina Larkin
Photos: Coutrsey Kodo