Sado Island is the home of the world famous Kodo taiko drummers and is one of the biggest reasons Tom and I selected this particular cruise.  Tom is a big taiko fan and has been following the Kodo group for years.  Sado is the 6^th largest island in Japan.  When we arrived at the Ogi port in Mano Bay, we were met with a welcoming group from Sado.  One of the characters in the group was representative of the island’s mascot, a red-breasted ibis “Sadokki.”

Our bus stopped first at the Sado Island Taiko Center and were given a slide lecture on the history of the creation of a school for traditional Japanese performing arts – taiko drumming, bamboo flute, Kabuki, Noh, wood crafts, cooking, and many others.  That was followed by a class in drumming from Sammy, one of the Kodo drummers.  Each of the guests got to try their hand at drumming, 25 at a time.  The photo of me with an embarrassed look was because I hit the drum five times instead of four and it was quite noticeable.  After the two classes, Sammy gave a demonstration on the biggest drum in the room.  It was a single piece carved by the Kodo members out of the trunk of a 600-year old “keyaki” (Japanese Zelkova) tree.  Another drum was carved out of the same tree trunk.  Tom and others then had a chance to play the big drum.

The second stop was a walking tour of the picturesque fishing village of Shukunegi, where more than a hundred traditional Edo-period houses line the narrow streets.  One of the houses was built in the form of a triangle to fit the street.  There was a small temple and a graveyard within the town.  At one time, 600 people lived here, and now there are about 30 families.  At the water side, we saw some barrel “tub boats” that were once quite popular in the area.  The newly-trained boat maker was also there.  The photo of the manhole cover, which happens to have a barrel boat on it, shows that each town has their own unique decorative covers.

We were back on board before lunch so that the ship could spend the day heading north.  Another group of people and characters were at the dock as we left.  One of the gifts we received was a streamer that we threw to shore as we were departing.  There were two lectures in the afternoon.  The first was “Japan and its Neighbors” by Professor Thomas Fingar, and the second was “Loyalty and Honor: Who Were the ‘Real’ Samuari?” by Professor Michelle Damian.  Dinner tonight was a Filipino dinner, and our crew was dressed in traditional Filipino attire as they sang to us after dinner.

Cheryl

Here are photos of our arrival and the Kodo visit:

Here’s a movie of our first group taiko performance:  Oops!  Didn’t have the bandwidth to upload.  Will try when we’re off the ship.

And here are photos of the fishing village, the ship departure, and dinner: