After Dinner Speakers: Wadaiko Yamato, Erica Jong, John Suchet

Yamato was founded by Masa Ogawa in 1993 in Nara, 'the land of Yamato', which is said to be the birthplace of Japanese culture. Presently based in Asuka Village, Nara Prefecture, they travel all over the world with Japan's traditional Wadaiko drums. They put our very souls into these unusual instruments, whose sound stir the hearts of people everywhere, and our performances are infused with the idea that the drumbeat, like the heartbeat, is the very pulse of life. Since its formation almost 10 years ago, Yamato has played to more than a million people, giving over 900 performances in about a dozen different countries, and yet our enthusiasm remains undiminished. They continue to travel with several dozen large and small drums (including an odaiko made from a huge tree over 400 years old), displaying the instruments' versatility and instinctive appeal, both in extemporized street performances and in concert halls holding several thousand people. Besides their travels throughout Japan, they have been on numerous overseas tours to China, South Korea, Indonesia and Singapore, as well as to South America and Europe. Their world travels began in August 1998, when they took part in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It was a huge success, and although the theatre was small, we performed to full houses and won the Spirit of Fringe award. From February to May 1999, they toured five European countries; Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Austria, giving a total of 70 concerts. In June of that year, they were invited to the Israel Festival, performing five times in Jerusalem and elsewhere. They were invited back to the Netherlands in August, playing at the Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam. They made a third tour, from late August to October, this time to South America. It was an important year for them; traveling long distances and performing for several hundred thousand people. In the year 2000, after performing in Osaka and Tokyo in February, they had an especially challenging tour of Britain, in March, where they played 27 times in the course of the month. The tour was a great success, attracting 30,000 people. Back in Japan, they toured and performed in 60 schools between September and November. The first year of the 21st century, 2001, was a memorable one for Yamato. They went on a world tour, from January to November, comprising 100 concerts in 6 countries in America, which was both the culmination of their pervious activities and a fresh start to their future. Their concert tour of Japan, in December, brought down the curtain on a very successful year. Last year, 2002, they performed in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. This tour was organized in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Japan, and of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Japan, and Sri Lanka and Japan. In July and August 2002, they performed in Germany, Italy and Spain. In 2003, they are performing in Europe. They will give 150 shows in Europe in this year.