Have you attended the Japanese Music show in Qatar Foundation? I have and I am thrilled and I have so much to tell about this experience. Students, parents, people from the Japanese embassy and many more random people were in the Student Center for this Japanese music show. It was solely drum and flute show which made me wonder how many different tones can you make with this combination anyway?
There were two drummers and another person with the bamboo flute. There were seven drums in total and at least six different sets of drum sticks. Ichitaro was the main hero of the show who was the person with five drums and played throughout the performance continuously.
Za Ichitaro
Ichitaro, the Drummer
What struck me as an audience and made me feel good was their greeting method. Ichitaro tried his best to greet in Arabic, saying 'Assalamualikum' and the audience smiled and greeted them back. All the performers spoke in Japanese the whole time and they had a translator who repeated everything they said in English. It was a nice experience to hear Japanese for the first time. All the three performers gave a brief description about the instruments and their significance.
The full band (in a different location)
After watching the whole performance, I can tell without any doubt that these guys strive for nothing but excellence. Continuously playing the drum for such a long time, remembering every beat, synchronizing with your fellow drummer and playing the same tune, is not definitely not an easy matter.
Another element I really liked about this band was that after every song/performance, every member would appreciate the other member's work and show pride in their work more. For example, after every performance, the center guy Ichitaro would turn left and then turn right and applaud for their performance. The other two would do the same. There is definitely as strong element of team work in Japanese music for sure.
It was a lifetime experience for me as I don't know if I could have watched this show even if I was in Japan. This was a great short introduction of Japanese culture for me as I observed how they greet, talk and respect each other.
The demography of the crowd was equally interesting. There were youngsters of age five, and also elders aged 60+ and students and parents. There were many Arabs, Asians and Westerners. This gave me a wider exposure towards how culture brings people together from other cultures.
Here are two clips from my mobile phone that I recorded while in the show. For a moment, Ichitaro felt like a machine to me because I literally could not see his hands clearly, he was that fast in playing the drums. Enjoy :)
Ichitaro In Action
