Performances in U.K.

On July 2nd, we went to Camphill Devon, a Steiner community in
Buckfastleigh (Hapstead) where Yukari lived and worked for one year in
1997. It was her request that if we could have a Europe Tour anytime
in the near future, that we could go to Camphill and give a
demonstration. Of course, Tokara was happy to oblige, and we
performed a 30 minute set in a small bungalow in the garden outside of
Galahad House with many of the residents and neighbors dancing
outside. It was a lot of fun for them and us as well.
The next day, we performed at the 5th U.K. Taiko Festival in Exeter,
Devon. This performance actually wasn't part of our original Europe
Tour program, but not only did I wish to give a hearty 'Hisashiburi'
(long time no see) to the lads and lasses at Kagemusha Taiko, my
biggest hope was to clear up and rewrite with high spirits, a chapter
that had gone drastically wrong five to six years ago, and did not
seem to be clearing up by itself as time passed. Unfortunately, that
chapter was unable to be rewritten and has not been erased with the
passage of time, but the performance at the festival was a great
success for everyone involved. Four groups performed at the main show
of the festival: Issho, Kagemusha Taiko, Tokara and Taiko Meantime. I
was happy to finally see Taiko Meantime's performance after having met
Mark Alcock five years ago when I went to tour the U.K. as a member of
Daihachi Oguchi's Ashura-gumi group. Taiko Meantime had a nice
mixture of songs and a fun performance style. I look forward to
seeing them again.