Random Taiko

After Yukari and I arrived in Kanazawa a few weekends ago, we dropped our luggage off at the hotel (Hotel Nikko Kanazawa: the largest hotel on the West coast of Japan. Yay, random trivia) and then started searching for Yukari’s father, who the front desk staff claimed had already arrived and was “at the train station somewhere”.

Repeated calls to my father-in-law’s cell phone went unanswered, so we decided to head over to the train station ourselves and see if we could find him. The fastest way to get from the hotel to the station was through an underground tunnel. We went down into this tunnel, which was under construction, and started walking towards the station, when suddenly this incredible thumping noise started.

At first, I figured someone had just fired up a jackhammer in the marble-lined chamber that the tunnel opened into. But, when we got further into the room, I saw a bunch of women (and one guy) dressed in black, playing taiko drums.

I was more than a little surprised. It was the equivalent of walking into Chicago’s Union Station and finding a bunch of bagpipers. Unfortunately, the area where the taiko players were performing was fenced off due to construction, so it wasn’t possible to get very close. When Yukari saw that I was going to ask one of the construction workers what was going on, she beat a hasty retreat.

So, I can’t tell you why they were drumming away, exactly, but I do know it had something to do with “space”, “new” and “opening” (the only words I was able to understand).

The whole place looked almost finished, so I’ve decided they were dedicating the space. Or rehearsing for the upcoming dedication. Or something™.

Posted by pmk at February 22, 2005 12:08 AM | TrackBack