Yesterday I went to the Destinations Holiday & Travel Show at Earl’s Court. Even though I can’t really afford a holiday this year, I thought I would go for some inspiration (plus I had a free ticket!). I enjoyed wandering around and looking at brochures for far away destinations but, at the end of the day, there’s only one country I want to visit: Japan.
I was delighted to find that one of the acts on the World Entertainment Stage was Joji Hirota‘s taiko drummers! I’ve seen Joji perform a number of times and he never disappoints. I love taiko, and he might be my favourite taiko drummer (at least in the UK).
Here’s one of the pieces they played:
Joji Hirota will be playing a concert at St John’s Wood Church in London on Saturday 10th March. Beyond the Requiem: One year from the earthquake will feature Joji Hirota with the London Metropolitan Orchestra (select) and London TaikoEnsembes. Guests include Hiroyuki Kanezaki (piano), Masato Okubo (Japanese flute), and the Toramai, a legendary Japanese tiger dance group from Iwate-ken. Tickets cost £20 for adults (£15 for students). For more information, email: info@crossculture.jp.
While at the Travel Show, I stopped by to visit Into Japan Specialist Tours and Inside Japan Tours. Inside Japan won my vote because they were giving out promotional tissues, Japanese style!
I had thought about going back to the show today but I woke up to thick snow covering the streets of London and thought better of trying to go anywhere by public transport. Besides, picking up all those travel brochures is far, far too tempting! 😉
Haikugirl's Japan 
Hello Haikugirl. Joji Hirota and his drummers are awesome. We were lucky to have them come to our tenth birthday in Bristol at the end of 2010. They were pretty breathtaking and taiko always gets goosepimples going!
Glad you liked our tissues. We thought it would be a great idea and very Japanese. Wanted to stand outside Earls Court St and hand them out – “yoroshiku onegai shimaaaaasu. Yoroshiku onegai shimaaaaaaasu….and repeat”…
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Haha, well my mum and I were very surprised by the tissues – I felt like I was in Japan all of a sudden, and you definitely stood out as the best place to go to for information about Japan!
Joji is amazing. I’ve seen him quite a few times now and he just gets better! It must have been amazing to have him at your tenth birthday do!
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I saw him perform about a year ago at the Hilton for a Japan relief event – he was amazing!
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I truly love taiko and I’m glad to see that there are groups performing overseas as well!
Thanks for sharing!
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