After spending two months in India, Japanese drummer Yuhei Motoyama shared how he interacted with locals and tried his hand at making chicken curry. He tells A Mishra about his bitter experience at the airport
From a distance it sounded like roaring thunder but as we approached the compounds of the Japan Foundation the picture became clear. The sound emanated from the Wadaiko, a traditional Japanese drum (also called taiko) as Yuhei Motoyama hit it with a bachi, or a stick as called in Japan.
Motoyama seemed very comfortable, smiling at the gathering, cracking jokes in broken English and explaining the nuances of taiko and the rich tradition of drums in Japan. We remembered him from the last time that he was in the Capital as part of the group Bachi Atari last November. Strangely, he recognised us as well. “last time I came along with the band because we wanted to share our art with India. But this time I came on my own as I wanted to explore this country for myself,” he said slowly, pausing every few seconds to search for the right words. He had arrived in India in July this year for a few solo shows in Thrissur in Kerala, Auroville in Puducherry and Kolkata in West Bengal. His last stop was in Delhi, where he shared his Indian sojourn with us.
“I arranged for my own accommodation in all of these places and planned the tour myself. I did have communication problems because my English is not so strong,” he confessed. When we asked him about his experience of visiting Kerala, he told us about all the things that he did during his short stay there. In the first two weeks that he put up at Thrissur, he had joined a local group of musicians who played folk music. “It was difficult for me to rehearse with them because of the language but with repeated practice and rehearsals, we improved. After my performance, we played local music in the car and also danced,” he shared candidly.
Motoyama’s Thrissur adventures were far from over. He shared the story of how he went to a local school to perform. He added, “While I was performing the students started dancing and shouting. They enjoyed it very much and so did I.” Interestingly, the drummer had also chopped vegetables and had tried to make chicken curry with a local group.
At Auroville, he hired a bike to commute. “I enjoyed the ride. There were buffaloes and cows on the road. It was a new sight for me because you don’t get to see them strolling on the streets in Japan,” he laughed and added that at Auroville, he had performed with musicians from countries like Spain, Russia, British and India. “I also had a workshop with the locals and they showed much interest in Japanese culture and instruments. I had an exciting trip at Auroville,” he added.
In Kolkata he went to Rabindra Bharati University, met music professors and also attended a few classes. He rehearsed for two days before joining a classical group there. “There were traditional Indian instruments and it was a very different experience for me. They taught me how to play tabla,” he pointed out.
We were curious to know of how he felt about his Indian audience and he said, “In Japan the audience come and sit silently, and after the performance they simply clap. But in India audience enjoy the show — they dance, they shout and they encourage a performer. It seems like Indian audiences enjoy music very much.”
But amidst all the interesting adventures that he had, there was one glitch that he had to face right at the beginning. When he landed at the Delhi International Airport he was held back by the security personnel and questioned about the taiko that he had brought with him. Citing that such instruments were not allowed to pass customs in India, they demanded sum of `20,000 from him, so that he could clearance. “At the end of a long bargain, they settled for ` 1,000,” shared the drummer.
All of that, however, faded away as he busied himself in demonstrating to the gathered audience how to play a taiko and Tsuzumi, which is a drum of Chinese/Indian origin. The small instrument consists of a wooden body shaped like an hourglass, similar to the Indian damru. “It is taut, with two drum heads and cords that can be squeezed or released to increase or decrease the tension of the heads respectively. This mechanism allows us to raise or lower the pitch of the drum while playing,” he explained, encouraging everyone present to try it out for themselves.