Taiko ushers in autumn

Last weekend Sir S and I rendezvoused with the handsome Mr Hiroki and Misses Kana and Hiroko in Tottori for a dazzling taiko performance starring the charming Miss Kaori (Mr H's young sweetheart and pictured centre of the trio).

Long, thick sticks were flourished about, skins were smacked with a hearty cry and sides were rapped in perfect timing, which took me back to my school days at St Clare's when Mademoiselle was unleashed upon the dormitories during the Midnight Feast Food Fights of '01. Miss K donned a fetching red headpiece, and the drummers were dressed in plain, pyjama-style clothes, some of them turbaned in cloths or towels. The simple yet traditional attire and the thunder of the drums evoked an ancient tribal Japan of Princess Monoke lore. I have heard that one of the practical uses of taiko in Old Japan was to announce the first harvest with its terrific banging.

Snaps by Sir S.