Japanese Festivals are a hotspot for spectacular photography. However, it’s the unexpected festival photography that makes for even more breathtaking photo ops. Even knowing what the schedule is for the day’s events doesn’t really give a photographer the entire story.

It comes down to the people as part of the festival that define what you can experience on a Japan photo tour. If you think about it in detail, the situation is almost like a studio. Many elements of the photographic experience are fixed: the location, the time, the weather is somewhat under control, or at least predicted to some degree. It’s the participants that make the experience come alive and imbue it with the emotion that will really set the photos you take apart and make them come alive with some of the spirit or the essence of Japan.

Taiko drums come in many different sizes, and some varieties of shapes and the drums themselves can have rich histories for certain regions or for exceptionally gifted drummers, but, the taiko is only a tool; a truly gifted drummer can bestow the significance upon the tool and make it something rare and remarkable. The taiko drum comes alive as the ‘bachi’ or drum stick strikes its face and it resonates for the festival visitors. As with many elements of Japanese culture, the practice of how to become a veteran in a certain practice starts early in life. Young students of the drum spend hours a week after a full day of studying to hone their skill and demonstrate their skill during festivals. It is that same devotion that will come through into your photos, and you capture the dedication on the drummers’ faces as they perform.

These performers are only one group of the many that you can photograph if you join us in Japan for a photo tour and see the future of traditional Japanese music taking shape.