Taiko Drumming awakens a distant time. It has a voice, a voice for the past. With the thunderous sound of Taiko drumming and choreography based on martial art movements, Shinso-Mugen Daiko creates a physical performance under the title, KANNABI - A mountain where spirits dwell. With an integration of drumming, chanting and martial arts Kannabi reflects the spirituality of early mountain people in Japan.
Mountains in Japan are places where Shinto and Buddhism fuse with other Japanese folk beliefs. Some mountains look high enough to reach to the world above, yet somewhere from these majestic mountains, one can hear eerie sounds and roars from underground. The sulfur smell and rumblings from below remind one of the suffering sons trapped in Hades. These high volcanic ranges hold a unique cosmology to beckon the weary of those who live on the plains. People enter mountains to create a space and time for introspection. Since early times, Japanese high peaks are respected as sacred places for pure spiritual training.
Mountains are also the material sources of people’s lives. The people of the plains celebrate the natural spirits that give bountiful life and also they fear these same spirits for the possible destruction of their lives. Japanese have worshiped these natural spirits and the spirits of ancestors to protect their lives.
For the Japanese, especially established people living on the plains, mountains are mysterious places. The development of early Japanese Imperial hegemony was based on conquering those on the plains, leaving the Mountain people alone. Many early Japanese escaped to the mountains, and unmolested by Imperial edicts, were allowed to create unique cultures that were steeped in mysticism.
As time passed, with the importance of mining for construction of religious objects, the Imperial powers allowed the mountain people a special place in Japanese society. Even though the mountain people were seen as outcastes by the farmers and commoners from the plains, they were left alone because of their connection to the religious communities. Later, the mountain people continued their autonomy because of their metallurgical skills.
They mined the mountains to extract the raw material for creating swords. The work of the mountain people were critical to the rise of the Samurai class, and their close association with religious sects made them separate but essential collaborators in the development of Japanese history. In these mountain cultures arose various spiritual groups. Some of the groups were wholly pacifist; others were warlike societies of stealth fighters such the Ninja. All were reflective of the harsh realities of mountain life.
