Internationally acclaimed Japanese taiko drum artist Eitetsu Hayashi and his ensemble Fu-Un no Kai (The Society of Wind and Clouds) are visiting campus from Japan this week and hosting six events during their residency. The events are part of the 2024-25 Cooper Series.

Hayashi became a solo artist in taiko when no such thing existed, says Associate Professor and Chair of the Dance Department Joe Small ’05. Though the taiko, or drum, has played an important role in Japanese religious and agricultural ceremonies for centuries, taiko only emerged as an art form performed on stages, by ensembles, for audiences after World War II.

“[Taiko] can be looked at as a traditional or festive element coming from Japanese socio-religious rites. These aspects have formed a large part of the art’s foundations, and guide the directions it takes even today,” says Small. “[Hayashi] envisioned the idea of playing this music and arranging it for a more contemporary audience. He’s gone on to develop that through his solo career and take it to places where it’s never been, particularly as a global art form extending and crossing over into different genres of dance, music, and theater.”

Small, who invited Hayashi and Fu-Un no Kai, first encountered taiko as an undergrad at Swarthmore. He received a Fulbright to study taiko in Japan after graduation, where he attended an intensive led by Hayashi and Fu-Un no Kai aimed at community taiko players in Japan.

“I had played taiko, but this was like eons and levels beyond my expectations and understanding of the art to that point,” says Small. “The experience was revelatory and inspiring.”

Small took a leave from grad school at UCLA to live and study in Japan under Hayashi from 2012 to 2014. He performed with Fu-Un no Kai periodically from that time until the pandemic hit.

Small has been paying the opportunity to train with a legend forward.

Myles Farrall ’24, an Asian studies major, was one of three Swarthmore taiko students to study with Hayashi this summer in Japan.

“Two weeks after I arrived in Japan, with hopes of expanding my taiko horizons, I received a phone call from Professor Small regarding the upcoming Cooper [Series event] with legendary taiko artist Eitetsu Hayashi and his group, Fu-Un no Kai," says Farrall. "[Small] mentioned that one of the pieces in the concert lineup was ‘Shichi-sei,’ a piece for seven odaiko [large drums that can be up to six feet in diameter], which had never been performed on U.S. soil. … I was offered the chance to try out for the seventh slot — an opportunity I was obviously thrilled to accept.”

Hayashi’s Swarthmore residency will culminate in a concert called Sonic Bodies, in which Farrall will perform. Sonic Bodies opens with a piece called “Sen no Kaikyo,” or “One Thousand Echoes of the Sea,” which was written to be performed by 1,000 drummers.

“[‘Sen no Kaikyo’] was commissioned by the city of Kobe on the sixth anniversary of the devastating 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake in which over 6,000 lost their lives,” says Small. “There was a very large memorial event to acknowledge those who had passed, but also celebrate how the city had recovered and give thanks to everybody who had given aid.”

Though there won’t be 1,000 drummers at Swarthmore, Small expects 55 to 60 U.S.-based taiko practitioners to join Hayashi, Fu-Un no Kai, and the Swarthmore Taiko Ensemble for the performance. College taiko groups from Cornell, Columbia, and Wellesley have been invited, as well as performers from California, Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, and Small’s hometown of Buffalo, N.Y.

“I'm looking forward to everyone in Swarthmore Taiko Ensemble finally meeting Mr. Hayashi in the flesh,” says Farrall. “Since our beginnings, we've all seen his concert footage and heard about his incredible life story from Professor Small. I'm incredibly proud of the hard work and passion that everyone has put into the program here, and I think Mr. Hayashi will be happy to see the art form he's [dedicated his life to] flourishing in a place so far from its birthplace. This concert, which will feature taiko community members from far and wide, will be a historic moment for not only Swarthmore College, but also taiko in North America.”

The series events are below:

• Tuesday, Oct. 1, Hayashi will host a Japanese dance, movement, and etiquette workshop at 9:55 a.m. in Troy Dance Studio and a screening of the documentary film Tomo Ari / My Dear Friends: Taiko Performer Eitetsu Hayashi in LPAC Cinema at 6:30 p.m.

• Wednesday, Oct. 2, he offers another dance, movement, and etiquette workshop at 9:30 a.m. in Troy Dance Studio followed by a lecture on “Forging the Path of a Taiko Drum Artist” at 11:30 a.m. in Pearson-Hall Theatre.

• Wednesday afternoon, Hayashi will be hosting a demonstration and lecture on taiko history and development at 6 p.m., followed by a master class workshop at 7:30 p.m., both in Pearson-Hall Theatre.

• Friday, Oct. 4, from 6 to 9 p.m. in Pearson-Hall Theatre, the Swarthmore community is invited to observe a rehearsal of Hayashi’s “Sen no Kaikyo,” featuring taiko artists from around the U.S.

• Saturday, Oct. 5, is a concert, Sonic Bodies, at 7 p.m. in Pearson-Hall Theatre. Sonic Bodies presents an evening of Hayashi’s emotionally resonant and thought-provoking repertoire — a trailblazing combination of taiko music and choreography steeped both in Japan’s cultural roots of Buddhism and Shintoism, and international, transcultural influences.