My husband, Masa Ogawa, is the founder of Yamato. He was born in Osaka in 1967 and grew up in big family with two brothers and a sister. He has the kind of special talent for drawing people into his circle. He had an interest in baseball, guitar, cycling and drawing animation at a young age and was an art student in the university, learning graphic design. This is where I met him.
There was just something different about him from anyone else I had ever met. He expressed an atmosphere of freedom and was always the traveler. Masa could always finish any task in a minute, and I was always jealous of that ease and intelligence. After university, he was ready to go new places, meet new people and learn new things. That curiosity and experience has had a profound influence on his life and creativity.
Masa is most proud of his work as the producer of YAMATO, the Drummers of Japan. He composes all the music, choreographs the drummers’ movement and even gets involved in lighting design, sound design and costume design. Masa creates a new program every two years which always impresses me as I know it is intense, hard work, but he always put his very best energy into everything he does, and the results are astonishing. As his family, we are so pleased to be with him and to be a part of his audience.
– Written by Masa’s wife Chisako Ogawa
What ‘hood are you in?
I live in a small village called Asuka-mura in Nara Prefecture. Asuka-mura is believed to be the birthplace of Japanese culture. I feel the power from this place and get such energy from here.
What do you (Yamato) do?
We perform Japanese Taiko drumming all over the world.
We have given 4,000 performance in 54 countries over the last 26 years.
What are you currently working on?
We are currently on a 40-city tour of North America this winter and spring so I am busy with writing music, directing and choreographing the show.
Where can we find your work?
We recently performed YAMATO’s Taiko drumming on Friday, January 24th at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto. Find out more about Yamato’s history and where to see us at www.yamatodrummers.com.
2/8/2020 – Rochester, NY – Nazareth College Arts Center
2/9/2020 – Ithaca, NY – Bailey Hall at Cornell University
2/11/2020 – Erie, PA – Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center
2/13/2020 – Buffalo, NY – Buffalo State Performing Arts Center
