Kodo is a group whose activities are centered on the Japanese drum, or ‘taiko’. While exploring the countless byways of the traditional performing arts, Kodo strives to create something new for the modern age. The name ‘Kodo’ conveys two meanings. The literal readings of the two characters that make up the name in Japanese are ‘drum’ and ‘child’–conveying Kodo’s desire to play the taiko purely, with the heart of a child. The word Kodo is also a homonym for ‘heartbeat’–humanity’s most fundamental source of rhythm–the first sound a child hears in their mother’s womb. Since Kodo’s debut at the Berlin Festival in 1981, one third of the year has been spent touring Japan, a third on Sado Island, and the rest of the year touring overseas.