Yamato was founded by Masa Ogawa in the area that is said to be the birthplace of Japanese culture. From their base they travel all over the world with Japan's traditional Wadaiko Drums.

Yamato put their very souls into these unusual instruments, whose sound stir the hearts of people everywhere, and their performances are infused with the belief that the drumbeat, like the heartbeat, is the very pulse of life.

Since its formation, Yamato has played to more than two million people.
Talking about how the group started and the way they live, Artistic Director Masa Ogawa says: "After the Second World War, jazz and popular music came to Japan from the West. On a fairly frequent basis, Taiko players would perform together with Western jazz musicians. Drummers also started using Taiko. Until then it was only played in shrines and on ceremonious occasions.

"In our tradition, religion is pretty much at the forefront of everything. All of our pieces are made for the gods or the spirits … the Taiko is widely considered the seat of these deities; it is important to treat the instruments well, not to knock them about or vent any frustration on them.

"Our lives are arranged around the collective. We eat together, we go to sleep together, and wake up together. Then we walk together for several kilometres, and train our muscles before rehearsing.

"In this manner, we exercise together on average 12 hours every day. When you are together with ten people all the time and you are almost never by yourself, your physical and mental orientation changes quite dramatically. But that is just part of it, and that is what Yamato's stage presence is all about after all."

Although primarily known as drummers, Yamato actually play a range of percussive instruments including hand held drums, different kinds of gongs and cymbals as well as wind and string instruments.

For this visit to the UK, Yamato has a brand new show called Shin-on, or Heartbeat, a magnificent performance of Japanese Taiko drumming that will take your breath away.