YAMATO is a Japanese taiko drumming ensemble founded in 1993 in Asuka Village, Nara Prefecture - a place regarded as the birthplace of Japanese culture. Artistic director and founder Masa Ogawa leads a tight-knit community of performer-athletes who compose their own music, design their sets, and make their own drumsticks. In over thirty years of touring, the group has given more than 4,800 performances across 55 countries to a cumulative audience of ten million people. On stage they deploy some forty drums of varying sizes - from small shime-daiko to the two-metre, half-tonne odaiko - in a style they call "physical music".
YAMATO performs in July 2026 in the German cities of Duisburg (July 10-12) and Bremen (July 17) as part of its ongoing world tour.
In October 2025, the ensemble completed a Japanese tour with stops in Osaka, Hyogo, Fukui, and Kyoto.
In June 2025, the ensemble performed a series of shows in Madrid at the Teatro EDP Gran Vía theater as part of a European tour with the program "Hito no Chikara".
From January to March 2025, the ensemble conducted a North American tour with the new program "Hito no Chikara - The Power of Human Strength" in 35 cities across the USA and Canada.
In autumn 2024, a European tour took place with the program "Hinotori - The Wings of the Phoenix" in Finland, Latvia, Poland, Spain, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany.
Japanese taiko drum ensemble YAMATO presents an energetic performance focused on the power of human will and collective spirit.
Japanese group YAMATO presents a taiko-drum show about the power of the human spirit in Hradec Králové.