Drum Café Japan (Sendai), which supports team building for organizations through the use of traditional African drums, is voluntarily visiting the local community in the hope of bringing back the smiles to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami.
This initiative, called Niko-Niko (Happy) Smile Project, involves visiting schools, hospitals and shelters in the Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures. The African artists play traditional drums while the audience participates in the performance. The first performance was held at Yamashita Junior High School in Yamamoto-cho on 16 May, followed by a second performance on 17 May.
Drum Café Japan supports victims of earthquake and tsunami
Drum café was established by Mr. Warren Lieberman in Johannesburg in 1996. The performances involve interactive drumming by both performers and the audience. In this way, the ice is broken and team spirit fostered. In many countries, this kind of drumming experience has been found to reduce stress, in particular PTSD. Both the Embassies of Japan and South Africa have sent messages of encouragement to Drum Café, saying that their performances will help lessen the pain suffered by the victims, as well as encouraging them to rebuild their lives.
Performances last from 30-50 minutes, with the participation of 20- 200 people. Drum Café, which will continue this activity for three months until the middle of August this year, is currently looking for sponsors.
Ms Mariko Hoshiyama, CEO of Drum Café Japan, said that these performances can be enjoyed by audiences of any age and have the power to cheer people up.
Ms. Hoshiyama can be contacted on 080-4056-0114.
