About us
About us
Our history
Tentekomai arose from the collaboration that started in the 20th century between Sawako Kitabayashi and Isaya Mondori of the former Japanese dance and percussion group Dadadadan Tenko and their Dutch producers Quintus Visser and Maria van den Broek.
The direct reason for the foundation of Tentekomai was actually the continuously increasing (air)transport costs of the Japanese music instruments which were needed in Europe for the theatre performances of the group.
It started with the purchase of a basic set of Japanese taiko drums, suitable for a small ensemble. Tentekomai gradually succeeded in expanding its instruments that has been of great value for the realization of many theatre and music performances among which the numerous European tours of Dadadadan Tenko and the highly valued performance Tsukumogami at the Oerol Festival in 2017.
In 2018 we opened our own dojo in Ridderkerk near Rotterdam where we have a showroom for the display of the instruments and which we use for taiko workshops and practice.
The breaking up of DadadadanTenko in 2019 gave reason for a change and a new approach.
Who is behind Tentekomai?
Since 2021 the talented Japanese performers Akira Sakaue and Kanako Otani, having their base ground in Kyoto, Japan, have become the new partners of Tentekomai in Japan. Together with Quintus and Maria, who are based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, they are committed to promote Japanese music instruments in Europe and work on the realization of theatre and music performances, expanding the possibilities of these instruments by seeking collaboration with artists, dancers and other musicians.
Their long and close collaboration, their different backgrounds and skills make them a unique and powerful team.
Maria van den Broek マリア・ヴァン・デン・ブルック
(1966, Netherlands)
Maria studied Japanese language and Culture at the University of Leiden. As a Japanologist she has not only a profound knowledge of the Japanese language but also has gained a great insight of the Japanese culture and behavior. Besides her activities for Tentekomai Maria also works as a Japanese translator, interpreter and intermediate/ consultant.
Quintus Visser クインテス・ヴィッサー
(1962, Netherlands)
Quintus started his career as a lighting designer in the late eighties. He established his own lighting company in 1990 and works as an independent lighting technician and designer ever since. For the productions of Tentekomai Quintus is in charge of the technical production as well as the scenery and stage lighting.
Kanako Otani 大谷 加奈子
(1984, Japan)
Kanako’s passion for taiko was evoked by the heartbeat of her mother playing the taiko during her pregnancy of Kanako. Kanako started playing taiko at the age of 5, and was invited to became a member of Dadadadan Tenko in 2003. Kanako is not only a very good taiko player but also virtuoso player of the samisen and various Japanese flutes and she even masters the Japanese harp (koto).
Akira Sakaue 坂上 享
(1979, Japan)
Akira’s fascination for Japanese drums started at the age of 10 when he realized for the first time how powerful and impressive the sound of the taiko is. He started taking lessons at a very young age. In 1995 Akira became a member of the former Japanese dance and percussion group Dadadadan Tenko with which he performed all over the world. Besides playing the taiko, Akira is also composing taiko music.