The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons: the most famous story in Japanese mythology, a terrifying midnight parade of fantastical creatures from folklore all over Japan. ShinDaiko is bringing the Night Parade to life in a series of musical sketches – 30 seconds to 2 minutes long, which is why we named this the 30 Second Yokai Project.
We started this project in May 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown, since we couldn’t get together to practice in person. We originally never set out to make 100 tracks, but the project took on a life of its own, as projects tend to do. We’re currently up to track #46, having posted (almost) one track per week since October 2020. Eventually, we’ll have a whole section here on our website dedicated to the 30 Second Yokai Project, but for now, you can experience the entire playlist on our Facebook page.
Read more about yokai and other mythical creatures from Japanese legend at Matthew Meyer’s amazing website, yokai.com
In our first full-length studio album, we bring Japanese mythology to life by combining the sound of drums and modern melodic instrumentation. “Omagatoki” means “the hour of meeting evil spirits,” and describes the exact moment when the sun sinks below the horizon and the sky grows dark. In Japanese folklore, this is also the time when yokai, or spirits, emerge from the shadows and into the land of the living.
