There are many angles one could take when writing about an ensemble like Kodo: its venerable artistic director, its preservation of traditional arts, its almost monastic
devotion to training and conditioning. But personally, I want to know about the 900-pound tree trunk.

Members of Kodo will hammer away at this impressive piece of timber tonight when the internationally acclaimed drumming ensemble returns to McCarter Theatre in Princeton.

The exuberant and athletic group, described as a “power drum corps,” performs in the “taiko” style, with singers, dancers and musicians joining the signature percussionists, often in traditional garb.

“Taiko” is Japanese for “drum,” plain and simple. Outside of Japan, however, the term has come to signify any number of Japanese drums, as well as the practice of ensemble drumming. Taiko drums are used in both Japanese folk and classical music traditions.

Undoubtedly the most impressive of the instruments is the aforementioned trunk, from a category known as ô-daiko (literally “big fat drum,” truth in advertising if ever there was).

The ô-daiko is the largest drum of all taiko, if not the entire world. The very largest are too big to move and are kept permanently inside temples or shrines. Hewn from a single piece of wood, often from trees that are hundreds of years old, the ô-daiko is the embodiment of power, due to its size, the volume of its sound, and the endurance it takes to play.

Kodo has logged (pun unintended) 3,500 performances in 46 countries. The last time the ensemble performed at McCarter was in 2002.

The name “Kodo” comes from two Japanese characters for “child” and “play,” indicative of the group’s aim to play as with the heart of a child. The name is also a homonym for “heartbeat,” the most primal of all rhythms.

The company of 70 performers and staff lives and practices in the remote, and presumably very loud, village of Kodo, on Sado Island, off the northwest coast of Japan. The community training ground includes the Kodo Apprentice Centre and the Old Rehearsal Hall. Candidates enter this semi-isolated village in the hopes of one day being selected for the performing ensemble.

In addition to musical lessons, physical conditioning is an important part of Kodo training, as can be imagined, in order not only to play the drums, but to transport them. The behemoth ô-daiko requires eight men to lift and set into place.

Kodo’s current artistic director is Tomasaburo Bando, 62, who has been certified as a Living National Treasure of Japan. He is the leading exponent of the Kabuki tradition of “onnagata,” a theatrical portrayal of women by a male actor. He has been recognized and lauded for the continuation and preservation of this classical art form, with its stylized drama and elaborate make-up, which dates back to the beginning of the 17th century.

Bando worked and collaborated with Kodo for a decade before accepting the position as its head. The move from Tokyo to Sado presents admitted challenges for the artist, though he emphasizes the necessity of being able to get away in order to get in touch.

“Getting away from the city, where you are surrounded by technology, you face yourself, come face to face with your purest form, and begin to reflect about who you are as a human being and as a performer,” he says. “In the natural surroundings of Sado, you can experience a rare opportunity to get back in touch with your own soul and can even sometimes feel the concealed breath of ancient times on your own skin.”

As performers, however, it becomes necessary for the company members to bring these insights before an audience.

“The decision to live and train on Sado cannot be a means of escape from society and the city, but rather an exercise in learning how to communicate the importance of this experience to others,” Bando says. “I fully realize the difficulty of crafting a performance on Sado to be shown in a city theater, and of developing productions that will speak to contemporary audiences.”

He hopes to translate some of the timeless and universal qualities of Kodo tradition.

“To cultivate simplicity as well as brilliance, to tap into the local flavor of the island and also create something that speaks to our time; this is the task at hand. It is needless to say how difficult it is to create productions that not only satisfy audiences, but also challenge them. Therein lies the crux of my responsibilities as artistic director.”

Kodo appears at McCarter as part of the company’s “One Earth Tour: Legend,” a program designed to share the power of Japanese drumming, but also to promote an underlying respect between diverse cultures in an increasingly connected world.

In 2011, Kodo released its most recent album, titled “Akatsuki.” The disc was recorded at Kodo Village and includes new compositions alongside never-before-recorded stage pieces.

The group is heavily involved with “Earth Celebration,” an annual music festival held in Sado City. The festival has been hailed by the New York Times as “Japan’s leading musical event.”

“Human beings cannot exist without nature,” Bando says. “That is why we use the arts to communicate nature, and it is only when we become free from impeding thoughts that we can become one with it.

“Facing the taiko, having acquired sufficient technique and control, players can forget their body, awareness, desires, hopes, and egos the moment they reach that state of oneness, and everyone who is present will share that indescribable sense of transcendence.”

It’s easy to forget everything in the awesome presence of the ô-daiko.

Kodo
When: 8 p.m. today
Where: McCarter Theatre Center, 91 University Place, Princeton
Admission: $20-$54; (609) 258-ARTS or mccarter.org