24 JUN 2019: Banging a taiko drum is harder than it looks. Flail away on the three-foot tall drum head with big sticks using just your arms and you’ll tire out immediately. The trick is to use your whole body in a rhythmic dance, and even then, it’s a full body workout to get the proper thundering roar from the massive drum.

We get the chance to try our skill at beating out the primal thunder thuds that go back many centuries in a museum of remarkably delicate paper floats during a tour from Aomori on a cruise along Japan’s northern island, Hokkaido.

It’s one of three little-known ports in Japan that Silversea Cruises’ flagship Silver Muse visits during an innovative cruise across the North Pacific from Tokyo to Alaska. They’re ports that deserve to be better known for the blending of culture and nature that makes Japan’s northern island Hokkaido unique.

Read it in The Cruisington Times: