The drum is easily Japan's most popular instrument.
There are many variants of the basic percussion instrument, including the highly decorated and refined kotsuzumi and ootsuzumi drums of the noh theater, the various percussion instruments used for coloring and extended sound effects in the kabuki theater, the grand dadaiko drums of gagaku, which, with their colorful halos of sculpted wood depicting dragons and ancient designs, tower over the ensemble members, and the succinctly percussive kakko drums which beat out the rhythms of gagaku.
Perhaps the most ubiquitous and well known of all Japanese percussion instruments, however, is the taiko, found in almost all towns and villages throughout Japan.