The Amagoi Odaiko, or large taiko drums used to pray for rain, are instruments that use the sound of drumming and gongs to suppress the spirits that bring about misfortune to people’s lives. Each village in Uto has their own instruments, all of them passed down from generation to generation. Their sounds came alive during rain praying rituals that were performed to ask for an abundance of rainfall, a necessity for farming. It is said that the villagers would call for rain by sending vibrations through the air with the loud sound of the beating drums, and then they dedicated their drums to a shrine and prayed to the gods for the rain to fall.
There are 26 Amagoi Odaiko made from the Edo period to the Taisho period left in Uto City. Among those Odaiko, the oldest one with an identifiable manufacture date is from 1673 and belongs to the Hiraki District in Hashirigata Town.
At the Big Taiko Museum, there is a large assembly of Odaiko that have played headliners in festivals over the years, and visitors to the museum have the chance to actually try beating Odaiko that have high historical value.