Thunder Drums Tee

雷鼓 (raiko): "the thunder drums."

Taiko as a stage act is younger than most people guess. In 1951 Daihachi Oguchi, a jazz drummer in Okaya, Nagano, was asked to make sense of an old drum score kept at a local shrine, and he chose to play it on a set of drums at different pitches, arranged around the players like a drum kit. His group, Osuwa Daiko, started kumi-daiko, ensemble drumming, the way most taiko groups still play today.

An armored samurai brings a drumstick down on a rock drum kit, gold cymbals flashing and a red dragon on the bass drum, while lightning splits the storm clouds behind him. The red box at the upper left reads 雷鼓 (raiko), "thunder drums." On the chest, a small samurai pounds a single taiko.

Kumi-daiko began with a jazz drummer, so take it to a gig, a matsuri or band practice, then hand the next one to the drummer you know. The gold cymbals flash bright, loud even standing still. The full run of Japanese graphic tees covers gods and ghosts too.

• Fabric: 100% combed cotton, 230gsm, pre-shrunk and soft-washed
• Print: direct-to-garment (DTG)
• Color: white
• Fit: unisex, regular; size up for a boxier, oversized look
• Sizes: S to 3XL
• Size reference: 6 ft 2 in wears L; 5 ft 7 in wears M

Measurements for every size are in the size guide.