 Performers and groups beyond the early practitioners have also been noted. Eitetsu Hayashi is best known for his solo performance work. Hayashi joined Ondekoza when he was 19, and after parting from the group helped found Kodo, one of the best known and most influential taiko performance groups in the world. Hayashi soon left the group to begin a solo career and has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall in 1984, the first featured taiko performer there. He was awarded the 47th Education Minister's Art Encouragement Prize, a national award, in 1997 as well as the 8th Award for the Promotion of Traditional Japanese Culture from the Japan Arts Foundation in 2001.
