An account by one of the rare Europeans to penetrate the closed, highly traditional world of taiko drumming in Japan.

A young Frenchwoman who's never left home, Maïa arrives full fo naïveté in a world of incomprehensible rules and almost military discipline, where no one speaks English. She has come to learn taiko drumming in Tokyo's most secret school. Along with her training come chronic incomprehension, extreme fatigue, typhoons, earthquakes, and ghosts.
Through this traditional art, our heroine reveals a facet of Japan not often seen, guiding us toward that uncertain border where dream and reality overlap.
A coming-of-age novel tinged with humor and eerie poetry, The Latecomers' Ballet is a tribute to a music little-known in Europe.