Rarely have a bunch of buskers looked so buff as when Japanese troupe Drum Tao put on a show for tourists at the Swan Bell Tower yesterday.

Stripped to the waist, the women excepted, they bashed on their taiko drums with enough power to almost send ripples across the Barrack Square duck pond for the launch of their Australian tour.

The performers maintain a gruelling training regime at their Japanese mountainside base to last the distance of their shows, a furious mix of modern dance, drumming and martial arts.

The troupe's new show is at the Perth Concert Hall from tonight until Saturday and the Bunbury Entertainment Centre on Sunday.