Through The Fire
A Community Found Through Taiko
By Mari Nakano
Saturday, July 15, 2006

I am a member of Higashi Honganji’s Bombu Taiko. We, along with our sister groups Kitsune Taiko, UCLA’s Yukai Daiko and TAIKOPROJECT are a collective of over 60 taiko players of all ages. We are students. We are leaders. We are a community. We are friends. We are colleagues. We are family. We come from all walks of life.  We are part of the American taiko tradition.

Last Saturday, we performed together at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood. The show was amazing, but the journey up to the show was spectacular. We spent about six months preparing for the show, and in that time we not only learned newly composed songs, but also learned the meaning of community, reciprocity, discipline, teamwork and selflessness. Members lent their talents and their time to bring the show together.  Hand-crafted banners and teddy bears, postcards, web design, press releases, photos, practice videos, how-to-properly-wear-your-happi, obi-and-hachimaki sessions, carpools, access to extra practice venues, optimistic minds, drinks, snacks and homemade goodies...these were all things that members contributed to afford for this show to come into fruition. 

The experience was enjoyable, but more importantly enlightening.

I think many of us were lucky to have this experience. Of course, we had our fun and exciting miniscule moment in the Hollywood spotlight, but I believe many of us came away from this experience with more clarity about the meaning of community and the effort is takes to keep a community strong. We learned that it wasn’t just about practicing hard, but practicing with your heart. We learned it wasn’t just about showing up on time, but having the willingness to be present beyond the given hours. We learned it wasn’t just about being happy about our accomplishments, but making sure we were making other’s happy in the process too. We not only had to take care of ourselves, but we also had to make sure we were taking care of each other. In all those things and more, many of us came to realize that we were more than members participating in a production, but members contributing to defining the meaning behind playing taiko.

Taiko is not just about music. In my opinion, taiko is neither about the self or about individuality. Taiko is traditionally something that would call communities and neighborhoods together. Taiko is a guiding tool, and we most often familiarize it with our summer Obon dances and other mostly Japanese festivities and celebrations. Taiko has gained more popularity because of it’s presence in such places as the media, but I think it’s also popular because it gives one a sense of tradition and culture. To many, taiko is done for fun, for it’s bang-on-a-big-loud-drum stress relieving qualities and for it’s uniqueness. But for whatever the reason, people often continue taiko or never fall out of love with it if they should stop playing because it delivers the gift of camaraderie, of deep-rooted tradition and culture and the space to be vulnerable with your emotions.

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It may sound funny, but I think this experience of putting on a performance in such a short time is a great example of building community and strengthening intergenerational ties. Because we had to come together to bring our audience a successful show, we pulled our resources, our skills and dedication together to reach one goal. We not only did what we could for the sake of the performance, but we also did what we could to keep everyone on the same level and on the same page. We made use of the skills we had—the kids picked up the lighter things, the mom’s brought refreshments, the auntie’s took care of the alterations and new costumes, the stronger people maneuvered the heavier drums, etc. And, we taught each other new things along the way. To me, my experience with taiko has shown me a very grassroots way to organize and solidify a community. We may not be a school, an organization with an official office, a village or something of the sort. We’re just an awfully cool bunch of people that happened to come together because of our similar interest in a traditional instrument that symbolizes more than music. We got lucky because those big drums we played last weekend have actually made us better persons for each other.

Congratulations to TAIKOPROJECT, Yukai Daiko, Kitsune Taiko and Bombu Taiko for a great performance! 

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Mari Nakano is a 26 year old Nisei. She is a member of Higashi Honganji’s Bombu Taiko. She is a freelance graphic designer and will be attending Art Center College of Design starting in the fall.  For more information about TAIKOPROJECT, please visit www.TAIKOPROJECT.com. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.