Because you see them on the stage and in the classroom, you know that the taiko professionals who are ITI instructors this weekend are consummate artists. They are performers and teachers who are passionate about taiko. With their talent and passion, they take taiko to both familiar and unusual places.

We’ve invited them to share their “Taiko And…” projects with you. See what can happen when taiko moves beyond the stage and workshop. We invite you to explore their projects. And reach out to them to learn more. We hope that by knowing more about the projects, activities, and ideas that your workshop instructors are engaged with, you will not only get to know them better, you might also be inspired to forge new taiko paths.

Our thanks to Yeeman (Manman) Mui, Kris Bergstrom, Russel Baba, Jeanne Mercer, Karen Young, Sydney Shiroyama, Chizuko Endo, PJ Hirabayashi, Kenny Endo, Roy Hirabayashi, Josh Yoon, Linda Uyechi, Elise Fujimoto, Rome Hamner and Kristy Oshiro for sharing their Taiko And.. projects.

Yeeman (Manman) Mui

What comes to mind right away regarding my work is how I utilize the Orff approach to build a musical classroom and creative space that is inclusive and diverse. The space opens up a platform for connection, and a supportive environment to create innovative work. These concepts are deeply ingrained in both my teaching and creative philosophy. I'm excited to present my odaiko piece "Gliding Dreams" at ITI which is a product of the mentioned approach and philosophy. Through searching for ways to become a better teacher, I've also become a better artist and performer.

Taiko Together - Parent Child Taiko Classes

https://yeemanmui.com/taikotogether/

Taiko FUNdamentals - professional development for teachers

https://yeemanmui.com/taikofundamentals/

Taiko and 0-2 years old babies (I haven't had a chance to create a blog post or page for this yet...)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwcR20wlETC/

https://www.orff4kids.com/concert-4-babies2019?fbclid=IwAR0maHISTaA8f5QW-EM1oR-KX7HEw3iL-QSckcD7yDS62Q3ZUeG9ZOwpDHY

Kris Bergstrom

Arugakki. A collective of players who dabble in mochi-making theater parties to bicycle-powered, roving taiko concerts.

https://k--b.org/projects/arugakki

Environmentalism / bicycling

http://k--b.org/articles/philosophy/toward-a-sustainable-taiko-career

Apartment design and furniture making

http://k--b.org/articles/apartment-design

"Clutter" project: how many things do I, and should I, own?

http://k--b.org/clutter

Russel Baba & Jeanne Mercer

We continue to teach a community class each week in Mount Shasta & from that group, we perform for local events & perform or do workshops for communities in northern California/southern Oregon. Community taiko is very important & the center of taiko. At the same time, taiko needs larger & grander visions.

From 1996 - 2004, Shasta Taiko in Concert was annually held at the College of the Siskiyous indoor theater. The Concerts presented recognized American taiko groups as well as provided the opportunity for Shasta Taiko students to perform in a formal setting. The Concerts were overwhelmingly successful & inspired the move to an outdoor festival, ShastaYama (2005 - 2016).

ShastaYama was the largest outdoor taiko festival in America & presented leading American taiko artists & groups. The amount of work was overwhelming, but the experience invaluable. We had a great run. The show proved that taiko can attract & be a primary event for communities. It also provided the opportunity for artists to perform in an advantageous situation, provided enough performance time for artists to present their work, encouraged creativity & new work, inspired & encouraged younger taiko players, & further exposed the art of taiko to America.

ShastaYama was a lot of work...a business really. The logistics & organization of an outdoor festival also added more to the project obviously. To be successful it took a mind set of 24 hours a day, 7 days a week which took away time & energy from the arts. From a small community, we were spread thin. It really was a miracle that we pulled it off. In the end, it was worth it. We're glad we did it. AND we're glad we stopped!

What we hoped for was to inspire other taiko groups to do their own presentations or events. Not only showcase & provide opportunities for their own ideas & players, but also present other artists in advantageous situations & thus expose taiko & grow the art. We need to think bigger. Taiko needs to create its own celebrations & grander larger events.

We still have the ShastaYama website. ShastaYama is also featured on the Shasta Taiko website. shastayama.org & shastataiko.org.

Personally, our art has evolved. We're very pleased where we are. As with everyone, we need opportunities to do our art. Perhaps our future goal is to make the cover of AARP Magazine - senior taiko!!!

Chizuko Endo

Here is a video that one of our youth group members made about the Deaf Community class.

https://hbaeagleeye.com/feel-the-beat-of-the-drum/

I am also an "artistic teaching partner" with a Department of Education program called "Artists in the Schools" (https://sfca.hawaii.gov/grants-programs/artists-in-the-schools/). I go into the schools for short term residency programs of 4-6 weeks.

We started the Taiko Center of the Pacific Fellowship in 2003 - its a great one-year opportunity to study taiko with Kenny Endo and Taiko Center of the Pacific in beautiful Hawaii. Here’s a video about the TCP Fellowship: https://youtu.be/xmi4G1LLdGE. The application for the 2019-2020 Fellowship year is due June 11, 2019 (coming up soon). Here’s a link to the application: https://taikoarts.com/fellowship/. It says the deadline is May 2 but the deadline has been extended to June 11, 2019.

PJ Hirabayashi

A charter member of San Jose Taiko since 1974 and having transitioned out of San Jose Taiko directorship in 2011, I now focus my work on TaikoPeace. Inspired by Karen Armstrong’s Charter for Compassion (https://charterforcompassioninstitute.org), TaikoPeace is a creative initiative—a movement—to promote a culture of peace (inner and outer) and to expand our awareness to shift our world from competition to cooperation, from insensitivity to compassion, and from exploitation to sustainability. TaikoPeace is dedicated to unleash creativity, spark new connections of co-creativity, and heal the human spirit through the dynamic energy of taiko drumming.

Seeking to amplify positive social change through personal transformation, TaikoPeace targets heart-centered and gratitude-conscious individuals, taiko players and non-taiko players alike, and especially musicians, dancers, writers, and artists of all genres and walks of life. The TaikoPeace experience integrates taiko drumming with artistic modalities such as Japanese butoh dancing, chanting, spoken word, and writing in order to activate and awaken self-expression in disruptive, yet positive ways. My “active hope” is to catalyze our energies and connections with each other, for each of us to recognize and ignite our life's passion, and to retune our minds and actions toward being of service for the greater good, no matter how big or small, personal or collective.

TaikoPeace Projects

• Invitation by the Holy Land Trust for “BetLahem Live 2014” festival to perform and work with 40 Palestinian youth
• Recipient of the Creative Artists Fellowship 2014 to meet and collaborate with artists, whose communities have been marginalized and discriminated in Japan—the Ainu, Burakumin, Korean, Okinawan—who use their cultural art forms to build bridges of understanding
• Curriculum development with Judith Kajiwara, Director of OnenessButoh, for Stanford University Professor Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu’s classes (2016-18) on “Heartfulness: Mindfulness, Compassion, and Responsibility” and “Trauma, Healing, and Empowerment in Asian America”
• Collaboration with Kodo Cultural Foundation’s EXADON program to build awareness of special needs populations and their accessibility to play taiko
• Coalition of American Leadership Forum Faith Leaders circle to: create a space that allows for meaningful dialogue in order to heal the fracture of perceived difference; educate and bring awareness to critical issues facing our valley; shine a light on bigotry in all its forms and highlight the power of our shared humanity

Kenny Endo

For the past 25 years, we’ve been involved with the UH Outreach College Statewide Cultural Extension Program (http://www.outreach.hawaii.edu/scep/default.asp) and present lecture-demonstrations and workshops to underserved school, hospitals, prisons, and senior centers. On June 26, through the program, we’ll be going to Kalaupapa on Molokai, which in the past was a place where people with Hansen’s disease were confined. We’ve had many interesting experiences through this program.

Another project that I’ve been involved with is goodwill tours to Central America through Japan Foundation NY Office. On these trips we not only perform concerts but collaborate with local artists. Through the program, on three trips, I’ve visited Nicaragua, Jamaica, El Salvador, Belize, Costa Rico, and Bahamas. The collaborations with local artists has been meaningful.

Finally the APPEX (Asian Pacific Artists Exchange) project out of UCLA ‘s Center for Intercultural Performance brought artists together from Asia and the USA for the purpose of creating intercultural performances. I participated in the month long program in 1997 and 1999. The performances and contacts from this network has been life changing and beneficial to my artistic outlook.

Roy Hirabayashi

Using taiko as a tool to teach leadership skills is now a significant part of the work I do. Team building, group dynamics, and community organizing all can benefit from the core values and principles that I have learned playing taiko.

The following are a few examples of projects and organizations that I am currently working with:

• Multicultural Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI). MALI is a multicultural arts leadership program in the San Jose region that is now beginning the 12^th year. MALI has grown to a network of over a hundred artists that are now working together.
• Nikkei Community Internship (NCI). NCI is summer internship program to develop young leaders in the three Japantowns (San Jose, San Francisco and Los Angeles). San Jose Japantown hosts 2 interns every summer.
• Japantown Community Congress of San Jose (JCCsj). JCCsj is a coalition of community organizations in San Jose Japantown that advocates the historical and cultural preservation of San Jose Japantown.
• Japanese American Leadership Delegation (JALD). JALD is sponsored by the U.S.-Japan Council to help bridge the Japanese American community to the leadership of Japan.
• School of Arts & Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza (SOAC). SOAC is a cultural facility in the Mayfair neighborhood of San Jose, a predominantly Mexican American neighborhood since the mid-20th century. The MHP was built by the City of San Jose in 1999 on the site of one of the first grocery store boycotts for farm workers’ rights organized by César Chavez in the 1960s.
• Telling the story of why taiko, Japantown and building community are important can be found at the following links.
  • Remembering E.O. 9066: San Jose Taiko on Musical and Historical Resonances
  • Smithsonian FolkLife Festival, On the Move
  • NEA audio podcast, August 25, 2011
  • Playing for Community, Nichi Bei, April 1, 2017

Elise Fujimoto, Rome Hammer

Elise (elise@taikocommunityalliance.org) and Rome (rome@taikocommunityalliance.org) are Board Members for the Taiko Community Alliance (TCA), launched in 2013 as an arts support organization for taiko. In addition to a number of other programs, TCA offers advice and funding, in the form of competitive mini-grants, to support collegiate taiko gatherings on both coasts: the Intercollegiate Taiko Invitational (ITI) on the West Coast, and the East Coast Taiko Conference (ECTC) on the East Coast. TCA is grateful to collegiate taiko players and their community for their continued support as volunteers and Board Members. We encourage students to celebrate the 50th year of taiko in North America by taking advantage of our special 2019 Student Membership. For $10 you can become a TCA member and help TCA support you!