UCLA Kyodo Taiko is a collegiate

taiko are a broad range of Traditional Japanese musical instruments, Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese language, Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various J ...

group specializing in taiko drumming. Founded in 1990, Kyodo is the first collegiate taiko group in the country. Kyodo is a Japanese term that means both "family" and "loud children." Many of Kyodo's members are not of Japanese descent.

History

Using his training at

San Jose Taiko San Jose Taiko, founded in 1973, joined San Francisco Taiko Dojo (est, 1968) and Kinnara Taiko (est. 1969) as only the third Kumi-daiko, or ensemble taiko group, in North America. Initially a youth program at the San Jose Betsuin, a member of the B ...

, Mark Honda founded Kyodo Taiko in 1990 under the

Nikkei Nikkei can refer to: *, abbreviated , Nikkei, a large media corporation in Japan *, abbreviated , Nikkei, a major business newspaper published in Japan *, a Japanese stock market index, published by ''Nihon Keizai Shimbun'' *Nikkei cuisine, a Japan ...

Student Union (NSU) at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA). Originally there was no practice space for the group and no instruments to play. Thus, members of Kyodo practiced “air

bachi ''Bachi'' (, ; also ''batchi'') are straight wooden sticks used on Japanese taiko drums, and also the plectrum (written ) for stringed instruments of Japanese origin such as the shamisen and ''biwa''. For percussion Drum bachi (, ) are made ...

,” where the players would practice by hitting on an imaginary drum. In the summer of 1991, members of Kyodo built their first four chu-daiko drums, with the help of Tom Endo and Kinnara Taiko's Kevin Higa.“History.” UCLA Kyodo Taiko. WordPress. Web. 18 Jan. 2012. http://kyodo.wordpress.com/history/. The group gave their first major performance in February 1992 at

Royce Hall Royce Hall is a building on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Designed by the Los Angeles firm of Allison & Allison (James Edward Allison, 1870–1955, and his brother David Clark Allison, 1881–1962) and completed ...

on the 50th anniversary of the Japanese American internment, wherein 175 UCLA students were interned. Following Honda's graduation, Kyodo officially separated from the Nikkei Student Union. Subsequently, they began receiving funding, gained permission to utilize the John Wooden Center as their practice space, and garnered support from UCLA. Many members, such as Portland Taiko director Michelle Fujii and Los Angeles Taiko Institute principal Yuta Kato, have gone on to play professionally.

Performances

In 1995, Kyodo participated in the first Intercollegiate Taiko Invitational held at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

with groups such as Jodaiko and

Stanford Taiko Stanford Taiko is a collegiate taiko group based at Stanford University. One of the first collegiate taiko groups to form in North America, it was founded in the winter of 1992 by students Ann Ishimaru and Valerie Mih as a way to share taiko with ...

. Kyodo has subsequently hosted the Invitational. In 2006, the group was feature in a

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...

commercial with other LA-based groups, TAIKOPROJECT and Koshin Taiko. The ad has been criticized for exotifying Japanese culture but was also heralded as a shift towards mainstream acceptance. Kyodo often performs at different events around campus, including the Fowler Out Loud evening music series at the

Fowler Museum The Fowler Museum at UCLA (commonly known as The Fowler, and formerly Museum of Cultural History and Fowler Museum of Cultural History) is a museum on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) which explores art and material ...

and

UCLA Bruins men's basketball The UCLA Bruins men's basketball program represents the University of California, Los Angeles, in the sport of men's basketball as a member of the Big Ten Conference. Established in 1919, the program has won a record 11 NCAA Division I Men's B ...

games. The group hosts an annual spring concert and are a staple at the NSU Cultural Night. Kyodo has performed at live events around Los Angeles, such as

Nisei Week is an annual festival celebrating Japanese American (JA) culture and history in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Nisei means 2nd generation in Japanese, describing the first American born Japanese, a group which t ...

, the L.A. Tofu Festival, the Lotus Festival, and the First Annual U.S. Sumo Open. They have also performed several times at the

Manzanar Manzanar is the site of one of ten American concentration camps, where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. Although it had over 10,000 inmates at its peak, it was one ...

Pilgrimage, an annual event commemorating the

internment of Japanese Americans United States home front during World War II, During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and Internment, incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese Americans, Japanese descent in ten #Terminology debate, concentration camps opera ...

during the Second World War.

Popular songs

Other songs of UCLA Kyodo include, “Encore”, composed by Jason Lew (a piece utilizing original rhythm patterns from “Shoshin Wasurebekarazu,” composed by Tamon Norimoto), “Rai”, composed by Ron Peterson (2001), “Tatsu,” composed by Marvin Yee (1992), “Genki,” composed by Shozo Yoshikawa (1999), “Hashire,” composed by Walter Satoshi Tsushima (2001), and “Encore Remix,” composed by Craig Ishii, Jason Osajima, and Christine Kimura (2007).“UCLA Kyodo Taiko.” Discover Nikkei. Japanese American National Museum. Web. 18 Jan. 2012. http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/taiko/groups/98/.

References

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External links

Main website at kyodotaiko.orgArchived kyodotaiko.comBritannica Article on taiko
Taiko groups Kyodo Taiko