Introduction

What is Taiko?

Power, passion, artistry and Oriental grace; Japanese taiko drumming is an amazing experience to behold....

History/Evolution of Taiko

Where it all began in Japan...

Hiatory of Wai Taiko

Where it all began in 'The Tron'...

Power, passion, artistry and Oriental grace; Japanese taiko drumming is an amazing experience to behold.

Using sets of large wooden drums played in synchronised fashion by a choreographed group, taiko is a captivating performance art that has thrilled audiences worldwide for decades. It's an intensely physical experience as much as it is musical; combining powerful tribal drumming with martial arts style movements and wild vocal shouts and chants.

Taiko has its roots in particularly ancient forms of drumming, with its early ancestors having been practiced in Japan for over 2,000 years and in China and Korea for even longer still. Traditionally most of the festival songs were played on one drum, with players taking turns to keep the rhythm going for the length of the festival (this could take 3 days!). Kumidaiko (group drumming) is a more recent phenomenon which was pioneered in the 60's by a jazz drummer Oguchi Daihachi adapting many of the traditional festival songs into group performances for a stage. Today there are thousands of taiko groups performing around the world, with an estimated 5,000+ in Japan alone, as well as roughly 2,000 across the USA, Canada, Europe and Oceania.

The most well known Japanese group is the professional taiko group Kodo who live communally on Sado Island, a centre for traditional Japanese folk art. Their first international performance involved running the Boston marathon and then jumping up on stage to perform a 2 hour set - an outstanding feat which demonstrates their unsurpassed fitness and stamina. Yurika was lucky enough to attend their renowned Earth Celebration Festival and participate in workshops with the legendary drummers.

Despite our geographical isolation, Wai Taiko have been lucky enough to have had interactions with groups from Japan, and taiko professionals. The coach from our high school club, Takio Kitamura has visited us and was so inspired while he was here that he composed an original song about NZ! We also had Ami Takeuchi coach us for a year while she was studying in NZ. Ami was a professional with Matsumuragumi of Kobe. Some members of the group - Lianne, Michelle and Yurika have done workshops with TaikOz, Australia's premiere taiko group in Sydney, bringing new found skills back to the group.

We've been very lucky to see the energetic Tao Drummers twice in Auckland and have had visits by community taiko groups Takane Midare and Kotaro. We were so inspired by Kotaro's festival style we invited the leader Toshiaki Kono back to teach us his funky beats. We also invited Kevin Man of TaikOz, Australia's premiere taiko group to Hamilton to do workshops with the group, and Marco Lienhard popped over for a workshop with us while he was in Sydney. And of course, we have had Riichi Yamauchi and Kenji Furutate - two fantastic professionals from Japan come over at our request to participate in the Taiko Festival where they imparted their vast knowledge to us in a number of workshops.