Interviews

1. Understanding Sansei taiko (Japanese)

2. Soukou Bayashi: Dedicated to the Issei (Japanese)

3. Handmade taiko (Japanese)

4. Taiko philosophy (Japanese)

5. Coming to America

6. Differences between American-born Japanese and Japanese from Japan

7. Lack of taiko at Cherry Blossom Festival

8. Reasons for starting taiko in America

9. Meeting Kinnara Taiko

10. Drafted for Vietnam War

11. Happi coats in taiko

12. Tire Dojo

13. Traditional taiko style

14. Dedicated to the frontier spirits

15. Japanese musical education

16. Differences between American and Japanese taiko

17. Dream of "taiko" in the English dictionary

Tanaka,Seiichi

(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.

Coming to America

Always, I wanted to get out that small city, small town. Then my neighbor, right next door almost—one block—is a movie theatre. John Wayne and all those—pow, pow, pow—tough American cowboys. Without understanding English too much, but I enjoy story. Always the bad guy die [in the] end. Very simple story. So I thought all United States was a big country. So I wanted to come to [the] United States, too.

I*: Why San Francisco?

This is another story. Okay? My wife, I met my wife in Tokyo when I was [in] college doing the martial art. She is an American-born Japanese—third generation. She was going to Waseda University, International Department. Then, her major was photography. So accidentally, our practice was high interest. So she took my picture. We get to know each other. Then I wanted, I told her I wanted to come to the United States [for] a long time or, you know, Brazil. I couldn’t go because I have no farming experience. So her father died, but older brother become sponsor to get my visa. So I came to—not to San Francisco—Watsonville and strawberry pick, strawberry grove, with a Mexicano.

* "I" indicates an interviewer (Art Hansen).

Date: January 27, 2005

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Art Hansen, Sojin Kim

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum.

Interviewee Bio

Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka, a shin-issei, was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1943. After graduating from Chiba University of Commerce, he moved to the United States in 1967. He worked as a farm laborer, picking strawberries in Watsonville, before moving to San Francisco. In 1968, he attended the San Francisco Japantown Cherry Blossom Festival. He was struck by the absence of taiko drumming—something he associated with the festivals of his youth in Japan. Inspired to action, he borrowed taiko from the local Buddhist Temple and gathered together some friends to perform at the 1968 Aki (Autumn) Matsuri in Japantown. He returned to Japan many times in the years following to study taiko so that he could pass on his knowledge to others.Tanaka Sensei built upon the taiko renaissance that had begun in Japan in the 1950s and established San Francisco Taiko Dojo, the first taiko dojo (school) in North America, in 1968. Since then, he has trained thousands of students.

Today there are more than 200 taiko groups in the United States and Canada, many of which trace their roots back to Grand Master Tanaka and his San Francisco Taiko Dojo. Tanaka continues to teach fundamental taiko rhythm patterns and movements that are based on the martial arts. Although his taiko style originates in the Japanese festival tradition, he has been influenced by his American experiences and blends traditional taiko rhythms with jazz, Latin, and other rhythms.

Tanaka Sensei has received Japan's Foreign Ministers Commendation and the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellows Award in recognition of his work promoting the art of taiko. (January 27, 2005)