Interviews

1. Fun at concentration camp

2. A wrong ethnic assumption

3. The performing arts not for Nisei

4. Changing the taiko rhythm from Japanese to Afro-Cuban

5. Friction between Sensei and Kinnara in defining taiko

6. American influences on Japanese taiko

7. Appreciating Kinnara Taiko's approach to taiko

8. A Japanese American gardening dance

9. Taiko is a reflection of where you live

10. Playing traditional gagaku while creating an identity

Kodani,Mas

Senshin Buddhist Temple minister and co-founder of Kinnara Taiko.

American influences on Japanese taiko

We’ve known KODO from the very beginning, since they were Ondekoza. When Ondekoza first came here, they didn’t know anybody and they somehow found us and so they practiced here. So it was really weird. They had a hotel – a cheap hotel – in Hollywood and of course they ran here, rehearsed, ran back, and then ran to the theatre for a performance. We’re going, “What’s the matter with you people?”

But anyway, since that time, we’ve been very, very close. And when they became KODO. So usually, when KODO comes to town, we have a potluck with them. They’re the exact opposite of us. I remember one time they said, “Our taiko is serious taiko and your taiko is fun taiko”. We took that as a compliment and I think as a result of American contact, maybe with us, I don’t know, they finally agreed to have a woman perform in their troupe, which is unheard of in Japan. Women do not play taiko. Here, it’s overwhelmingly women. The majority of any group is women because that onus is not there and I think that had an influence, an impact on them.

And the fact that they can finally smile in a piece while they’re playing, which you don’t do in Japanese performing arts. So that’s been an American influence, I think. And I think they’re much better off for it.

arts drum gender Kodo (musical group) music Ondekoza taiko

Date: December 3, 2004

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Art Hansen, Sojin Kim

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

Interviewee Bio

Rev. Masao Kodani is a Sansei minister of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism and co-founder of Kinnara Taiko - the second taiko group established in the United States and the first Japanese American Buddhist group. Born in Glendale, California, Rev. Kodani was a young child when he and his family were incarcerated at Poston Relocation Center in Arizona during WWII. After his family's return toLos Angeles, they lived in a predominantly African American community near the neighborhood of Watts. Although they were Buddhist, his parents sent their children to Evergreen Baptist Church in East L.A. because they thought it would be easier for them to fit in. After graduating from Centennial High School, Reverend Kodani attended the University of California at Santa Barbara where he earned his degree in East Asian Studies. While at UC Santa Barbara, he became close with Reverend Art Takemoto of Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple. Through Rev. Takemoto’s influence, Kodani traveled to Japanto study Buddhism at Ryukoku University. After his studies were completed, he returned to the United States and was assigned to the Senshin Buddhist Temple in South Central Los Angeles. In 1969, he established Kinnara Taiko with members of the temple as a Japanese American Buddhist ensemble with the objective of enjoying the Buddha-Dharma (Horaku)through the experience. Their composition, "Ashura" has become one of the most learned adapted pieces in the American taiko repertory. (December 3, 2004)