Interviews

1. The reason he came to the United States (Japanese)

2. First taiko performance in the United States (Japanese)

3. Differences in taiko style (Japanese)

4. Originality of each taiko group (Japanese)

5. Benefits of living in the United States (Japanese)

6. Promoting group identity through taiko contests (Japanese)

7. Taiko's sounds as Japanese cultural tradition (Japanese)

Etsuo Hongo

(1949 - 2019) Taiko player. Founded five taiko groups in Southern California

Differences in taiko style (Japanese)

(Japanese) When I heard about the Kinnara Taiko the following year, I hurried over there and stayed with them for about three months. But I had a hard time understanding their way of playing. They were so different from my style. Even Johnny Mori said to me, “This guy doesn’t know anything.” Well, I came to think of it. He might be right. Although I asked them to let me play in the back, I just didn’t understand their music. Even then I could not feel anything in their playing that would touch my heart. In those days, Kinnara did not have a teacher. When they heard something they liked, for instance, a part of a piece in a recorded playing or a movie like Muhomatsu no Issho, they would imitate any rhythm they hear and try to incorporate them into their playing. Initially, you could recognize where the music (rhythm) came from but gradually they would evolve into something different. They played the taiko in that way at that time.

drum Kinnara Taiko taiko

Date: April 1, 2005

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Ann Kaneko

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

Interviewee Bio

Etsuo Hongo, a shin-issei, was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. He began his taiko training there, and was exposed to the idea of taiko in the United States when he read a 1968 Japanese newspaper article about San Francisco Taiko Dojo. Almost immediately after he came to the United States in 1973, he searched out a place to play taiko. He attended the Long Beach Buddhist Temple obon, where he was given his first opportunity to play taiko in this country. Shortly thereafter, he traveled to South America, where he spent the subsequent year visiting various Nikkei communities and continuing to play taiko in local festivals.

After his travels in South America, Mr. Hongo decided to return to the United States where he started his gardening business. In 1977, he established Los Angeles Matsuri Taiko. He now has five groups—totaling some 100 students. The other four groups are L.A. Mugen Taiko (est. 1988), Venice Koshin Taiko (est. 1992), L.A. Taiko Okida Gumi (est. 1996), and El Marino Rainbow Taiko, an elementary school program for 2nd through 5th graders. He passed away on October 28, 2019 at age 70. (June 2021)

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