Interviews
First experience writing music
I think the first experiences that I had with music as far as playing it would have to be when I was really young, when I was about 3 or 4. My mom enrolled me in a piano class. It was like a Yamaha piano workshop type of thing for young kids and we’d just go in with a class of 10 or 15 other kids of all ages who were just learning piano for the first time. And they’d teach you how to put your hands on the keys correctly, sit correctly, and all those things. And it kind of stuck. I think what happened was that the shop closed down and our teacher from the class said, you know, “I’m going to keep doing this on my own. I’m going to teach piano privately.” And we began…my brother and I began lessons with her.
From the point, I want to say I was about 12-ish when I won one of my first composition contests. I wrote…it was actually the first piece I ever wrote and I submitted it through her to this little contest they were putting on and I was really proud because I won, you know, first place and I’m this little kid and there were people who were, you know, 5 years older than me writing music for this thing who had written a number of pieces. So that was really big moment for me where I thought, you know, “I guess I can write songs. This is pretty fun.”
Date: January 16, 2006
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Chris Komai and John Esaki
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
Explore More Videos
Gordon's parents' experience in prison
(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline
Soukou Bayashi: Dedicated to the Issei (Japanese)
(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.
Taiko philosophy (Japanese)
(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.
First taiko performance in the United States (Japanese)
(1949 - 2019) Taiko player. Founded five taiko groups in Southern California
Promoting group identity through taiko contests (Japanese)
(1949 - 2019) Taiko player. Founded five taiko groups in Southern California
Taiko's sounds as Japanese cultural tradition (Japanese)
(1949 - 2019) Taiko player. Founded five taiko groups in Southern California
Reasons for starting taiko in America
(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.
Meeting Kinnara Taiko
(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.
Happi coats in taiko
(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.
Traditional taiko style
(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.
Japanese musical education
(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.
Differences between American and Japanese taiko
(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.
Dream of "taiko" in the English dictionary
(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.
Blue-eyed doll
(1914-2018) Founder of the largest gladiolus bulb farm in the United States.
Discover Nikkei Updates
November 12
5pm PDT | 7pm PET
Featured Nima:
Graciela Nakachi
Guest Host:
Enrique Higa
Presented in Spanish
Follow us @discovernikkei for new site content, program announcements, and more!