Interviews

1. Taiko as a family tradition

2. Obon and the community

3. Taiko from the old days

4. Taiko as a family activity

5. Participation in community events

6. The multicultural perspective

7. Focus on peace

8. Mothers and Taiko

Kay Fukumoto

(b.1960) Third-generation taiko drummer, leader of Maui Taiko

Obon and the community

I never missed an Obon, especially at Paia Mantokuji because that was the family church. So my parents would always bring me home during the summer for Obon. So, I always continued to play even through college. Then, when I came home for good and having started dating my future husband at the time, when I came home I realized that as I was attending these Obons, the community was aging at the Obons, actually, because there weren’t younger children and families that were attending Obon. And the dancers were of the aging population. And I felt sad about that, because I felt that if there’s a way to help encourage the younger children to get involved, then we knew for a fact, the tradition would continue. So, after I married and my husband was so involved in taiko, we sort of went on a mission to try to get the younger generation to come out to Obon.

Buddhism drum families Obon religions taiko

Date: July 9, 2004

Location: Hawaii, US

Interviewer: Art Hansen, Sojin Kim

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

Interviewee Bio

Kay Fukumoto, of Maui Taiko, continues a multi-generational family tradition of playing taiko at local, annual Obon festivals that began with her grandfather and great-grandfather and now includes her husband and son. Though the Maui Taiko group was formed officially in 1996, it has been operating informally on Maui, Hawaii for over 100 years.

In 1970, at the age of ten, Kay was the first girl to be allowed to play the taiko at an Obon festival on the island of Maui. She now leads Maui Taiko, which plays at 16 different temples during the Obon festival season. In 2001, she coordinated a trip for the group to perform taiko in Fukushima and Hiroshima, Japan. (July 9, 2004)

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