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

Taiko as a family activity

Well, I think my having involved from a family perspective definitely gives me the roots to—for me philosophically—to want to have taiko be part of the family. With my husband having been part of the group, what happened was that we started to attract people who wanted to do it as a family activity. And it might’ve been a two-fold thing. It could’ve been that they saw us doing it as a family activity, so they would join up as a family activity. But, there were some members in our group that they wanted their child to do something cultural, but they got involved somehow because of their attraction to it after a while. And there was several of our members that had been introduced that way. So, their child started, they became involved. Some of the children now have left the group, but they’re still involved. And I think our group is unique in that we do have a lot of family members doing taiko together. It’s not just one family member.

drum families 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)