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Participation in community events

One of the events that is very dear to us, and we started—it’ll be coming up on five years—is called the Maui Matsuri. And it’s a Japanese community event. And there were three groups that were instrumental in starting the festival. It was the Japanese Cultural Society of Maui, the Kiwanis Club of Kahului and Maui Taiko. And the three of us got together, and we started to sponsor and be involved in the planning and organization of this Matsuri. And next year will be our fifth anniversary for it. And every year now, we have 3,000 to 4,000 people that join us for the 5 hours. So, that’s a key community activity that we do.

We get involved in other things like the Maui Marathon. It’s a drumming marathon for us because we are sort of the tail end of the marathon, which means that we play for every single runner from the person who’s winning and is in first place to the very last runner. So, we’re literally playing taiko for 3 to 4 hours. And these runners come from all over the country. And it’s interesting because we’re playing taiko, and this Japanese camera crew will come around and shoot us because they’re so surprised that there’s Japanese taiko at a Maui Marathon. And the community events run the gamut from festivals to just events for children and seniors.


drum 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)

Seiichi Tanaka
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Seiichi Tanaka

Understanding Sansei taiko (Japanese)

(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.

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Seiichi Tanaka
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Seiichi Tanaka

Soukou Bayashi: Dedicated to the Issei (Japanese)

(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.

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Seiichi Tanaka
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Seiichi Tanaka

Handmade taiko (Japanese)

(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.

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Seiichi Tanaka
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Seiichi Tanaka

Taiko philosophy (Japanese)

(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.

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Nosuke Akiyama
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Nosuke Akiyama

Rediscovery of Japanese culture through taiko (Japanese)

Shishimai (Lion dance) and Taiko player with San Francisco Taiko Dojo.

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Etsuo Hongo
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Etsuo Hongo

The reason he came to the United States (Japanese)

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

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Etsuo Hongo
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Etsuo Hongo

First taiko performance in the United States (Japanese)

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

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Etsuo Hongo
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Etsuo Hongo

Differences in taiko style (Japanese)

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

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Etsuo Hongo
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Etsuo Hongo

Originality of each taiko group (Japanese)

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

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Etsuo Hongo
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Etsuo Hongo

Benefits of living in the United States (Japanese)

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

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Etsuo Hongo
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Etsuo Hongo

Promoting group identity through taiko contests (Japanese)

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

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Etsuo Hongo
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Etsuo Hongo

Taiko's sounds as Japanese cultural tradition (Japanese)

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

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Kenny Endo
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Kenny Endo

Differences between Kinnara and San Francisco Taiko Dojo

(b.1952) Master drummer, artistic director of the Taiko Center of the Pacific

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Kenny Endo
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Kenny Endo

Being free of the tradition

(b.1952) Master drummer, artistic director of the Taiko Center of the Pacific

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Kenny Endo
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Kenny Endo

Collaborating with non-taiko groups

(b.1952) Master drummer, artistic director of the Taiko Center of the Pacific

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