Roots of the Rhythm: How a Collegiate Taiko Club Preserves the Japanese Tradition
- Nana Nakano
- Sep 24, 2023
- 3 min read
By Nana Nakano
Kellie Yada is no stranger to Orange County Buddhist Church. Ever since fifth grade, she goes there to play the Japanese drum, the taiko.
“It’s really an experience that you feel with your whole body,” she says.
Taiko is filled with historical richness. The earliest variations of taiko were used as a communication tool and an instrument for religious rituals over 2000 years ago. Not only it produces a powerful sound, but there are also physical movements choreographed to the performance, known as “Kata”. “Bachi” is the wooden drumsticks that drummers use.
When Kellie became a college student at California State University Long Beach, she asked Maya Shimizu if she was interested in forming a collegiate taiko group. At first, Maya was worried of her lack of experience. However, after couple of sessions, she almost felt as if Taiko were in her blood--- literally.
“I actually found out I have a family history with taiko. My grandmother, Sandra Shimizu-Ikari is a co-founder and co-founding member of Hikari Taiko” she recalls. “They were one of the first groups to be founded in North America”.
Alongside Erin Hayashida, they co-founded the intercollegiate taiko group Seishun Taiko in 2022.
They hope to make a prominent impact to the Japanese American community, one with a delicate history.
Whispers of a Fragile Past
The first generation of Japanese immigrants, known as issei came around the 1860s to California. Persecutions against the community started in early 1900’s, when United States signed the informal Gentlemen’s Agreement in 1907, which aimed to lower the Japanese American immigration rate.
Things took a turn in 1941 when Japanese military attacked Pearl Harbor.
“[Families] suddenly realize that their face, even their face is immediately in alignment with being an enemy alien,” says Dr. Rei Magosaki, the associate professor of English at Chapman University
who studies Japanese wartime incarceration literature. “This,[…] I think leads to an eventual distancing of Japanese American families from identifying too strongly with Japanese heritage and culture.”
Due to fear, President Franklin Roosevelt authorized Executive Order 9066, which forced removal of “all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to ‘relocation centers’” on February 19, 1942. “Relocation centers” was another word to describe the incarceration camps Japanese American families were forcibly sent to.
Passing the Bachi
The topic of incarceration camps is sensitive for both Kellie and Maya. They are both Japanese Americans, fourth and fifth generations respectively. Maya’s grandfather was born in Tule Lake Incarceration Camp and as a result of the war, relocated to Colorado, Chicago, and even Oklahoma. Kellie’s grandmother on her mother’s side was incarcerated as well.
For the members of Seishun Taiko, carrying on the traditional instrument means a lot.
“Given that many of us are children or grandchildren of people who experience that stigma of don't be Japanese and avoid showing any cultural significance, there was this resurgence of wanting to be Japanese and embracing the culture,” says Maya. “I think it means creating something that will last me and my life just because I believe traditions are created and exist so that we can connect one another to generations we may not have been able to connect to in the past or in the future.”
As for Kellie, she wants to spread the beauty of Taiko with others.
“I wanted to share the art of Taiko with other Japanese American youth, but also make sure that even people outside of our community could understand and appreciate this art as well,” she says.
They express their passion to preserve the tradition through blood, sweat and tears.
Open Taiko sessions and tryouts are happening on October 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th from 6:30-9:00 PM at OCBC.
Follow Seishun Taiko on Instagram @seishun.taiko
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