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Taiko, Japanese ensemble drumming, took root in North America through Japanese American groups formed in California from the late 1960s. They built drums from whatever they could find, including wine barrels, and made playing together a way of building community.

Taiko

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The story behind the card

In Japan, taiko simply means drum. The style of large, choreographed drum ensembles, called kumi-daiko, took shape after the Second World War, notably with Daihachi Oguchi's group from 1951. In 1968 Seiichi Tanaka founded the San Francisco Taiko Dojo, and in 1969 members of Senshin Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles formed Kinnara Taiko, making affordable drums from wine barrels. For many Japanese Americans whose families had been interned during the war, taiko became a way to claim their heritage in public. North America now has hundreds of taiko groups.

Türkçe oku
Japon topluluk davulculuğu taiko, Kuzey Amerika'da 1960'ların sonundan itibaren Kaliforniya'da kurulan Japon Amerikalı gruplar sayesinde kök saldı. Bu gruplar davullarını şarap fıçısı gibi ellerindeki malzemelerden kendileri yaptı; birlikte çalmak da bir topluluk olmanın yolu hâline geldi.

Japoncada taiko düpedüz davul demektir. Büyük ve koreografili davul topluluklarının çaldığı kumi-daiko üslubu ise İkinci Dünya Savaşı'ndan sonra, özellikle Daihachi Oguchi'nin 1951'de kurduğu grupla biçimlendi. Seiichi Tanaka 1968'de San Francisco Taiko Dojo'yu kurdu; 1969'da da Los Angeles'taki Senshin Budist Tapınağı'nın üyeleri Kinnara Taiko'yu oluşturdu ve pahalı davullar yerine şarap fıçılarından davul yaptı. Aileleri savaş yıllarında kamplara kapatılmış pek çok Japon Amerikalı için taiko, miraslarını herkesin önünde sahiplenmenin bir yolu oldu. Bugün Kuzey Amerika'da yüzlerce taiko grubu var.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Taiko
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