Ending Notes and Reflections

The presentation today went by really fast and I felt like I rushed through a lot of my points. Thinking about it now, I felt like I had some sort of anxiety about presenting. Maybe it's because I didn't have a taiko in front me. In the discussion portion of the presentation, a lot of interesting things were brought up that I had never really thought of as well as questions were asked that I didn't know the answer to, but that's exciting because then that means there's a lot more for me to explore!

I find that the subject of the commercialization of taiko that Ryan brought up was really interesting and would have been awesome to do a field study on. In response to this, I do know that composer Christopher Tin makes use of taiko as one of the main percussion instruments in his music - currently Stanford Taiko of Stanford University is collaborating with Christopher Tin and the Stanford Chamber Chorale on his newest album and song "The Storm-Driven Sea" where they will be touring in Thailand this summer. Other forms of commercialization have occurred with TAIKOPROJECT in some more recognizable productions like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM3cZfC0lk0

I have learned much more about taiko after this course. However, perhaps my specific focus on the subject did not work out too well for this course - The [Japanese] American form of taiko and how it is ever evolving and adapting to the values and ideas of the many individuals that are involved. Being a Japanese-American myself and coming from a background far removed from any influences of my heritage, I view taiko more as a connection to its history and not necessarily its traditions. But, that is because I have never learned these traditions and am not quite sure on what traditions we really have in taiko and also who started them, etc. I think it's because I focused specifically on kumidaiko and not just taiko in general. Kumidaiko is all I know though, and having not grown up with taiko in my life, I have a very limited perspective. I would really love to study all forms of taiko and obtain a greater appreciation of the art form and all of its traditions, many of which I do not know.

What I have gathered though is that anyone and everyone can love taiko, and groups are accepting of who plays it. There's no racial or ethnic boundaries that impose limitations on those who can or cannot play, and it really is a melting pot (overused term in this project) of all cultures. What everyone's own musical experiences have enrich taiko in so many ways that it is hard for me to call this "traditional Japanese drumming" as many collegiate taiko groups would say, but more as using these traditional instruments to explore and create music through the lens of taiko. Perhaps one of the best examples I can think of to support this is the group On Ensemble, a group that pushes the limits of taiko and explores many different genres and forms that can include taiko.

http://onensemble.bandcamp.com/music

This is their most recent album titled Bizarre Heroes, and there are some really great tracks on here that are really worth listening to!

All in all, my exploration of taiko will not stop here, but I think I need to focus my research in a bit and find an area of study that I can use to help make research a bit easier. From there I can begin to broaden my horizons in terms of study later on.

Here's a list of links to all the videos I used (or was planning on using) in my presentation today:
Jodaiko - Seijaku Dotou: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApYC2J5NcTo
KODO - Miyake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntCvduEumGI
TAIKOPROJECT - Omiyage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUj0uI0-ec0
Oedo Sukeroku Taiko with Kenny Endo - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_9Zu6Een_I
^ This song has very strong influences from Jazz and other genres (that I can't name). It's very catchy!

San Diego Groups:

San Diego Taiko: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUe58sy1tdI
Naruwan Taiko (San Diego community group): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-3JyjVp2EM
UCSD Asayake Taiko (my group): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wpwHh7Vf4U

Reflection of the Past - Part II

A long overdue second post to the Reflections of the Past.

This penultimate post has taken a very long time to compile and edit. There was originally supposed to be another post after this, but I might consolidate it into this one.

This past Memorial Day Weekend was the 19th Annual Intercollegiate Invitational, a two-day long conference (despite the title of Invitational hinting at some sort of competition. It's not. Though from my knowledge, it was at one point on the verge of competition in its very early years) comprised this year of 16 collegiate taiko groups from around the nation gathering in one location to share their knowledge and joy of taiko, strengthening bonds within the taiko community, and also to take workshops from Workshop Leaders and various taiko masters from around the world. This year, the invitational was hosted by Asayake Taiko here at UCSD. I had the privilege of being one of the coordinators for the event, and it was, for lack of better verbiage, a joyful nightmare. It was hellish at times because a lot of small problems were always occurring like phones breaking down in the heat of the event, and other random occurrences but overall the event was amazing and I am extremely grateful I was able to be a coordinator in this for I learned a great deal about myself, the dynamic of collegiate taiko (Perfect for this project!), got to meet and talk to the workshop leaders and masters on a more personal level (even better!) and I found out that two of them have degrees in ethnomusicology (Best part of the event in terms of this project! And I got to talk with them about it!).

Compilation video of this year's invitational, taken by one of the workshop leaders, Ringtaro Tateishi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evtMHZfPnYU

The significance of the Intercollegiate Taiko Invitational and it's bigger brother the North American Taiko Conference::NATC:: (And now the East Coast Taiko Conference) in relation to the taiko community as a whole is one of the most important events in the whole community. The function of the event is to promote friendship, community, communication, the transmission of the art, the new techniques that are possible on the instrument, and keep the history of taiko alive. With 16 groups from around the country totaling to about 250 participants, there's a lot of intermingling going on between one another and it's impossible to not make a new friend at the event when all you see is fellow taiko players, most of whom are from other groups; and, with the college life cycle of about 4 years, there are always more people to meet and to help spread the joy of taiko. One of the best things about the invitational is the Hachimaki Exchange, created by past coordinator and now one of the most well known Workshop Leaders and taiko players around the nation, Yuta Kato. The hachimaki exchange consists of every participant creating their own hachimaki that they trade with another participant during the invitational to spread the friendship and help memorialize it through a handmade hachimaki that is a representation of the individuals who traded. To finish the event, there are two concerts held at the evenings featuring all of the collegiate taiko groups:

some examples of this year can be found here:
UCI Jodaiko: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwSqsS_fhcM
UCLA Kyodo Taiko: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CCjC9fnaSg

My own personal experiences will begin here:

On the first day of the event, Friday May 24th, my job consisted of working with the groups arriving on campus as well as shuttling workshop leaders from the airport to the hotel that they were staying at, the Hyatt. It was during these short trips that I had the most free time out of the whole event, and where I was able to talk with some of the workshop leaders about really interesting things. I talked to Michelle Fujii, artistic director of Portland Taiko on the subject of Ethnomusicology in general and taiko in relation to the Japanese American community and its constantly evolving nature. As I was focused mostly on the event, I did not think of recording, nor did I have the capabilities to do so in my car, but I took down some notes once I had access to a notebook. Here are a few excerpts (not verbatim might I add) from the conversation:

- In relation to Japanese American Taiko
Taiko is unique in that it is no longer strictly an Asian musical tradition. Though its roots may have originated in Japan, taiko can be enjoyed by everyone and appreciated by all who love art and music. There are no boundaries for playing taiko and the compositions reflect this. Not all of them have Japanese names, nor do they all sound "Japanese" or rather "asian."

- On the subject of Ethnomusicology
It's a really interesting discipline and I'm glad I was able to study this while in college. I went to every music performance I could go to because I found everything so interesting. I really like experimental music because of the new techniques introduced and it's something out of the ordinary. That doesn't mean I like all experimental music, but I certainly have found things I really enjoy.

Michelle's talk in relation to my project was a sentiment that I shared, but to have this reconfirmed from someone who has had so much experience in taiko and has been exposed to so many things, it is reassuring and nice to know that there are others who are interested in ethnographies on taiko. A really interesting and helpful blog post in relation to "what is taiko" and how it's defined in America from the perception of the East Coast can be found here: http://taikogisp.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/taiko-diaspora-steph/

Taiko master Kenny Endo has an M.A. in Ethnomusicology but I didn't have enough time to talk to him over the course of the weekend... but that would definitely have been awesome if I could!

Reflection of the Past - Part I

This week sure has been a hectic one. I'd been MIA from almost all of my classes for the entire week due to preparing for the Intercollegiate Taiko Invitational that took place over Memorial Day Weekend. This post will focus on the prep that took place earlier throughout the week in its relation to research in the field.

I had previously mentioned in "Foray Into the Field" that I had attended a San Diego Taiko practice and reflected on what I had noticed there. Last Monday, I had attended a Naruwan Taiko practice, originally to give a brief talk for their "Culture Corner" - a short break during the 2-hour long practice about many things related to the art and history of taiko - about the Intercollegiate Taiko Invitational. What I didn't expect though was to participate in the entire practice. I remembered from the San Diego Taiko practice that observers are usually asked to join in on the practice if they have had taiko experience before, but I was certainly not prepared to practice wearing a button down shirt, slacks, and oxfords. Their practice focused on the style known "Yodan" deriving from the song "Yodan-uchi" of Oedo Sukeroku Taiko.

Yodan-Uchi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkySDOwtWcw

Yodan is a style of playing where two drums are played on rather than just one, typically two naname/slant drums, or one naname drum with an Odaiko.

One interesting piece of information relating to Yodan-uchi, or rather many other songs within the repertoire of Kumidaiko is that it is not open-domain and therefore needs permission to teach and play it from a member of Oedo Sukeroku Taiko. I learned this piece however during the Naruwan practice; I am very interested in seeing if these sentiments of open/closed domain are still enforced. I found an interesting article titled Diasporas and Interculturalism in Asian Performing Arts: Translating Traditions. This is really interesting and may hopefully provide me with further research on this topic, especially for my own personal growth as  a taiko historian as well as a player.

To get onto the focus of my research for this project, I want to look at how taiko especially in North American is not bound by race and ethnicity, nor age and gender, but is inclusive to all. Both Naruwan and San Diego Taiko have a very wide range of diversity amongst their members. Their songs have been influenced by both traditional forms from Japan (influences from Oedo Sukeroku, etc.) as well as influences from many other musical genres - in this time, Jazz and Hip-hop have cemented themselves within the art of Kumidaiko here in North America in terms of composition as well as playing styles. I love how this artform is not exclusive to only one race and ethnicity because it broadens the artform in so many different and unique ways. Perhaps the most notable example of a professional I can think of is Kris Bergstrom, an alumni from Stanford Taiko. His influence across the taiko community is very large and widespread and he has continued to inspire many young taiko players, including myself. He is also a great guy to work with.

Kris Bergstrom:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSQViimLkYw

Foray Into the Field

This past Thursday, I ventured out to the WorldBeat Cultural Center in Balboa Park and attended a practice by San Diego Taiko, the premier taiko group within the San Diego area. I had four primary reasons to go to their practice that night:

1. For the purposes of this class, to actually go into the field
2. Compare the differences of taiko (after college) to what I currently know of collegiate taiko.
3. Discuss equipment for the Intercollegiate Taiko Invitational that's coming up next weekend.
4. Meet one of the founders of Asayake Taiko, Bobby Koga.

I had never attended another group's practice before, so I was feeling slightly nervous, especially because I knew that the environment would be different from that of the collegiate taiko scene. I had some security in knowing a member of San Diego Taiko beforehand, Chris Huynh - an alumni of Asayake Taiko, and someone who I can see becoming a close friend - or perhaps a very healthy relationship (Ethnomusicologist-Interlocuter relationship too). Outside of Chris, there probably wouldn't be anyone who would be near my age, and there might not be many with whom I could relate aside from the fact that we all play taiko. Upon my arrival, I met Bobby Koga and his wife Chelsey Koga, who I had both talked to over email. I was a bit nervous talking to them... I mean, how could I not be nervous to meet the creator of my group? This group was practically the whole reason of why I ever considered a music major and a reason to pursue ethnomusicology in the first place. Bobby and Chelsey were both very welcoming and quickly dispelled any nervous tensions I had. We talked about taiko, and the intercollegiate invitational, as we will be lending drums from San Diego Taiko in order to help plan the event. *I've reached out to the San Diego community and have met great response and aid from the community groups. It is truly a nice and reassuring feeling knowing how deep the roots can go that unite people together through the artform of Taiko.*

Practice began, and was divided into two different groups, one devoted to "gig practice" and the other devoted to song learning. I went back and forth between the two groups talking with Chris about many different things. It was like an informal interview combined with the concept of "deep hanging out" (Clifford Geertz). I was very interested in finding out how San Diego Taiko conducted their practices and their philosophies of Taiko, two very important things for me to know not only for my research for this class, but also things I would very much like to know for my future within taiko.

Some things I discussed with Chris were how San Diego Taiko leads their practice and how other community/professional groups lead their practices. I shall do my best to write down what he said to the capabilities of my memory:

-- In regards to San Diego Taiko practices, they are pretty free form and easy going. They really focus on playing songs with critiques as a whole, and they work on developing good group chemistry and overall charisma. They don't always work on drills, but will occasionally focus on areas that the group could improve upon.
-- Chris also mentioned the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble (from here on abbreviated as KETE), a group led by Kenny Endo, arguably one of the most well known taiko masters around the world, based in Honolulu, Hawaii. Their group, works very similar to some of the collegiate groups, in which they work very hard and diligently on form and on songs. They also make sure to have all their group up to par with the physical capabilities of their group. Because this group is one of the premier groups within Hawaii and has also toured the world, they need to focus on their aesthetics much more than a local community group would (under normal circumstances). A comment from one of the members within the KETE expressed wishes that there was more variety in their practices at times, a sentiment that I greatly share within my current group.

The last half hour of their practice consisted of running through two songs - I do not know they names of either song, but their first song of the night can be found here at 3:40 (watch the entire video though, it's great!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPrqne4NDPU

Though I don't know the name of the piece, I do know that this was originally composed by the group Soh Daiko from New York. One of the SD Taiko members was originally from Soh Daiko and was allowed to teach this piece to San Diego. According to Chris, this piece is no longer in Soh Daiko's repertoire.

Notes on the video: Just listen to the crowd and see the energy on the stage, the interactions with all the members of group, not just the ones playing on the drums, but also the ones playing the peripheral parts. The chemistry and charisma that they have is there all the time and exists every time they play songs, even during practice.

From my experience San Diego Taiko practices are very relaxed and "laid back" yet they still accomplish their goals for the day. They are not strict on form, but they have a chemistry within the group that gives them great stage presence and are full of energy. No one is compensating for a lack of energy within one member, but it really is a joy to watch. I haven't had this much fun at a taiko practice since the first year I joined Asayake.

They were all very welcome and invited me to play along with them, the standard taiko song that everyone learns as a beginner which was Matsuri, akin to someone learning Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on an instrument. There are many different versions of Matsuri that is a representation of the group itself and who they are. Perhaps one day I shall do an analysis of just the Matsuri's of all the groups...

They way the close practices are very different than how we end practice at Asayake. They gather in a circle and conduct their closing routine, consisting of clapping a rhythm, and ending with Thank you in Japanese. It is very light hearted and reflects the group's warm, charismatic nature. In comparison, Asayake ends by creating two lines in a kneeling position, the leader kiai's (yells) and we meditate. The leader kiai's again, and we bow and say thank you in japanese. It is slightly more formal and 'traditional' than San Diego's method.

This practice was really great, and I would certainly go back again not only for field work, but also to learn in many ways as well as have fun in participating in another extension of the taiko community.
 *I will edit this post once I have analyzed some things and provide insight on what I have learned*

An Aside

I was on the bus tonight getting a ride back to my apartment, the music playing on the radio was the typical top 40s or top 20s or top whatever and I initially thought nothing of it. The bus was fairly crowded with people, some conversing amongst themselves and with friends while others kept to them selves, listening to music and texting on their phones. What was interesting though was when the song "Battle Scars" by Lupe Fiasco came on; the talking was still present but it was definitely softer than it was before. Some of the individuals listening to their own music took their headphones off to listen to and quietly sing along to the lyrics.

I found this incredibly interesting. Perhaps because I had never seen this before, but I saw this as a testament to the universality of music in the sense that a music genre and its popularity can seep into all cultures and tastes of music and fashion, etc. I think that is why Pop music is so unique, in that it is in fact not that unique in terms of its harmonies, or chord progressions, or rhythms, or anything that a typical ethnomusicologist might be searching for but it is popular music for a reason - it's because people like it and they want to listen to it. I find this song in particular quite addicting and I probably have sung this song in the shower before. This makes me want to explore how popular music has seeped its way into cultures and societies and if they are influenced in any way from it, and I would also like to explore the affects popular music has made in relation to my own project.

I actually have found a few examples of intermingling between "popular music" and taiko and I have to say it is quite amazing.

Battle Scars - Lupe Fiasco & Guy Sebastian:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mPd_SDAryQ

Taiko (Masato Baba) and Alicia Keys: - skip to 0:45 for actual music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7klyuYj9e0I

Progress

Today marks the end of a very busy week. Today was our spring concert, the culmination of a quarter's worth of work and was overall a very rewarding experience. Perhaps to make.this more relevant to the project, what was significant about this concert was that there were 3 other collegiate taiko groups that attended from UC Riverside, UCLA, and UCI showing the pervasiveness of the collegiate Taiko community extending into the Japanese American community and the support that each other has over a shared commonality of Taiko.

In terms of updates as for the project, I am getting closer to acquiring interviews but.I have been invited to attend the practices of San Diego Taiko and Naruwan Taiko this week so I can engage in deep hanging out with the groups and learn more about the Japanese American community and their views towards Taiko  especially in the fact that they are community groups extending outside the collegiate scene. The practices are  scheduled for this Thursday so I'm really excited and I will provide updates along the way.

Deep Hanging Out

Over the course of this quarter, we've been preparing for our spring concert in Taiko. it is essentially "tech week" the entire time for us having rehearsals on individual songs every night, trying to perfect them for this performance.  These song practices have provided great opportunities for 'deep hanging out,' a term coined by anthropologist Clifford Geertz in 1998. Geertz describes deep hanging out as an anthropological study that entails "immersing oneself in a cultural, group or social experience on an informal level."

Our run-throughs consist of running the entire production whilst in full costume. These costumes, or Happi coats as they are commonly called, are synonymous with Japanese and Japanese-American culture and have a very distinct appearance to them. They are also often seen in Japanese restaurants, being worn by sushi chefs. These uniforms were originally worn in festivals and were later adopted by merchants and in other public domains, often with crests on the back of the coats to display their business or organizations.

These images are two example of happi coats. The first image (left) is of the professional taiko group KODO. The second image (above) is an example of happi coats typically worn during festivals known as Matsuri and also Obon.

The way my group treats and handles these costumes in relation to performance is very interesting. Because taiko is a performance art, the costumes often contribute greatly to the visual aspects of the performance - coordinated colors and designs can add flare to a particular song, especially if the colors and design reflect the mood of the piece. 

Our group's view that the audience we play for desires to see us perform in these 'authentic and traditional' costumes contributes to the exoticism of the art and the performance because we are a Japanese group. Now, what I find more interesting is that there are members within the group who are very surprised or shocked upon learning that there are other groups who perform without happi, either because they choose not to, or simply do not own them and they view this as wrong or unusual; however, I find this is somewhat contradictory when we ignore a part of the uniform because people don't like it. This is because the origins, history, and cultural uses for the uniform itself are not taught within our group, and members therefore do not understand why we wear them. My fear is this lack of knowledge and understanding will lead to parts of the tradition dying out, not because I think we are becoming 'less Japanese,' but because people are taking for granted what equipment and luxuries the group has while forgetting that the older generations worked so hard to give us these things. It is really frustrating, and I find it very disrespectful.

These are a few of the things I have noticed and learned from these 'deep hanging out' sessions.

Deep Hanging Out can be found here:

Clifford Geertz. Available Light: Anthropological Reflections on Philosophical Topics. "Deep Hanging Out" p.107-117. Princeton University Press, 2012.
http://books.google.com/books?id= ZEXrndTWc4C&lpg=PA107&pg=PA107#v=onepage&q&f=false

Unfortunately, not all of the pages are accessible, so you might have to find alternatives or buy the book if you would like to read further.