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Sutra and Bible: Faith and the Japanese American World War II Incarceration - JANM Store

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Visible & Invisible: A Hapa Japanese American History - JANM Store

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Big Drum: Taiko in the United States - Resources

Explore additional articles, life history videos, and a taiko database originally compiled in conjunction with the exhibition. Articles All in the Drum: Building Taiko in America READ NOW TAIKOPROJECT: Not Your Mama’s Taiko Read Now Kenny Endo: Connecting to Heritage through Music Read Now San Jose Taiko: Embodying the Spirit of Taiko in America Read Now The Rhythms of Lif...

Big Drum Articles—All in the Drum

All in the Drum: Building Taiko in America By Sojin Kim, Ph.D. There’s a whole universe inside this drum. —Mark Miyoshi, taiko maker, Mt. Shasta, California Mark Miyoshi is the first and most renowned professional taiko maker in the United States, and his clientele is international in scope. His endeavors and achievements are closely tied to the development of taiko drumming in this country—a mov...

Big Drum Articles—TAIKOPROJECT

TAIKOPROJECT: Not Your Mama’s Taiko This isn’t your mama’s taiko, but it may be your hip younger cousin’s. —LA Weekly The flashy appearance of sexily-clad female taiko players in national TV commercials for Mitsubishi Motors created a stir that people are still talking about. Backed by elaborate pyrotechnics, the young performers beat drums in a frenzy of thunderous sound and motion. The recent T...

Big Drum Articles—Kenny Endo

Kenny Endo: Connecting to Heritage through Music Working with artists in various genres, he has paved new directions in using the traditional taiko, bringing a refreshing and creative approach to music through his background in western, ethnic, and traditional Japanese drumming. —from the Taiko Center of the Pacific website Taiko has played a significant role in Japan’s music history, appearing in ...

Big Drum Articles—San Jose Taiko

San Jose Taiko: Embodying the Spirit of Taiko in America For San Jose Taiko, it all started over 30 years ago. After seeing a performance by Los Angeles’s Kinnara Taiko at a YBA (Young Buddhist Association) conference, Reverend Hiroshi Abiko was inspired to start something for the youth at San Jose Buddhist Church that was both musically and culturally interesting. He recruited Roy Hirabayashi and Dean Miyaku...

Big Drum Articles—Shasta Taiko

The Rhythms of Life: Shasta Taiko “This woman came up to me and said, ‘I don’t know why, but I just burst out crying when you were playing taiko,’” Jeanne Aiko Mercer says. “That happens a lot,” the pioneering taiko artist explains. “I think taiko is very healing. It’s a release, and I think people need that in their lives.” For Mercer and her husband Russel Baba, who founded the renowned Shasta Taiko g...

Big Drum Articles—Marco Lienhard

Marco Lienhard: Bridging Worlds with Music Marco Lienhard may have, at one time, seemed like an unlikely face in the world of Japanese taiko. He was born in Switzerland; he is not Japanese; he is not Asian. However, the rhythmic thundering of the taiko drums have become as natural to him as the sounds of his own heartbeats. Originally from Switzerland, Marco Lienhard joined an exchange program and went to...

Sugar/Islands

Learn more about the artists by exploring the bios, slideshows, and articles from JANM’s Discover Nikkei website below!