Taiko: Traditional Japanese Art? Maybe not...
Taiko, as we think of it, is not a traditional Japanese art form. This statement may surprise you as, in the minds of many, it is quintessentially that. For many Japanese Americans it has been a path to connecting with the culture of their ancestors, yet their ancestors would not recognize groups of drummers on a stage as something Japanese.
That is not to say that the use of the Taiko drum has not been prevalent in Japanese culture since its prehistory. The drum has played a central role in at Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, battlefields and village festivals since recorded history began; probably centuries before. For centuries the drum has scared away or attracted spirits, inspired emotion and drive in armies, accompanied actors in noh and kabuki drama, accompanied solemn Buddhist sutras or Shinto prayer, or been the centerpiece behind which to show off at the village dance. But the Taiko was most often accompaniment, and the player, usually solo.
However, ancient Taiko did occasionally break free from its “accompaniment” status. Like the Lion Dance from China, Gojinjyo Taiko became a festival performance of its own. Gojinjyo Taiko is Taiko with masks. The players would don masks of local gods or demons, foxes, damsels in distress, dimwitted locals, or whatever and perform a story centering around a drum. The stories were simple – influenced by folk tales or legends – but often improvised by the locals behind the masks. This was festival play – not serious performance – so the idea was to be larger than life, comical, and exaggerated.
Perhaps Gojinjyo was a predecessor of Kumi (Group) Daiko. It did indeed involve a group of performers working together in rhythm and centering around a drum. But Kumi Daiko would be centuries away still; the product of a culture in distress, and a war to end all wars.
It was after World War II that a defeated Japan began its earnest search to redefine itself. It had been a nation rudely awakened one hundred years prior, by black warships anchored outside the capitol city of Edo. The American Captain insisted the island nation open its doors to trade, to progress, and to modernization. Realizing its weakness the nation reluctantly agreed. Civil insurgency marked the nation for decades before the Meiji emperor regained control and demanded rapid modernization. Watching the occupation of China, Vietnam and Korea, he could see the writing on the wall. Japan had to get strong fast.
The latter half of the 19th and 1st half of the 20th centuries were strictly dedicated with westernization. Old traditions were tossed away, old laws broken and ethical codes trashed in favor of the ways, knowledge and strength of Europe. Finally all of this preparation led to war, and the Japanese fought with the spirit of their Gods and ancestors. But the war ended in devastating ruin and loss. It was from that loss that Kumi Daiko was born.
Why drums? It wasn’t only drums, it was Kabuki, farmer’s co-ops, and the tea ceremony. It was time for a nation that had for so long devalued their culture, to re-access it. They needed it. Without that dusty old culture they could not be Japanese. But it didn’t quite fir anymore. That old culture was a bit tight around the waste now for these new international, sophisticated Japanese. They needed to make their own size.
Kumi TaikoDaihachi Oguchi is often credited with making the first Taiko group in Japan in about 1951. Oguchi was a jazz drummer, and he saw the potential of different players playing different drums to create one rhythm – like feet and hands on a jazz drum kit. The group was called Osuwa Taiko and it played for the glory of Osuwa shrine in the northern
Hokuriku region of Japan.
Following Oguchi’s lead Taiko exploded in the Hokuriku region of Japan, an area of Japan that remains well known for it’s Taiko even today. The form spread East across Japan to Tokyo. In 1959 Tokyo’s Sukeroku Taiko was founded by four young musicians. The name came from founder Seido Kobayashi’s brother’s noodle shop, Sukeroku Siemen. The group added choreography and flashy to the art form. Sukeroku was designed to show off, but their style was far from loose. They incorporated aspects of martial arts training into their practices and routines. They viewed their style as at once modern and ancient.
The group disbanded in the early 60’s but regrouped under the name
Oedo Sukeroku Taiko, with the original members, shortly thereafter. After regrouping they “went pro” making Oedo Sukeroku Taiko the first professional taiko group in Japan. The group went on to notoriety in Japan and introduced Taiko to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, their success was not enough to keep the members together and rifts broke out among them. Eventually this led to the disbanding of the professional group. Seido Kobayashi still maintains the name, a touring group, and a school in Tokyo. Founder Yoshihisa Ishikura formed Kanto Abare Daiko shortly after the split. Several years later Kiyonari Tosha, another founding member, formed Nihon Taiko Dojo in conjunction with Taiko maker Miyamoto Taiko. The fourth and final member, Saburo Mochiziki, continued to perform in Japanese classical music.
In the late 1960’s, as Taiko gained popularity in Japan, one student of Oedo Sukeroku Taiko, Seiji Tanaka, visited San Francisco, California, only to discover that Taiko was no longer a part of the Japanese American festival. Forty years prior a taiko drum was commonplace in Buddhist temples or community centers where Japanese Americans gathered. But the war and slowing immigration had caused the Japanese American community to increasingly disassociate themselves with their ancestral heritage. Much of what the Japanese community owned had been lost during internment. What taikos did remain in the basements of Buddhist temples mostly gathered dust.
Tanaka believed this condition needed a remedy. He returned to Japan and studied under Osuwa Taiko’s Oguchi Sensei. He returned to San Francisco in 1968 - this time for good - this time with a mission.
Part 2 Next month: Taiko crosses the water and gets a kick in the pants.
Labels: Kodo, Oedo Sukeroku, Ondekoza, Osuwa Daiko, Taiko, Wadaiko
