June 6, 2009
Summer Travels: Prologue
In about seven hours, I’ll be leaving for the airport. I have about ten hours of travel time ahead of me, but it’s not that bad – it’s split between two different flights, with an hour and a half in between. Not bad at all, especially when compared to the eleven hour flights that await me to and from Tokyo. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get some sleep, do some reading, etc… Maybe there’ll even be an interesting movie to watch (typically not my luck, but one can hope).
My plan is to take lots of pictures, post them on the gallery, and then update this blog accordingly. Some days, it’ll probably just be a post informing you that there are new pictures, while other days I’ll give an update on what’s happened, where I’m going, etc. I’m going to have internet access in all the hotels I’ll be staying in, but I’m not so sure about the ryokan I’ll be at in Nagano prefecture. So, worst case scenario, there’ll be a lack of updates the last full week of June. Hopefully not, though. If it happens, however, that’ll just mean the next update after I return to Tokyo will be HUGE. (Hey, gotta look at the bright side of things, right?)
Well then, look forward to pictures, musings, and other things that I hope will be somewhat interesting.
June 1, 2009
Summer Travels – T-minus 6 days
The day of reckoning is quickly approaching, and surprisingly, I’m pretty much ready. I mean, there’s a few semi-minor details to take care of (including one travel advance that I still haven’t gotten from the university, but we’re not going to get into that), but I find myself prepared for the ordeal. And it’s probably going to be an ordeal of sorts. After all, I’m going to be gone for a month, traveling to a different place every week – sometimes, two or three places in one week. And I’m going busy. Oh, am I going to be busy. But it’s a good busy, I think. (I hope :P)
In the spirit of making this more than just a filler post, meanwhile, here’s a few things that I’m looking forward to that aren’t necessarily related to the main purpose of my trip – that is, taiko workshops. I think it’s a given that I’m excited for those.
- REALLY Visiting Hawaii: This won’t be my first trip to Hawaii – that happened in 2004, when I went there for an audition. At that time, however, I was too young to rent a car without paying extra fees (which, given my limited income, meant I was too young to rent a car), and I pretty much spent my time going to and from the audition site (except for a half-day that I spent walking to and from a local mall. EXCITING! -_-;). This time, I’m planning to experience it a little more. The taiko workshops are going to take up most of my time, but I”m going to have a LITTLE bit of free time. And I’ll have a car. That alone gives me much more options. I probably won’t be able to do much, given the time restraints and the degree of tiredness that’s probably going to accompany the workshop, but I think it’d be neat to watch at least one sunrise/sunset on the beach, perhaps travel to see a waterfall or two (I really like waterfalls, I’ve discovered. Dunno why). Plus, I’ve been given a mandate to take loads of pictures. Not that I wasn’t planning to do so, but when one is given a mandate one cannot ignore it. Pictures of one’s hotel room are rather boring, though, so I must seek more photogenic sources.
- Visiting California: Okay, this may seem a bit weird, but I’m actually looking forward to spending a few days (well, two-ish) in California, even if I won’t be doing or seeing much. I’ve never been on the West Coast. I’ve flown over it on my way to Hawaii, and I’ve gotten rather close when I visited Idaho, but the West Coast itself? Never visited the place. So I’m looking forward to the stop. Dunno if I’ll be able to really see anything, as I only have one free day, but at least I will soon be able to say I’ve visited California. But will I have experienced California? That’s a different question. (My California friends will probably tell me ,”No, definitely not.”)
- Returning to Japan: By the end of my time in Japan last summer, I just had started to feel like I had gotten the hang of life in Japan. Riding the subways, eating the food (heck, ORDERING the food), being a little taller than everyone else, feeling so completely unfashionable while walking down Shinjuku-dori or outside of Shibuya Station that I want to hide for a bit – all that was feeling natural. And then, of course, I left. I’m hoping that I’ll get back into the swing of things rather quickly. But then, so enough I’ll be going off into another unexplored world when I stay in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture for a week. That’ll probably throw me for a loop. But it’ll be photogenic, allowing me to continue fulfilling my mandate!
So, that’s a bit of the side stuff that I’m looking forward to. Any requests/recommendations from the peanut gallery? Remember, you can see my schedule (of a sorts) a few posts back.
‘Til next time…
May 26, 2009
University of Pittsburgh Gamelan at the Columbus Asian Festival
This past weekend, I played with Pitt’s University Gamelan at the Columbus Asian Festival. It was a fun experience; we got put up in a hotel, there were a bunch of cool performances to see (including a few taiko performances by some local school groups), and as is always the case at such festivals, lots of good food.
I have uploaded pictures of our performance to my web gallery. Click on the picture below to check them out!
May 21, 2009
Taiko in Pittsburgh
Now, it may seem a bit odd, my focus on taiko, especially considering that: a) there is not a big Japanese population in Pittsburgh (one of the smallest Asian populations in the city, according to the 2000 census); b) there isn’t a taiko group nearby (the nearest one is Icho Daiko, 3 hours away in Cleveland); and c) tours by the larger groups like Kodo rarely come through town.
However, when you take a closer look Pittsburgh has been pretty lucky on the taiko front. Even if the big groups rarely come around (San Jose Taiko did visit in Oct. 2007), This probably stems from the fact that most groups rely on the involvement of local groups to help support their concerts – no group generally means no concerts. Still, even though the Japanese populace in Pittsburgh is small, it tends to come out in droves for events. San Jose Taiko’s concert proved that, as did a performance by the Pittsburgh-born enka singer Jero, the recent Pittsburgh Sakura Project planting ceremony, and other such events.
Even with that being the case, there have been several taiko concerts every year for the past several years, thanks to area organizations. The DrumTalk Rhythm Festival, hosted by the organization Afrika Yetu, has for the past few years featured among the guests artists Takumi Kato, the 2008 winner of the Tokyo International Taiko Contest (the youngest such winner). Takumi’s visits to the area have also been sponsored by the Bethany College Japan Outreach Program from Bethany, WV (ab0ut a hour southwest of Pittsburgh). He’s also given workshops and performed concerts in the Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio area.
Similarly, Bethany’s Japan Outreach Project has also brought Ryo Shiobara, the 2007 winner of the Tokyo International Taiko Contest, to the area; together with Takumi, they have played concerts and given workshops every Spring for the few years.
I find the fact that two taiko performers like Kato and Shiobara regularly come to the Pittsburgh area and perform (they performed at the University of Pittsburgh in Oct. 2007, Slippery Rock University & the Pittsburgh Sakura Project Planting Ceremony in April 2009) to be rather impressive, especially considering that there’s no group here. The concerts are always well-attended and well-received, and the artists have said that they enjoy coming to the area. Not very many cities can claim such a thing.
Now, if only a taiko group could get started in the area somehow…
May 19, 2009
Taiko Videos from Around the 'Net
Continuing the filling of space until the travels begin, I thought that I’d share some videos that I’ve come across on some of the video-sharing sites that are out there.
Taiko Channel (太鼓ちゃんねる)
Produced by the Japan Taiko Association, this 15 minute show airs weekly on Sundays on BS11. It was preceded by a show called Taiko-chan ga Iku!! (たいこちゃんが行く！！ – “Taiko-chan will go!!”), which aired on a local network in Saitama. Typically, a brief clip about a local group or performer is featured, followed by a brief lesson. It’s not much, but still the fact that there’s a weekly show about taiko is great.
Every episode of both programs are available on DailyMotion. It’s also available on YouTube, but they divide each episode into two parts for upload there (due to YouTube length limits, probably).
Taiko videos from YouTube
Of course, there are too many taiko-related videos on YouTube to name, but I thought I’d point out a few noteworthy ones:
A user by the name of irohanihoteton has posted a bunch of videos (34 in all) taken at the Kokura Gion Festival (小倉祇園祭) from Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, which heavily features drums. I’m quite interested in local drumming traditions across Japan, particularly since they’ve inspired pieces like Yatai-bayashi and Miyake that have been popularized by groups like Kodo and Ondekoza (thus having a huge impact on what people across the world think of as “taiko”). You can imagine my excitement, then, when I found these videos.
The user has also posted a bunch of other videos from various festivals as well.
Mifune Toshiro in “The Rickshaw Man” (Muhomatsu no issho 無法松の一生 )
The great Mifune plays taiko in a 1958 movie. This was supposed to have taken place at the Kokura GIon Festival. The movie is said to have been a big influence on the founder of Ondekoza, among others.
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Of course, there’s a wealth of taiko-related videos out there – these are just some that I’ve found that I wanted to share with you all.
May 14, 2009
On JPop
Since there are still a few weeks until my travels start, I realized that I need some ways to fill this place until then. I could do the regular ol’ stream-of-thought blog posting (which’ll probably come at some point), but for today at least I thought I’d spend time introducing you the reader to various parts of my psyche. In an effort to have you get to know a little bit about me (otherwise, why do you care what I’m blogging, right?), I figured I’d talk about various likes/dislikes of mine.
Today, I’m going to discuss some of my favorite Japanese pop music acts. How much this really tells you something about me, I dunno. There’s probably a connection between the type of music one listens and the person themselves, but I’m not going to think about that – you can judge for yourself. Also, it’ll be a bit of an introduction to Japanese popular music, for those of you who might not know much about it. I have some eclectic tastes, I’ve discovered.
This’ll be a multimedia experience of sorts. Along with my brief musings, I’m also going to post a YouTube video for each artist. Lately, I rarely listen to the radio – YouTube is how I tend to find out about new artists (apart from recommendations from friends and family, of course). So, I’m going to pass on the experience to you.
Read the rest of this entry »
May 8, 2009
Star Trek – A Brief Review
I just came back from seeing the new Star Trek movie. It’s the first time in a while that I’ve left the theater totally satisfied with the movie experience. Either I’ve seen a lot of mediocre movies lately (true), or the new ST movie is good (also true).
I’d be willing to put this new movie up in the top 3 of the franchise, with Wrath of Kahn and First Contact. In fact, I have very little problems with the movie at all. The casting was excellent – each of the actors fit the roles perfectly, yet didn’t just seem like replacements for the previous generation. They made the roles their own.
The plot wasn’t flawless, but it worked. Nero, the movie’s villian, could have been developed a little further, so I can see where some of the criticism came from. However, being the geek that I am, I had read the offical comic book prequel, so I knew the backstory and wasn’t left wondering what was going on.
I think the movie works both as a movie and as a Star Trek movie. You don’t need to be a Trek fan to enjoy it, but if you ARE, there are enough tidbits to satisfy the inner fan.
All in all, I highly recommend paying a visit to the theaters in the near future. I myself will be seeing it again tomorrow, this time with family (tonight was with a friend). I look forward to catching all the bits and pieces I didn’t catch the first time around.
Why taiko?
Recently I’ve been getting this question a lot, both by Americans and by Japanese. Why am I studying taiko? To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about it until recently. Still, it’s a valid question, so I thought I’d use this blog to think out loud. Figuratively speaking.
May 4, 2009
Summer travels
Given that this blog is (initially, at least) dedicated to my summer travels, I thought it might be a good idea to inform the general reading public of where it is I’ll be going and what it is I’ll be doing.
June
The majority of my travels will be taking place in June. Generally they revolve around various taiko workshops taking place in Hawaii, California, and Japan, but hopefully I’ll get some sightseeing in as well.
From June 8-12, I’ll be participating in the Taiko Center of the Pacific’s Summer Taiko Intensives in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Taiko Center of the Pacific was founded by Kenny Endo, a taiko performer who is the first non-Japanese to receive a natori (stage name) in Japanese classical drumming.
Then, I’ll be going to San Jose, California, to participate in a workshop on June 14 offered by San Jose Taiko, one of the first kumidaiko ensembles in the United States. After that I hope to spend a few days catching up with friends on CA. I’ve never been to that state, so it’ll be a fun adventure. Of course, it’s not like this trip won’t be filled of fun adventures.
On June 16 I’ll be meeting my brother in San Francisc; together, we’ll be flying to Tokyo and staying there for a few days. He’s going to be heading to Seoul for almost two months, but before then we figured out a way to hang out in Tokyo befoe each of us continues our journeys.
After Tokyo I’ll be stopping in Nagoya for two nights. Nagoya’ll be my home base as I wander in the surrounding area. Among the places I’ll visit is Ena, a city in Gifu Prefecture that is the home of Takumi Kato. Takumi is the 2008 winner of the o-daiko division of the Tokyo International Taiko Contest; he’s also the youngest drummer to win. I first met Takumi in the fall of 2007, when he and Ryo Shiobara (the 2007 winner of the Contest) came to Pitt and gave a concert; since then, we’ve remained in contact and met up several times when he’s come to the area to perform. Hopefully, if our schedules match up we’ll be able to meet in his hometown. He’s currently in the middle of a drive to perform 1000 times over the course of the year, quite often going door to door while carrying an okedo-daiko.
From Nagoya, I’ll be going to Achi Village, near the city of Iida in Nagano Prefecture. There, I’ll be participating in the INADANI Taiko Drumming Course, offered by Art Lee and Wadaiko Ensemble TOKARA. Art Lee is the 2005 winner of the Tokyo Contest, the first non-Japanese to achieve such a feat. He’s also the first person to receive a visa from the Japanese government to perform taiko.
During this time, I’ll also have the opportunity to see Ryo Shiobara perform nightly at a resort near the ryokan at which I’ll be staying. I’ll also be able to see a concert given by Art Lee and TOKARA, as well as the 10th anniversary concert of shinkokyu AYA, an amateur taiko group that Shiobara-san organized.
After all that,I’ll be returning to Tokyo for a couple of days to hopefully get some rest and relaxation in(as well as some shopping, including a stop at Miyamoto Unosuke taiko company’s store). I’ll get back in Pittsburgh July 1.
August
Of course, that’s not the end of my travels. I’m hoping to attend the North American Taiko Conference, held August 7-9 in Los Angeles. It’ll be a nice counterpart to my June travels, I think.
…Well, that’s about where my summer stands. Hopefully, I’ll be able to blog about all those happenings as they occur. At the very least, I hope to take a bunch of pictures and bost them on my photo gallery.
Welcome!
Hello, and welcome to my blog. I created this in advance of my summer travels. If all goes as planned – which, of course, never happens – I’ll update this as I make my way across the United States and, eventually, the Pacific Ocean. I figured it’d be a nice way for family and friends to see what I’m up to. Of course, I hope to continue this after my summer travels. It’ll probably become an all-purpose blog at that point, a place for me to post random things, reflect on happenings, etc.
So, thanks for visiting, and stay tuned!
The Road Goes Ever On and On... 