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.
The Road Goes Ever On and On... 