Tracing the Development of Kumi-Daiko in Canada by KIM NORIKO KOBAYASHI B. A., The University of British Columbia, 2003 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Music) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April 2006 © Kim Noriko Kobayashi, 2006 ABSTRACT This thesis is a survey of the development and dissemination of kumi-daiko ensembles in Canada, with the focus on their membership, gender, drums and repertoire, and links to the Japanese Canadian community. A case study of the group Katari Taiko’s formative stage is presented to highlight key issues that confronted kumi-daiko ensembles in the past. With the emergence of exclusive groups in the form of pan-Asian, all-women kumi-daiko organizations, an inspection of Katari Taiko’s prominent female representation highlights gender and feminist issues and the reconfiguring of gender constructs and portrayals. I will argue that these exclusive female spaces offer a refuge for queer members as well as an avenue to express their sexual identity through creative and artistic means. This discussion is complemented by an organological overview of drum construction, general taiko drum taxonomy, and an update on contemporary taiko drum manufacturing which includes a socio-historical portrait of the Burakumin (Japan’s exclusive traditional drum makers) and North American taiko drummers who are forced out of necessity to become ingenious drum makers. This thesis concludes with the referencing of traditional Japanese music in the kumi-daiko repertoire as discussed by prominent drummers and ensembles followed by an analysis of Seiichi Tanaka’s piece “Matsuri” in the context of its different renditions by Canadian kumi-daiko ensembles. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract……………………………………………………………………………...ii Table of Content…………………………………………………………………….iii List of Tables………………………………………………………………………..iv List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………….v Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………vi Dedication…………………………………………………………………………..vii CHAPTER I Historical Overview of Kumi-Daiko…………………………………...1 CHAPTER II Quantifying and Qualifying Canadian Kumi-Daiko…………………33 CHAPTER III An Organology Moment…………………………………………….63 CHAPTER IV Taiko and the Gender Agenda……..……………………………….79 CHAPTER V What is Your “Matsuri”?…………………………………………….108 CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………..122 List of Interviews…………………………………………………………………...125 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………...128 Glossary……………………………………………………………………………..132 iii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Table of Kumi-Daiko Survey………………………………………………………62 iv LIST OF FIGURES Page 1. Miya daiko……………………………………………………………74 2. Hiratsuri……………………….…………………………………..…..75 3. Shime daiko…………………………………………………..…..…..76 4. Okedou daiko……………………………..………………………….77 5. Opening section of “Nobori”…………………………………………99 6. Second section of “Nobori”………………………………………….100 7. Third section of “Nobori”…………………………………………....100 8. Kiyonari Tosha’s obon drumming pattern………………………….112 9. SFTD’s “Matsuri”…………………………………………………...113 10. “Yagibushi”………………………………………………………….114 11. Oedo Sukeroku pattern……………………………………………...114 12. ji-uchi………………………………………………………………..115 13. San Jose Taiko prelude………………………………………………116 14. Katari Taiko’s “Matsuri”…………………………………………….117 15. Sawagi Taiko’s “Matsuri”……………………………………………118 16. Arashi Daiko’s “Matsuri”……………………………………………119 17. Oto-Wa Taiko’s “Matsuri” interlude………………………………...119 18. RAW’s “Matsuri” bridge…………………………………………….120 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to Michael Tenzer, Nathan Hesselink, Alan Thrasher, Sal Ferreras, Norman Stanfield, Dewa Ketut Alit, and I Wayan Sudirana for all of their ethnomusicology knowledge given over the UBC years and their assistance with my research. I would like to thank my family for all their love and support. I would also like to thank Eileen Kage for the DVD production and generous sharing of her time and taiko knowledge. A special shout out to my home girls for all their love and support: Tracy Nishimura, Miki Miyano, Kamala Sproule, Alison Nishihara, Cynthia Low, Rebekah Dario, Sayuri Katayama, and Cyncha Melanio. Most importantly, a huge THANK YOU to all the amazing Canadian taiko drummers and kumi-daiko ensembles that have contributed their knowledge, time, and effort to the making of this thesis. A special mention is in order of Katari Taiko, Sawagi Taiko, Chibi Taiko, Kita No Taiko, Oto-Wa Taiko, RAW, and Arashi Daiko for generously allowing me to use excerpts of their performance for the DVD. My gratitude extends further towards Tiffany Tamaribuchi for sharing her infinite knowledge of wadaiko. My humble appreciation to Asano Taiko Co., Seiichi Tanaka, Kenny Endo, Kiyonari Tosha, Kodo, and Shidara for their time. I would like to acknowledge the wonderful support I have received from the National Association of Japanese Canadians in the preparation of this thesis. vi vii To Miyokichi Kimoto viii CHAPTER I: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF KUMI-DAIKO – FROM JAPAN TO CANADA Introduction How did taiko (endearingly referred to as “the big drum”) become such a large part of my life? Good question. I first heard about kumi-daiko (ensemble taiko drumming also called wadaiko, or simply taiko) in 1997 when I met a key figure in the Canadian kumi-daiko scene at the time. We had a discussion about music and upon hearing that she was a taiko drummer; I immediately expressed my interests. She told me about an upcoming all-women taiko workshop that would be held by Sawagi Taiko and I decided to attend. There appeared to be about 25 participants in addition to the members of Sawagi Taiko. I thoroughly enjoyed my introductory workshop and when they announced that the group was looking for new recruits, I signed up. I learned that being a member of Sawagi Taiko also entailed volunteering at the annual Japanese Canadian community festival – the Powell Street Festival. Volunteering at the Powell Street Festival and later coordinating the 1999 festival introduced me to the broader Japanese Canadian (JC) community. My contact with the JC community had always been mediated through my parent’s participation. Through my direct involvement in kumi-daiko, I found my own place in the JC community in Vancouver. My first encounter with the “big drum” occurred during my childhood. It was at the Japanese Buddhist Church in Montreal where as a child I attended bon odori (Japanese folk dancing). Mr. Hayashi would play the miya daiko, accompanying the canned music of sato-kagura (Shinto folk and festival music). His wife, Mrs. Hayashi, would teach a group of approximately 25 young girls the regional folk dances from Japan. 1 I remember feeling excited whenever the “big drum” was unveiled to beat out the rhythms of the folk songs. I grew up in Montreal, Canada, a mixed race child within a working class Japanese immigrant family. My parents were concerned that I should be acquainted with Japanese arts and culture. I attended Japanese language school at the Buddhist temple, participated in bon odori, studied nihon buyo (Japanese classical dance), koto (Japanese 12 string zither), and shigin (Japanese poetry chanting). I am so grateful to have received all of this exposure to the Japanese arts, as it created a personal sense of Japanese identity and an appreciation for my heritage. In my late teens, I became politicized and rebellious and found an outlet in punk rock music. I lived in London, England and San Francisco while playing bass in various punk rock bands. In San Francisco, I co-founded an all-women punk rock band that was a precursor of the queer core and Riot Grrls scene. Being in an all-women group was a great opportunity to gain access to the stage in a rock context. I had experienced barriers when trying to play with the “boys.” Within an all-women group, we had opportunities to be creative and represent feminist and queer culture. After a series of exciting tours around America and Europe and the traumas and dramas of internal rock band turmoil, I left the band and returned to Canada to further my education. In Vancouver, I re-experienced a strong sense of my Japanese heritage. The JC community in Vancouver was huge, compared to the dwindling community population of Montreal. Not only was it large, but it also appeared quite political and creative. The JC community in Vancouver proved to be a wonderful confluence of Japanese arts and culture and left-of-centre political activism. My past participation in Sawagi Taiko, an 2 all-Asian women kumi-daiko ensemble, felt like a natural evolution from my forays in the women’s punk rock scene of the Riot Grrls. Taiko is loud and attention grabbing in its sonic power, very much “in your face.” Not only was it powerful, it was also a Japanese contemporary musical performance art that was situated, in the case of Sawagi Taiko, within a pan-Asian all-women context. It felt like fate. I could integrate my political and musical interests in the context of my cultural heritage and ethnic community. The opportunity to write my thesis about kumi-daiko expanded my personal and community interests into the domain of my academic life. This document recounts how taiko became an influential part of my present life. The process of writing this thesis led me to discover many interesting aspects of the Vancouver JC community. I became fascinated with the history of the JC community in Vancouver and in Canada. It was a meaningful personal journey for me to uncover the hidden past of my stepfather, Miyokichi Kimoto, now passed away. He was an