American taiko team brings cultures together through music

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Samuel Morse
  • 35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  Being stationed overseas can offer unique benefits. Airmen have the opportunity to learn about different cultures and broaden their understanding of the world. Japan holds a particularly long history of culture and tradition to learn from.

For the past 10 years, Kazuko Igarashi has worked hard to make her culture available to Americans stationed at Misawa Air Base through the art of taiko drumming.

"Twelve years ago I worked at a Japanese elementary school. I was a teacher and I had many American friends," said Ms. Igarashi. "All of my friends loved Japanese events, culture, festivals and always took pictures and showed me them."

Ms. Igarashi was a member of a taiko team at the time and asked if she could teach her American friends.

"They said 'no. Americans, they can't understand our culture. We have no taiko to let them touch.' It made me so sad and upset," said Ms. Igarashi.

She spent a year trying to find a way to make her dream a reality. Taiko are expensive, costing $6,000 for a single drum, and loud, which meant she'd need a place to practice as well. She was unable to convince her Japanese counterparts to help her, so she went to the manager's office at the Mokuteki Community Center on base.

Ms. Igarashi told the manager about her dream and the challenges she faced trying to get taiko and a space to practice. "Then the manager grabbed my arm and cried," said Ms. Igarashi. "She said, 'we are waiting for such a Japanese person like you.' She cried, 'right now, let's start.'"

Funding still proved to be difficult, so the team used old tires in place of drums. Once a month, a friend of Ms. Igarashi's was able to bring a few taiko to let the Americans practice on real drums. The team continued to grow despite the limitations.

This was the birth of the Dragon-Eagle Taiko team. In Asia, dragons are considered to be a symbol of courage and dreams, while the eagle represents an American bald eagle. The name, much like the team itself, represents the merging of two cultures working together toward a common goal according to Ms. Igarashi.

"In Japan, dreams don't come true -- only in a movie. But for me, American people made my dream come true," said Ms. Igarashi.

While Ms. Igarashi was determined to keep with the tradition and culture of taiko classes, she said she realized quickly she couldn't teach Americans the same way she would the Japanese. She kept the formal opening and closing of the class -- bowing and a formal greeting -- but adapted her teaching style to match the more informal and curious nature of her students.

"Japanese people focus very well, more than American people," said Ms. Igarashi. "But still, passion is very strong, I feel. American people want to learn more and more, so we keep teaching."

Ms. Igarashi learned from her students as well.

"I learned many things - to smile and to hug. Japanese people don't hug, even when we're sad or happy," said Ms. Igarashi. She added that with the taiko team, she felt that there were no Americans or Japanese, just human beings.

Word spread about the new American team. Organizers in Hirosaki invited them to a taiko festival where a special guest team from Akita played with master taiko player and teacher, Kiyotaka Hosoi.

"Kiyo-san performed at the very end. Then, when we cleaned up the taiko beside the stage, he came to shake our hands saying, 'you did well; the Japanese are proud of you,'" said Ms. Igarashi.

After that, Mr. Hosoi became a mentor to the team, driving the 10-hour trip from Akita and back with all his taiko drums to share his knowledge with the American team. When asked why he was willing to teach Americans when many of his contemporaries would not, he simply said he didn't see a difference -- Americans should not be treated any differently than Japanese, and could benefit just as much from learning taiko.

Mr. Hosoi gives additional instruction to the more advanced members of the team and brings original taiko music he's written himself. One such piece merges taiko with an ancient legend originating from Akita, the Namahage.

Years later, the team now has its own taiko -- enough for everyone to play -- but Mr. Hosoi still flies down to teach the advanced class. The Dragon-Eagle Taiko team is still the only American team allowed to perform his song "Namahage."

"At the beginning, taiko was a way to be physically active, to get together with some people to have some fun, to be loud," said David Wray, the taiko team captain. "Since [then], taiko has come to mean something entirely different. It's a place of family really."

With half of the team members leaving each year due to changes of station or deployments, Ms. Igarashi said she hopes each member will take the memories, photos and videos with them the rest of their lives.

"The team is my dream, and members are my treasure," said Ms. Igarashi.