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Japanese American Taiko

I think we’re rapidly getting to the point where the concept of Japanese American is getting old. It’s not necessary. We really have to keep a broader view.

For example, to take taiko. Taiko began as a Japanese American kind of experience, but it grew out of that. It’s much more than that, now. It’s taiko as a art form. It’s no longer Japanese-American-taiko. I think when we first started, we used to hyphenate the hell out of it. It was “Japanese-American-Buddhist-Taiko.” We had all the little hyphens in there. And what Mas used to say is, “These hyphens are important.” It’s kind of like the space between the beats. You know. But that these terms may be important at the beginning to kind of identify us, say, as different from conga drums or something like that.

But now, taiko has become part of the drum set of a lot of modern trap players. They put taiko in there, or the woodblocks. It becomes part of the vocabulary of music in general. I think the koto is good example. Synthesizers now have koto sound as part of their many vocabulary. It’s like teriyaki. Everybody knows what teriyaki is. Or sushi. When that starts happening with taiko, it’s lost its Japanese American identity, and certainly it’s lost its generational. It doesn’t have any meaning anymore. I think that’s the way it’s going to go. I think that’s the beauty of it.


drum identity music taiko

Date: December 10, 2004

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Art Hansen, Sojin Kim

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

George Abe (b. 1944), renowned taiko and flute performer, was born at Manzanar concentration camp. He was one year old when his family relocated to Los Angeles, California. His mother was kibei, born in the city of Orange, California, moved to Japan when she was about nine years old, and returned to Los Angeles at about 26 years of age. His father was an Issei.

George grew up among artists and musicians, often attending biwa (lute) recitals with his mother. He played multiple instruments in his school band, including the clarinet, saxophone and oboe. As an adult, George remained fascinated with music, and learned to play the shakuhachi and fue, traditional Japanese flute-like instruments.

George was a founding member of Kinnara Taiko, a taiko group based at Senshin Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles, and remains associated with them today. Kinnara Taiko was one of the first taiko groups to form in North America, second only to Sensei Seichi Tanaka’s San Francisco Taiko Dojo. George believes in the influential power of art and the energizing effects of taiko. He uses his art to bring cultural, spiritual and community awareness to others. (December 10, 2004)

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