tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29079436569806436812024-03-05T13:03:27.082-08:00Raion TaikoJoin us as we journey to Japan to study the art of Japanese drumming, known as Taiko.Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.comBlogger147125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-17940313250868708582010-08-17T05:45:00.000-07:002010-08-17T05:54:28.616-07:00Taiko in MichiganThe Great Lakes Taiko Center has been up and running now for more than 6 months. We are happy to see the quick growth for taiko in Michigan. Since February we have started four classes and our performing group, Raion Taiko, has had performances every month since January. Our current classes are as follows:Mondays 5:00 - 6:00 pm Children's classTuesdays 9:45 - 10:45 am Ladies class (taught in Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-18545397472914255512009-11-01T05:26:00.000-08:002009-11-01T05:27:33.306-08:00Neighborhood Taiko ConcertWe performed a mini-concert in the backyard of my parents' house last weekend. Please come by our new blog to check out the pictures.Raion Taiko Neighborhood Taiko Mini-ConcertGreat Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-89749398308957210042009-09-26T09:23:00.000-07:002009-09-26T09:25:51.232-07:00Earth Celebration - Part 3 KASA Tour and N. Ameican TaikoThe location of the Raion Taiko Blog has changed. Please visit our new home to read our latest entry, featuring thoughts and reflections from Kodo's Yoshikazu and Yoko Fujimoto during the 2009 KASA Workshop Tour. Raion Taiko Blog - Earth Celebration Part 3Please remember to update your bookmarks.Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-26859407598362284912009-09-12T08:33:00.000-07:002009-09-12T08:37:33.538-07:00Earth Celebration - Part 2Updates on my location and the status, plus the second installment of my experiences at Kodo's 2009 Earth Celebration.Earth Celebration - Part 2 - The Shiroyama ConcertDid you miss part 1 of Earth Celebration? No worriesEarth Celebration - Part 1And be sure to check out pictures from Raion Taiko's debut in Japan:Raion Taiko PicturesGreat Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-82760738729472546692009-08-20T05:45:00.000-07:002009-08-20T05:49:51.628-07:00Kodo Earth Celebration - Part 1Visit our new blog at our new website, www.michigantaiko.com to read the latest entry covering our trip to Sado Island for Kodo's annual Earth Celebration. In part 1 I talk about Kodo's Sado Island Taiko Center and the workshop I took with my daughter, "Shin-chan Sensei's Taiko Experience". We both really enjoyed ourselves.Kodo Earth Celebration - Part 1Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-45520308409925208852009-08-05T15:13:00.000-07:002009-08-05T15:16:11.298-07:00Matto Matsuri and moreNew post: Matto Matsuri and finding a practice space when the studios are all full.Come and visit our new website/blog location - Great Lakes Taiko CenterRaion Taiko BlogGreat Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-65387778105843685702009-08-01T15:19:00.000-07:002009-08-01T15:20:50.198-07:00New Blog Update: Matto Matsuri and New Taiko T-shirtsOur new blog has been updated with a new post. Please stop by our new website to read it. New T-shirts and Matto MatsuriGreat Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-80766074251306484242009-07-30T15:39:00.000-07:002009-07-30T15:44:51.970-07:00Raion Taiko Blog is MovingRaion Taiko is growing up a little bit. We are in the process of moving to a new website, where we have integrated our blog as a part of it. From now on, we will most likely be posting at the following address: http://greatlakestaikocenter.squarespace.com/raiontaiko-blogWe are currently in the process of switching over our old URL, so this address might possibly change again. If it does, I will Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-89277427392101967282009-07-24T14:36:00.000-07:002009-07-24T15:27:56.620-07:00Exstasia 2009 - Well Done! EveryoneYesterday we had our 打ち上げ (uchi-age) party for the staff who worked at Exstasia 2009. What is "uchi-age" in English? Actually, I had a brief discussion about this last night with Asano-san's daughter (who is a fluent speaker of English). Neither of us could think of a good, natural-sounding translation. If you look up the word in a Japanese-English dictionary, you'll probably find it means "Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-13555921970944221112009-07-18T14:31:00.000-07:002009-07-18T15:06:31.279-07:00Extasia 2009 - Taiko of Japan, Taiko of TomorrowToday is the big day: Exstasia 2009. I will leave for the concert hall in about an hour, there will be a dress rehearsal in the morning, eat lunch, and then the concert starts at 2:00 PM. When concert-goers enter the lobby when we open up the doors at 1:00, they will be greeted by the large, foam-board Odaiko cut-out you see in the picture above. It has been signed by all of the performers... Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-25071236242102315542009-07-06T05:22:00.000-07:002009-07-06T05:33:46.157-07:00A Little Taiko WithdrawlI think this could be a tough week. I'll only get to practice taiko on Tuesday and Saturday. Last week, on the other hand, was pretty intensive from the taiko standpoint. I had group practices on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday (with an extra one on Saturday, then we had the Exstasia campaign performances on Sunday. In addition, Mayumi and I rented studio time on Wednesday and Thursday Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-10856363986716117732009-07-05T13:59:00.000-07:002009-07-05T14:33:54.982-07:00Extasia Campaign #2At the end of May, Yume Mitai (one of the groups I'm in) participated in a campaign to get the word out and sell tickets for the Exstasia taiko festival coming up in only two weeks! (July 19) Read here about Exstasia Campaign #1. Yesterday (Sunday) we had Exstasia Campaign #2 for Yume Mitai. This time I played shime taiko instead of Nagado.For this campaign we traveled down to the southern tip ofGreat Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-25527384079586854752009-07-02T14:13:00.000-07:002009-07-05T14:36:16.739-07:00What I learned in Super Beginner Taiko Class with my DaughterThis past Monday was the last class of Kinoshita-san's (Hono Taiko) Super Beginner Taiko Course. (Read how I ended up taking this course here.) This course is intended mainly for people with very little, or no experience with taiko so Kinoshita-san started teaching from the very beginning: How to hold the sticks, where to place your feet, how far away to stand from the drum, etc. Last Monday Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-90506999635063658282009-06-25T15:29:00.000-07:002009-06-25T16:03:31.574-07:00Another Taiko Blog and KODO: Behind the Scenes VideoKODO: Behind the ScenesIt has taken me twice as long to eat my meals in the past few days. I'm not eating more, probably I'm eating less. Why is it taking me so long? Because I am using my left hand to eat. (I'm right-handed, by the way). Using a fork and spoon with your non-dominant hand is one thing, trying to use chopsticks with it is another story. For many westerners, using your dominant Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-22113120214882168222009-06-20T05:12:00.000-07:002009-06-26T14:35:27.818-07:00Where Can I Practice Taiko in Japan?Every now and then I get an interesting question about taiko by email. I can't claim to be an expert on taiko, but if I don't know the answer to questions, I often know how to find them. That was the case today. I got an email from a taiko enthusiast who is moving to Fukuoka, Japan this fall and she was trying to find a group to practice with there. At first I was going to send her my apologies Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-65968265646012179692009-06-17T14:33:00.001-07:002009-06-17T15:44:01.658-07:00Asano 400th Annivesary Opening ConcertI guess it was nearly three weeks ago, but on June 5th, we were able to attend the opening concert for Asano Taiko's 400th annivesary. It was quite an amazing concert featuring some of the taiko world's most famous artists. There were many people and groups whom I have seen perform in the past, such as Hono Taiko, Yamato, and Miyake Taiko, but there were also many groups I saw for the first time,Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-79278974713806813902009-06-16T05:46:00.000-07:002009-06-16T06:00:46.469-07:00Thanks to all our "Investors"That was quick. On Sunday evening I made a quick post inviting any one interested to invest in our project by funding our Lending Club loan of $5000. 92 people stepped forward within 2 1/2 days to fully fund our loan, with an average investment of around $50. Crowd funding is great, isn't it? I don't know if anyone who was a regular reader of this blog contributed, but thanks to all who did. We Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-65615582661982018232009-06-14T05:01:00.000-07:002009-06-14T14:22:14.352-07:00Invest in Our Dreams!A long time ago... well, about a year and a half... I naively asked for donations to help fund our project of bringing taiko drumming to the people of Michigan. There was not a signal donation. I don't mean to sound ungrateful. We have received tremendous amount of help from family and friends with unbelievable amounts of moral and financial support, but soliciting donations from online "Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-15531451795292882862009-06-10T15:33:00.000-07:002009-06-10T16:28:51.833-07:00Miyake Taiko WorkshopThere are so many things that happened last weekend at Asano Taiko's 400th Anniversary celebration. I learned so much, met so many new people, thought about a lot of things in a new light. If I tried to sum them up in one post, it would probably be either reeeaaaallllyy long, or too much information at once. Therefore, I will just try to write short reflections on the experiences and what I Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-63146785895665678292009-06-09T14:01:00.000-07:002009-06-09T14:23:28.628-07:00Thank You, Wadaiko YamatoOn Saturday I went over to Asano Taiko to take part in the 400th Annivesary activities. Wadaiko Yamato had performed at the Friday night opening concert and I knew they would be at Asano on Saturday as well. I thought I would wear one of my Yamato t-shirts, so I chose one from their 2001 (?) tour. I have worn the shirt quite a bit and it shows. The image is in pretty rough shape and the color is Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-87716026410649046982009-06-07T04:59:00.000-07:002009-06-07T05:36:25.091-07:00What Did We Buy at the Asano Taiko Sale?Unfortunately, we didn't have any luck in the Asano Taiko drawings this weekend. We got about 10 raffle tickets, but we didn't win anything. A couple people I know did win 10,000 yen gift certificates, though. We might not have had any luck in the drawings, but in another sense, we did have some luck. We had a certain budget for the drums we could purchase and it so happened, that there was an Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-44352540857915071612009-06-06T14:37:00.000-07:002009-06-06T15:03:56.463-07:00Katsugi Oke Taiko Workshop with Hayashida HiroyukiToday (Sunday) is the last day of the 400th Anniversary Celebration at Asano Taiko. Today I will take the Miyake Taiko Workshop, and a singing workshop with Yoshikazu Fujimoto, one of Kodo's oldest members. He'll be teaching the song "Kiyari" which is sung along with Miyake Taiko. Yesterday I had one workshop and my wife had two. My wife took a workshop on Hachijo Jima Taiko and a Chappa (cymbal)Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-68039854087336840432009-06-04T05:00:00.000-07:002009-06-04T05:40:19.394-07:00I Wonder How Lucky I Am?Tomorrow is the big day. Tomorrow morning at 9 AM Asano Taiko will kick off their 400th anniversary celebration. It is three days of taiko workshops, live performances, and a huge sale, 400 years in the making! Well, maybe not 400 years in the making, but it's a pretty big deal, especially because sales at Asano are pretty rare. It was 400 years ago, back in 1609, that the Kaga clan, invited Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-48246893979102823612009-05-31T14:13:00.001-07:002009-07-05T14:02:18.336-07:00Exstasia Campaign #1Yesterday (Sunday) we had this year's first Exstasia Campaign performances. For those who don't know, Exstasia is a big taiko festival sponsored by Asano Taiko, the city of Hakusan and various other groups and companies in the area. I've written about it the past couple years: 2007, 2008.Anyhow, around this time of year, the groups that practice at Asano Taiko are sent out to do short Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907943656980643681.post-37584549651812030382009-05-29T14:10:00.000-07:002009-05-29T14:32:23.727-07:00Exstasia Campaign Performances This SundayA few weeks ago tickets for 2009 Exstasia went on sale. That means it's time for the Asano taiko groups to get out, "drum up" (sorry) some interest and sell some tickets. What that usually involves is traveling to a large shopping center or mall on the weekend and playing for about 30 minutes finally reminding everyone when and where Exstasia will be and giving them the opportunity to purchase Great Lakes Taiko Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012821930191570255noreply@blogger.com0