Week 4

(The completed stair way)

We are with Roy Hirabayashi for this week and the following week for "Arts and Culture". This week was a short week since July 4th was on Monday. On Tuesday Roy had a project for us to do at the Taiko studio in downtown near the SAP Center. The project he had in mind was to make the stair way more secure and safer for the young children that run around their studio. The stair way only had one bar of support and was fairly flimsy. We started by taking measurements and finding lumber to match the criteria. After we used the power saw to make the lumber the correct length. We then nailed together two pieces together so they would match the length of the stair way. After Roy used a power screw to put the long lumber onto the stair well. We then had 3 pieces along the stair well. We then nailed a wired netting on the outside. The project at first seemed like an easy task but in reality was a lot of hard work and ultimately took the entire day. But we hope the security of the stair way will keep children of San Jose Taiko are safe while in the studio.

(Empire 7)

On Wednesday morning we met with Roy at the IMB. We had complications with the format of our brochure so we quickly revised it and gave it back to the printing company. Once we did that we had to pick up one of the Taiko member's daughter and babysit her while she rode her bike around the park. After about an hour she got tired and we had lunch at Gombei. After our lunch we visited Empire 7 art studio and spoke to Juan Carlos. He gave us a brief tour of his art museum. He explained that their were art pieces from 70 different artist from all over San Jose. We really enjoyed the museum because it was more understandable than other museums we have been to. After we headed back to the IMB and debriefed and discussed potential activities we can do for when the SF interns come down for intern day and for our closing retreat in SJ. After we called it day.

(CTI, photo provided by San Jose Taiko)

On Thursday I participated in the Collegiate Taiko Intensive hosted by San Jose Taiko. A few of my taiko friends from Gendo drove up from Southern California to attend CTI. Throughout the day, San Jose Taiko members led various workshops ranging from how to play the katsugi okedo to how to develop stage presence. Each and every one of the workshops were incredibly helpful, especially because all of the San Jose Taiko members were so great at teaching. Even though there were 18 participants, each and every one of us received a lot of help and attention from the San Jose Taiko members. At the end of the day, the San Jose Taiko invited all of the CTI participants to watch their Obon rehearsal. It was spectacular.

(Obon Potluck)

Friday was Day 2 of CTI. The workshops continued, ranging from solo composition to narimono citcuits. At the end of the intensive, they had all of the instruments out in a circle, and everybody used all of the skills they learned to play around. All in all, CTI was an incredible experience. It was one of the most well organized conference/workshops that I have ever attended, and San Jose Taiko did all that they could to make the collegiate taiko players feel like they are important and welcome in this community. San Jose Taiko is made up of incredible taiko players who foster communities and care so much for the people around them—I think that this is reflected in all of the people I have met through this internship and in San Jose Japantown. At the end of the day, San Jose Taiko hosted a potluck for members of the taiko community come together (and eat great food) before the festivities at obon. It was another long but amazing day.

(The age shell on the left and sushi rice on the left)

On Saturday I helped prepare for the Obon festival by stuffing inari sushi. I started volunteering at 7 am. I was one of few men who was up that early helping with the sushi preparation. In between my shift they feed us breakfast which consisted of muffins, fruit, rice balls and casseroles. After we finished stuffing the inari we prepared boxes of rice. I contributed by spreading the egg and peas and making it look nice and fancy. After that was over it was about 10am and decided to call it a morning.

(Gendo members at Obon)

On Sunday morning, San Jose Taiko hosted a discussion session for the various collegiate groups to offer advice and answer questions. Each of the four collegiate groups had two San Jose taiko members talk to them in order to answer group-specific questions they may have. As there were only four members from Gendo, we all split up and joined each of the other groups. After the meeting, the four of us met up to discuss what we had learned. Overall, the discussion was helpful, especially in understanding how various west coast collegiate groups function. In the afternoon, we went to Obon to watch Raijin Taiko (from Cal) and Bakuhatsu Taiko Dan (from Davis) perform. I loved how each group collaborated with other collegiate taiko groups (such as Stanford Taiko and Asayake Taiko). In the evening, we watched San Jose Taiko perform with their Junior Taiko members and danced during door. All in all, this week was very busy but so wonderful. I learned so much about the taiko community; I am excited to use all of the skills I have learned to continue growing as a taiko player. Throughout the week, I was able to show my Gendo friends around San Jose and Japantown, and also get to know more members of the community. I realized the extent to which people in Japantown love this community, and all of the effort they put into making that a reality. Looking forward to working with Roy again next week!