This past weekend, Nen Daiko hit the road (check out the exclusive inside-the-minivan shot taken by our man Brig to the left) to visit Seabrook Buddhist Temple in southern New Jersey to celebrate in their Obon Festival and play taiko with our sister groups Hoh Daiko and Soh Daiko!

Nen Daiko owes much to these two taiko groups from Seabrook Buddhist Temple and the New York Buddhist Church. Representatives from Hoh and Soh came to Washington DC in 1994 to help us found Nen Daiko! We've since come a long way from playing taiko rhythms on old car  tires, but we will never forget our humble roots nor the interdependence we have with everyone in this world. So it is a highlight of the year when we can head up to Seabrook to reunite with our sister groups in remembrance and gratitude.

Click on "Read More" to see more pics of our trip and performance at Seabrook!

It's that time of the year again... Ekoji Buddhist Temple's Obon Festival! It's our biggest gig of the year, I mean, hey, it is our home turf and we gotta represent. :)

For those that are new to this event, Obon is a traditional summer festival in Japan in which Shin Buddhists honor the memories of our ancestors and  their impact on our lives. It's a gathering of joy and is celebrated with Japanese folk dancing, food & drink, crafts & games, and of course, taiko! This year we're also honored to feature a guest performance by the Aloha Boys, a local contemporary Hawaiian music group! If you've never seen them, they are awesome.

Hope to see you there!

It was a long 10-month training program, and an exemplary demonstration of effort, commitment, heart, and talent. As the vast majority of our group has also gone through this process, we just want to say, awesome job and welcome to the family!

A happy and very heart-felt congratulations to Hanae, Namiko, Brig, and Geoff for sticking it through and making the cut to become Nen Daiko's newest full members!

Come out and see their debut performance as full members at our biggest event... Ekoji Buddhist Temple's Obon Festival! It's this Sat., 7/9/11. Post with more details on the event to follow shortly!