The theme for Day 3 of #TaikoLove was Community Service.
Here are the posts from taiko groups and performers from around the world on this theme. If we missed your post, please contact us on our website or message us via social media. Actually Autistic Artists - In Stories All Things Taiko - Carrie Alita Carter Benten - Mirai Taiko JKT (Indonesia) Cairns Taiko (Australia) Finding Her Beat Gendo Taiko Goisagi Taiko Great Lakes Taiko Center Harisen Daiko Ho Etsu Taiko Kadon Taiko Kazenodaichi Taiko Kinga Kovács / akerimaneida (Hungary) Kinnara Taiko Kiseiko-Mineidanchi (Argentina) - In Stories Kita no Taiko (Canada) Kristina McGaha Kyo Daiko Kyodo Taiko Kyoumei Daiko (Argentina) LA Miyake Kai LA Taiko Festival Las Vegas Kaminari Taiko Lisa Shiota Los Dokos Taiko Mark H Taiko Mike Gallan Miyako Taiko Narukami Taiko (New Zealand) Naruwan Taiko Nen Daiko / Dounen Daiko New York Taiko Aiko Kai Odaiko Sonora Ojai O'Daiko Puna Taiko Quetzal Music Raging Asian Womxn Taiko (Canada) River City Taiko Ryujin Taiko Sanbiki No Taikouchi / Taiko Lecco (Italy) San Jose Taiko Shin Daiko Sierra Vista Taiko Sophia K. Wang Southern Indiana Taiko Taiko Cordoba TaikoMix Tampa Taiko - shared in Taiko Community Facebook group Therese Stephen Triangle Taiko Tsuchigumo Daiko (Scotland) Unit Two Yama no Oto (Canada) Yurika Chiba We're not going to try and embed all the posts because it's a lot of work! But here are some nifty ones!
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The theme for Day 2 of #TaikoLove was Nature.
Here are the posts from taiko groups and performers on today's theme. If we missed your post, please contact us on our website or message us via social media. Actually Autistic Artists All Things Taiko - Carrie Alita Carter Bakuhatsu Taiko Dan Benten - Mirai Taiko JKT (Indonesia) Cairns Taiko (Australia) Earth Spirit Taiko Finding Her Beat Gendo Taiko Goisagi Taiko Great Lakes Taiko Center Harisen Daiko Ho Etsu Taiko iki-iki Taiko (Germany) Kadon Taiko Kazenodaichi Taiko Kinga Kovács / akerimaneida (Hungary) Kinnara Taiko Kiseiko-Mineidanchi (Argentina) - In Stories Kita no Taiko (Canada) Kristina McGaha Kyodo Taiko Kyoumei Daiko (Argentina) LA Miyake Kai LA Taiko Festival Las Vegas Kaminari Taiko Lisa Shiota Los Dokos Taiko Mark H Taiko Mike Gallan Miyako Taiko Narukami Taiko (New Zealand) Naruwan Taiko Nen Daiko New York Taiko Aiko Kai Odaiko Sonora Ojai O'Daiko Portland Taiko Puna Taiko Raging Asian Womxn Taiko (Canada) River City Taiko Ryujin Taiko Ryushin Rosario Taiko (Argentina) Sanbiki No Taikouchi (Italy) San Jose Taiko Santa Fe Wadaiko Sean Ibanez Senryu Taiko Shin Daiko Soh Daiko - In Stories Southern Indiana Taiko Taiko Córdoba (Argentina) TaikoMix Tampa Taiko Therese Stephen Triangle Taiko Tsuchigumo Daiko (Scotland) Unit Two Yama no Oto (Canada) Yurika Chiba We're not going to try and embed all the posts because it's a lot of work! But here are some nifty ones!
The theme for Day 1 of #TaikoLove was Suspended - as in stopped temporarily, or floating / hanging in space.
It used to be easy to see who was posting for TaikoLove by just searching the hashtag #TaikoLove. However, the social media channels have changed how they do things, so we're going to share a post each day of all the posts. Then you can see them all in one spot. If we missed your post, please contact us on our website or message us via social media. Actually Autistic Artists All Things Taiko - Carrie Alita Carter Bakuhatsu Taiko Dan Benten - Mirai Taiko JKT (Indonesia) Bull and Board - Sean Ibanez Cairns Taiko (Australia) Earth Spirit Taiko Finding Her Beat Gendo Taiko Goisagi Taiko Ho Etsu Taiko iki-iki Taiko (Germany) Kadon Taiko Kazenodaichi Taiko Kinga Kovács / akerimaneida (Hungary) Kinnara Taiko - In Stories Kiseiko-Mineidanchi (Argentina) - In Stories Kita no Taiko (Canada) Kristina McGaha Kyo Daiko Kyodo Taiko Kyoumei Daiko (Argentina) LA Miyake Kai LA Taiko Festival Las Vegas Kaminari Taiko Lisa Shiota Los Dokos Taiko Mark H Taiko Mike Gallan Miyako Taiko Narukami Taiko (New Zealand) Naruwan Taiko Nen Daiko New York Taiko Aiko Kai Odaiko Sonora Ojai O'Daiko Puna Taiko Raging Asian Womxn Taiko (Canada) River City Taiko Ryujin Taiko Ryushin Rosario Taiko Sanbiki No Taikouchi (Italy) San Jose Taiko Shin Daiko ​Soh Daiko - In Stories Sophia Wang Southern Indiana Taiko Taiko Córdoba (Argentina) TaikoMix Tampa Taiko Therese Stephen Triangle Taiko Tsuchigumo Daiko (Scotland) Unit Two Uzume Taiko - In a Post on the Facebook Taiko Community Yama no Oto (Canada) Yurika Chiba We're not going to try and embed all the posts because it's a lot of work! But here are some nifty ones!
 "Gomi-daiko" or practice drum made from a trash can - sitting on a homemade naname stand made from scrap wood As cherry blossoms burst forth on trees around the Washington DC area, Nen Daiko and Dounen Daiko are reminded that normally we would be performing taiko at many events. That's not the case this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with all events cancelled and everyone doing social distancing. But that doesn't mean we aren't playing taiko because taiko is such a big part of our lives! Members of Nen Daiko and Dounen Daiko have been practicing at home on our gomi-daiko (trash can drums), drum pads and pillows. We have been meeting regularly to stay connected as performers and friends. How is Nen Daiko Practicing? Home practice space of a Nen Daiko member Within the first week of social distancing, members of Nen Daiko put together song-specific work-outs. In addition to everyone's personal physical conditioning routines, we set a shared physical challenge goal that we aimed to do at least 2-3 times per week. These have included:
We choose three activities per week to keep the goal more achievable.  How is Dounen Daiko Practicing?Dounen Daiko is our teen group, and we have been doing our practices virtually for one hour every Sunday. Our goals for this practice are to work out together, as well as connect and have fun. While Zoom and similar technologies are incredible tools, they are not great for playing taiko together due to the lag time in all our internet connections. When we trying to play together, it creates a cacophony! Our style of taiko playing is called kumidaiko, or playing together, so we keep bumping up against this technology as we practice. We have adjusted our playing to have everyone on mute and just play in each other's company (but not practicing timing). We also play one at a time - for example, each person plays one line of a song, and then the next person plays line 2 etc. Part of our warm-up is "oroshi" meaning we play to a metronome that gradually speeds up. The first week, we put the metronome beside one person who unmuted, but even then the metronome would slow down and speed up based on that person's internet connection. This week we learned a new idea, which was to pick a speed and have everyone set up their own metronome. We keep the metronome at one number, and then double our speed a few times. For example, if the metronome was set to 100 beats per minute, we might play:
Another activity that we did was to come up with four-beat solos for each letter of the alphabet. Then each Dounen Daiko member would play the solo that spells out their names. Here are the four-beat solos that we drafted: A - Don Don Don Don B - Doko Don Doko Don C - Don Su Don Su D - Don Doko Don Don E - Don (Diagonal) Don (Diagonal) F - Doretsuku Doretsuku G - Yo-OH - Don Don H - Bam Su Bam Su I - Doko Doko Doko Don J - Don Su Doko Don K - Su Don Doko Don L - PointDon Doko Don Don M - Bam, RightUp, LeftUp, Bam N - Don Don Bam Bam O - Doko Doko Don Don P - Su Don Su Don Q - Sore Sore Don Don R - Su Doko Doko Don S - Doretsuku (slow) T - Don Doko Doko Don U - Sun Don Doko Don V - Kaka Kaka Don Don W - Don Don Kaka Kaka X - Smile Y - Don Don Twirl Z - Be happy  Getting Creative with Re-creating Taiko Instruments One challenge of playing at home is that we don't have our drums or other instruments in our homes. Ryan, a Dounen Daiko member, was inspired to build his own gomi-daiko and stand from a tire and scrap wood recycled from a box spring. Here are Ryan's detailed instructions for how to build your own gomi-daiko with a tire and scrap wood.  For Nen Daiko's song Chemistry, we need one drum up high and one down low. Nen Daiko member Carla rigged up her ladder and her gomi-daiko to practice this song at home.  Pretend "chappa" for home practice For Nen Daiko's song Man'in Onrei, we need to practice playing chappa, or hand-held cymbals, while doing the choreography. We found that holding metal lids in our hands to make a "click" sound at least gave us some sensory feedback while practicing. How Do We Stay Motivated?The author Gretchen Rubin has a framework called the Four Tendencies which explains what motivates people. The tendencies are: 1) Upholders - respond well to expectations that are set both externally and internally 2) Obligers - respond well to rules externally created but can struggle to follow through on goals they set for themselves 3) Questioners - respond well to rules they set for themselves but can struggle to follow externally created goals 4) Rebels - struggle to follow rules set for themselves or by others unless it is tied to their core identity The most common type is Obligers and given that Nen Daiko and Dounen Daiko choose to practice in a performing group with its built-in accountability, chances are many of us are Obligers. When we lose the schedule and company of the group, it is difficult for Obligers to stay motivated. The way we can help Obligers is to use virtual meetings to create accountability, or create other systems such as everyone emailing in a video of themselves practicing. How are you staying motivated to practice taiko or whatever skill you care about? Let us know at [email protected]. The Importance of Emotional and Social SupportWhile it is important to maintain and improve our skills and fitness, we also need to give ourselves a lot of grace. People are working or getting laid off, studying, teaching kids and maintaining households in very new circumstances. We are worrying about our families and friends. A tremendous value of being in a taiko group are the social connections and support. Ekoji Buddhist Temple has been offering virtual Sunday services which is a wonderful way to become more acquainted with Shin Buddhism and to find peace at this time.  Our teens noted that they appreciate how we continue our small traditions such as meditating when we start and end practice. This makes life feel more "normal." Dounen Daiko has been learning American Sign Language each week at practice. This week, our member Trevor's mom made a sign for "quarantine" which was the sign for "alone" under the roof of a house. But really, we are not alone - we are together in our love of taiko, thinking about each other as we practice.
Nen Daiko and Dounen Daiko looks forward to when we can reconnect in person with our audiences and other taiko performers! Much #TaikoLove to you all! Ekoji’s teen taiko performance group, Dounen Daiko, is now in its third year. Coached by Nen Daiko members, this exuberant group of youth ages 12-17 are growing in confidence and jelling as a team. On February 9, the group performed at the KID Museum in Bethesda, Maryland at their Ume Matsuri. They debuted the group’s first original song, Anthem, written by Brant Horio and Emily Ihara. It’s a song about finding your voice and contributing to the world. Each performer has a solo where they play in a way that shares a bit of their personality. After the performance, Dounen Daiko invited audience members to play taiko. This audience was mostly families with small children, which is always an adorable sight as they peek over the taiko. Photos by Mike Gallan    Nen Daiko is heading into our busy performance season during cherry blossoms. Dounen Daiko will join us for some performances:
For details, and to hear about new events as they get added, visit Nen Daiko’s website or follow us on Facebook or Instagram.      Dounen Daiko is Nen Daiko's teen taiko group. The group brought energy and cheer to the Greenspring Retirement Community with a performance and drumming session. The performance started with Dounen Daiko singing as they walked into the room. They were singing the "kuchishoga" or spoken rhythms of the song Renshuu. Then they played the song on the taiko, playing it slower, then faster, then faster. This was the first performance for three of our members. Next, Greenspring residents were invited to give taiko a try. Dounen Daiko members put the drums on rolling carts and brought the drums to the residents so they could play from their seats and wheelchairs, while some residents leaped at the chance to come up front and play. We played a happy base rhythm while everyone drummed and danced. The performance ended with the song Matsuri, a festive song. Thank you to the Greenspring residents for your attentiveness and open-mindedness to our performance. Taiko can be loud, but that didn't dissuade you at all! You seemed to enjoy the feeling of taiko as much as us! We could not ask for a more enthusiastic audience with many people tapping out the rhythms with us and getting into the groove.  
 Thank you to the volunteer coordination team at Greenspring for welcoming Dounen Daiko for our second performance at the community. We look forward to making music with the Greenspring residents again!
If you are teen ages 12-18 interested in playing taiko with Dounen Daiko, be sure to follow Nen Daiko on Instagram or Facebook. The next time you could join will be September 2020 at our teen workshop. In the meantime, you can try taiko at our monthly open houses.  During October 2019, Nen Daiko hosted a photo and video challenge on social media called #TaikoLove. We encouraged taiko groups around the world to share photos and videos as part of the #TaikoLove photo and video challenge. This is the second year that Nen Daiko led this global community-building initiative.
Each day in October, Nen Daiko set a taiko-related theme. Taiko performers around the world shared photos or videos based on that theme and tagged posts with the hashtag #TaikoLove. Then everyone looked at each other’s posts to learn from each other. Seventy-eight groups or individuals posted at least one #TaikoLove-tagged post. That’s a 35 percent increase from 2018. Groups were in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United States and Wales. For the first time, groups participated from Israel and Italy. Of those 78 groups or individuals, 26 posted EVERY DAY in October. This is a huge accomplishment for those groups and double those who posted every day last year. There were 1,240 tagged posts in total. That’s 40 percent more posts than #TaikoLove 2018. The most popular themes were Anniversary, Dancing, Okedo and Blur. Nen Daiko liked or commented on every single post to encourage participation. We also posted highlights every day in a Facebook Group for the taiko community. Nen Daiko would like to give a special thanks to Mike Gallan, one of our current apprentices and a long-time Ekoji volunteer. Mike is an excellent photographer and half our posts this year featured his work. Thanks Mike! This year is Nen Daiko's 25th Anniversary. It is also the 40th Anniversary of our mentor and sister taiko group, Soh Daiko. In June, Soh Daiko hosted an anniversary concert in New York City. Many Nen Daiko members were able to cheer from the audience. We gave them an engraved wooden bat that can be used to play their largest drums.  Soh Daiko with their 40th Anniversary bat given by Nen Daiko - taken at Seabrook Obon by Nick Lehmann We sewed them a quilted patchwork bag to store the bat.  Soh Daiko's 40th anniversary concert centered around two main themes: kizuna and okagesama de. Kizuna means "bonds" in Japanese. Soh Daiko invited their alumni to return to the group for the concert, to celebrate the bonds that unite their past and present members. 47 members traveled from near and far to be at the concert and collectively represented all four decades of Soh Daiko's existence. Nen Daiko and Seabrook Buddhist Temple's taiko group, Hoh Daiko, also traveled to the concert in recognition of our bonds with Soh Daiko. Celebrating the bonds of their previous members, sister taiko groups, and friendships within the taiko community and with their audience, also brought home Soh Daiko's other broader theme of okagesama de, which translates to "we are who we are because of you." Here is Nen Daiko in the audience at Soh Daiko's 40th Anniversary concert:  Photo by Brant Horio
Last year, Nen Daiko started a taiko group for teens aged 12-17 called Dounen Daiko, named by Rev. Hayashi, Ekoji’s resident minister, and meaning "child or offspring of Nen Daiko." The group has grown to seven participants. On February 9, they performed at the Greenspring Retirement Community. Nothing motivates like an upcoming performance! This was the first time we performed at Greenspring and we hoped the residents would enjoy the show. It was great to see the room fill completely.  Dounen Daiko started by singing the kuchishoga or the spoken rhythms of the song. Starting with voices rather than drums allowed the audience to get used to the volume. When Dounen Daiko started playing, some residents covered their ears but soon they got used to the sound and feeling of the booming taiko.  After the show, Dounen Daiko invited residents to play taiko. Some residents walked to the drums while others made their way with wheelchairs and walkers. In some cases, we carried the taiko to their seats. At least half the audience gave it a try. Their beaming faces was the best thank you ever. The Dounen Daiko performers were very encouraging with the residents and seemed to have a natural ability to engage across the generations.  We saw such an incredible level of enthusiasm from the Dounen Daiko members – both on and off stage. We saw members growing in confidence and skill in just a few months. We are so proud of them and appreciate how well they represent Ekoji with their passion, kindness, and spirit! Thank you to Greenspring Retirement Community (Uvonne and Maria!) and to the parents of the Dounen members who fed all of us before the performance. Thank you especially to Mike Gallan for taking these beautiful photos. Hopefully they will play taiko with us some day!  
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