If you’ve read my About Me section, you know that I play taiko (Japanese drumming). I started at UCI’s Jodaiko, then Kinnara Taiko, and now, Taikoproject. This entry is about Kinnara Taiko’s 40th Anniversary Celebration that just happened!
Japanese group drumming has only been around for about 5 decades and it’s only been in the US since 1968. The first group formed in San Francisco (by Seiichi Tanaka) and the second group formed a year later in Los Angeles at Senshin Buddhist Temple. That group was Kinnara Taiko. I won’t go too much into history here, but Kinnara Taiko is known for creating the wine barrel drum instead of carving out a tree trunk to make the drums. This invention paved way for American taiko as it made the drums more accessible. Today, there are over a hundred groups in North America with many new ones being formed every year.
This year marks Kinnara’s 40th year in existence. The celebration was invite only and very intimate. All past and present members were invited, as well as close Kinnara friends. People from around the country gathered. It’s quite a feeling to know that I was part of this historical group.
Kinnara’s costume of choice is the hapi coat. The group went through many versions in the past 40 years. For the celebration, they hung all of them up on the ceiling! It made the social hall really colorful and I loved hearing the stories about them!
The current members worked really hard to make this event a success. They actually put all the photos in order and split them up into albums. This one had the oldest ones. I loved seeing all the photos of the people I know from when they were 30+ years younger!
This is a list of ALL Kinnara members, past and present. I didn’t count, but they said there’s over 160 names!!
Kinnara Taiko is actually one of the three parts that make up Kinnara. There’s also Gagaku (traditional Japanese music played for the Imperial court) and Bugaku (traditional dance for the Imperial court). Kinnara Gagaku and Bugaku performed for the celebration. I only have photos of Gagaku performing, but the Bugaku performance was quite memorable!! You had to be there… hehe!!
And then, we went inside for some taiko. I had the opportunity to play with past Kinnara members! We played Ashura, a classic Kinnara song. 
We also jammed and it was just a big party. :)
I wish I took more photos, but I was having too much fun mingling and playing. I’ll leave you with this cuteness that also attended the celebration! aww~!
