Draft:Stan Shikuma

Stan Shikuma is a taiko player and community activist based in Seattle, Washington. As one of the early members of Seattle Kokon Taiko and the founder and teacher of Kaze Daiko, he has also connected taiko to his social activism work in numerous initiatives including Tsuru for Solidarity, the Tule Lake Pilgrimage, From Hiroshima for Hope Memorial Program, and Days of Remembrance.

Early Life
Stan Shikuma is a Sansei, third generation Japanese American, who was born in Oregon and grew up in Watsonville, California. Stan's father was the first to attend a four-year institution in their family, and studied economics at Stanford University. Under the influence of his father, Stan himself also attended Stanford University himself in 1972, where he lived in the Asian American theme house. During his time there, Stan recognized the need for Asian American Studies at the university and, with several of his classmates helped organize the first Asian American Studies class at Stanford that was taught by Edison Uno, a lecturer and Japanese American civil rights advocate from San Francisco State University. This marked the beginning of his dedication to social activism.

Activism
Taiko has played a key part in Stan's numerous activism endeavors. He will often bring a drum with him and play taiko outside the Northwest ICE Processing Facility Center (formerly known as the Northwest Detention Center) in Tacoma, Washington. He has been involved with the Day of Remembrance in Seattle as well as other social activism initiatives including The Japanese American Citizens League and the Tule Lake Pilgrimage. He is also affiliated with the Seattle Nisei Veterans Committee & NVC Foundation, The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), Regional Taiko Groups of Seattle, and The Taiko Community Alliance. Currently, Stan serves as a board member for the From Hiroshima to Hope Memorial Program, where every year on August 6th, people come together to float paper boats on Green Lake in Seattle in memory of the nuclear bombings during WWII. He is the Co-chair of Tsuru for Solidarity’s children and family detention campaign, and co-president of the Japanese American Citizens League, Seattle.

Taiko
After taking a workshop with the Seattle Taiko Group in 1981, Stan grew interested in Taiko and joined the group in November of the same year. He later became one of the founding members of Seattle Kokon Taiko, which had split off from the original Seattle Taiko Group. Within the group, he has served numerous roles including artistic director, executive director, and board member. During his time with the organization, Seattle Kokon Taiko was influenced by all three of the pioneer North American Taiko Groups, including San Francisco Taiko Dojo led by Seiichi Tanaka, Kinnara Taiko, as well as San Jose Taiko. Having now retired from the group, Stan continues to be an active member of the taiko community.

In 1999, the teacher of the original youth taiko group in Seattle decided to retire. Most of the senior members who had been playing since the late 1980s were going to college at that time. They had recruited young students but did not have anyone available to teach them. Stan was then recruited and formed Kaze Daiko in 2000, officially becoming the founder and teacher there. The group continues to perform at numerous events including Kodomo no Hi and Days of Remembrance in Seattle.

In his compositions, Stan Shikuma incorporates taiko with other instruments and narimono such as the atarigane. Many of his pieces serve to preserve the memories of and bring attention to Japanese American history and culture in North America, and therefore have historical connections to important past events in the Japanese American community. Examples include Trinity 8689, a work inspired by his involvement with the From Hiroshima to Hope Memorial Program. The name Trinity 8689 itself references the first three atomic bomb explosions: the first one at the test site in New Mexico (code-named Trinity), the second over Hiroshima (on August 6 or 8-6) and the third over Nagasaki (on August 9 or 8-9). Each of the three sections also corresponds to the construction of the bomb, the actual bombing, and the aftermath. Some of Stan's other works are inspired by Okinawan folktales, such as Kaeru (Frog) which loosely follows the frog's tug of war folktale. Another composition,Yakudo, is influenced by the Yoraguchi, or four-faced drum style, of Oedo Sukeroku Taiko from Tokyo, Japan.