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Tsukasa Taiko, founded in 1996 and located in Chicago, is one of the most active and largest taiko drumming groups in the Chicagoland area. With more than 50 professional and community performances annually, Tsukasa Taiko aims to advance the “standards of the community taiko group”. The group has become a pioneering force that has played a major role in bringing attention to both the history of Japanese musical traditions and new contributions made by musicians of Japanese descent and Western collaborators.

Origin
Co-founded in 1996 by Hide Yoshihashi and Wakayagi Shiyu, a master of Japanese classic dance and founder of her own taiko group and dance school, Tsukasa would soon become pivotal in cementing the taiko drumming as a professional art form in the Chicagoland area. Before becoming a professional organization, the first initial activities were small weekly classes led by Yoshihashi from the Wakayagi residence. After building a sizable following, Yoshihashi led students to participate in community performances like the summertime Bon Odori Festival, which was the first annual event Tsukasa members performed at. Prior to Tsukasa, community taiko drumming was associated with Buddhist temples but after Tsukasa became established as the first private group independent of religious organizations it became a major attraction of students interested in the taiko art form. Yoshihashi also became the first independent taiko drummer, becoming a pioneer for Chicago taiko culture as well.

Expansion
In 2001, Asian Improv aRts Midwest (AIRMW) and Tsukasa collaborated to make the taiko group part of the non-profit arts organization. Tatsu Aoki, a Japanese multi-instrumentalist with background in classic Japanese art forms and the AIRMW director, helped nurture the group members by putting emphasis on showcasing the aesthetics of traditional Japanese theatrical Arts.

They gained more national and international attention in art communities as a result, and had opportunities to perform at famous venues: Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago Jazz Festival, Chicago Blues Festival, the Asian American Jazz Festival, HotHouse, and more.

Artist Residency Program
In 2004, Tsukasa established an artisti residency program at the Japanese Service Committee of Chicago. Pioneering leader Yoshihashi retired and Amy Homma, a veteran taiko player, took over the leadership as head instructor and performer for Tsukasa Taiko. Homma, Aoki’s student, became the first full-time professional taiko player in Chicago, making the group a leader in the push to establish the role of a “taiko player” as a qualified musical artist. In addition to her new role, Homma performed nationally and globally, becoming the first community taiko leader to perform in Japan, Poland and other countries.

2006 — Gintenkai Performance Unit
In 2006, Aoki formed the Gintenkai Performance Unit. Made up of veteran advanced youth and young adult players from Tsukasa, their job was to put on professional shows at large scale venues like The International House at the University of Chicago, Logan Center for the Arts, Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Harris Theater, Steppenwolf Theater, Chicago Symphony Center, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, etc. They became the first community taiko group to do so mainly by playing compositions from the ‘70s that focused on melody and orchestration rather than strictly rhythms. They also incorporated gela music to include shamisen and shinobue in their performances. As a result, their shows brought awareness to the origins of taiko drumming - how its roots in kabuki and nichibu put importance on bonding music, dance and theatre.

Key Addition: Noriko Sugiyama
As Homma retired in 2011, Noriko Sugiyama, a member of Ayutsubo Taiko in Shizuoka, Japan, joined Tsukasa. She became the first drummer to work in Chicago with a visa, and was put in charge of managing and expanding children’s classes at the JASC dojo and Mitsuwa Marketplace. Now, Tsukasa hosts 60+ members with almost 30 children.

Community Impact
After the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster, Tsukasa actively participated in public events to help the recovery. As the sole Japanese speaking taiko group, they continue to emphasize the preservation of language as part of the cultural legacy of taiko in the US. They conduct classes in English and Japanese to stress cultural etiquette as well.

Educational Outreach
Tsukasa also performs many cultural outreach efforts to engage local Chicagoans and community members about their work. They offer workshops, lectures, and classes for public schools and universities studying Japanese in the Chicagoland and Midwest area.

Annual Taiko Legacy performance
In one of their most important yearly performances, Tsukasa hosts the largest show by a community taiko group in Chicago, the ‘Taiko Legacy’ event. Hosted at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the show is a presentation of the traditional taiko arts as a means of preserving and advancing traditional Japanese musical culture in contemporary times.