User:Kmarren/Roy Hirabayashi

Roy Hirabayashi

Roy Hirabayashi co-founded the third North American Taiko group, San Jose Taiko. His is known for engaging with and working to preserve San Jose’s Japantown and arts community.

Early Life
Roy Hirabayashi was born in Berkeley, California in 1951. His parents were also born in the United States; however, they were sent to Japan as young children where they adopted Japanese cultures and traditions.

Roy grew up in east Oakland, California and was active in the San Jose Buddhist Temple where he and his family worshiped. Roy’s first introduction to the taiko drum was at the temple’s summer Obon Festival.

Hirabayashi attended San Jose State beginning in 1969. . At the time, San Jose Sate was a mecca for anti-war protests. So much, in fact, that the school was in constant threat of being shut down due to strikes by teachers and students alike. This inspired Roy to learn more about his roots as a Japanese-American. Hirabayashi became interested in the social sciences and worked in the Asian American studies program at San Jose State. Roy graduated with a degrees in psychology and philosophy. .

The Beginning of San Jose Taiko
In 1973, Reverend Abiko and Dean Miyakusu recruited Hirabayashi to begin a taiko program through their Buddhist temple. Reverend Abiko and Dean Miyakusu were inspired by Kinnara Tiako in Las Angeles They decided they wanted to involve the kids in the community in this taiko art form and they enlisted Roy Hirabayashi’s support. Roy also invited his peers and under his leadership the program took off.

In July and August 1973, after Roy began a fundraiser for the group ., Roy and Dean Miyakusu went down to L.A. to meet Reverend Kodani of Kinnara Taiko and learn more about the aspects of running a taiko group. The Reverend set them up with some drums and taught them how to make their own drums. The drum building techniques Roy learned from Kinnara, and then honed with his own taiko group, provided San Jose Taiko a financially plausible way to build their drum ensemble and grow as a group.

In October, just two mouths after visiting L.A. and Reverend Kadoni, San Jose Taiko finished building their own drum set and creating their own songs and they had their first performance. The following summer, during the San Jose Buddhist Church Obon festival, Roy Hirabayashi met the founder of the first ever North American Taiko group. Seiichi Tanaka. Tanaka offered the San Jose Taiko members an opportunity to engage in his own group’s workshops. For a period of time, San Jose Taiko group members drove up to San Francisco to study under Seiichi Tanaka. After about a year, however, the group decided to establish and strengthen their own unique identity and so they parted ways with San Francisco Taiko.

Roy is particularly known for using taiko to establish Japanese Americans as strong individuals. Inspired by the nationwide civil rights movement, Roy saw the loud noise of the drum as a means to combat the stereotype Japanese Americans had of being quiet and meek. Additionally, the prevalence of woman taiko players in San Jose Taiko modeled a equality along gender lines for female spectators.

In 1977,Ondekoza visited L.A. on their tour of the U.S. and Roy and San Jose Taiko went down to see their performance. .

Training With Kodo
The trip to L.A. gave Roy the opportunity to meet Ondekoza and study how the group trained. When Ondekoza, now named Kodo, returned to the United States in 1982, Hirabayashi volunteered and was offered the position of tour and stage manager. He began working with Kodo in August of 1982 and then returned to Japan with the group after the U.S. tour was complete. There he had the opportunity to experience the rigorous training of this group. . Kodo demonstrated how taiko groups could be more than a community program, but a professional entity. Hirabayashi saw how Kodo's dedication made the group strong and successful, yet he knew that San Jose Taiko could not logistically demand the same commitment.

Roy Develops San Jose Taiko
Roy had established San Jose Taiko as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit before he left with Kodo to Japan. Two years later, in 1983, he received his first City of San Jose Fine Arts Commission Grant. .

Roy continued to focus on progressing San Jose Taiko as a preforming group and community arts entity. With the new grant money, San Jose Taiko moved into their first rehearsal space and preformed their first taiko tour. The following year San Jose Taiko began their first junior taiko class. In 1985, Roy hired Pam Matsuoka as a part time general manager. In 1989, Roy impressed a management company, California Artists Management, and San Jose Taiko soon signed on with the company.

California Artists Management worked on establishing San Jose Taiko internationally and finding concert opportunities for the group. Roy took a back seat and learned from how to mold his group's identity and gain exposer from a professional. San Jose Taiko engaged the Arts Council of Santa Clara County and worked with their Music and Arts Campaign to develop San Jose Taiko’s first individual donor base. Roy continues to serve as managing director of San Jose Taiko and help the group in fundraising and becoming financially independent.

Current and Future
San Jose Taiko today receives money from multiple philanthropic organizations, but still derives 50-60% of their operating budget from internal means like workshops, classes, and concerts. Hirabayashi has dedicated years to developing San Jose Taiko and is now working on the sustainability of the group. He is training staff members (the group now has six full and part time staff members) and extending the current model of San Jose Taiko to ensure its long term success.

Roy is also active in fostering and developing other artistic leaders. He helped found 1stAct's Multicultural Arts Leadership Initiative which strives to train artistic leaders in the Silicon Valley area on how to engage their community and strengthen their business management skills. The programs provides participants opportunities to network and learn about abstract fundraising methods and hone their problem solving skills.

Compositions:
Free Spirit

Waving Drums

Hachijo/Noto (co-written with PJ Hirabayashi)

Miyoshi no Ki (co-written with PJ Hirabayashi)

Bamboo Drums (co-written with PJ Hirabayashi) 1990

Reflections 991

Insight Through Sound (co-written with San Jose Taiko) 1991

Celebration (co-written with PJ Hirabayashi) 1992

Nana-Shi 1993

Spirit of adventure 1993

Kin Moku (co-written with Karen Morita) 1997

Commissions:
Moving Times (commissioned by Portland Taiko) 2004

Affiliations:
Japanese American Citizens League, San Jose Chapter

Asian American for Community Involvement, Santa Clara

Kodo American, Board of Directors (1988 to 1990)

Western Arts Alliance (WAA) Board of Directors (1998-2001)

Multicultural Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI) founder/advisor (2007 to present)

1stAct Founded member (2005-pressent)

Special Tasks Forcers:
City of San Jose, Mayors Task Force on Multicultural Arts Development “Vision 2000,” September 1991

1999 Japantown/Corporation Yard Task Force, City of San Jose

2005 Review Panel fro the Japantown Corporation Yard Developers selection, An Jose Redevelopment Agency

April 2007 City of San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs cultural exchange trip to Cambridge, UK

Mexican Heritage Plaza Steering Committee Member 2009 City of San Jose

Arts Plan Advancement Team, San Jose’s Cultural Vision for 2040, July 2040