About

So, who are we? Glad you asked! We are a taiko group at the University of California, Los Angeles. Officially founded in 2004 by Yuta Kato, we are the second taiko group here at UCLA, along with UCLA Kyodo Taiko.

Simply put, taiko means big drum in Japanese, and our group practices the art form of kumi-daiko, or group taiko. Daihachi Oguchi, a jazz drummer, was commissioned to interpret an old sheet of taiko music for a shrine in 1951. He noticed the beats were too simple for a jazz drummer and wondered why taiko cannot be performed in a group. He then decided to form a taiko group where each player was responsible for a certain beat, much like in western bands. Since then, the art form of kumi-daiko has rapidly grown into an international sensation!

Even though there are two groups at UCLA, our love for taiko is one and the same. We strive to learn taiko and share its awesome power with as many people as we can. Our enthusiastic attitude towards taiko led to the name Yukai, which means cheerful. We are the cheerful children of the drum, Yukai Daiko.

History

The origins of the group date back to the year 2002. Due to the increasing interest among UCLA students, there was a need to create further opportunities to learn and play taiko. Yuta strongly believed that taiko should be shared amongst anyone and everyone. It was his passion to share his love for taiko that planted the seeds of Yukai Daiko.

Still a UCLA student then, Yuta managed to hold beginner taiko classes at the UCLA John Wooden Center, allowing anyone to learn the basics of taiko. Furthermore, Yuta began his own practice group, consisting of people who wanted to play more taiko outside of the beginner taiko class. Thus, the practice group Isshin Daiko was born.

That year, 2002—2003, UCLA hosted the Intercollegiate Taiko Invitational. Isshin Daiko players volunteered to help behind the scenes, and their love for taiko was evident amongst the collegiate taiko scene.

The practice group was invited by Stanford Taiko to attend the 2003—2004 Collegiate Taiko Invitational held at Stanford University. By then, the group had changed their name to Kinyou Yuuhan no Kai (KYNK), the Friday Night Supper Club. The group flourished under Yuta's leadership, and by the end of the year, the idea to create a second official taiko group was suggested by Yuta.

Yuta, along with Michelle Fujii, conducted a week-long summer taiko camp at Mount Shasta to prepare the leadership members of the soon-to-be Yukai Daiko for the 2004—2005 year ahead. The leadership members, along with the help of Yuta's dad Mr. Toshizhumi Kato, the group constructed five chu-daikos, or medium-sized taikos, over the course of the summer. In fall of 2004, Yukai Daiko officially became a collegiate taiko group.

Looking Ahead

The group is still growing, and our love for taiko grows even more. We love to interact with and be active within the taiko community, emphasizing community involvement to spread awareness of taiko. In addition to performing gigs for the community and upholding the Isshin tradition of volunteering, we often help out other taiko groups, such as On Ensemble and TAIKOPROJECT. If there's a community event, and it's taiko related, chances are, we are there!

Performing is not the only goal of the group. We perform to share our love of the art form with other people. The true power of taiko is not its booming bass, but its deep power to bring people together. We seek that power to bring people together.

It is nothing less than magical.