For my CIP, I participated in Wadaiko DON.\u00a0 Wadaiko DON is a student-run taiko circle at Ritsumeikan University.\u00a0 At my home university in the US, I am a part of a taiko club run by Brown and RISD students called Gendo Taiko, and I wanted to see how a wadaiko circle as run by students in Japan differs from a taiko club run by students in the US.<\/p>\n
My initial contact with the club was difficult since I was still getting used to having full conversations in Japanese.\u00a0 However, the students in the club were welcoming and readily willing to let me participate.\u00a0 The amount of time I needed to put into my CIP was a little higher than usual since practice was usually twice a week for at least an hour, but I was determined to try and participate as much as I could.\u00a0 During practice, I had to quickly get comfortable using plain forms and, more importantly, using casual speech.\u00a0 In the end, even though I\u2019m still not fluent in casual speech, I was able to hear how the friends talked to each other and gave instruction.<\/p>\n
It is a bit regrettable that my time in the taiko group was so short and that I needed to commute far to participate.\u00a0 It made it difficult to spend enough time with them to really practice my Japanese and get a sense of how they are outside of the taiko circle setting.\u00a0 That said, I think it was a great insight into how student circles are run in Japan.\u00a0 For the most part, there are a lot of similarities between Wadaiko DON and Gendo Taiko.\u00a0 We\u00a0are both student run groups,\u00a0we both practice together as a group, and\u00a0we play many of the same styles.\u00a0 Further, like Gendo Taiko, many of the Wadaiko DON members started taiko only after entering the circle.\u00a0 As for differences, Wadaiko DON is about twice the size of Gendo Taiko and, as such, they are able to perform at a much higher potential level.\u00a0 For each performance, they hold auditions to decide who can participate.<\/p>\n
On the whole, I\u2019m very glad that I was able to participate and be accepted into a Japanese university student group, especially one that concerns taiko.\u00a0 Wadaiko DON performs at a very high level, and I am very thankful to be able to have seen their mainstage performance, participate in regular practice, and perform in the Takase-gawa Sakura Matsuri (pictures and videos below).\u00a0 The Wadaiko DON members were extremely welcoming and helpful even when I didn’t quickly understand their instruction.\u00a0 Even though the language barrier made it difficult to interact smoothly with the groups usual happenings, this was a unique experience that could only have happened during my study abroad.\u00a0 I am especially glad to have participated in the Takase-gawa Sakura Matsuri, during which I was able to see the carrying of the Mikoshi from the perspective of the parade that went down Teramachi-d\u014dri.\u00a0 It was a unique perspective on Japanese life and the continuation of tradition.<\/p>\n
On the day of the Matsuri, the weather was sunny and warm, and the sakura blossoms\u00a0were just beginning to lose their petals.\u00a0 As the wind swept through the trees, the petals flew up and floated down gently, breezing in the background of the crowded streets.\u00a0 Even though it was my first sakura matsuri, I had the feeling that it was a picture perfect representation of what sakura matsuri could be.\u00a0 People of all ages attended, from the elderly who\u00a0came to experience the annual matsuri once again to the children who are sure to have made fond memories.\u00a0 Anyone can participate in the carrying of the mikoshi (“portable shrine”, although\u00a0its significance is far deeper than the English translation would make it seem) throughout the streets and, within the large group of mikoshi carriers, there was a strong sense of community and participation in tradition.\u00a0 As the large parade processed through Teramachi-d\u014dri Sh\u014dtengai and the narrow streets adjacent to it, onlookers came out to see this once-a-year event.\u00a0 The spot of the festival, the Former Rissei Elementary School, seems to have been particularly chosen because of its long history.\u00a0 At the taiko performance, a woman danced among the taiko players.\u00a0 Although out of the ordinary, it seemed like she and her family had attended the Rissei Elementary School before it was decommissioned and that she was moved to the point of dance by the once-again lively atmosphere of the school.\u00a0 Instead of letting\u00a0the building fall into disuse and be forgotten, the matsuri brings life to the location.\u00a0 Although the Takase-gawa Sakura Matsuri is only in its 38th year, the tradition of matsuri goes far back in Japanese history.\u00a0 Even though it was my first matsuri, I felt like there was deep significance in the passing of cultural memories through events like this.<\/p>\n
I hope to bring these new perspectives on taiko and matsuri back to Gendo Taiko and try to inform the way we put on matsuri in our own communities half-way across the world on the East Coast.<\/p>\n