Taiko Boom: Japanese Drumming in Place and Motion (Volume 23)

Asia: Local Studies / Global Themes

by Shawn Bender

With its thunderous sounds and dazzling choreography, Japanese taiko drumming has captivated audiences in Japan and across the world, making it one of the most successful performing arts to emerge from Japan in the past century. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted among taiko groups in Japan, Taiko Boom explores the origins of taiko in the early postwar period and its popularization over the following decades of rapid economic growth in Japan’s cities and countryside. Building on the insights of globalization studies, the book argues that taiko developed within and has come to express new forms of communal association in a Japan increasingly engaged with global cultural flows. While its popularity has created new opportunities for Japanese to participate in community life, this study also reveals how the discourses and practices of taiko drummers dramatize tensions inherent in Japanese conceptions of race, the body, gender, authenticity, and locality.

Genres: Japan, Music, Nonfiction

280 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2012

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first published scholarly work about taiko, and as such, should be read with that focus in mind. Bender brings up a lot of interesting points about modern-day taiko having roots in Western music, the conflict between regional folk traditions, and newly developed folk/nationalist traditions that are often passed as authentic.

On a personal level, I hope that Bender or someone will write a history and analysis of North American taiko and Japan's view of same. I think this is something that needs to be told-- I hear many anecdotes, but I'd love to see a panoramic view of this perspective.

[Gastón San · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sin duda es lo mejor que he leído en cuanto a historia y antropología del taiko, desde sus orígenes hasta su progreso a ser un arte escénico.
El autor entrevistó a todos los que hay que entrevistar y vivenció de primera mano todo lo necesario para hacer un cronología y un análisis muy completo de la situación.
Es súmamente recomendable para todo aquel interesado en el taiko y sus raíces. Me sumó a incorporar muchos detalles de situaciones y eventos que sabía de forma más general.

Puntos que me gustaron mucho:
- Incluye un análisis de género en el taiko muy bueno.
- Le da a Eitetsu Hayashi el rol que merece en la historia del taiko.
- Se metió muy adentro de Kodo y Ondekoza.
- Crítico con la Nippon Taiko Zaidan y con Daihachi Oguchi, midiendolo con argumentos contundentes y claros.

Leyendo estas 200 páginas uno logrará un entendimiento muy bueno de lo que sucedió y está sucediendo en relación al taiko. Desde ahora esta va a ser una de mis enciclopedias de consulta.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

my mom got me this for christmas a while ago and I finally got around to reading it. honestly I was surprised by how good it is! it presented a very interesting and in-depth background and history of taiko in Japan. I've only had the North American taiko perspective, so it was really neat to supplement my taiko history. plus there was a lot about taiko and its relation to race, gender, and status in context of Japanese society, which was all very interesting!

also enjoyed the way he analyzed the "taiko boom" (hey that's the name of this book!) in terms of the balance between its origins as a way of documenting and preserving local regional styles vs its adoption and popularization around the world as a performance art

especially liked this book because taiko (ensemble taiko at least) is a more recent phenomenon so I felt very cool when I recognized "big name" taiko people like hayashi eitetsu and oguchi and tanaka seiichi and other taiko groups heheh

really want a similar book about North American taiko since there's so much more there with race, gender, localization vs globalization, tradition vs innovation as well

so much to talk about taiko and society and culture, wah!!