Join OCTaiko and the fall semester community taiko class for a showcase and celebration of all that we have done this semester. Come learn about and feel taiko!

Taiko is a form of Japanese drumming that has spread throughout the world. Though taiko was previously used in religious contexts, theater, and festivals, in the 1950s Daihachi Oguchi established the style that is commonly seen today: kumidaiko, or ensemble taiko. Taiko was first seen in North America in the late 1960s and since then has flourished from four founding groups to hundreds of ensembles as a beloved and empowering performance art, that has also provided a voice to Asian American communities. Being such a new art form, there is constant innovation, forcing members of the taiko community to constantly return to the question, what is taiko? 

Oberlin College Taiko was founded in 2008, and draws on the diverse strengths, experiences and backgrounds of its members and challenges them, individually and as a group, to grow as musicians and performers, as members of the Oberlin community, and as representatives of the larger taiko community.