Asian Women Kick Ass: A Study of Gender Issues within Canadian Kumi-Daiko
Kim Noriko Kobayashi · Canadian Folk Music / Musique folklorique canadienne · 2006
The pendulum has shifted for Japanese Kumi-daiko or Wadaiko (ensemble taiko drumming commonly referred to as taiko), from a site of hyper masculine musical performance, towards a reinterpretation along feminist values for female players. Japanese taiko (literally meaning ‘big drum’) has evolved from a male-dominated and -defined forum into a femaledominated performance art within North America. The emergence of kumi-daiko in Japan was primarily associated with masculine performances crystallized in images of lean muscular men in fundoshi (loincloth) furiously drumming on large taiko drums. Gender issues in kumi-daiko have been acknowledged and discussed among members of the kumi-daiko scene in Canada and America (Tusler 2003). Mark Tusler The development of this high density of female participants in Vancouver’s kumi-daiko will be discussed in a case study format, examining Canada’s first kumi-daiko ensemble, Katari Taiko, and the emergence of feminist stylized kumi-daiko. Focusing on the formative days of Katari Taiko is instrumental in highlighting the framework that has continued to foster the large numbers of women engaged in kumidaiko within the local area, if not the greater area of western Canada. Early Katari Taiko members played an important role in disseminating kumi-daiko throughout Canada via their performances and presentation of taiko workshops.