The Way of Taiko

Heidi Varian
Stone Bridge Press (2006)
ISBN 188065699X
Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (7/06)

I love the sound of drums when the vibrations resonate throughout the body, often pulsing to the rhythm within. It’s not much wonder that the ancient Asian culture used music as an offering to the ancient gods. Whole villages celebrated with drum music, either honoring the ancestors, New Year’s celebrations, harvest celebrations – a belief that says drumming calls the gods to Earth to celebrate with the villagers.

Taiko, in Japanese, means “drum.”  The sound itself evokes shudders through the body, especially to those that study the way of Taiko.   It is not quite know where the use of Taiko originated, however, it is possible it was at least 4000 years ago.  Influences about 300 to 400 years ago showed up in Japan from Korea and China.

‘The Way of Taiko” gives a detail history as well as the purposes in the different cultures. Taiko itself didn’t show up in the United States until 1910 when the first drum arrived in San Francisco but it wasn’t until 1968 that it was taken out of the warehouse and used at the San Francisco Cherry Blossom Festival.  From that time dojos were formed and the Taiko continues to evolve taking on new meanings for many participants.

This lovely book presents many pictures of colorful festivals where the Taiko was used to create music for dancing and listening.  The author also explains and presents pictures of various types of drums and instruments, their uses, and the type of music is evolved from them.  It was interesting for me to log on to a website that had the sounds of Taiko playing while I read this book.  Having the music in the background gave me a higher level of appreciation for the vibrations of Taiko.

Varian presents an understanding of Taiko to a beginner by basically presenting everything they need to know to get started, not only in appreciation, but also the use of Taiko for their own purpose and enjoyment.

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