Ancient Japanese beats: Father-daughter duo leading Chicago's taiko legacy

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The deep, thunderous sound of taiko drums, often synonymous with Japanese culture, echoed throughout an otherwise nondescript building in Chicago's Mayfair neighborhood.

The building is home to Asian Improv Arts Midwest, a training hub for Tsukasa Taiko.

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"Taiko literally means large drums, and it came from Japan," said Tatsu Aoki, executive and artistic director of the group. "What you're seeing today is a rehearsal of kumi-daiko, which is ensemble taiko, a reinvention of traditional culture that began in the late 1950s and '60s."

Aoki recognizes that the beating of a drum is a universally shared custom.

"Hitting things is probably the first instrument we learn aside from the voice," Aoki said. "So drumming is the recreation of the heartbeat."

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Aoki, a first-generation immigrant who came to the U.S. in the late 1970s, says taiko is about much more than performance. It's about connection.

"I started performing with my mother and grandmother when I was 3 years old," Aoki said. "We believe cultural legacy is passed person to person. You watch someone play; you listen. And that's how it's handed down."

That philosophy continues with his daughter, Kioto Aoki, now a co-leader of Tsukasa Taiko.

"I learned the songs and inherited the traditions from my father," she said. "Things he was learning and playing as a teen in Japan, I learned from him. And sometimes I reinterpret them, continue playing with my peers and then teach them to the next generation."

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Unlike Western music, taiko isn't taught using sheet music.

"It's an oral tradition," Kioto said. "We sing everything: the phrases and the lines. There's no traditional writing system."

That approach resonates with the younger generation learning to keep the songs alive.

"Sometimes I forget that we're keeping it all in our heads," said Kailani Yu, 16. "It's kind of fun trying to remember. And having everyone else doing it around you makes it feel like a real community."

For Mari Yu, 17, taiko is also a way to stay connected to her roots.

"I'm 100% Japanese, and it's really important to connect with my culture," she said. "And the community here is just really great. Practices are relaxed and chill. Learning is actually really fun."

Fourteen-year-old Natsu Ki says the drums feel natural to him.

"It comes to me instinctively," he said. "I have a lot of fun doing it. In the end, everyone's here just to connect with the culture of taiko."

Right now, the group performs a repertoire of about 30 to 40 songs. But Tatsu says he still has dozens more songs in his memory, ready to be handed down to the next generation.

See Tsukasa Taiko's upcoming performances:

- May 16 at the Music Box - live musical accompaniment for the silent film "Salomé"
- May 22 at Anime Center in the Rosemont Ballroom (Hyatt)
- Monthly beginner workshop dates for all in-house programs can be found here, https://www.airmw.org/workshops.