is the first Japan-trained teacher of kumidaiko, or

taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming ...

, in the United States and is largely regarded as the father of the art form in North America.

Early life

Tanaka was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1943 and immigrated to the United States in 1967. He returned to Japan to study the art of kumidaiko with Daihachi Oguchi in Nagano prefecture, Japan, with Susumu Kowase of Oedo Sukeroku Taiko in Tokyo, and Shosaku Ikeda, of Gojinjo Daiko.

Career

In 1968, he founded the

San Francisco Taiko Dojo 'San Francisco Taiko Dojo'', founded in 1968 by Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka, was the first taiko group in North America, and has been seen as the primary link between the Japanese and North American branches of the art form. Additionally, Tanaka's b ...

, which was the first North American taiko ensemble. Tanaka and San Francisco Taiko Dojo host an annual International Taiko Festival at Zellerbach Hall on the campus of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. His performance credits include work on the soundtrack for '' The Right Stuff'' and an appearance playing his signature piece, "Tsunami", in the film '' Rising Sun''. In April 2005, Tanaka and San Francisco Taiko Dojo were the subjects of a segment that aired on KQED public television. He is a recipient of a 2001

National Heritage Fellowship The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States government's ...

awarded by the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, which is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. Tanaka's former students,

Kenny Endo Kenny Endo (born April 2, 1953) is an American musician and taiko master. He is the leader of several taiko ensembles and regularly tours, performing traditional and contemporary taiko music. Endo is also the first non-Japanese national to recei ...

, Russel Baba, Jeanne Mercer, and Tiffany Tamaribuchi, are prominent taiko performers, leaders of their own groups, and teachers of kumidaiko in North America, prompting him to remark, when receiving the NEA Award in year 2001, that he "should be known as the grandfather of taiko".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tanaka, Seiichi Living people American musicians of Japanese descent Taiko players Japanese emigrants to the United States 1943 births Musicians from Tokyo National Heritage Fellowship winners Chiba University of Commerce alumni Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 5th class