In Tokyo, the drum maker to the Emperor founded an academy-Nihon (Japan) Taiko Dojo-based on Tanaka Sensei’s teachings and taiko philosophy.

Many of these students have gone on to begin over 250 other taiko groups throughout the United States and Canada. Nearly 50 years have passed since the founding of San Francisco Taiko Dojo and more than 15,000 men, women, and children of all walks of life have been fortunate to study under Tanaka Sensei. To Tanaka, taiko drumming can be expressed in one word-“heartbeat.” “We listen to it before we are born, it is instinctive.” That same year, he established San Francisco Taiko Dojo, the first such school in the United States. Known as Sensei to his students, Tanaka is often heard saying that the essence of taiko is not only the skillful playing of percussion instruments, but also the discipline of mind and body in the spirit of complete respect and unity among the drummers. In 1968, Tanaka returned to make his debut performance as the sole taiko drummer at the annual San Francisco Cherry Blossom Festival. So thereafter, Tanaka returned to Japan and sought out taiko visionary Grandmaster Daihachi Oguchi of Osuwa Daiko to teach him the art, traditions, and philosophies of taiko. Tanaka immediately concluded that he wanted to introduce this powerful musical art form to the United States, and he dreamed that the word “taiko,” like “karate” and “sushi,” would one day become an integral part of the American vocabulary. “In Japan, taiko drumming is played at practically every occasion-especially special ones like festivals or ceremonies” he said. He was surprised to learn that there was no taiko drumming at the festival in San Francisco or for that matter, anywhere else during his travels within the United States. It was on a visit to the Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco’s Japantown in 1967 that Tanaka discovered his calling.

Shortly thereafter, he visited the United States for the first time. He attended the Chiba University of Commerce on a baseball scholarship, graduating in 1964. He spent his youth in a prefecture near Nagano and, like his father, grew into a skilled athlete. Tanaka, the son of a professional baseball player, was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1943.

Grandmaster seiichi tanaka San Francisco Taiko Dojo was founded in 1968 by Grandmaster Seiichi Tanaka, who is considered the father of modern taiko in North America.

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