Kazenodaichi Taiko

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Bowling Green, OH
Kazenodaichi Taiko

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We perform and teach taiko classes for the North West Ohio region!

10/11/2026

Join us today for this fun fall festival!

10/11/2026

Day 10 (the final day!) of the Nen Daiko challenge: Risk/Reward

Trying new things is always daunting, and sometimes it's hard to see past the risk to the reward.

The first photo shows the rim of our chudaiko that we recently refinished and re-skinned, Heavy. The second photo shows the new bevel that we cut into Heavy's rim. We did smooth out the beveled edge after this photo was taken. We had not incorporated beveled edged for any of the chudaiko that we had refinished and re-skinned at this point, so this was a new venture. We thought of a bunch of ways that this could do wrong, but when all was said and done, we ended up with a chu with a lovely deep tone that resonates far more than it used to!

The third photo shows us in our LED costumes during a performance. As the costumes were homemade, we took a risk in trusting that they would hold up and work as they were designed to work, and the reward was an incredible performance that was full of whimsy, joy, and laughter.

The fourth photo shows a deer skin that Sara processed into rawhide in an attempt to learn a new skill. She "fleshed" the hide, which means removing any leftover meat, fat, and membrane, and then she removed the fur. This process takes time quite a lot of time and effort. When that was complete, she had to stretch out the skin on a frame to dry. The risk of damaging the skin while working with it is pretty high. If the skin is marred in any way, it can't be used for taiko! She ended up making this skin into an okedo head and will be working on a cow hide next to use on the new drums we will be building next!

And finally, we do have a pretty big risk in the works, but we're positive that the reward will be MASSIVE! Stay tuned; we'll have a special announcement sometime very soon!

A huge THANK YOU to Nen Daiko for starting this tradition and keeping it alive! It's so awesome to be able to see a little bit deeper into the taiko community, and to connect with so many people who share our passion!

10/10/2026

Day 9 of the Nen Daiko challenge: Growth!

It's hard to express how much we've grown as a group in the past year; we've learned new songs, made new friends, gained a new member, and built a new taiko!

We visited Cincinnati Dayton Taiko in February so that we could teach each other songs. They taught us Issho (Together), written by Chad Nakagawa of Taishoji Taiko, and we taught them Raku, written by Chabo-san, the artistic director of Shidara!

We also spent time with Great Lakes Taiko Center to see how other groups practice; they kindly shared their collective's cornerstone piece, Mushi Okuri, so that we would be able to join them all at the MI Bon festival. A few of us learned the song quickly, and now the entire group is learning it so that we can debut it this winter!

The first photo is from our visit to Cincinnati Dayton Taiko. We had an amazing time sharing music, baked goods, and pizza!

The second photo is from MI Bon; some of our members played Mushi Okuri with GLTC.

The third is a video of all 10 of our members working on the intro to Issho. It's amazing to think that just a few years ago, we were down to 4 members. We weren't sure if our group was going to survive, but I think it's safe to say that we're here to stay!

The last photo is our newest little chudaiko, Link! We've learned SO much about re-skinning and building taiko over the last year, and Link is the first taiko that our group has built from a barrel since becoming a community group. We truly love the connection that forms between us and our instruments from building and maintaining them ourselves!

10/09/2026

Hello Taiko Friends!

A few of us will be at the Japanese Association of Toledo's Fall Festival at Arlyn's (520 Hankey Ave. Bowling Green, OH 43402) this Sunday! We'll be giving a short demonstration, talking about the history of taiko, and answering questions. Stop by and say hi!

10/09/2026

Day 8 of the Nen Daiko challenge: Backdrop!

We mentioned earlier in this challenge that we were invited to perform at the Great Lakes Taiko Center's annual MI Bon Festival; this festival was held at the Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research, right next to the Japanese garden.

The Japanese garden was opened in 1915 and has undergone numerous additions and improvements throughout the years. It is an incredibly serene, awe-inspiring place that feels hushed and relaxing even when filled with people.

Alex took the first three photos while touring the garden after our performance.

The fourth photo features the Yagura (tower) that held the taiko for the Bon dancing. You can see Aaron in the far left of the photo! Photo credit: Shintaro Nabeshima

The fifth photo features the view of the lake behind the tent that we performed under.

The entire day was magical!

10/08/2026

Day 7 of the Nen Daiko challenge: Fold!

The first video shows how we "fold" while performing Ready, Set, KaDON!, which was written by Shoji Kameda. We like to amp up the volume right before the chudaiko players suddenly cut out and fold! It's always fun to see if the audience thinks the song has ended, or if they catch the quiet odaiko rhythm!

The second is a photo of the first time we tried using the method we call the "apple pie crust" when re-skinning our chudaiko! We use a 1/2" leather punch to punch holes in the cow hide and then feed a steel rod through the groups of holes so that the steel rod "folds" the skin on itself. In this photo, Sara is feeding the rod through the first set of holes for the first time. We were all so excited that it worked out the way it was supposed to the first time!

The third photo shows the skin with all of the rods fed through the hole groups; you can see why we call it the apple pie crust method!

10/06/2026

Day 6 of the Nen Daiko challenge:
Surprise Guest!

While their visit may have been planned, the experience itself certainly was a surprise! We are so grateful that Arugakki's Tricky Left Tour made a stop in Toledo, Ohio to grace us with their incredible performance, which was held in the living room at .owepvnk. It was unlike anything ever experienced in Toledo, as far as we can tell!

Kris Bergstrom and Minh Nguyen were captivating as they brought us all into their new and reimagined pieces in such an intimate setting. Jaws dropped and tears fell!

After the performance, we all shared food and baked goods that Sara made, then helped Kris and Minh pack up. Lots of people stuck around to help (in true Midwest fashion), so we made quick work of it! We really hope that they make their way back sometime soon!

10/06/2026

Day 5 of the Nen Daiko challenge: Frame!

This year we were honored to be asked to join Great Lakes Taiko Center for their MI Bon festival! We performed alongside so many amazing taiko groups and even joined in for a mega version of Mushi Okuri!

This photo shows our members posing in a frame made specifically for this event. We're so grateful to have such phenomenal taiko friends, and we can't wait for next year's festival!

10/05/2026

Day 4 of the Nen Daiko challenge:
DRUM BATTLE!!!

For this video, we were practicing a piece called Maika. This part is called the passing. We play back and forth, side vs. side style! We had a lot of fun making this one!

10/04/2026

Day 3 of the Nen Daiko challenge:
Aerial View!

The first 2 photos show an interesting aerial perspective from a performance that we gave at a retirement community in Toledo, Ohio. We performed in the atrium of the building, and you could see down to where we were performing from all of the higher floors!

The third photo shows our smallest chudaiko (Link) inside of our largest chudaiko (Heavy) when we were building/refinishing the bodies. We thought the view from the top was pretty funny!

The fourth photo shows our taiko re-skinning equipment. We were lucky enough to join a taiko building Zoom meeting with Karen Faulkenstrom (Artistic Director of Odaiko Sonora) to learn her methods for building and re-skinning taiko! We took this photo to compare our tools with what she has in her workshop.

Address

Bowling Green, OH

Website

http://www.kndtaiko.org/

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