Dear Taiko…
What can one strike emanate?
Dear Taiko Community,
I’m writing to you as a friend, fellow taiko player, and human being who like you, continues to be awed and amazed on this wonderful road of life.
My journey of TaikoPeace has been filled with many unexpected guideposts, revelations—some delightful, some painful—a new set of co-creators, collaborators, and synchronistic happenings. I had no choice but to make friends with uncertainty after my departure as Artistic Director of San Jose Taiko back in 2011.
Yet, with a clear vision of building community and empowering others through taiko, I now enjoy spending my days activating TaikoPeace and the practices I’ve cultivated for the past many decades.
I share my TaikoPeace Heart Values with you in hopes that these essential “ingredients” will serve to unify and harmonize the taiko community. One strike can emanate so much love, positive energy, and joy. That is my wish for all of you: to play with this humble intention!
Love, Light, Peace,
PJ HIRABAYASHI
TaikoPeace Heart Values
Gratitude
To be grateful for the rare privilege of being a taiko player and for the many pioneers of taiko who came before us, blazing a trail.
Empathy
To show consideration for the feelings of others in favor of deepening our taiko relationships and showing respect for diverse points of view.
Community
To build more inclusive and socially conscious communities by making taiko accessible, teachable, and enjoyable to all people regardless of race, class, culture, age, gender ID, or physical ability.
Empowerment
To know we already have the power to act boldly and courageously as individuals and with our cohorts to inspire a culture of peace amplified by taiko.
Kindness
To seek ways of being benevolent, generous, and kindhearted within our taiko groups and communities.
Humility
To put others before ourselves, to exhibit deference and restraint over urges driven by ego and need to impress.
Creativity
To create with artists of all genres, freely exchange new ideas, and embrace the uncertainty that co-creativity brings with an open mind, open heart.
Joy
To make a joyful, exhilarating, fearless sound with every strike whether loud or soft, knowing that spreading joy has boundless ripples.
Imagination
To stretch the untapped potential of taiko in imaginative, disruptive ways by thinking outside the box and resisting the urge to follow conventional paths.
Before you strike,
question your intentions.
What is my intention when I strike the drum?
Am I playing taiko to impress or to inspire?
What does drumming with compassion sound like? Feel like?
What is the connection between my taiko playing and a peaceful, thriving world?
Is there a way I can make taiko more accessible to others?
How can I honor and show my gratitude for those who came before me?
What more can I do to raise awareness of taiko as a community service and cultural inspiration?
What keeps me from playing taiko authentically, fearlessly, joyfully?
What can I offer to share with the taiko community?
How can I be more accepting, inclusive, and open-minded in my taiko relationships?
TaikoPeace Charter for Compassion
We are inspired by the global compassion movement led by Karen Armstrong and the original “Charter for Compassion” she created in 2008. Reflecting her definition of compassion, we unite TaikoPeace to this worldwide cause.
“The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the center of our world and put another there, and to honor the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.”
We appreciate taiko as a precious gift.
We honor the generations of taiko pioneers who came before us.
We express and share taiko with humility, inclusivity, kindness, and respect.
We amplify movements of peace, cultural enrichment, and social justice.
We heal and lift the human spirit towards building vibrant communities.
We play taiko with our hearts overflowing with gratefulness and joy.
View the TaikoPeace Charter for Compassion:
Sign The Charter
Join the community of people from all over the world who are embracing taiko with compassion, love, respect, and humility by signing the TaikoPeace Charter for Compassion. This is the true nature of taiko.
CHARTER MEMBERS
PJ Hirabayashi, TaikoPeace
Iris Shiraishi, ensemble-MA
Hannah-Jasmine Brunskill, Taiko Journey
Chris and Dan Kubo, Ballico Taiko
Pear Urushima, San Jose Taiko honorary member