A New Taiko Folk Dance

One of the first groups in the United States, San Jose Taiko has influenced North American taiko significantly through its performances, leadership, and philosophies. This chapter interrogates the group’s movements on two levels: by examining its connections to the Asian American movement and by analyzing its musical and choreographic repertoires. To that end, the chapter provides an analysis of P. J. Hirabayashi’s participatory taiko folk dance “Ei Ja Nai Ka?” in a variety of performance contexts and its implications for re-membering pre-internment Japanese American histories and honoring immigrant labor. It further demonstrates how the group navigates the sometimes Orientalist strategies that agents and presenters use to market the group, despite its efforts to emphasize its identity as an Asian American group.