This media kit is provided to our partners, the press, and members of our community with the purposes of sharing information about the Taiko Community Alliance (TCA), its programs, and the art form that it supports. For additional information, inquires, or press quotes please see the list of contacts provided below.

TCA Logo

The TCA logo is in the style of a kamon, a Japanese family crest. The four circles represent taiko (drums) and the four lines represent bachi (drumsticks), coming together to play taiko in community.

• Media Guide for Partnering Organizations (pdf)

• TCA History (pdf)

Logos are available below in horizontal and vertical formats and with transparent backgrounds.

• TCA Color Logos with transparent background

• TCA Black/White Logos with transparent background

What is the TCA?

The TCA is a cultural arts nonprofit launched in 2013 with a specific mandate from the taiko community to ensure that the North American Taiko Conference (NATC) would continue. In 1997, the first NATC was supported by the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC) of Los Angeles, and after a number of occurrences there, other communities stepped up to host the growing conference. Today, the TCA continues to produce NATC as well as regionally-focused NATC-R events.

With a mission to empower the people and advance the art of taiko, TCA’s broader programming includes grants, educational resources, virtual gatherings, performances, and fiscal sponsorship.  TCA primarily services taiko communities in North America, but it is also in conversation and impactful within the global taiko community.

What is Taiko?

One of taiko’s most recognizable modern forms is called kumidaiko, meaning ensemble drumming. With origins in traditional Japanese folk music and contemporary performing arts, kumidaiko was adopted and co-created by Japanese American communities in the late 1960’s, although religious uses of taiko were already established. Early taiko groups flourished as performing ensembles, temple activities, and as part of the Asian American movement of the 1970’s and 1980’s. While taiko literally means “drum” in Japanese, the term has come to represent a family of musical forms which include kumidaiko, some forms of Japanese traditional music, Bon music, and perhaps genres of neofolk in both Japan and America. Taiko continues to be an important part of Buddhist and Shinto religious ceremonies, too.

Today, taiko in North America (or the Americas at large) remains an important part of Asian American culture and its musical traditions. It is used as a tool of collective memory as well as a locus for solidarity with other cultures and American experiences. As taiko gains popularity in new communities and spaces, there is both the potential for the loss of specific histories as well as the potential to shape new futures guided by the principles forged through the immigrant experience, the Japanese American Incarceration, and celebrations of joy.

One of the TCA’s core values is respect for both the Heritage and Evolution of taiko, recognizing that taiko’s past and its future are intertwined. Taiko is both an old and new art form, connecting generations of experiences and players. In supporting taiko, the TCA strives to honor and share the many histories of taiko as well as imagine wonderful new futures together through music.

Synthesis by Gregory Wada, TCA Conference Manager

Taiko has been a presence in North America for over 50 years. Early pioneers were active in the Asian American civil rights movement of the 60’s and 70’s. The North American “taiko community” can trace its roots directly to TCA's biennial North American Taiko Conference (NATC). Many new ideas and relationships are born when taiko groups get together.

Kristina McGaha, Executive Director

Email: kristina@taikocomunityalliance.org

General Inquiries: communications@taikocommunityalliance.org

• 1997: First North American Taiko Conference (NATC) held in LA by Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC).

• 2012: Fiscal sponsor for NATC, JACCC, cancels 2013 NATC.

• August 23-25, 2013: Launch meeting held at Stanford University to collectively establish TCA and its purpose and goals.

• November 2, 2013: Taikothon launched in San Jose, California.

• 2014: Granted 501c3 status based in San Jose, California. Hired first ED, Bruce Davis.

• June 11-14, 2015: First TCA-operated NATC is held in Las Vegas, NV. Elise Fujimoto, conference coordinator.

• August 2015: Staff, ED and Conference Coordinator, released due to lack of financial resources after NATC.

• August 10-13, 2017: 10th NATC held in San Diego, CA. Terry Nguyen, conference coordinator.

• 2018: 50th Anniversary Projects launched. Five-year strategic framework adopted.

• August 9-11, 2019: NATC held in Portland, OR. Terry Nguyen, conference coordinator.

• August 2019: Advisory Council formed.

• October 2019 - December 2019: Susan Yuen and Linda Uyechi review TCA infrastructure; recommend Shift, Sprint, and Invest.

• March 2020: Coronavirus pandemic begins. TCA responds.

• April 2020: TCA hires staff.

• August 2021: TCA hosts its first-ever virtual conference Beyond the Drum.

• July 2022: TCA hires its second Executive Director.

• Nov 2022: TCA hires new staff to add to our growing org.

• June 2023: TCA launches its first-ever NATC-R (regional) in Hilo, Hawaii