Wendy Hamai

Wendy Hamai - A major goal of Open Taiko is to make learning about and playing taiko more accessible in the community and to promote taiko in our South Puget Sound area. IOT is a community based, beginning level, non-performance oriented taiko education program in which participants also learn about the history of taiko and cultural context of Taiko development in North American. I was a founding member of Tacoma Fuji Taiko, of the Tacoma Buddhist Temple in 2009 and started IOT in 2010 after some community expressed interest in learning about and playing taiko but unable to commit to weekly practice and public performances. Along with monthly sessions, I have worked with and supported various entities in the community including a in-class presentation and field trip for a university World Music class, teaching a high school Japanese language class a short song to perform at a multicultural school program, session for a Girl Scout troop, taiko as a team building exercise for a human services organization, and adding the loud voice of the taiko in support of rallies that support social justice issues.