Ten Years Of Taiko

On this day, ten years ago, a group of taiko players met for the first time in the basement of Urban Outfitters in Roseville, Minnesota.

We had this crazy plan to bring a live taiko performance to a local sci-fi convention called CONvergence. The tipping point had been the theme song to Game of Thrones, composed by Ramin Djawadi. This was a song we wanted to, no, had to play. It didn't matter that none of us had ever planned, arranged, and performed an hour-long taiko show before, let alone mashed-up taiko drumming with songs from scifi and fantasy TV and movies. But none of that mattered, because it was going to be awesome.

And it was awesome.

Ten years later, we're still crafting and refining our unique blend of taiko drumming, laced with just the right amount of artisanal nonsense. What we thought was going to be a one-time-thing at a sci-fi convention has become a staple at many local events, conventions included. If you had told us then about all the things we’ve done up to now, we’d have dismissed it as fantasy. Or perhaps optimistic sci-fi.

Harisen Daiko is ten years old today!

Who's up for decade two?