Unconventional Percussionists

Our members range in age from their teens to their 70s and have been playing from anywhere between just a year or so to well over a decade, which means that none of us can agree on which Batman, Star Trek, or Doctor Who is best. That last bit doesn’t have a lot to do with drumming, but it’s true nonetheless.

Origin Story

We gathered in 2012 with the notion that a local Science Fiction and Fantasy convention could do with some taiko, which then led to our first performance at CONvergence in 2013. Since then we have never stopped bringing our passion, our creativity, our unabashed geekiness (and the occasional kazoo), to everything we do.

Our Name Explained

Our name (pronounced HAH-ree-sehn DAI-ko) is a language pun in two parts.

First, a harisen is a tightly folded paper fan which gets comedic use in Japanese media to correct the wayward by giving them a good, and audibly distinctive, swat. Second, we think of ourselves as devotees or fans of taiko among many other geeky things.

We are Harisen Daiko. Fans that hit things.

Our Members’ Achievements

Taiko is dynamic, exciting, dangerous, and fraught with all sorts of…possibilities. Especially on those occasions when you do it in costume and props are everywhere. Learn more about what we Harisentients have managed to do.

Secrets of the Initiated

We actually do things together apart from drumming. We get together to defeat escape rooms, watch movies, play games, and potluck like bosses. We have a long-standing book club. There is no rabbit hole we can resist when trying to have a quick discussion, and we tend to sobremesa (hang around and talk) after nearly everything we do.