San Jose Taiko Drumming to the Beats of a New Generation

For decades married couple Roy and PJ Hirabayashi have led San Jose Taiko, but now their rhythmic beats are being played under the leadership of the group’s next generation.

About a decade ago the Hirabayashis, knowing they couldn’t lead the company forever, began talks of how they would pass down the leadership of San Jose Taiko to the next generation, said Roy Hirabayashi.

It was decided a few years later that long-time members Wisa Uemura and Franco Imperial, who are also married, would become the next executive director and artist director.

Letting go of the reins of San Jose Taiko was a bittersweet moment for the Hirabayashis.

“Both Roy and I, we don’t have children. So San Jose Taiko has been pretty much our children for the last 38 years,” said PJ Hirabayashi, 61. “So to invest our time in raising and cultivating the potential of what the children can be, of course there’s that very intimate connection of feeling a natural loss, creating the empty nest syndrome. But at the same time it’s very liberating.”

Having founded San Jose Taiko in 1973, Roy Hirabayashi says the timing was perfect for a leadership change.

“For me it is kind of a bittersweet situation. Having to spend so much time developing not only the organization but the art form in general has been a real passion to see that grow,” said Roy Hirabayashi, 60.

San Jose Taiko is known as one of the first three taiko groups to form in North America, continuing the art form of kumi-daiko, or taiko ensemble that began in Japan after World War II. The other first groups include Seiichi Tanaka’s San Francisco Taiko Dojo and Kinnara Taiko.

Keeping with tradition, the leadership of San Jose Taiko was passed down to another married couple: Wisa Uemura and Franco Imperial.

Wisa Uemura, 36, auditioned with San Jose Taiko in 1998 after graduating from Stanford University, where she had been playing with Stanford Taiko since 1993.

“Franco and I did meet while auditioning for the San Jose Taiko performing company in 1998, so we have San Jose Taiko to thank for bringing us together,” Uemura said. “I find it extremely rewarding to be able to share my passion for taiko with my husband in such a real, practical way.”

Franco Imperial also started training with San Jose Taiko in 1998.

“I was initially attracted to taiko from a musical perspective but once I joined San Jose Taiko I learned what it meant to truly be part of something greater than one’s self,” Imperial said. “As Roy and PJ have taught us, taiko is a powerful tool of expression.”