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Yamakiya Taiko
Fukushima’s Yamakiya Taiko Ensemble is one of Japan’s leading taiko performance groups, having played such prestigious venues as the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington D.C. The leaders of Yamakiya Taiko (Genki Endo and Keisuke Suzuki) sat down with JSRH ahead of two Ann Arbor performances organized by local filmmaker Toko Shiiki and Prof. Erik Santos (U-M SMTD). We discuss the history of their troupe, their connection to Michigan, and what taiko drumming signifies for them as they negotiate the difficulties of life in Fukushima after the nuclear disaster.