The first children’s taiko ensemble in Canada, Chibi Taiko was formed in the fall of 1993 with the goal of passing this unique and dynamic performing art on to the next generation of Asian Canadians. The group’s philosophy emphasizes cooperation, leadership, responsibility and spirituality in addition to the physical and musical discipline needed to build a cohesive and dynamic taiko ensemble.
In September, Chibi participated in the City of Burnaby’s 100th anniversary celebration. Also in fall 2012, the senior members performed at a wedding at the NNHC. Thanks to wedding photographers Mandy Jill and Sean Norman for these great professional shots. On June 23, 2012, Chibi Taiko played at a multicultural event presented by the Vancouver Cantonese Opera society at the CBC Outdoor Plaza. On July 7, Chibi Taiko played for the National Nikkei Heritage Centre to celebrate Tanabata. The junior members did a great job focusing given that audience members were only steps away from the performers. Jordy, Kayo, Becky and Shinobu attended the Regional Taiko Gathering in August hosted by Portland Taiko. They received a rousing reception during an informal performance when they presented Donburi and their Okedo piece. The seniors and intermediates played for a picnic for Tonari Gumi on the grass at Spanish Banks. Shakuhachi master, Takeo Yamashiro, commented that the group was “very tight,” in other words, they sounded good and were really together despite the absence of Shinobu. Again in August, Chibi played for the Taiwan Festival with giant video screens in the background projecting images of the players. Looked and sounded really cool.
In May, Chibi Taiko played continuously for about four hours at Lumberman’s Arch for the Vancouver International Marathon. They won second prize in the Music Challenge. Runners pumped their fists in the air when they passed by and some stopped to take photos with Chibi members.
In the early spring 2012, Chibi juniors participated in a special workshop with Art Lee from Tokara Taiko based in Nagano Japan. The juniors enjoyed the challenge of learning a new style and piece.
Taikotroniks brings together seven prominent Vancouver-based taiko groups, with the newly formed Vancouver Electronics Ensemble for this unique event! Taikotroniks celebrates both Vancouver’s historically significant taiko community, as well as a slice of its newer, collaborative electronic community. Featuring special performances by each of the groups, as well as a breakaway taiko and electronic improvisation piece, Taikotroniks showcases the rich variety of taiko styles and approaches that have grown up with Vancouver, and experiments with exciting new musical directions! The Gibson’s New Moon Festival was bright and sunny, the Port Moody Art 4 U Day was very wet! Both were a lot of fun. Below are some photos from Gibsons taken by Scott Bleackley. More of his photography can be seen here. Thanks to Joyce Chong and everyone else for inviting us to the Sunshine Coast. Shinobu and John were invited to solo on Matsuri with Joyce’s taiko group–it felt like old home week! To read more about the New Moon Festival, visit their site here. 
It’s a busy weekend coming up for Chibi Taiko as we play the New Moon Festival in Gibsons on Saturday September 25 and Port Moody Arts Centre Art 4 U Day (part of the Port Moody Arts Festival) the next day on Sunday, September 26. For information on the New Moon Festival, click HERE. For information on Art 4 U Day, click HERE. Then, on October 2, we will do a short set at the Open House at the National Nikkei Museum & Heritage Centre. Check the Centre website for details.
A public ceremony, hosted by the Kyowakai Society and partly funded by Columbia Basin Trust through the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance, was held outside the Centre and was attended by representatives from Parks Canada and the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada along with the Kyowakai Society, representatives from various levels of government and community organizations, and members of the public. Following the ceremony a number of performers entertained the crowd including Takeo Tamashiro, Tsuneko Kokubo and Mariko Kage. Later in the evening, Vancouver-based Chibi Taiko, Canada’s first youth taiko ensemble, gave a public performance. During World War II, the Government of Canada ordered the internment of “enemy aliens,” and Canadians of Japanese descent were moved to camps for the duration of the war. One such camp was located in New Denver, and housed roughly 1,500 people. While other camps were demolished after the war, some of the buildings in New Denver still exist or have been reconstructed, making it one of the few sites that still contain resources directly associated with this episode in Canadian history. 
From an article in The Bulletin:
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On Saturday July 24, Chibi Taiko kicked off the festivities at the grand opening on the newly-refurbished Oppenheimer Park in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The park, former home to the legendary Asahi baseball team, sits on Powell Street, the prewar home of Vancouver’s Japanese Canadian community. Making the occasion particularly special to our group was the fact that we were unveiling our new set of beautiful taiko, made for us by Kato Taiko in California. Incredibly, not only was it the first time we played out new drums in public, it was the first time we played them at all . . . Happily, they look and sound awesome! If you look at the photo below this post, and compare the drums, our new drums look remarkably similar to Betcha Taiko’s gorgeous drums.  Chibi Taiko in Onomichi, July 2009 View images from Chibi Taiko’s trip to Japan this past summer HERE
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