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Takumi Kato is an independent Japanese Taiko drum artist of the highest caliber from Japan.
His performances are high-energy and world-class. He came from small beginnings, born in a small town called Ena City, in Gifu Prefecture, Japan but has risen to play at international events across the USA, Europe and Asia
In 1996, at the age of just 15, Takumi played to a crowd of over 500 people, at a concert to raise funds for reconstruction after the Kobe earthquake. Continuing his passion for showing that music can help bring healing to people, in 2001, he played a series of monthly concerts in the memory of those who lost their lives in the 9-11 tragedy.
In 2004, Takumi joined the world famous Kodo drummers, studying their playing techniques and way of life for 2 years at their village on Sado island in Japan. He also then spent the next 3 years, learning and playing in and around the USA.
All this hard work paid off in 2008, when he won the top prize in the O-Daiko section of the Tokyo International Wadaiko contest, playing a self-written piece, dedicated to his Grandmother. This was also the year, that Takumi opened his own studio – Nukumori no mori – in his hometown of Ena City. This gave him a place to study as well as teach the ways of traditional Japanese Taiko drums.
2009 saw Takumi again looking at his local community. He began a project to bring friends, family and the local community closer together, by playing a series of concerts at homes around the city of Ena. Each home being introduced by the previous home’s residents. In total, he performed 1068 times, once again showing how the power of Taiko drums can bring communities together. It also brought to the notice of the wider Japanese population, featuring on a number of programs on television and much media coverage. This led to him playing at numerous well-known sites around Japan – including the 1900th anniversary and shrine renewal at one of Japan’s most holy shrines – Atsuta Jingu in Nagoya City.
Takumi continues to play to bigger and bigger audiences. In 2012, he choreographed and led a group of 2000 Taiko drummers at the opening ceremony of the Japan National Sports competition and then playing solo in front of the former Emperor and Empress and the Crown Prince (now Emperor) of Japan.
Abroad, Takumi traveled to Indonesia as a cultural representative of Japan and played a concert in front of over 200,000 people at the Ennichisai 2014 concert in Jakarta. In the same year, he was also invited to play in Cuba by the government of Japan, to play at a concert attended by the Cuban President, to help celebrate 400 years of friendship between the two countries. And then in 2016, at the invitation of the Japanese government, he performed at the joint meeting between Saudi Arabia and Japan, playing in front of the Prime Minister of Japan and the Vice-President of Saudi Arabia.
All these performances have helped Takumi become a popular artist around the world. He has also toured in the USA, Europe and around Asia. His drumbeat is so passionate and powerful that it always rocks any city and venue that he plays in. People in the USA love his energetic and exciting performances and look forward to seeing him each and every time he tours.
Takumi is now intending to return to the USA in 2020, as part of a new project to bring the passion and power of the Japanese Taiko drum to communities across the country. He and his young family will be moving to the USA, to live and undertake his next big step. His dream is to play 1000 individual concerts across the USA in the space of 5 years. Takumi has a background in Welfare and his idea is to play at schools, hospitals, orphanages and other such public institutions. He hopes that through his Taiko drums, he can bring people together in happiness and enjoyment.
The future is wide open for Takumi and he very much hopes that you will be a part of it. Please take a look at his video on You Tube for a taste of what you can expect.
Friendship Festival – A 50-Year Celebration of The Torrance Sister City Association
Celebrating 50 years of friendship with the city of Kashiwa, Japan, The Torrance Sister City Association (TSCA), one of the most successful sister city programs in the country and operating since 1973, proudly presents The Friendship Festival, an evening of music and arts at The James R. Armstrong Theater in Torrance on Saturday, February 18, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.
The Friendship Festival will feature the inspiring talents of past Torrance and Kashiwa student exchange students who today are highly accomplished performing artists and will also include a showcase of visual artists in the main lobby.
TSCA invites the local community and all present and past TSCA members, delegates and host families to join the contingent of 50 Kashiwa city representatives and friends traveling from Japan to attend this commemorative event.
Gifted vocalists, including the MacIntyre Family Singers whose matriarch, the late Carole MacIntyre,was a 1977 Torrance student delegate, will perform. Also appearing is a special artist from Japan, Ittetsu Kojima, a 1993 Kashiwa delegate, who performs under the stage name, Shinoharu Tatekawa.
Shinoharu has achieved master rank in the art of rakugo, traditional Japanese storytelling, and will delight the audience with a unique rakugo in English. Opera vocalists include Tami Ooka, a 1980 Kashiwa delegate, and 2019 Torrance delegate, David Contreras. Opening the concert is The Torrance CivicChorale whose members took part in the 1987 delegation to Kashiwa, and closing the evening is taiko drummer and 2015 Torrance delegate, Alex Ito.
Tickets to the Friendship Festival are available at https://torrancearts.org/
by phone, 310-781-7171, or at the Armstrong Theatre box office. Visit torrancesistercity.org for more information and details regarding all 50th Anniversary festivities, including the Golden Jubilee picnic scheduled the day of February 18