Narukami Taiko is five years old, and we are celebrating !  Another fantastic milestone for the team that continues to go from strength to strength.  This year we are doing something special to celebrate; something really special…

On July 27th we will be stepping out on stage as we host our very own concert. The theme for the concert is Journey which we think is a fitting subject for the experiences of the group over that...

If someone had told me by week 10, of joining Narukami Taiko, I'd be performing in public I DEFINITELY wouldn't have believed them!
On Sunday many members of the team, new and experienced, got together for a fun street performance. Playing for the Wellington Night Market for Cuba Dupa, we played our hearts out with some new songs composed by Kenji Furutate. 

Huge thanks to the amazing and supportive Narukami whanau, w...

We had a first for a narukami performance on January 21st, a performance where we were filmed and recorded. On Sunday we took part in a public performance for a parade of Yuka Oyama's work, Helpers: Changing Homes.

We spent a few hours in civic square playing the songs Wachidaiko and Arakusa for the camera. While it wasn't a public performance, it was in a public space so you may have seen or heard us.

We also played a hypn...

On Sunday 18 June 2017, 12 keen Narukami taiko players got up before sunrise to support Wellington’s running community in the Wellington Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, 5K and kids mile/fun run. Our goal was to provide the runners with motivation to keep going. The Wellington Marathon became the sister marathon of the Senshuu International Marathon in Sakai in 2016. We performed for the marathon for the first time in 2016 too an...

It’s winter !!  It’s dark and cold…. Which can only mean one thing…  Time for Lux !

The Lux Light Festival is the largest light festival in New Zealand and showcases the talents of numerous artists, designers and architects from around the world, as well as from around New Zealand. The heart of Wellington becomes a celebration of light, where those dark winter nights are transformed into a million different colours by coun...

On our trip to Japan last year, we visited the drum maker Suwakougei in Saitama; A two hour train ride out of Tokyo.
Greeting us on arrival, the friendly staff took us into their display room, and for about 2 hours we communicated in my broken Japanese. Finding all the information we could on the different types of drums they have, what woods they use, skin types, everything! 
They took us into their store room, let...

Where has the time gone?! Wasn't so long ago that we were ringing in the start of the new year and now, January is almost over.

In saying that, Narukami Taiko has been busy the last few weeks! 

Work started on the pre-term open day with Jessie, Claire and Char visiting the Newtown Saturday Market to advertise the session for the next day. It must have been a successful venture as we had a good turn out ranging from toddlers to g...

In November, Narukami Taiko participated in the Wellington Japan Festival. After a week of activities and exhibitions, Festival Day took place at the TSB Arena with a line up of stage performances taking place while various stalls, displays and workshops were set up around the venue. As well as events featuring martial arts, moochi making, calligraphy, dance and cosplay, four taiko teams from the lower North Island all perform...

Not that long ago I sat down to dinner with a dozen or so friends. We have been on a journey together, a journey that we were celebrating and are still celebrating, for the journey continues on and these words are a little piece of me and my experience of this adventure. 

The milestone I refer to above was the first year anniversary of joining Narukami Taiko. I can’t pinpoint my first exposure to Taiko Drumming, I know I had se...

This September, 16 of our NZ Under 19 male athletes will be travelling to Japan for the U19 floorball championship qualification. They will be up against Australia, Iran and the host nation Japan. All vying for the honour to represent their country in 9th Men's Under 19 World Floorball Championship (Sweden, May 2017). Representing your country is daunting enough, travelling to a non English speaking country must be downright p...