Meet Diana Wu of Naruwan Taiko in Central San Diego

Today we’d like to introduce you to Diana Wu.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Diana. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The first time I heard a taiko drum, I felt as if my spirit was being awakened. This sensation stuck with me and has become an experience that I want to continue to generate and share with others as well.

I have been training in and teaching taiko (Japanese drumming) in San Diego for over 12 years. I discovered taiko in college and grew my taiko experience through various studies with taiko artists and masters from both Japan and in North America. In 2008, I founded my own taiko organization called Naruwan Taiko and with it, I’ve been able to share my love for taiko with the San Diego community. This past summer, I was invited to Sado Island in Japan to spend a month learning alongside Kodo (the world’s premier taiko organization), where I had the special opportunity to dive deep into the foundation and traditional roots of taiko. In the coming year, I will be doing projects with kaDON/Miyamoto Unosuke Shoten, a Japanese-based company focused on the production of high quality traditional Japanese instruments and an online taiko-learning resource dedicated to providing global access to the top taiko instructors in the world.

As a second-generation Asian American of Taiwanese descent, I took the road expected of me many times before I finally listened to myself and developed the courage to jump on the road less traveled. Growing up in a household where education was first meant the path set before me was one of two possibilities: a doctor or a lawyer. Extracurricular activities in high school were the piano or the violin in an orchestra. I then attended UC Berkeley in hopes of beginning a medical career. One evening, after a brutal physics exam, I walked through the student plaza and saw a group of students playing in unison on what appeared to be very large drums. I thought that must be an amazing activity to do after a stressful exam, so I emailed them about practices. On my first day, a pair of sticks was placed in my hands. The only instruction given to me was to strike the drum with your entire soul, so I hit that drum smack in the center with all I had and that marked the beginning of a lifelong love for taiko.

Still on the medical career path, I moved down to San Diego when I graduated college in order to work in the pharmaceutical development industry. During my first year, I craved the energy and connections I had when playing the taiko drum in school. Thus, in early January 2008, I put together a community workshop (using only taped tires as drums as a start) in order to gauge interest. Over thirty participants turned up at the workshop, and thus began the early days of Naruwan Taiko.

In 2009, I made a career change and started attending law school at the University of San Diego. I simultaneously went to classes and worked at various law firms while also running Naruwan Taiko. Thus, I was able to compare and contrast the different lifestyles and people I would encounter in these two very different fields. I saw that, as a litigator, I would spend my time figuring out how to dismantle another’s case. However, as an instructor of the art of taiko, I was dedicating my time helping others discover something fun, cultural, and empowering as they tapped into their inner energy. Naruwan Taiko also brought people together in the community, as I saw friendships being made that might not have happened otherwise. This really got me thinking about where I wanted to focus my life and what it was I wanted to contribute to society. After graduating from law school and even working in the legal field for a year or so, I took the leap and reached for my dream full-time: to build a taiko center in San Diego.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As an American of Taiwanese descent, growing up in an Asian household meant that expectations for my career were either the medical path or the legal path. Making the transition from both into opening a taiko business has always been a point of contention between myself and my family. While supportive, they just wanted to make sure I had a career that was more likely to have financial stability. Thus, my personal challenge has been communicating with my family over time exactly what it is that I see when I am teaching and performing taiko, and why this is truly the right path for me. I see the way taiko has connected the people in this community and how it has helped many individuals discover their full potential and strength. Being able to witness this on a daily basis has been incredibly enriching for my life and only feeds into my desire to continue bringing that experience for people. At the same time, even though I am not currently practicing law or medicine, both experiences have prepared me with the proper skills and knowledge in order to run a business wisely; thus, I do not regret having gone through both educational routes before ultimately reaching for the taiko dream.

A challenge for the company itself though has been locking down a specific location in San Diego in order for us to build a studio. While folks enjoy the loud booming nature of taiko at a festival or as an activity, it’s not the easiest thing to have happening next door on a workday. Thus, our biggest challenge and goal has been to find a permanent space to grow our taiko center without making it difficult for our neighbors. In Japan, taiko studios are usually underground and in basements for sound insulation. However, there are not many places with basements in California. Thus, our best bet is to find a stand-alone building or a unit neighboring a business that wouldn’t mind the music. At the moment, we currently sub-lease from gyms and dance studios around the city, but this limits the days and hours that are available to us. To this day, we are still searching for that permanent space where we will be able to provide more access to taiko resources for the community.

Please tell us about your work.
My organization’s name is Naruwan Taiko and we are dedicated to sharing the Japanese performance art of “taiko” through instruction and performance.

“Taiko” (which in Japanese means “great drum”) refers to a style of drumming that stems from Japanese traditions and folk arts. In Japan, the taiko is traditionally used as the accompaniment to music or dance in festivals and theater. It is also prevalent in the temples, where the taiko represents the connection to the spirit world. Outside of Japan, taiko began as a popular art form only fifty years ago, thanks to Grandmaster Seiichi Tanaka who opened the San Francisco Taiko Dojo, the first taiko school in North America.

While our organization does study the many different ways taiko can be performed, Naruwan’s main style of taiko performance is called “kumi-daiko” which means “ensemble taiko,” in which multiple drums are played together as the main focus of the performance. This ensemble style of taiko performance was popularized by still active taiko organizations in Japan such as Kodo, Osuwa Taiko, and Oedo-Sukeroku.

I founded Naruwan Taiko in 2008, shortly after graduating from college. Having witnessed the numerous physical and social benefits of taiko through my experience with Cal Taiko at UC Berkeley, I wanted to provide a similar outlet for the residents of San Diego. Even though the art form is Japanese, I wanted a name for the group that would indicate that we were not limited to only those of Japanese descent, and thus was open to anyone. The phrase “naruwan” is from the indigenous language of the Ami tribe in Taiwan, and is a greeting that means “welcome” or “home.” The phrase is often spoken to a close friend or family member. I felt “naruwan” fully represented my hope for this group to be a place where people from all backgrounds and experiences could come together on the taiko and connect as a family would, and thus, the group was named Naruwan Taiko.

While taiko is most often associated as music, there is definitely a physical aspect to it where a performer has to use their whole body to generate that powerful sound. Thus, in addition to training the ear, Naruwan Taiko members also train to keep our bodies healthy. Playing the taiko drum actually involves similar movements as those in martial arts and dance. We stretch and run in order to build the stamina to play an entire piece, with some pieces lasting as long as eight to ten minutes. We practice choreography and core strengthening so that we can generate large movements and produce large sound. In addition to keeping our bodies healthy, we also practice general music concepts such as timing, listening, and dynamics. As we are producing both music and dance, it takes many focused hours of practice to sharpen both the technique and also play a musical number with proper timing!

For the past decade, Naruwan Taiko has produced high-energy performances all around San Diego. We’ve performed at various community events such as the San Diego Rock N’ Roll Marathon, fundraisers (eg. Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure), as well as theme parks (eg. Legoland and Sea World). We’ve also appeared at local elementary schools and company events for team-building or cultural experiences. In 2014, Naruwan performed for the world taiko community at the World Taiko Gathering in Los Angeles and in 2017, the group worked with the local taiko community to host the North American Taiko Conference in San Diego, where over 600 taiko players from all over the world gathered at UCSD to meet each other and drum together.

At all our performances, the impression we leave behind is one of the highest energy with an engaging stage presence. Naruwan Taiko is most known for encouraging students and performing members to discover that extra energy inside and learn to release it for each other to share! That energy, along with the energy of their classmates and team members, results in a strong and fulfilling performance and experience, where the audience can sense and feel the positive energy generated from the friendships made through the taiko. This same energy can also translate into people’s everyday lives as well, such as at work and school, or even in how they carry themselves in other daily activities.

Naruwan also teaches youth classes. For the past five years, I’ve taught an after-school taiko program for kids from first grade to fifth grade. This year, I’ll also be teaching at a local school as their main music instructor with taiko being the focus. For children, learning taiko has been a great way for them to learn music, Japanese culture, get physical activity, as well as learn how to work in a team and be respectful towards each other, their space, their equipment, and their teacher.

Most of all, I am most proud of Naruwan Taiko’s focus on community involvement. I’ve been very happy to see how our taiko and the people playing our taiko have built connections and friendships in our community with other performance groups in the city, as well as the audience. We’ve really gotten to know San Diego and its many faces through the events we attend. The taiko’s original purpose was to build connection and bring the community together, so no matter where we take the taiko, even as we evolve it, it’s important for us to always remember to reach out and stay linked with our community.

Naruwan Taiko is currently in the process of building a full-fledged taiko center for the community. The plan is not only to have a place for more local San Diegans to learn and play the taiko, but also provide a gathering place where the performance groups of San Diego can continue to come together for community bonding events. Naruwan Taiko currently just finished its 11th year of bringing taiko to San Diego! Here’s to a lot more!

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
To be absolutely honest, there is nothing I would really do differently from when I first began the organization. I’ve been very fortunate so far and the right people and opportunities come along which have helped our growth tremendously! What’s interesting is how I would love to be more like how I was in the beginning stages, where the dreamer attitude of my early twenties meant jumping into projects and figuring out obstacles later. It definitely meant more rash decisions and more risk-taking, but the start and completion of projects seemed to happen more frequently.

After attending law school and having collected a share of success and failures in running this organization for over ten years, I tend to take a bit more precaution with projects, feeling the need to calculate risks and organize all details before moving forward. While this approach has been helpful in protecting the organization and its people much better, I do feel that this does tend to affect the speed at which new ideas and projects move forward. The challenge in the future will be finding the balance between the go-getter and the cautious side of myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.naruwantaiko.com
• Email: naruwantaiko@gmail.com
• Instagram: @naruwantaiko
• Facebook:  www.facebook.com/naruwantaiko

Image Credit:
LisaLisaPics, Bryson Kim, Elizabeth Rouse, Johanna Bright, Anthony Cook

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