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Obituaries

Daihachi Oguchi | Japanese drummer, 84

    Inquirer
    Published 

Master drummer Daihachi Oguchi, 84, who led the spread of the art of

taiko

drumming to the United States and throughout Japan, died Friday after being struck by a car the previous day in Japan.

Mr. Oguchi helped found top U.S. taiko groups, including San Francisco Taiko Dojo, which has performed in Hollywood movies and on international tours since its founding 40 years ago.

A former jazz musician, Mr. Oguchi was one of the first to elevate the traditional folk sounds of taiko to modern music played in concert halls, not just festivals and shrines.

Along with Kabuki theater and

ukiyoe

woodblock prints, taiko is one of Japan's most popular - and respected - art forms in the West. A taiko drum is made from a single hollowed-out tree trunk with cowhide strapped tightly across it.

Thanks partly to Mr. Oguchi and his followers' efforts, hundreds of taiko groups, both professional and amateur, have sprung up not only throughout Japan but also in the United States, Brazil, Europe and other nations.

- AP

    Inquirer