Aiko is Born

Since Maryssa and I didn't know the first thing about starting a taiko group, we spent hours on the internet researching collegiate taiko groups before returning to campus in the fall. My older sister will confess that I spent much of my time watching youtube videos of taiko and trying to mimic the motion of the performers. She would burst out laughing, but that didn't stop me. haha. In fact, I still enjoy watching taiko videos on youtube. :)

Mark Rooney also introduced us to two of his former students, Daniel and Sarah, who pioneered taiko groups at Bowdoin and Wesleyan respectively. I was already beginning to feel welcomed into the taiko community.

Maryssa and I knew that we would need all the help we could get. So, we enlisted the help of our friends, Kimi and Diana. Kimi had the most formal taiko training out of the four of us. She joined a taiko bukatsu (club) at the International Christian University in Tokyo where she spent her Sophomore year abroad.After a long brainstorming session, we eventually agreed on the name Aiko. Maryssa was particularly excited about this choice, because her little sister's name is Aiko. Depending on the kanji character, "Aiko" can mean blue drum or love for drums.