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This taiko -- meaning "big drum" in Japanese -- weighs close to 300 pounds!
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Vic Fukuhara says building and playing Japanese drums alleviates the stress of the day. Beyond that, Fukahara is preserving an ancient Japanese cultural tradition for future generations. Fukahara builds the drums from oak wine or whiskey barrels. Taikos, as they are commonly called, range from one to 6 feet in diameter. The thickness of the wood and the thickness and tightness of the skin covering the drum are all factors determining each drum's sound. Building and finishing each drum can take up to a year. - First, Fukahara takes the old barrel completely apart, reassembles the pieces and glues all the wooden joints. The bands are reused to hold the barrel together as it dries (drying takes two to three days). Once the barrel has completely dried, the bands are removed.
- Next, the piece is sanded and painted. Sanding is done between applications of paint until about five coats of paint have been applied and a smooth, lacquer look is achieved. Fukahara estimates that many pieces take as many as 200 hours of sanding.
- Rawhide is soaked before being stretched over the barrel's top to create the drum's surface. A wet towel is placed over the rawhide to keep it moist and flexible as it stretches.
- Once the hide is fully stretched, it is hand-tacked. As many as 300 nails are used to keep the rawhide stretched and perfectly in place.
| ALSO IN THIS EPISODE: | | Beading | | Japanese Drums |
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