Beat by Constructive Interference and San Jose Taiko. Rap and music video by Rybo.
FULL CIRCLE
A meditation on the circle as a symbol—in family and community, in life and taiko. In celebration of PJ’s kanreki (60th birthday).
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INTRO
“I go by P-J Hirabayashi H-I-R-A-B-A-Y-A-S-H-I”
“Taiko hits you right here in the heart.”
“You toss that stone and that ripple continues onward and outward. And hopefully it doesn’t stop there.”
“Kind of the vibration of the taiko rippling out into communities where we are erasing boundaries. Where people can start to connect together. And I feel that that’s what our music has been able to do.”
V1
It’s the way waves ripple from a splash
Concentric to the spot the rock was first cast
Periodic motion and regular undulation
The fluid physically moving in energy propagation
The same way waves ripple from a “don” strike
Whether on stage or street, like on Obon night
“Ei Ja Nai Ka” playing like a tune for community
Voices in harmony, movement in unity
Truly conversing fluently; universal in nature
Language of music is truly versatile; take for
Example a sample of our collaborations:
Abhinaya, Chidori, Bangerz; we building new relations
And when it’s art with a purpose
Meant for community improvement and service
Then every DOR, Tule Lake, and Okizu
Becomes a bigger ripple moving on the water’s surface
CHORUS
“The thing that really drives me to continue is that there’s so much power not only in the musical aspect of playing and of having that self-expression. But it is seeing how it touches other people.”
“Not just only the art of playing. It’s all the intrinsic values that go along with that…I think that’s what growing is all about.”
V2
It’s the shape we take in the beginning of practice
And the ending; the fact is symbolism it’s packed with
Like equality, geometrical symmetry
Philosophically, an analogy for your inner ki
And it’s the shape we form
When we sing and dance “Ei Ja Nai Ka” at obon
To me, every step reflects a lesson,
Represents an expression that manifests in its essence, like:
(“Ei”) Digging deep for the meaning and direction
With reason and reflection to achieve a connection
(“Ja”) To gather hope and cast troubles aside
If you can laugh in troubling times, the struggles subside
(“Nai”) The sweat symbolize hard work for sho’
Nothing foreign to the formula “you reap what you sow”
(“Ka”) Holding the recipe for controlling your destiny
These lessons are a blessing, nothing less than a necessity, so thank you
CHORUS
“Well, 35 years I would have never thought of this being my livelihood. And to be able to have something to love and do what you love doing is probably the main ingredient for success.”
V3
It’s the way things happen in a cycle
Like spring to spring in everything, both life and taiko
As the hand of time ticks the minutes,
Every digit it revisits every hour in an infinite
Circle—sixty for a full sequence,
But you’re done with one and a subsequent one begins
Incessant rotation, like earth ’round the sun
Every May 18th is another journey begun
Duration : 0:3:40
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