Raion Taiko will be drumming up some holiday spirit at Noel Night in Midtown this year! Follow the beat to the Old Main Building (WSU program) and enjoy your night out with us (and also visit Santa nearby!).
Raion Taiko ensemble (2022) at The Guardian Building in Detroit. photo credit: Kayla Turpin Photography
Taiko Performance on the front lawn of Old Main (4841 Cass Avenue) between 5:30-6:30pm! Listen for spirited rhythms of the season as Raion Taiko performers* share songs from our Great Lakes Taiko Center (GLTC) repertoire, including:
YUME MIZUKI…celebrating our “dream” of playing together…by Yamada Mizue (DIA+)
RAIGUN “Gathering Thunder” by Yamada Mizue (DIA+)
BETO-BETO-SAN…a walking yokai “spirit” by Ash Brown (Raion Taiko)
3-3-7…community cheer…by Tomo Terakado* (Raion Taiko)
MATSURI “Festival” arr. Eileen Ho* & Larry An* (Mu Daiko/Raion Taiko)
MUSHI OKURI “Send Away Bugs!” arr. GLTC/Otoha Asano (trad. Kaga region, Ishikawa, Japan)
Visit NOELNIGHT.ORG for updated program and map info.
Cultural connections (special thanks to Prof. Andrew L Maske & Wayne State University Dept. of Anthropology for bringing Taiko to Noel Night 2023): Learn about the Exile to Motown exhibit that is currently hosted by the Gordon L. Grosscup Museum of Anthropology at the Old Main Building!
“Exiled to Motown” is on exhibit at the Museum of Anthropology through January 31st, 2024.
Exiled To Motown: The Japanese American Community in Detroit
People of Japanese ancestry have, like other Asians and people of color, have experienced discrimination in the United States for well over a century. Nevertheless, the most profoundly hurtful discriminatory acts were perpetrated by the United States government during World War II. In the months following the attack on Pearl Harbor, more than 100,000 Japanese Americans, most of them U.S. citizens, were forced from their homes on the West Coast and sent to concentration camps in isolated parts of the western U.S. Some were able to leave the camps or avoid incarceration by agreeing to move to locations east of the Mississippi River. Even so, Japanese Americans were required to “assimilate” into American society by isolating themselves from others with whom they shared heritage. This exhibition explores the experiences and triumphs of those who came to be “Exiled To Motown.”
Produced by the Detroit Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League with contributions from the Detroit Historical Society and the Gordon L. Grosscup Museum of Anthropology at Wayne State University, this exhibition is based on oral history accounts from Detroit residents. These Americans of Japanese ancestry experienced not only unjust treatment at the hands of their government but also racist attitudes and cruel behavior from their fellow citizens, some of which persisted even after the war’s end. Nevertheless, Japanese Americans have survived and thrived in Detroit and across the Great Lakes region. “Exiled To Motown” showcases their resiliency in the face of adversity and highlights the strong sense of community they were able to generate despite their circumstances.
from: https://clas.wayne.edu/anthromuseum/exhibits/exiled-to-motown