Category: Weekly Themed Posts 2017

Happy New Years Edubloggers,

 

明けましておめでとう御座います! (Happy New year!) Wow, the 2017 year went by fast! When you think of a New Year, you probably, think of a resolution or two. However you may be thinking, that’s not effective because only 8% of the USA (polled) kept their resolution as said on this website. The site had an alternative however by instead of overwhelming yourself with one gigantic resolution, make smaller goals, which is what I am going to discuss with everyone today.

My resolution is to read more books instead of drowning myself in Youtube or Netflix videos!

 

As you know, we get extremely busy in our regular life and sometimes end up using the time on a device like a tablet. So my Resolution is to read more books because not only do I feel like I have no time to read, but my vocabulary span has gradually decreased. So, here is my resolution in three parts!

Goals:

• Increased vocabulary
• Less exposure to electronic devices.

 

To achieve my goal, this is my weekly plan

1. (Monday): Because I am especially busy during Mondays, so I will still try to read 10-30 minutes before I go to bed.
2. (Tuesday-Friday: Stop procrastinating and finish things faster so I can have more time to read. I will also strive to read for 60-80 minutes at the maximum for a consecutive week. This will help build better schedule and time skills and increase my vocabulary!
3.  (Saturday and Sunday): These are the pinnacles of my week because I have the most time. I will strive to read for two-four hours

However, that’s not all. If I am planning to learn more vocabulary, I should learn how to spell them correctly by not using text message fixers.

Happy new Year!

Hi edubloggers,

 

As I mentioned in several posts, I said making a Taiko was very laborious work and a authentic drum is expensive. Here are the instructions.

After letting the body dry, apply wax on the top so you can put a new skin on if the old one ruptures. After cutting the skin in a circular template, wet the skin and lightly shave it so it makes a deep sound. However, don’t shave it so much that it looses it’s  sound and will break more easily. You will need small, metal rods, lots of rope, dowels, and tension jacks. Here are instructions on how to make the tension stand as well as if these instructions are not clear enough. After putting the barrel on the stand, and lacing the ropes around the holes in the skin and the jacks, put in the dowels and turn them to form the head.

 

After that, you can remove the skin and form the head on the other side. After a few days of letting it soak in a few inches of water, put the formed head on the lacquered barrel and set it up as you are going to form the head again, but here the jacks will be used to increase tension. After turning the dowels a few times, pump the jacks 5 times on each side to stress even tensioning. After doing this a few times, you could check the sound until you are satisfied. Sometimes you might even have a person jump on the skin to increase tension.

 

After you feel the skin and there is no slack if you push on it, or if you have a satisfying sound, hammer in the tacks by drilling in the templates and hammering them in. Finally, ta da! You have a finished drum! Would you learn a new type of world music?

 

See ya,

 

Chad

 

 

 

Hi Edubloggers,

 

Today, I will be continuing my posts about Bon Dance in Hawaii. Omatsuri Daiko is a popular song affililiated with a lot of old Obon Songs such as, Shinnan Ondo, Tanko Bushi, Sakura Ondo, Chanchiki Okesa, Edo Omatsuri Bayashi.The beginning beat consists with the Taiko playing Three hard hits in the center and four hits on the rim (Don and a Don and a Don Ka ra ka ra.) It continues with patterns that sync with the beat or Ji.

 

This beat can also be used in a song called ‘Fukushima Ondo,’ which is performed by a group. The song consists of Taiko syncopation and soloing, Shime Daikos (Rope-tensioned Drums,) timekeeping, The flute played playing a melodic beat, and the long chants from the singer. Here’s an example from Ewa Hongwanji.               

Okay, this is just a basic terminology for the song! Hope you enjoyed.

Hmschad

Hi Edubloggers,

 

This post is to clarify on why all of my previous written posts have vanished. So our class is cleaning up our blogs by dividing them up into categories to make it easier for people to browse and find what they are looking for specifically. By the best, it should all be categorized and back on my blog tomorrow.

 

Bye,

 

chad

Hi Edubloggers,

Ok, this is very off since Obon finished about three weeks ago, but this is a good way to prepare for next year! These are things needed in the dance and translations of some of the items found at a Bon dance.

1. やぐら (Yagura): The tower in the middle of the circle where people dance around and performers go up to perform. Most yaguras are built by the Hongwanji missions but one group called the Honolulu Fukushima wheels in their own Yagura.
2. ちょちん (Chochin): Colorful lanterns strung on the Yagura to symbolize Amida Buddha’s wisdom
3. 福祉祭り(Fukushima Matsuri): Oahu’s seven bon dance clubs provide dancers and musicians to temples that need help throwing their bon dances. The Honolulu Fukushima Bon Dance Club even brings its own yagura, which is mounted on wheels so it can be towed from one dance to another.
4. ちょば (Choba): A fundraiser group set up by the Hongwanji-ha that sells

5.  うた (Uta) Live music is typically supplemented by commercial recordings from Japan. Japanese folk music is emphasized at some dances. Others mix classics with more contemporary compositions, such as “Pokemon Ondo,” inspired by the Pokemon craze.

6. グラインド(Grindz): Standard fare includes traditional Japanese and American food such as shave ice, saimin, barbecued meat sticks, hot dogs, hamburgers and the hole-less Okinawan doughnuts known as andagi. Any calories burned up dancing can be replaced immediately.

7. 浴衣とハッピー（Yukata and Happi): This is the traditional bon dancer attire. The yukata is a light summer kimono, worn by men or women. The hapi is a short jacket, also unisex. Proper dress is encouraged, though not generally required, for the dancers.

8.  手ぬぐい(Tenugui): Small towels bought at the Choba fundraiser as a prop or to wipe your sweat.

9. うちわ (uchiwa): Small hand-held fans used as props, dances, or just to cool the dancer down.

10. へ絵師 (heeshi): At Okinawan bon dances, the drummers encourage the dancers by shouting meaningless words at them. These call-outs are called heeshi. In some cases, the dancers yell back. “Ha‘i‘ya,” the drummers might yell. “Ha‘i‘ya‘i‘ya‘sa‘sa,” the dancers will yell back.

11. 幽霊(Yuurei): They are in attendance. Bon dances are all about honoring your ancestors and letting them you’re having a good time in this life. So be sure to smile.

So these are some of the supplemental phrases when dancing. Also, don’t be afraid, just get in the circle and mimic the dance senseis or teachers. They are usually the ones in the innermost circle around the Yagura wearing a yukata.

Sayonara,

Hmschad

 

Hi Edubloggers,

 

Welcome back to another long, elongated post! This is a special post since the Fall Okinawan obon is in like a week. Yep, I will be talking about Okinawan Folk and Bon culture!

 

 

Okay so if you happen to be in the dust, Okinawa is a small island south of Japan. The Okinawan consider themselves completely different from Japanese. Their music is different, their language is different, and their clothing is different. According to Okinawans, they are still pondering the real origin of it’s culture is. Iha Fuyū argued that the name of Eisa was related to wesa omoro (Okinawa: ゑさおもろ), a phrase appearing in Volume 14 of the Omoro Sōshi (16th–17th centuries).

 

However, this theory is no longer supported. It is more likely that the name derived from an exclamation used in the original song of Eisa, the “Mamauya Ninbuchi” (Okinawan: 継親念仏). The standardization of the written form was relatively new. Meiji era newspaper articles used various forms including yensaa (Okinawan: イェンサー), yaisaa (Okinawan: ヤイサー), and ensaa (Okinawan: エンサー). The

 

Okinawan festivals include Bon Dances which became a fusion in Hawaii alongside the Recorded songs, Fukushima Taiko, and taiko with two bachi. One of the styles include Eisa (エイサー) which include 20-30 thirty drum dancers in the inner one or two circles in the yagura or tower. However like a orchestra, you cannot have just one type of instrument, which it is accompanied with singing, the Shamisen (三味 ) , which is a three stringed instrument played by plucking the string, and the call and answer yells called Kakegoe(掛け声.) An example for Kakegoe is if the singer yells He-I-ya (ヘ-イ-ヤ）the dancers might yell ha-i-ya-i-sa-sa (ハ-イ-ヤ-イ-ヤ-サ-サ.) In Okinawa, there are three different types of Taiko Drums. The odaiko, Shime, and paranku.

• The Odaiko is very similar to a Zen Buddhist drum or traditional Taiko Drum. However, both are very heavy due to the wood very heavy. In this case however, the wood is very light making it able to sling on your shoulders and do strong motions, like a katsugi okedo or sling drum.
• The shime is very similar to a shime you would find in Kabuki or Noh Drama. The Antique black lacquer shell, bright orange rope, and high itch really represent the acute sound for time-keeping a piece. The drum is also played while dancing but can be turned while hitting the drum due to it’s lightness.
• The Paranku, translating to hand drum is the smallest drum of the family. It makes a solid, muffled sound making it the least used drum in Omatsuri but used in slower dances.

Hi Edubloggers,

 

Today, I will continue my introduction to taiko drums, this time being the Shime Daiko Drums. Initially, there are two types of taiko drums, Byouchi Daiko (Tacked Drums such as Hira and Nagado Daikos,) and Tsukeshime Daiko (Tied drum, Shime and Okedaiko [Tubed shaped, rope tied drums similar to the Kakko drums.])

 

 

 

 

NOTE: URGENT URGENT URGENT: The style of this Taiko is Edo Bayashi (Old Tokyo Style), not Eisa Daiko (Okinawan taiko drumming.)

 

The Shime is a small drum with animal skins tied with rope on both sides. However it’s size, it has a very loud, high pitched sound that can easily be heard over lower-pitched drums. The hide is first stretched on metal hoops, then stretched over the body. Similar to the tsuzumi and to African talking drums, both drum heads are bound together with cords so that the drum heads are bound by each other. Like every taiko drum, they must be played with Bachi (Taiko Sticks.) Since it is very small however, you’ll need a lighter wood like Hou or Mongolia Tree Bark, or Hinoke or Japanese Cypress . Shime Daikos are played in a variation of Japanese Music Ensembles like  Hayashi Kabuki Theater players, Traditional songs, Nagauta “long song,” and Taiko performances.

 

 

 

There are two types of Shimes. A Hogaku which the rim is typically painted black and is usually played on a stand called a teren (A low, lightweight stand used to hold a classical shime-daiko at a slight angle.) The drum is played with a stance where you are sitting on your feet instead of standing. The drum played when standing or the Matsuri or festival Shime Daiko come in five different sized depending on the rim as well as the thickness of the skin. The order bellow is thinnest to thickest.

• Namitsuke
• Nichogake
• Sanchogake
• Yonchogake
• Gochogake

If you know some Japanese, you’ll realize that from Nichogake to Gochogake have the actual numbers two to five.

Ni= 2

San= 3

Yon/Shi: 4

Go: 5

 

 

When using stands, they are called Dai in Japanese. We usually sit down and play it in a  stance called Seiza, however, most festival groups play standing up in a stance which your core muscle is the same height as the drum. There are two ways Shimes are made. One way is the traditional rope-tied drum and the other which is the bolt-tied drum.

 

 

Unlike the Nagado Daiko which makes three sounds Don, Tsu and Ka, the Shime uses Ten for one hit or two hits of a loud and soft simultaneously happening, tere which is two hits, and tsu which you use gravity to hit the drum, as it is a very small sound.

 

 

I hope you got a good terminology of the Shime Daiko. If you need help, please feel free to leave a comment or visit this website. If not, still feel free to do so and leave a comment.

 

Bye

Hi Bloggers,

 

I thought I was finished with my topic and started to do elsewhere, except a few thing.

 

1.) The Hiragana and katakana. So remember I said there were two writing systems, well I just thought i’d give them to you. As a refresher, Hiragana was for writing Japanese words such as いちご、which is strawberry. On the other hand, the Japanese didn’t know all the English words, so they put it in a system called Katakana, which sounds similar to it’s English word. Ex: ホット　ドッグ、(Hotto doggu) is Hot dog in Japan. With that in mind, here are the two systems from this website.

Hiragana: (Japanese Words)

 

あ a い i う u え e お o か ka き ki く ku け ke こ ko が ga ぎ gi ぐ gu げ ge ご go さ sa し shi す su せ se そ so ざ za じ ji ず zu ぜ ze ぞ zo た ta ち chi つ tsu て te と to だ da ぢ ji づ zu で de ど do な na に ni ぬ nu ね ne の no は ha ひ hi ふ fu へ he ほ ho ば ba び bi ぶ bu べ be ぼ bo ぱ pa ぴ pi ぷ pu ぺ pe ぽ po ま ma み mi む mu め me も mo や ya ゆ yu よ yo ら ra り ri る ru れ re ろ ro わ wa を wo ん n/m

Combinations きゃ kya きゅ kyu きょ kyo ぎゃ gya ぎゅ gyu ぎょ gyo しゃ sha しゅ shu しょ sho じゃ ja じゅ ju じょ jo ちゃ cha ちゅ chu ちょ cho にゃ nya にゅ nyu にょ nyo ひゃ hya ひゅ hyu ひょ hyo びゃ bya びゅ byu びょ byo ぴゃ pya ぴゅ pyu ぴょ pyo みゃ mya みゅ myu みょ myo りゃ rya りゅ ryu りょ ryo

Katakana (English words)

ア a イ i ウ u エ e オ o カ ka キ ki ク ku ケ ke コ ko ガ ga ギ gi グ gu ゲ ge ゴ go サ sa シ shi ス su セ se ソ so ザ za ジ ji ズ zu ゼ ze ゾ zo タ ta チ chi ツ tsu テ te ト to ダ da ヂ ji ヅ zu デ de ド do ナ na ニ ni ヌ nu ネ ne ノ no ハ ha ヒ hi フ fu ヘ he ホ ho バ ba ビ bi ブ bu ベ be ボ bo パ pa ピ pi プ pu ペ pe ポ po マ ma ミ mi ム mu メ me モ mo ヤ ya ユ yu ヨ yo ラ ra リ ri ル ru レ re ロ ro ワ wa ヲ wo ン n/m

Combinations キャ kya キュ kyu キョ kyo ギャ gya ギュ gyu ギョ gyo シャ sha シュ shu ショ sho ジャ ja ジュ ju ジョ jo チャ cha チュ chu チョ cho ニャ nya ニュ nyu ニョ nyo ヒャ hya ヒュ hyu ヒョ hyo ビャ bya ビュ byu ビョ byo ピャ pya ピュ pyu ピョ pyo ミャ mya ミュ myu ミョ myo リャ rya リュ ryu リョ r

2.) Special Shout out to Dinah for the idea of using a photo to show what the pen posture will look like. Remember to keep you three dominant fingers (Ring, Middle, and index) fingers on one side of the brush and your thumb on the other. Keep the brush upright!

Bye,

Chad

 

Hi bloggers,

In this weekly post, I will explain the different types of drums and variations, as well as some links to make your own tire drum.

The drum that you’ll most likely see it performances are called by the name chudaikos, Nagado Daiko, Miya, or a variation of the Byou-uchi daiko, (Tacked and stretched using circular pins called ‘Byo.)  It’s big sound and versatility make them an absolutely essential part of any taiko group. They can be placed vertically on the ground to play standing or laid horizontally to be played by two players simultaneously. They can be mounted on various types of stands to be played at different heights.

There are four basic ways you can play the drum, Naname (Nah-na-meh), Beta (Beh-tah), Miyake, (Mee-yah-Keh), and Onbayashi, (ohn-bai-ya-she.)

The first and easiest way, Beta style is basically playing the drum upright on a short stand. Though you cannot make much motion outwards, Beta players can still use a lot of energy playing it.

The second way is Naname, which is the drum placed on a stand facing approximately a 70-degree angle. On this drum, the player must be on a side and play it outwards.

The third way is called Miyake style, which originated from Miyake Island from Japan. Popularized by the KODO Group, it is very similar to Naname, except it is at an 180-degree angle which two people can play it, and is lowered making a better stance.

The fourth and final way is Onbayashi style, which is sitting directly in front of a stand similar to a naname, but much lower. The performer must sit directly, facing the drum. in my opinion, it looks very tiring and drains a lot of energy.

The drum is made by getting and hollowing the insides of a barrel. Then, they taking it apart and imputing biscuits, (circular things to keep things under high pressure in place.) Unlike regular drums, the Japanese added geometric designs inside to break up the sound waves. Once they painted it using a shiny lacquer, they put on an animal skin and used jacks to tighten the skin while putting in the tacks. After about two- three months, the taiko drum should be complete and sound great!

Finally, I will explain how to make a tire drum. First, you need to get an old or used tire and wash it with warm soapy water, as well as allow it to dry. next, stretch packing tape across the diameter of the tire and across. STRETCH IT AS MUCH AS YOU CAN! IT WON’T SOUND STRONG IF YOU DON’T! After you have gotten almost the entire drum cover by tape on both sides, stretch the tape on and around in one direction making a protection layer. Now that you’ve gotten your tape drum, you need drumsticks! Lucky for you, you have many hardware stores around you. Go to the store and ask them for wooden dowels. When you find them, you’ll see a plethora of long, cylindrical sticks. here’s some information,

Cypress: light, soft
Spruce: light, soft (similar to, but cheaper than cypress)
Cedar: light, soft
Maple: average weight, average touch
Hickory: heavy, hard
Oak: heavy, hard
Find the size and width right for you, and ask a store person to cut it for you.

 

 

 

 

Okay, so you have all the information about chudaikos and how to make a taiko drum as well as how to make bachi (taiko sticks.)

Bye,

 

Chad