San Jose Taiko (SJT) began in 1973 and was the third taiko group to form in North America. The first members were Asian Americans looking for a way to express themselves. The instrument they felt could help them best express who they were was the taiko, the Japanese drum.

Click here to learn about SJT's current members.

SJT started in San Jose Japantown at the SJ Buddhist Church as a fun way to get kids involved in church activities. Since then, SJT has grown into a professional company that travels throughout the United States and the world.

SJT performs in San Jose at local festivals and other outdoor events. One of SJT's favorite types of outdoor performances are the Japanese summer festivals, known as obon.

SJT also performs concerts all over the world, traveling up to 3 months out of the year so that we can share the art form of taiko with audiences young and old.

There are a lot of people who see us play and wonder what it feels like to strike the drum, so SJT performers also teach youth classes and also put on a taiko summer camp. This is a great way to learn about taiko and have some fun, too!