Aug 12 -14 - The Midwest Buddhist Temple's long-running summer festival is a staple of Chicago's Old Town neighborhood and one of Ho Etsu's favorite festivals to perform. Ho Etsu got its start as a youth drumming group at MBT, and we remain gratefully and...
On August 28 Ho Etsu will once again participate in the University of Illinois Matsuri Festival. Held on the grounds of Japan House and the University Arboretum, on the U of I campus in Champaign-Urbana, the festival showcases Japanese culture. To learn more about follow this...
On September 24 Ho Etsu Taiko returns to Lexington Kentucky to participate in the JASK Summer Festival sponsored by the Japan/America Society of Kentucky. If you're in the Lexington area we invite you to spend the day at the festival for its food, cultural displays...
Thank you for your interest in our October 2 Workshop. At this time our workshop is FULL and we cannot take any more attendees. Please check back for notices of future workshops. <!-- At this workshop we'll cover basic technique, including how to hit and...
November 20 - Introduction to Taiko Workshop Back by popular demand! This introductory workshop covers taiko basics, hitting techniques, traditional kata and the history of taiko as a cultural art. Everyone gets to play. Everyone gets to make noise! No bachi, hapi or previous...
Composer’s note: Poston is an incarceration camp in Arizona that held over 17,000 Japanese American citizens rounded up and displaced by the US government during World War II.
Only what you can carry, they said
An unknown future, moving forward
Separation, nulled identities
Stories hidden, some may never know
Divided by war (Unified to forge ahead)
What lies ahead from here? (We’re staring into present day)
No time for the past (Unified in face of hate)
What lies ahead from here? (Won’t let it repeat again)
All life
All life is
All the love you give
Tell me Where does your heart
Your heart live?
All life
All life is
All the love you give
Tell me Where does your heart
Your heart live?
In the nightwood, dark and deep
The tiny songbird cries in sleep
Sleep my love, though the wind do wail
And snow clouds pile, and storm and hail
Black bough trees, cold earth beneath
The breath of night bares icy teeth
Water moves, though the moving’s slow
And the deepest root guards life below
Fire flicker, warm and bright
Bind us in your ring of light
Shadows tall on the cold ground cast
Draw dancing shapes of those who passed
Gather now in the circle round
While the hoarfrost kiss the ground
Heart and hand and drum and song
We speak of them, we speak of them, our voices strong
Mountains high and oceans wide
The dead stand with us, side by side
Greeting’s sweet and parting’s sore
And still time’s tide wears on our shore, wears on our shore
And still time’s tide wears on our shore
Come by me and share your light
Walk hand in hand into the night
Glowing hearts and our faces cold
Life catches us in a web of gold
In the nightwood, dark and deep
A tiny songbird sighs in sleep
Sleep my child though the wind do cry
My love will keep you by and by