Taiko Dojo, a legendary drum studio is getting priced out of San Francisco as it’s dealing with high rent costs. Stephanie Magallon reports,
Taiko Dojo, a legendary drum studio is getting priced out of San Francisco as it's dealing with high rent costs.
Taiko or Japanese drum is a 2,000-year-old Japanese tradition that was brought to the United States in 1968 by Grandmaster Seiichi Tanaka. He created San Francisco's own Taiko Dojo.
Seiichi Tanaka has been playing Taiko for over 65 years. Taiko Dojo was the first place to allow women and the non-Japanese community to play the famed instrument.
In fact, hundreds learned in San Francisco and then, they spread their knowledge by starting taiko groups across the nation.
But after nearly 30 years in their building, Taiko Dojo is now dealing with one of San Francisco’s biggest crisis, an incredibly steep rent increase after a corporate takeover.
“When the new owners came in, they pretty much said, this is the market rate, and you have 30 days, either you pay the market rate or you get out,” said Ryuma Tanaka, the grandmaster's son.
Ryuma Tanaka said the market price is almost three times higher than what they’re paying now.
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"I've been searching around all over the Bay Area and I mean everything is just so expensive,” he said.
For months, Ryuma Tanaka said that he kept the problem to himself to avoid jeopardizing this past weekend's performance, which could have been their last.
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But now, students who said they have found a family at Taiko Dojo are searching for even the smallest of hope.
“The sweat, the blood, the tears that are in this room from many, many amazing taiko players. It's just a great place to be and to practice and just to lose that is upsetting,” said Bill Spangler, a student at Takio Dojo.
"I felt Immediately like a sense of 'Oh my gosh! We need to rally. We need to find a way to keep this historic piece of the community,'” said student Brandon Ross.
The group is hoping to stay at their San Francisco location for at least one more month to give them time to pack years of history and search for a new home that will allow Seiichi Tanaka to keep sharing this Japanese tradition.
