Fubuki Daiko, Winnipeg-based Japanese drum group, celebrates 20 years

Fubuki Daiko, or Blizzard Drums, is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and members of the Winnipeg-based Japanese drum group are holding a few concerts to mark two decades spent keeping the beat.

All the performers, including group founders Hiroshi Koshiyama and Naomi Guilbert, are from North America. That North American upbringing mixes with the music's Japanese origins to create a unique sound and original compositions, Hiroshi says.

Before the group became a world-touring success, Naomi and Hiroshi had to first cross each other's paths and fall in love.

"I went to San Francisco to study with Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka. He brought the [taiko drumming] art form to America in 1967," says Naomi. "While I was there, I met Hiroshi. We [later] had a gig in New York at Carnegie Hall, and then he proposed to me on the top of the Empire State Building."

"She said 'probably,'" Hiroshi says.

The pair have grown together, along with their passion for taiko, since then.

"Our teacher used to always say it takes a couple months to learn it but a whole lifetime to master," Hiroshi says. "I think basically drumming is the heartbeat — it's in all cultures."

The group currently participates in Artists in Schools through the Manitoba Arts Council, where they teach taiko to students over the course of a week.

Big Winnipeg shows

They're playing Oct. 21-23 at Winnipeg's Gas Station Theatre.

The show isn't going to be like one of their typical five-person performances, Naomi says.

"This show, we're going to have sometimes 16 people on stage, we're going to bring all of our biggest drums out, so it's going to be a big spectacular extravaganza.… I can feel it on the stage, I can feel my entire body vibrating."

Asked if the ensemble has another few decades left in them, Naomi says they'll play "as long as [their] bodies hold out."

"I'm not sure if we're going to produce another big show like this locally, because it's just so much work. It's really just the two of us – we don't have a production team, we don't have an office of staff."

Anyone interested in getting into taiko can email the group through its website. The group is hosting an introductory taiko workshop St. Luke's Anglican Church in Osborne Village on Nov. 14.

The pair performed at 3:10 p.m. Tuesday on Up to Speed on CBC Radio One 990 AM / 89.3 FM.