[2][3] Although he had received some basic taiko training in his home town, he had not received any of professional quality, so he returned to Japan and asked to become the apprentice of Grand Master Daihachi Oguchi (the man who combined traditional Japanese drum rhythms with a jazz influence to create the first ensemble taiko group, Osuwa Daiko).
Tanaka became the first of Oguchi's apprentices from outside of the family, and after working hard to learn the principles of the art form, he returned to San Francisco to play in the 1968 Cherry Blossom Festival.
[3] All of these elements come together to give San Francisco Taiko Dojo that distinct "Tanaka style", which that allows audience members of an SFTD performance to not only hear the drums, but feel and be moved by them as well.
San Francisco Taiko Dojo has released 5 albums:[6] Music from the group has also been featured on the soundtracks of the movies below.
These include the original Temptations in 1971; jazz drummer Art Blakey in 1975; Bobby McFerrin, Linda Ronstadt and the San Francisco Ballet in the first AID and Comfort Benefit (1987); Max Roach, Tito Puente, Mario Bauza, and Babatunde Olatunji at the first annual Sacred Drum concert in 1990; Dave Brubeck to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Peace with Japan in 2001;[7] and Omulu Capoeira in Dancing Thunder (1995).
[4] Other important performances include: In 1968, Seiichi Tanaka made his debut appearance as the only drummer in the San Francisco Cherry Blossom Festival.
In 1985, Seiichi Tanaka performed at the Tsukuba World Expo in Japan, and SFTD held its first self-produced concert outside Japantown at the Palace of Fine Arts.
In 1995, SFTD performed at both the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art opening in Haifa, Israel, and the Hiroshima 50th Anniversary Commemoration in Japan.
Two of the main mechanisms by which this occurs are 1. many of SFTD's former students have started their own taiko groups over the years, taking what they learned from the dojo with them, and 2.