Kodama Taiko is a group of percussionists from the greater Los Angeles area who are dedicated to performing both traditional and contemporary pieces through the sounds of taiko. The group is primarily composed of working professionals who enjoy spending their free time learning and creating entertaining performance pieces.

The group is best known for their unique Mochitsuki (rice cake pounding) performance which combines the age-old tradition of hand-pounding mochi (sweet rice) with the sounds of taiko. This energetic custom is typically performed during the Japanese New Year’s Oshogatsu, but has lately been expanded to include any celebratory occasion. Makoto Fujii of the Japan-based group Medetaya instructed Kodama in combining the art of taiko and Mochitsuki.

Kodama takes their name from the Japanese word for “echo,” and literally translated means “echoing sounds.” Kodama’s roots stem from the collegiate group Jishin Daiko which was started in January 1994. The new name echoes back to October 1997, when Jishin Daiko founding members Dean Mimura and Karren Tsutsui reformed the group as Kodama.

Kodama is based out of the Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute, and their practices are held Thursday nights from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.