About me
Born and raised in Japan until the age of 16, Ai Matsuda (she/her) moved to Hawaii to study English. There, she began to play taiko with Hawaii Matsuri Taiko, led by Mrs. Faye Komagata – her aunt.
She then had the opportunities to learn from Grandmaster Seiichi Tanaka of the San Francisco Taiko Dojo, Kiyonari Tosha of Nihon Taiko Dojo in Tokyo, PJ & Roy Hirabayashi of San Jose Taiko, Etsuo Hongo of Los Angeles Matsuri Taiko, and Kenny Endo of the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In 1999, Ai became a member of the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble, performing both in Hawaii and on the mainland U.S. with Kenny Endo and other professional musicians, as well as teaching adults and kids classes at the Taiko Center of the Pacific. In 2011, she returned to Tokyo, Japan, and now continues her training in taiko from Yuu Ishizuka, in classical Japanese music (Kabuki Bayashi) from Saburo Mochizuki, and Edo Bayashi / Shinobue / Shishimai from Kyosuke Suzuki of the Taneo Wakayama School of Wakayama Shachu -a school recognized by the Japanese Ministry of Culture to be an “important intangible cultural property of Japanese fine arts.” Currently, she resides in San Jose, California and continues to perform and teach throughout the U.S. and Hawaiian islands.
