ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, September 9, 2011
www.issaquahreporter.com
Council just says no to collective gardens BY LINDA BALL LBALL@SAMMAMISHREPORTER.COM
Jaymi Matsudaira 18, of Sammamish, is one of several Eastside members of Kaze Daiko, a performing youth troupe. (Inset) A mediumsized chu-daiko drum. CHAD COLEMAN, Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter
BIG BANG THEORY Japanese culture lives through ancient practice BY GABRIELLE NOMURA GNOMURA@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
P
ounding their drums with wooden bachi sticks, some of the drummers in Kaze Daiko may only be in elementary school, but the sound they’re making is powerful; it shakes the dusty walls of Seattle’s Japanese Community and Cultural Center. Each of the nine members and three apprentices in Kaze Daiko, a performing youth troupe, takes a yoga-like lunge. From this position, they play the Japanese drum, or taiko. Apprentices include 8-year-old Grady Spors, who looks as if he weighs less than the chu-daiko (medium-sized drum) in front of him. The three college-age Matsudaira sisters, the most veteran members, giggle and chat between practicing songs. This Saturday, Sept. 10, the drummers will wear red happi coats and black tabi shoes when
they perform at the Aki Matsuri festival. Today, they rehearse in basketball shorts, sweatpants and T-shirts. Their head instructor, Stan Shikuma, observes from behind his spectacles, arms crossed in front of his slender frame. He approaches one of the young drummers to demonstrate a sequence she’s struggling with. It typically takes a year of weekly practice before new drummers have mastered the entire
seven-song repertory. But even before they become polished performers, just watching a rehearsal is exhilarating. Graceful as dancers, powerful as martial arts masters, the young drummers strike their instruments to achieve a sound that, at times, is as thunderous and elemental as rolling thunder. “If you’re close enough, you can literally feel the vibrations,” Shikuma said. Taiko is a synthesis of rhythm, movement and spirit – the spirit stems in part from use in Buddhist temples, Shikuma said. Drums have been used in Japan for centuries, but it’s only within the 20th century that taiko has emerged as a performing art. While benefits of being in a taiko troupe include performing at Mariners games, it also connects youth with Japanese culture – a motivating SEE BIG BANG, 9
Citing the conflict between state and federal law regarding medical marijuana Tuesday, the Sammamish City Council decided to keep an emergency ordinance it passed July 18 in place to maintain a six-month moratorium on collective gardens. A moratorium is typically valid for six months though it may be renewed with six month extensions if a public hearing is held and findings of fact are made prior to each renewal. A great deal of confusion remains related to medical cannabis. In the last legislative session Senate Bill 5073 passed the state legislature April 22 and was partially approved by the governor. Some of the changes that were approved regarding medical marijuana include; up to 10 qualifying patients may join together and have a collective garden with a maximum of 45 plants and a minimum of 15 days must elapse before a qualified provider can switch from being the provider for one patient to another qualified patient. Also, Medical marijuana gardens cannot be open to the view of the general public. Sammamish mayor Don Gerend said he hopes the medical marijuana issue will be clarified in the next legislative session. Issaquah has a similar moratorium in place. “I think Seattle has embraced this since the 60s,” Gerend quipped. Council member Nancy Whitten said she didn’t SEE GARDENS, 9