Picture of recent workshop with Tanaka Sensei
Actually, for many of them, the dream was never fully realized. Of the original group, only two remain: my parents, Elsie and Bo Tep. After the group was formed, there was a lot to do. They had to build drums, and even after they figured that out, they would have to learn how to play. My parents decided to tackle different parts of this challenge.
My dad, being the at home "Mr. Fix-it" type decided to figure out how to build drums. He asked around. He read Kinnara Taiko's book "Horaku" and went out to Stockton Buddhist Temple where Mas Ishihara from Stockton's taiko group helped glue the 50 gallon wine barrel that eventually became our first drum. Mas showed us their way of making drums which helped a lot - to see the real thing. He talked about methods they'd tried and discarded, or adapted. After that it was pretty much trial and error. Together with Toshi Kato and then a little tinkering of his own, he figured out his own way of making drums. He even figured out a cheaper way of fastening the hide to the barrel. The tradition way is to use tacks. Unfortunately, they aren't very cheap, sometimes costing more than $1 a piece. Since you need more than 100 per drum, that can add up. He devised a method using washers and screws that cost pennies per unit. To date he's built about 10 drums.
My mom, being the more artistic one, decided to learn how to play taiko. She started taking classes with Grandmaster Seiichi Tanaka and the San Francisco Taiko Dojo. What she learned she brought back to the group.