Resumo

A imigração japonesa em massa ao Brasil, iniciada no séc.XX, trouxe consigo um rico arsenal de costumes e manifestações culturais, muitos deles passados aos descendentes brasileiros. Assim, inúmeros grupos artísticos de caráter étnico puderam florescer no país, entre eles os conjuntos de taiko, grupos percussivos de tambores tradicionais que caíram no gosto das comunidades nipo-brasileiras. Para suprir tal demanda, os tambores passaram a ser construídos no Brasil, buscando adaptar técnicas japonesas à nova realidade. Esse artigo aborda, a partir da observação in loco e entrevistas, o processo de construção dos taiko brasileiros na oficina da família Kaito, em Taubaté, no interior do estado de São Paulo. Descrevendo as etapas da construção de dois diferentes tambores, foi possível entender como o luthier viabilizou e adaptou os taiko às matérias-primas brasileiras, criando instrumentos a partir de processos e maquinários nacionais, dando a esses taiko brasileiros características e identidade próprias.

Brazilian Taiko: the construction of Japanese drums in the Kaito family workshop, in Taubaté (SP)

Mass Japanese immigration to Brazil, which began in the 20th century, brought with it a rich arsenal of customs and cultural manifestations, many of them passed on to Brazilian descendants. Thus, numerous ethnic artistic groups were able to flourish in the country, including taiko ensembles, percussive groups of traditional drums that became popular among Japanese-Brazilian communities. To meet this demand, drums began to be built in Brazil, seeking to adapt Japanese techniques to the new reality. This article addresses, based on on-site observation and interviews, the process of building Brazilian taiko in the Kaito family workshop, in Taubaté, a city of the countryside of the state of São Paulo. By describing the stages of construction of two different drums, we were able to understand how the taiko maker adapted the Japanese tradition to the Brazilian reality, using local raw materials, as well as national processes and machinery, and giving these taiko drums their own Brazilian characteristics and identity.