New York Taiko Aiko Kai is one of the Taiko groups in residence as part of the TC Taiko Society at Teachers College, Columbia University. It began in 2002 when a few families at an Upper West Side public school began practicing Taiko with a hope to pass Japanese culture to their children. The group has always been family oriented, but many adults have also joined the group over the years. Hiro Kurashima, Osuwa Daiko Shihan, who was certified by the late Grandmaster Daihachi Oguchi, was the founding teacher of the group, and continues to teach and perform with the group regularly. NYTAK has performed at various schools and institutions, including the Sakura Matsuri at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Japan Heritage Day at the Staten Island Yankees, and public and private schools in New York.
