Yuta Kato

After discovering his love for taiko as a kid in 1991 through Kagami-Kai, a rise-pounding group, Yuta Kato decided to start learning at San Francisco Taiko Dojo (SFTD). This passion at age 10 has only grown, as he has since traveled the world learning taiko and teaching the craft to as many people as possible. Kato is often credited with starting Yukai Daiko in 2005, an offshoot program from UCLA's Kyodo Taiko, though he says that he simply enabled the artists to have a space to play, and the formation of the group was out of his hands. Kato currently performs around the world with a number of professional groups.

Yuta Kato
Born
Origin	California
Genres	Taiko
Occupation(s)	Musician, instructor
Instrument	Taiko
Years active	1991-present
Website	taiko.la/users/yuta-kato

Personal Life

Yuta Kato was born and raised in California. Kato picked up drum-making from his father, a practice that the two share to this day. Originally an engineering major, Kato aimed to keep a promise to his best friend that he would stay with taiko and pursue a career as a professional musician.

Taiko

Yuta has played for a number of groups, including UCLA Kyodo Taiko, Nihon Taiko Dojo, TAIKOPROJECT, ON Ensemble, Portland Taiko, Los Angeles Taiko Institute (LATI), and most recently, UnitOne. UnitOne takes inspiration from Kodo, a world-renowned professional taiko group from Japan, and plans to be a part of their first ever collaboration project. The group was formed from instructors at LATI.

From 2007 to 2011, Kato moved to Japan to study taiko under masters of the art. He spent two years in Tokyo learning a very traditional style of taiko. In Tokyo, they teach a more strict, uniform style of drumming as compared to Kumi-daiko that is popular in the United States today. After his time in Tokyo, he moved to Hachijō and spent another year learning what he described as a more folk-style way of playing. While there, he worked part-time at a supermarket, and then at a farm, where he was able to see many different ways of living that all had one thing in common, which is that everyone was involved with taiko in some way. On the island, they have a more relaxed lifestyle, and have taiko as a background performance while the audience hangs out and drinks. Yuta helped to start a school there and hold classes for people who just want to exercise, some just for fun, and others to learn to play like the professionals. Kato describes Hachijō taiko as being similar to a club, where people come together to party and have fun, as compared to taiko in Tokyo which is more similar to a classical concert.

Yuta Kato describes taiko as a sport without the competitiveness. He appreciates that artistry, athleticism, and teamwork it brings, while maintaining a more relaxed atmosphere where everyone is having fun. In his words, "success [in taiko] is not measured by you beating other people, but by being able to play together better." A natural leader, Kato aims to spread taiko as widely as he can, while focusing more on playing correctly than playing well, or learning the deeper history of the art.