Our team currently has 19 active members! For those of you who have been to our earth-shattering-heart-pounding performances and have ever wondered things like "Who ARE these people??" or "What do they STUDY?" or the most popular "Who is that tiny girl in the front that kicks a** like none other?!?", here are some member bios that might help answer your questions!

Naomi Kawaji

naomi

Position: Crazy Hair (or Monkey)
Class of: 2010
Major: Masters in Biomedical Engineering; BA in Chemistry
Activities: Eating until feeling sick, constantly muttering "I'm hungry" even if bloated with food, getting by without much sleep until crashing, drinking large SFVWM lattes for the taste, hogging large tables in Olin Cafe when alone, trying to make dynamic-less-keyboards sound good (without much success)
Member since: Aug 2007


STATISTICS: Head and body length: 154.5cm (with hair: 170cm); Tail length: 3cm; Weight: ???

DISTRIBUTION: Tends to be a hermit (starting this semester) but when outside, can usually be found in Olin. If found, approach cautiously with 3 oatmeal raisin cookies.

HABITAT: Likes to inhabit warm places, but for some cynical reason, has always lived in cold, cold locations.

DIET: Feeds on leaves, meats, garlic, sugar-free vanilla lattes, oatmeal raisin cookies, Souvlaki House sandwiches, pasta, and champong.

BEHAVIOR: Tries to bob head up and down enthusiastically while playing the keyboard. (Often awkwardly.) Sometimes seen scribbling down letters and notes while listening to music. Also likes to bang on stretched out animal hide (aka to feel superiority as a monkey). Laughs awkwardly when drill solos cannot be performed easily. Thinks the hair will deceive people into thinking it is taller. *Note: Will not work for bananas but will for spaghetti and/or oatmeal raisin cookies.

CONSERVATION STATUS: Only one found in the world as of yet. Thus, classified as High Risk.

Mitsuhiko Nishi

miki

Position: Tang's No. 1 Fan
Class of: 2009
Major: Mechanical Aerospace Engineering
Minor: Business
Dream: To help design the new space shuttle
Favorite Food: Sri Lankan Curry, Mangostein
Deep Dark Secret: Too many to list
Member since: Sept 2006


My name is Mitsuhiko Nishi but most people call me Miki. I was born in Japan but grew up mostly in Singapore and New Jersey. Prior to joining taiko, I had never held a pair of drum sticks in my hand, just like most of the other members, so everything was quite new at first. Although it's been a lot of work for the club to get this far technically and administratively, I feel that all my memories in taiko have been great and I am really glad I stuck with it. After all, with so much work and stress at Cornell, nothing makes you feel better than hitting things with sticks.



Ben Pastel

ben

Position: The Gong Guy
Class of: 2011
Major: Computer Science
Dream come true: To be in an ensemble where people tell him to move his body more
Member since: 9:35 p.m., August 2007 (he stumbled into Yamatai while trying to figure out why the floor of Lincoln Hall was shaking)


Compositions: Rondo for the Dancing Flame (w/ marimba), Bounce (w/ break dancers)
Carries to rehearsal every night: one of the big drums, a roll of medical tape (for blisters) and whole lot of enthusiasm









Christine Wilkinson

christine

Position: Eva's Guitar Tutor
Class of: 2011
Major: Natural Resources
Pet Peeve: Grammar errors, most of the time.
Favorite Activities: Taiko, fencing, going crazy!, biking, playing guitar/cello, singing, eating vast amounts of food, playing with my dog, studying animal behavior, being outdoors, reading, traveling....
Member since: April 2008


I was born and spent part of my childhood in Queens, NY, but eventually moved to central Jersey. I've been singing all my life, and began to play the cello when I was 8 years old. Eventually I tried my hand at the guitar and electric bass, and ended up loving it! Since then, I have been trying my hand at various new instruments, always looking for something new to try.

On March 30, 2008, my life was changed when I attended Yamatai's spring concert and got hooked on the feeling of the wicked, freaking awesome, stellartastic, mind-blowing, earth-shaking, vibrations of the drums. I began to contact that wild crazy chick leading the group, went to a few practices and BAM! --- By April 25, 2008, I officially became a member! Life will never be the same.

Josh Yim

josh

Position: Comic Relief
Class of: 2010
Major: Chemistry
Hometown: New York City
Hobbies: Playing drums, fluffing up his hair, withholding information from his facebook profile
Instruments Played: Drums and cymbols
Latest Facebook Photo Album: At 3AM, you might run into this creature, and NYC
Member since: Sept 2008


Josh Yim thought that taiko was really awesome so he joined Yamatai. After fluffing up his hair and playing the drums at Asia Night, he decided to make that his profile picture on Facebook. He was born on June 1, 1988 and considers his political views Moderate. Since he decided not to give the webmaster any personal information for 6 months, the webmaster Facebook-stalked him and here you see the result.



Brian Han

brian

Position: The Hat Guy
Class of: 2011
Major: Music Psychology and Sound Engineering
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Hobbies: Writing, producing, and playing music for anyone, golfing, frisbee, Pixar films, hiding in dark corners, slowly appearing out of dark corners
Instruments Played: Violin, guitar, bass, whistling, my voice, my tummy, and of course, taiko
Favorite Nourishments: Spam musubi and guava juice
Member since: Sept 2008









Carol Chiu

carol

Position: Top Secret
Class of: 2012
Major: Also Top Secret
Hometown: Hong Kong
Hobbies: Salsa, crunchy leaves, withholding information from her facebook profile
Dreams and Aspirations: To Be Top Secret
Number of Facebook Groups Joined: 73 and counting
Member since: Sept 2008


Carol Chiu withheld information from the webmaster for 6 months and counting. After a night without sleep, the webmaster decided to exercise her Facebook-stalking skills to finally complete the Members section of the website. But since Carol is a freshman, we'll cut her some slack.






Leo Ikenaga

leo

Position: "The closest thing I can think of is something along the lines of being Haruki's underling" by Risa Naka
Class of: 2012
Major: Economics probably
Special Talent: Pretending to help Dan put away the equipment
Member since: Sept 2008


I started to play the piano when I was 2 and got bored of it so I quit when I was 10. I also started taking taiko drumming classes when I was in 4th grade but I quit when I was in 6th grade because I got bored of it. Then I started the cello when I was 11 but I stopped taking lessons during my senior year in high school because 1, I had college apps and 2, it was heavy. I moved on to playing the guitar at the end of 9th grade and came back to taiko drumming this year. Besides musical stuff, I am good at procrastinating, taking naps, wasting time, and being useless.




Tina C: Media Manager & Groupie

tina

Tina does not play the drums and is slightly rhythmically challenged. So she spends her time confusing Eva, taking pictures of Yamatai, filming Yamatai concerts, and updating the website. Woot.