Hiroshima at Yoshi's Oakland

In the three decades since they first convened, the Los Angeles-based ensemble of Dan Kuramoto (keyboards/woodwinds/composer/producer), June Okida Kuramoto (koto), Danny Yamamoto (drums), Kimo Cornwell (piano/keyboards), Dean Cortez (bass) and newest member Shoji Kameda (taiko drum/percussion) have blended jazz, pop, and rock with traditional Japanese folk music and instruments. The resulting sound was a pioneering voice in the world music movement of the late 20th century.

While Hiroshima have sold more than three million records in their prolific career, they’ve done something even more important in the process: they’ve introduced a variety of traditional Asian instruments to a global audience, and integrated them seamlessly into a new music and art form...

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In the three decades since they first convened, the Los Angeles-based ensemble of Dan Kuramoto (keyboards/woodwinds/composer/producer), June Okida Kuramoto (koto), Danny Yamamoto (drums), Kimo Cornwell (piano/keyboards), Dean Cortez (bass) and newest member Shoji Kameda (taiko drum/percussion) have blended jazz, pop, and rock with traditional Japanese folk music and instruments. The resulting sound was a pioneering voice in the world music movement of the late 20th century.

While Hiroshima have sold more than three million records in their prolific career, they’ve done something even more important in the process: they’ve introduced a variety of traditional Asian instruments to a global audience, and integrated them seamlessly into a new music and art form. The Japanese koto, a zither-like, 13-stringed instrument, shakuhachi, a five holed bamboo flute, and the powerful taiko (which literally means “drum”) combine with instruments from the Western Hemisphere to create their unique musical palette.

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