News
[Jun. 24, 2009]
The 13th Annual Taiko Charity Concert
On June 5th, in Tokyo’s Sogetsu Hall, the Japan Taiko Foundation joined hands with the Children’s Cancer Association of Japan to host the 13th Taiko Charity Concert.
The Taiko Charity Concert is an annual event organized by the Japan Taiko Foundation, which uses the venue to both promote taiko and to generate donations for a different non-profit organization every year. Past concerts have benefitted such causes as leprosy elimination, the fight against HIV/AIDS, care for the physically disabled and support for the victims of the Great Hanshin Earthquake.
This year, the cooperating NPO was the Children’s Cancer Association of Japan (CCAJ), a group that works around the country to support children with cancer, provide aid to their families, and improve the medical treatment available to kids.
The CCAJ was formed in 1968 by a group of parents who had lost their children to cancer. According to the NPO’s website, there are currently about 16,500 children in Japan under treatment for cancer. While 35 years ago, cancer claimed most of the children that it touched, today the survival rate has surpassed 70 percent.
However, the emotional and financial difficulties that families face on a day to day basis are extreme, and the CCAJ helps out with aid for such things as lodging when families must accompany their children to receive therapy, or research into childhood cancer. Additionally, the group visits the 160 child cancer wards around the country to provide moral support for the families.
This year, more than 300 people, including officials from several different embassies, came to listen to 8 different drumming groups from around the Japan. 950,000 yen was raised for the CCAJ.
The Japan Taiko Foundation is a partner organization of The Nippon Foundation.