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Some experimented with new ways of using traditional methods, including the development of large taiko ensembles playing percussive performance pieces. Taiko in North America Taiko first appeared in North America as Japanese labor immigrated here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In major West Coast cities like Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles, a vibrant Nikkei community supported numerous artistic performances and cultural institutions. Racist laws and attitudes shaped much of early Japanese American life here, including where Japanese could live, which schools they could attend, what jobs they could hold, where they could farm, and who could own land. Still, despite the racial, economic and political discrimination, most Nikkei communities managed a rich cultural life before the war.