Welcome to the second installment of FOCUS, Civil Beat’s new audio-slideshow series celebrating the rich culture of our community.

We’re photographing and interviewing people from all walks of life and sharing their stories with you in a multimedia format. The goal is to highlight the diversity and depth of the people who call Hawaii home, and maybe we’ll see how our differences unite us.

Our first piece featured an avid waterman, Randon “Nobie” Blackmon. This time around, we stayed on land with internationally acclaimed taiko drummer Kenny Endo.

We sat down with him after a practice session at Hawaii Opera Theater, where he was teaching the Japanese drumming style to students from around Hawaii and the world. We also endeavored to capture his performances at the University of Hawaii’s Orvis Auditorium and Ala Moana Shopping Center.

If you have ideas for future subjects we should feature in Focus, please email them to neagle@civilbeat.com. We hope to add a new piece every other week.