BECAUSE OF YOU, I AM

"Because of You, I Am" is a short documentary film about PJ & Roy Hirabayashi, two quietly radical Japanese American taiko drummers who defied traditional cultural expectations in their quest for identity and purpose. Across five decades, they used taiko as a platform to catalyze social change, build community, and champion a new category of Asian American music despite facing the unrelenting challenges of anti-Asian hate, racial injustice, and cultural appropriation.