Two-year-old Noah Sakai held his taiko drumsticks up to his head like bunny ears, a demonstration that it was time to stop and listen to the instructor. One might assume that trying to teach a group of toddlers the art of taiko drumming would be chaotic, but the Taiko Tots class offered through the Taiko Center of the Pacific is quite the opposite — it’s organized and orderly.

Classes started last month and are held at Washington Middle School but might move to Kapiolani Community College.

"People call me all the time and tell me that their toddlers are really into percussion and drumming. That’s the age that they start banging on everything, so it made sense to start a class," said Chizuko Endo, owner of the taiko center.

Jason Asano, 3, has been taking classes for a few weeks. "It provides a very unique opportunity for young children to interact with each other," said his mother, Ivy Asano, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Hawaii.

And because the instructor teaches songs in English, Japa­nese and Spanish, Asano said, her son "is further developing his sense of creativity, music and language skills."

"He’s also learning about his Japa­nese heritage and is developing valuable character traits such as kindness, respect, self-discipline and teamwork," she said.

Endo started the Japa­nese drumming school in 1994 with her husband, Kenny Endo. "Through the art form of taiko, we teach Japa­nese customs, manners, language, respect, music and movement," she said. Parents are active participants in the class.

"We spend a lot of time with movement and singing songs and then apply those same rhythms on the drum," Chizuko Endo said.

"We have children who started with us when they were 5 years old and, at 26 years of age, are still playing," Endo added. "It has truly been a rewarding experience."