A Japanese traditional drum-maker Wednesday put the final nails into a taiko drum he donated to Maui Taiko last year.

Hisakatsu Yokoyama, from a town in quake-tsunami ravaged Fukushima prefecture, heard about Maui Taiko’s drum-making during a visit to Maui in 2013 and decided to donate a drum he was making to the group last summer.

He had to retire after nearly two decades working at his craft because of radiation contamination from damaged nuclear power plants that forced him from his home and workshop in Futaba to another town in 2011.

Yokoyama came to Maui on Wednesday to put the finishing touches on the drum as well as to teach Maui Taiko and Japanese dance groups the obon song from his town, “Futaba Bon Uta.” He and six others will be joining the Paia Mantokuji Obon festivities Friday and Saturday to play the drum and perform the song.

Kay Fukumoto of Maui Taiko, which has family ties to Fukushima prefecture, said that Yokoyama’s group no longer performs the song because members have been relocated to different areas and cannot gather to practice. Members also live in towns with their own obon songs.

Unlike in today’s Hawaii obon festivities, where numerous songs are played from various regions, Japanese towns play one song the entire time, Fukumoto said. That was the case on Maui in the old days, like in Kehua plantation camp, where her group’s signature song, “Fukushima Ondo,” was played all obon long.

Yokoyama’s obon group hoped that Maui Taiko would learn and play the song on Maui “until such time that the Futaba residents can return back to their town,” which will be decades from now, Fukumoto said.

She said that Maui Taiko members plan to document the song through video footage, oral history and musical notation. In addition, a Japanese film crew has been documenting the plight of Yokoyama’s group since last year.

“Although given an opportunity to perform their song, it does not have the same spirit as it did when performed in their hometown,” Fukumoto said. “They wanted to teach Maui Taiko the song in hopes that when and if Futaba is ever opened again for their return that Maui Taiko will bring the song back.”

Maui Taiko and Japanese dance groups Maui Minyo Kai and Nakayama Minyo Kai spent about two hours learning the history, cadences, song and dance moves at the Kahului Community Center on Thursday.

Tonight and Saturday night, “Futaba Bon Uta” will be performed on the drum donated by Yokoyama at the Paia Mantokuji Obon. There will be services both nights at 6 with dancing beginning at 7:30.

Yokoyama reflected on the completion of the drum at Fukumoto’s home in Kahului on Wednesday. Unlike the other Maui Taiko drums made from wine barrels, Yokoyama’s drum was carved from the keyaki tree, which is supposed to be the best for making taiko drums.

“Everything has a life like the tree that this taiko was made from,” he said. “I am relieved that the tree has another life.”

* Lee Imada can be reached at leeimada@mauinews.com.