Regarding Ongoing Issues with Koyasan Spirit of Children Taiko

The Kongo Gumi class was disbanded by Koyasan Spirit of Children Taiko Artistic Director Kaori Kubota-Sakauye and the Koyasan Taiko Board (not the Temple Board) in November 2025. The Koyasan Taiko Board (“the board”) is an ad hoc organizational body, not a non-profit board, sensu stricto. At a scheduled meeting board meeting, the board immediately went off agenda and presented a surprise decision to (1) fire me as an instructor, (2) eject Lisa Shigenaga from the group and remove her as the team’s manager, (3) dissolve the Kongo Gumi ensemble, and (4) withdraw all drums and practice space from a scheduled workshop with KODO member Taiyo Onoda with less than a month notice. We were told to get our stuff out of the temple as soon as possible, and I was not given a chance to say goodbye to the classes that I had taught for three years. In order to not cancel work for our visiting workshop leader, we had to quickly organize new venues, new drums to use, and get insurance. This was a major setback and a difficult time for us.

All 10 members of Kongo Gumi left Koyasan Spirit of Children Taiko as a result of this decision. The board contends that they did not “kick out” the rest of the Kongo Gumi ensemble, but joining other classes was not a realistic option for an ensemble of friends that want to play together. Our team was also shocked and disturbed by the behavior of Kaori and the board. Besides just playing taiko, Kongo Gumi helped rehead drums and fix equipment, develop professional relationships and book gigs, volunteer at temple events, and help out with other classes.

Documents produced before and after the firing make it clear that Kaori wants her specific style and linage of taiko to be preserved, and it seems that she sees our group as an obstacle to that goal, especially as we wrote new music and brought in workshop leaders of different backgrounds. However, from our perspective, these desires and goals were not clearly communicated or executed. For example, the board suddenly decided that 70% of songs that we played would need to be “legacy songs,” however when we asked what this term meant, it took the better part of a year to produce a list of songs, which ultimately contained many songs we had never heard before and had long left the performing repertoire. Kaori never presented a plan on how we were to learn her older songs. We felt accused of insubordination when we would ask clarifying questions or suggest how to proceed when this was not practical.

It’s true that my personal and artistic philosophy differs from Kaori, but as the junior instructor, I followed her lead and took her direction - there are many examples of this. Personally though, when it comes to administering a temple taiko program, I value the joy of the players and their opportunities to grow and develop friendships, opportunities for students to explore different aspects of the art and engage with the creative process, chances to meet other taiko players and consider future possibilities with taiko, and engagements with the broader community through taiko. Artistically, I tend to be more of the mind that each performance is unique, and that evolution (impermanence) is an inevitable part of life and can be a good thing. My sensibility is that, for a temple (as opposed to a private dojo), following one particular artistic school is less important than developing values, skills, and friendships. I feel that community groups should uplift the creativity of their players. Even though I tried to follow Kaori’s direction, it’s possible that our underlying values were very different, especially as, approaching retirement, she solidified the idea that the group should carry her legacy forward.

Officially, the reason for the firing was “artistic differences,” however Kaori has implied to other parties that the reason is something “that she cannot talk about,” which we feel has been misleading and professionally unfair. There is no legal reason preventing her from discussing my firing or the disbanding of our ensemble. There have been no accusations of wrongdoing. In spite of these misleading omissions or active misinformation, we ask the members of the community evaluate our group on our own actions, involvements, and work.

Recently, Kaori took procedural action to prevent us from using temple social hall. We are very grateful to have had the chance to meet with the temple board and for their willingness to allow us to continue to practice and be involved with the community there. As a temple, they did not seek to adjudicate the conflict, and asked for us to attempt to resolve our differences and show mutual respect.

I think there are a lot of things going on here, including the hidden suffering of COVID and the loss of the way things were before, the human desire for recognition and legacy, and difficult decisions surrounding retirement. Having worked alongside Kaori for over three years, I enjoyed her as a person and do not bear ill-will towards her, though I do find the path she has taken to be deeply sad. I’m someone who absolutely loves taiko, but for the first time, I saw how even taiko could be cringe under certain circumstances. It took me a while to accept it, but perhaps this is the greatest lesson she has imparted on me. She walked the path before me, and I can learn from her mistakes. I am not better than her; I am just walking behind her. I wish her, and the taiko board, freedom from their suffering.