Shuji Komagata, original member of the late Faye Komagata’s Hawaii Matsuri Taiko (HMT), former member of Nihon Taiko Dojo and San Francisco Taiko Dojo, cofounder of Somei Taiko, and director of Fuden Daiko in Italy, began playing taiko in 1979 at the age of 5.  After traveling the world in his youth playing taiko with HMT, he formally trained for nearly a decade in Japan and San Francisco under Kiyonari Tosha and Seiichi Tanaka to become a certified instructor of the Sukeroku style of taiko.  Shuji now resides in Aiea, Hawaii, where he and his wife Jaymie are the directors of HMT and Somei Taiko.  Since his return to Hawaii in 2001, HMT and Somei Taiko have grown to seven classes and close to 100 students.  He is also a 4th generation Soto Zen Buddhist minister, completing his monastic training in Kanagawa, Japan, at Daiyuzan Saijoji, where the taiko is used as the primary instrument in its religious ceremonies.  In May 2024, Shuji was installed as the 8th bishop (Sokan) of the Hawaii Soto Mission.  He is also the chief priest of the Soto Mission of Hawaii and the Soto Mission of Aiea.  It is with great spirit and energy that Bishop Shuji tries to balance all his professional endeavors.