Orchestra Members Tetsuo Sakai Mr. Sakai was born in 1941 in Niigata, Japan and began his Gagaku lessons from the late Mr. Fumitaka Tohgi, Director of the Music Department at the Imperial Household Agency, in Funabashi, Chiba in 1960. Currently, as the concert master of the orchestra, Mr. Sakai technically and mentally trains young members. He also plays the Kakko (a small drum) and is the Chairman of the Kitanodai Gagaku Orchestra organization. Mineko Iguchi Mineko began her dance training in 1983 when she joined the Kitanodai Gagaku Orchestra. There she received dance lessons in Saho no Mai (Left School dances), Uho no Mai (Right School dances) and Kagura no Mai from the late Mr. Fumitaka Tohgi, Director of the Music Department at the Imperial Household Agency. Mineko has performed Bugaku dances with the Kitanodai Gagaku Orchestra in Japan, the United States, India and recently on a tour in Europe. An outstanding dancer, she constantly strives to uphold the highest standards of performance and learning and hopes to make the beauty and formality of Bugaku accessible to all worldwide. She has also been working to create a new type of Bugaku dance with contemporary yet appropriate costumes suitable for the 21st century. Mineko hopes to teach and train Japanese youth in this style to continue her legacy.

Yoichiro Iguchi Yoichiro was born in Kanangawa, Japan in 1961 and began his Gagaku training in 1978. In 1982, he started receiving lessons from the late Mr. Fumitaka Tohgi, Director of the Music Department at the Imperial Household Agency, and since then he has faithfully been following Mr. Tohgi’s instructions to deepen the understanding of Gagaku, Japanese traditional music. Yoichiro has been working to create a new music piece that both reinvents and highlights the wonderful sound of classical Gagaku music. He is a lead Yokobue (Japanese flute) player in the orchestra. Yoichiro works with Mr. Sakai (Concert Master) to train younger members. He is the President of the Kitanodai Gagaku Orchestra.