Biography
Kayo Toki
Stage name: Toriya Masakazu (登利谷 雅佳寿)
Koto Player
- Grand Master, Ikuta School of Traditional Music
- Official representative of the USA branch of the Traditional Japanese Music Association (Seiha Hōgaku-Kai)
Ms. Toki began studying the koto at the age of three years old. She studied under the late Aihara Masashino (Master, Ikuta School of Traditional Music), as well as Kawasaki Masachizu (Grand Master, Ikuta School of Traditional Music). She graduated with the 47th class at NHK Academy for Japanese Traditional Music.As a member of the Japanese music ensemble Mugen, Ms. Toki has performed concerts at many locations, as well as with Japanese dance (Nihon Buyō) at educational institutions as part of a cultural agency dispatch project. She teaches Japanese music & club activities at middle and junior high schools in the Chiba prefecture and in Tokyo. After moving to the United States in 2006 she held live performances in San Francisco and Berkeley as one half of the Japanese music duo Fujin Raijin.
Ms. Toki currently resides in San Jose, CA, where she performs a wide range of genres from classical to modern Japanese music. She presides over the Masakazu Koto Studio, training the next generation of koto musicians.