About Us

Suzuyuki-Kai MōGan Daiko (SKMD) is the culmination of over fifty years of teaching both taiko (Japanese drumming) and nihon buyo (classical Japanese dancing). Our teachers (sensei) met over thirty years ago and have been performing together ever since. Around 2003, they decided to combine their efforts and become Suzuyuki-kai MōGan Daiko. We perform all over Southern Arizona and are an annual mainstay for events like Tucson Meet Yourself, Saboten Con, and the Arizona Matsuri. This school is the first permanent home of the group, and it will allow us to share Japanese art and music with generations to come.

Suzuyuki Sensei (aka Mari Kaneta) was trained in California and by the Grand Master of the Azuma School of Japanese Dance in Japan. She has earned her nattori, or dancing degree and stage name. She moved to Tucson in the 1980s, and has been teaching nihon buyo for over 40 years here in the Southwest with students spread out from Phoenix to Sierra Vista. She has performed in places like Las Vegas, Los Angeles’ Nissei Week, and Caracas, Venezuela.

MōGan Sensei (aka Stanley Morgan) was considered by many as one of the early pioneers or taiko leaders of the taiko community. Taiko has only been practiced in North America since the late 1960s, and MōGan Sensei first learned about it through martial arts, of which he also taught kendo. He was asked to keep a taiko at his home for an upcoming competition and he was hooked. He not only became an enthusiast and teacher of the artform, but became a self-taught drum builder. His techniques helped adapt the use of barrel drums to be used in North America, and many of the drums we play on are original crafted works of MōGan Sensei. He played with many groups and taiko luminaries on the west coast until he moved to Tucson and began teaching here. He was a taiko sensei and mentor until he passed. His Tucson-based students have since continued to carry his traditions through their own groups – Odaiko Sonora, South Bay Beat Institute, and Suzuyuki-Kai MōGan Daiko to name a few.

Kristina Sensei (aka Kristina McGaha) began learning dance and taiko at the age of 8 in Tucson. She has lived, performed, and taught taiko drumming in Arizona, Nebraska, and Idaho, and she has virtually taught groups all over the world. Her favorite students are children and veterans’ workshops that we occasionally offer at the VA. She was a founding member of Odaiko Sonora. She was awarded funding in 2019 by the Idaho Commission of the Arts as a Folkarts Master. In 2022, she became the Executive Director of Taiko Community Alliance (TCA), the first nonprofit outside of Japan that is an arts administrator for taiko. Since Mōgan Sensei’s passing, she has taken over artistic and teaching duties of SKMD and looks forward to sharing taiko with you!