Zuiho Matthew Perez is currently the resident monk at New York Zendo Shobo-ji.

He was ordained in 2009 at Dai Bosatsu Zendo by Eido Shimano Roshi and trained there for two years. He has also practiced for shorter periods at monasteries and temples in Japan and Seattle, Washington.

In addition to Zen practice, Zuiho is a student of the Urasenke Way of Tea.

New York Zendo Shobo-ji officially opened its doors on September 15, 1968. Located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York Zendo offers city dwellers the opportunity to experience authentic Rinzai Zen practice in the midst of their daily lives. With a full weekly schedule of zazen and chanting, regular all-day sittings and other activities, the temple provides ample opportunities for the Sangha to practice, work, and celebrate together.

Kawaguchi KenYa is a Japanese shakuhachi musician from Hiroshima, who now resides in both NYC and Tokyo. Inspired by John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy, Kawaguchi plays an un-lacquered, un-jointed, bamboo flute to help express his music directly and transcend any separation between performer and instrument in the tradition of Watazumido. Kawaguchi debuted with a work by John Cage at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo during his graduate school years at Waseda University. In the past, he had participated in the Triennial Art Festival in Niigata and the Annual Opus Medium Recital at the Tokyo Opera City Hall, and is now a part of Karl Berger’s Improvisers Orchestra. Kawaguchi is a member of Seiji Nagai Group and the Open Music Ensemble.

Michiru Inoue, is a Tokyo born Japanese Butoh dancer, who has been performing Butoh dance since 1999. She has no teacher and no pattern in her performances: she creates her own style. In 2001, Inoue won the New Artist Award of the Japan Dance Critics Association in acknowledgement of her solo performances in the alternative performance space Terpsichore(Tokyo). She has also participated in Dance Hakushu Festival(Hokuto city), Tatara matsuri(Terpsichore), Dance ga mitai(die pratze) to name a few. In 2012, Inoue moved to NYC to participate in Bushwick Open Studios 2012. Currently she has been improvising experimental sessions with Tamio Shiraishi(sax) and Cammisa Buerhaus(pipe organ).

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Bomb Sun was born in Kumamoto, Japan and moved to the US in 1991. He plays upright bass and creates original musical compositions. Acknowledged by his mentor, Milt Hinton, to be his best pupil, Bomb Sun became a well-known player on the New York jazz scene, with solid skills in experimental improvisation. He has more than 20 years experience of writing, touring, and performing music.

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Ayakoh Furukawais a Japanese multi-media artist who lives and works in New York since 2000. A range of her artistic expressions is broad from labor-intensive detailed drawings to humorous knitted objects to classical oil paintings to photography. She does not prefer to stay in the same expression instead she develops a particular expression to convey the message of each new art project. Her works have been exhibited at numerous prestigious galleries and art institutions in New York such as Marlborough Chelsea and Japan Society since she received Master of Fine Arts from Hunter College, CUNY in 2007. She is also a well-trained calligrapher and Sumi-e instructor at RESOBOX.

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