Koto no WA started as a koto class at the Nikkei Manor by Chigusa Kitai and Shiho Kurauchi in 2001. After several years of practice, members started playing traditional and contemporary koto music together for public performances at music halls, public schools and libraries in Greater Seattle Area, Japanese consulate parties and local events such as From Hiroshima To Hope, Aki Matsuri (currently known as Japan Fair) and Sakura-Con.

During the pandemic, when no live music was possible, the group’s teenage members remotely volunteered for Nikkei Manor by providing a koto music video every month. Since Washington State reopened, the group has been actively performing at local events, such as Moon Viewing at Seattle Japanese Garden, private concerts at Mukai Farm & Garden on Vashon Island, Seattle Cherry Blossom Run 2022 and Sakura-Con 2022.

Susan Lieu is a Vietnamese-American playwright, performer, and author who tells stories that refuse to be forgotten. With a vision for healing, her work delves deeply into the lived realities of body insecurity, grieving, and intergenerational trauma with humor. She took her autobiographical solo theatre show “140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother” on a 10-city national tour with sold out premieres and accolades from L.A. Times, NPR, and American Theatre. Her forthcoming memoir, The Manicurist’s Daughter, will be published in 2023 through Celadon Books (Macmillan). She talks about race, priviledge, and relationships as co-host of the podcast “Model Minority Moms” and serves as an advocate for Consumer Watchdog and Asylum Access. Lieu is a Harvard, Yale, and Hedgebrook alum.