The Great Teacher K’ung Fu-Tzu [Confucius] said that, “the only really essential department of government is the Department of Music and Rites”.

In Far Eastern tradition, the purpose of art is to educate and uplift in a moral and religious way. Music and ritual are looked upon as essential to life and not simply as another extra-curricular activity. This ancient music survives today in Japan as Gagaku and has been preserved virtually unchanged since the 8th century. Still performed in temples, shrines, and the Japanese Imperial Court, Gagaku is the oldest orchestral tradition in the world, evoking an atmosphere and attitude of ancient Asia. Senshin Temple is affiliated with the Jodoshinshu school of Buddhism that has used Gagaku liturgically and as “dharma entertainment” since the 17th century. Kinnara Gagaku was formed in 1970 at Senshin Buddhist Temple under Professor Suenobu Togi of the Japanese Imperial Household Department of Music and the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology.