About Us
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We create rare, deeply authentic cultural experiences that connect guests with the living soul of Japan. Our signature experience, Kouta-no-kai, invites visitors into an intimate world of traditional kouta singing and shamisen music, shared with a professional performer in a setting few ever get to enter.
Hosted in a rare 75-year-old wooden home in the heart of Tokyo, our experiences offer more than a performance. They offer genuine cultural connection. Guests don’t simply watch Japanese tradition; they sit within it, hear its stories, feel its atmosphere, and understand how it evolved from geisha culture into a living art form.
These experiences cannot be found anywhere else. They are created with care, respect for tradition, and a deep desire to share the beauty of Japan in its most authentic form.
Our Mission
Our mission is to preserve, share, and reintroduce the quiet beauty of Japanese tradition through intimate cultural experiences. Through Kouta-no-kai, we create the most authentic, rare, and exclusive cultural encounters, experiences that cannot be found in regular tourism and are not available to ordinary travelers.
We offer access to living traditions, professional performers, and historic spaces that are normally closed to the public, allowing guests to encounter kouta, shamisen music, and the spirit of geisha culture in its true form. More than a tour, our experiences foster deep cultural understanding by connecting people to the emotions, values, and human stories that shaped Japan.
- Exclusive Access
- Authentic Crafts
- Curated Sake
- Unique Experience
- Traditional Cousines
- Quality Hospitability
Our Proud Casts
Mami-sensei is a distinguished Kouta performer and shamisen artist with over two decades of experience devoted to traditional Japanese music and aesthetics. Born in Hakodate, Hokkaido, she has built a rare career that bridges refined stage performance, kimono culture, and contemporary creative expression.
Mami-sensei is also widely recognized as a leading kimono stylist and coordinator. She has styled actresses, television personalities, and international figures, contributed to commercials, magazines, and overseas projects, and even dressed Madonna in kimono during her visit to Japan—an iconic moment symbolizing her role as a pioneer in presenting Japanese tradition to the world. To date, she has taught proper kimono dressing to more than 4,000 people, while also appearing regularly in media herself.
In 2015, at the request of a major hospitality group, she opened a traditional Japanese restaurant in Tokyo’s Kanda-Nishikichō, where she was involved from concept and design to daily operation. Her deep connection to food culture was further enriched by earning certification as a sake sommelier in 2013.
In recent years, Mami-sensei has dedicated herself to her true calling: becoming a modern-day ambassador of Kouta. She now focuses on teaching disciples and performing widely, with increasing appearances at cultural and sake-related events, continuing to expand the reach of this intimate Edo-period art form through live performance and mentorship.
Shinnosuke is a bilingual Tokyo-based guide who has led over 100 walking tours for more than 500 guests from around the world. Having lived in both Australia and the United States through study-abroad experiences, he developed a high level of English proficiency alongside a deep appreciation for cultural exchange.
I am born and raised here in Tokyo. I spent over 8 years studying and living in Australia and Colorado, United States. I learned English but also fell in love with different cultures and felt the needs to deepen my connection to the root which is the Japanese tradition and culture.
Beginning in 2026, Shinnosuke will host traditional kouta experiences, with the aim of introducing Japanese cultural traditions to international visitors and sharing the quiet beauty and emotional depth of kouta through meaningful, intimate moments.
Founder of Terakoya
Yasuhiro Sasaki
佐々木 康裕
Yasuhiro Sasaki is the founder and CEO of Beyond Works Inc., established in the same year. Drawing on his extensive experience and professional network, he provides comprehensive consulting services ranging from brand and shop planning to launch and ongoing operations.
He is also the founder and operator of TERAKOYA Kagurazaka, a cultural initiative inspired by his belief in the high potential of Japanese people and culture. Through his experiences abroad, Sasaki became deeply motivated to share the strengths, sensibilities, and traditional ways of life unique to Japan with an international audience.
TERAKOYA Kagurazaka takes its name from the terakoya of the Edo period, community-based schools that fostered learning and cultural exchange. Today, it hosts regular workshops in a small room of a historic building constructed in 1952, designated as a Tangible Cultural Property by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. From Kagurazaka, this intimate space serves as a platform for sharing Japanese culture with the world.