Updated August 20, 2026
Welcome Rev. Tadao Koyama!
Please join us as Rev Tadao Koyama will conduct a special workshop on Saturday August 22 at 4pm. Then on Sunday after service, a potluck lunch will be held so that the sangha can gather and get to know Rev. Koyama.
Rev. Tadao Koyama has been Tacoma Buddhist Temple’s officiating minister since August 1, 2020. A Westcoast native, was born and raised in Sacramento California to parents Ken Koyama and Stacie Hiramoto.
Growing up in Sacramento, he attended Natomas Charter School performing and fine arts academy with an emphasis in acting. After graduating in 2007, he attended University of California Santa Cruz his Bachelor of Arts Degree in History with an emphasis in Japanese History.
After graduating from U.C. Santa Cruz, he worked for the California State Assembly for two and a half years as a field representative to former Assembly member Mariko Yamada. It was also during this time that he studied to become a minister under Rev. Yuki Sugahara at the Buddhist Church of Florin. Under the guidance of Rev. Sugahara, Tadao became an official minister’s assistant in 2013 and the following year Tadao received his Tokudo ordination in Kyoto, Japan.
When his time at the Assembly concluded, he began his education at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley California for three years. After graduation, he spent two years in Japan studying first at Nishi Hongwanji’s seminary school, Chūōbukkyōgakuin (Chūbutsu) where he eventually received his Kyoshi, and the next year he studied for the year-long program at ritual and chanting school, Gonshikishidōsho.
Tadao is the first North American-born minister to receive the specialized chanting and ritual license from Nishi Hongwanji.