Daijo was born and raised in Redlands.
He began studying Zen Buddhism with Joshu Sasaki, Roshi, a Japanese Zen Master of the Rinza school, in 1999 at the Bodhi Manda Zen Center in Jemez Springs, NM. After 8 months he left and joined a local rock band in Redlands CA. During that time, he attended formal practice events now and then. After 3 years he got serious about finishing college and did another training period at the Bodhi Manda Zen Center before enrolling in San Francisco State University. During his time at SFSU he was a resident at the San Francisco Zen Center. Following that, he moved back to the Bodhi Manda Zen Center in 2007 at which time he got ordained as a Zen Buddhist monk by Joshu Sasaki, Roshi. After some time he moved to Mt. Baldy Zen Center, just above Claremont CA, where he continued his formal training as a monk. After that, he got married and moved into Rinzai-ji Zen Center in Los Angeles. He now resides with his family in Yucaipa CA.

For further information about the practice of Rinzai Zen, you may refer to Mt. Baldy Zen Center
website: mbzc.org                  Rinzai-ji website: Rinzaiji.org