His hometown was subjected to American airbomb raids in 1945, though he and his family were able to move south to his mother's home in Kagoshima before they were attacked.
At the conclusion of World War II, Den returned to Tokyo and began high school, which he completed in 1952.
[4] Den fled from Tokyo to escape possible arrest for his activities and worked as a laborer in a Kobe port.
[4] He had also traveled to Germany after working for about six months, but Den was reportedly unimpressed and subjected to racial harassment.
Den was familiar through his travels and study with Prof Miyamoto about Japanese taiko festivals.
in the first few months, the youth that had gathered on Sado tended to party too much and Mr Den decided to set some strict rules for Ondekoza.
In the early 80's members of Ondekoza along with outsiders separated and created a group by the name of Kodo and some.
He wanted to create a more visual and visceral performing art form with Ondekoza 's Taiko drumming.
Marco Lienhard from 1990 to 1998 set the world tours for the group with the help of some agencies in Canada and Europe such as Atmo.
Things eventually changed to gear towards Taiko performance and in Japanese folk music in general.
[7] Performers in Ondekoza lived on Sado Island in a communal setting, and Den had them undergo a rigorous training regiment including a 10-kilometer run every morning at 4:00 AM.