She is the founder of TaikoPeace,[1] President of Kodo Arts Sphere America (KASA), and co-founder of Creatives for Compassionate Communities-a grassroots art-ivist group originating in San Jose, California.

[3] Her signature composition, "Ei Ja Nai Ka", is a celebration of immigrant life expressed in taiko drumming, dance, and voice that continues to be performed around the world.

[5] As a child, Hirabayashi got involved in dance, studying styles such as tap, ballet, and acrobatics.

After obtaining her degree in Social Science from Berkeley, she spent a year in Japan before returning to San Jose to obtain a master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from San Jose State University in 1977.

[1] She began to get involved in the early formations of San Jose Taiko in 1973 through Roy Hirabayashi whom she met in 1969 during her years at CSU Hayward.

However, she was finally struck by it during a performance by San Francisco Taiko Dojo through a cultural program featured through the Issei project she was involved with.

[8] Hirabayashi has participated in notable San Jose Taiko collaborations including George Coates Performance Works, American Conservatory Theater, Asian American Jazz Orchestra, San Jose Repertory Theater, Brenda Wong Aoki, Zakir Hussain, Kagemusha Taiko and Kodo.