Imai Tsutomu

Imai Tsutomu was born in 1958 near the city of Nagoya, in central Japan. At the age of four he began studying Ikuta school koto and shamisen, and from thirteen he studied Maeda school heikebiwa with the Nagoya performers Mishina Masayasu and Doizaki Masatomi. In 1992 he received the title "kengyô" the highest rank given to blind musicians by the Kokufû Ongaku Kai (the Association for National Music). He has been the president of the Association since 1996. This is his first performance outside Japan. His performances of heikyoku are available on the following CD: Heike Monogatari no Ongaku, Nippon Columbia COCF-7889 (1991).

Photo by Robert Barker