Profile: Chie Hanawa - Tsugaru-shamisen

Chie Hanawa is from Ibaraki, just north of Tokyo. As a nine-year old, she began lessons with a master of the tsugaru-shamisen. As a 17-year old in 2000, she was the youngest ever winner in the class for female performers in the nationwide competition for the tsugaru-shamisen. During her studies at the Tokyo University of Arts' traditional music programme, she released her debut album Tsuki no usagi (The Moon Rabbit). With this, Hanawa began to perform with bands in concerts at Tokyo's ‘live house’ venues. At the same time, she founded the duo hanamas alongside violinist Okimasu Natsumi, and started the band Yui together with musicians on the Japanese instruments koto (long sitar) and shakuhachi (bamboo flute).
 
Hanawa can boast a varied musical career including performances for Their Majesties The Emperor and Empress of Japan and extensive international tours with concerts in countries in North and South America, Asia and Europe.
 
Hanawa has received a great deal of attention in Japan as a promising musician. In the past few years she has been seen in television advertisements for Sony Xperia, and has given many performances in the media. In 2014, Hanawa's second album, CoLoRful, was released. This album marks her tenth anniversary as a recording artist.