Sawa Fujii 藤井佐和

Sawa Fujii began taking Koto lessons with Miyagi-kai, one of the most prestigious classical Koto and Shamisen schools in Japan, when she was five years old. She won the National Best Koto Player Award in the children section when she was nine and the National Best Koto Player Award in the general section when she was sixteen. After graduating from Osaka College of Music, she changed her direction from classical to contemporary music. While working for the Mainichi Broadcast Company, Sawa continued to study Koto and Shamisen under Katsuhiko Yoshizaki, one of the most popular composers of contemporary koto music and becoming one of his key players. Since her marriage to Jiuta Master Hirokazu Fujii in 2006, she has refocused her attention to classical music with the Ginmeikai School where Hirokazu Fujii is the Director. Sawa performs regularly with Ginmeikai, but is still frequently invited to play with contemporary artists. She also teaches in both  Nishinomiya City, her hometown, and Tokyo where she resides. She performed Koto with acclaimed poet readers of the Tale of Genji in 2006 and in 2008.