The Yoshida Kyōdai (Yoshida Brothers) are Japanese musicians and have released several albums under the Domo label internationally as the Yoshida Brothers. They are a pair of brothers and performers of the traditional Japanese music style of Tsugaru-jamisen which originated in northern Japan. They debuted in 1999 in Japan as a duo playing the shamisen and have since attracted an international audience. Their music has been a fusion of the rapid and percussive Tsugaru-jamisen style along with Western and other regional musical influences. Ryoichiro Yoshida 吉田 良一郎 (b. 26 July, 1977) is the elder brother, and Kenichi Yoshida 吉田 健一 (b. 16 December, 1979) is the younger. They were both born in the municipality of Noboribetsu in Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan, the two brothers have played the shamisen from a very young age. They both began to study and play the shamisen from five years of age under Koka Adachi, learning the Minyō-shamisen style; then from about 1989 they studied the Tsugaru-jamisen style under Takashi Sasaki.