Began studying Koto from her mother Yoshimura Soho since childhood, and attained her teaching license with the Matsu - no - mi Kai of Ikuta school koto performance at the age of sixteen. Studied with Nosaka Soju and Nosaka Keiko. Took up the nijugen in 1971, in a search of new possibilities of expression, and has since been active as a specialist on the instrument. Has performed with Toyama Yuzo, Wakasugi Hiroshi, and other conductors, and given many premieres of concertos for the nijugen, in an effort to popularize contemporary compositions. Overseas she has given recitals in many major cities, including Paris, Vienna, London and New York;she has also performed in contemporary music festivals and at the centenary celebrations of New York's Carnegie Hall. She has played with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and appeared in opera. Her recital series featuring commissioned pieces, begun in 1988, has been highly acclaimed, and she has been awarded several prizes, including the 1922 Arts Festival Prize of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the 1993 Idemitsu Music Prize, and the first Japan Cultural Arts Promotion Prize in 1994. She has also published several CD albums.