Nishihara, Kakushin

Born in Tokyo, she plays the biwa Tsuruta style and is a collage artist. She used to play on many instruments, until one day she visited Kinshi Tsuruta, master of the satuma biwa, Japan’s traditional string instrument. Charmed by Tsuruta’s striking soundscape, she immediately became her pupil, learning the instrument for five years until Tsuruta’s death. She continued her studies with Kakuzyo Nakamura, also a former Tsuruta pupil. 

Currently, Nishihara performs classic biwa repertoire and sings. She also cooperates with other instrumentalists and genres, such as noise, and contemporary artists from other disciplines.