The young Koto player Yoshiaki Okawa is from Fukushima and is already known from his appearance at the Main Matsuri 2019. His nickname is "Kotomen", which is a pun between koto player and cool guy in Japanese.
Born and raised in Fukushima, Yoshiaki and his family have been directly affected by the 2011 Tohoku disaster.
After moving to Saitama, Yoshiaki then joined the koto club at his new school and found his purpose. His koto master recognized his talent, and Yoshiaki soon won several prizes in koto competitions. This included winning a national competition and being honored by the Japanese Ministry of Culture (Monbusho).
Yoshiaki always sews his own stage costumes and has his own design. By the way, besides the koto, he also plays the piano and shamisen excellently.
His style is a fusion of traditional Japanese music as well as pop and modern interpretations. So it is not surprising that he also performs together with famous J-Pop stars.
We are happy to welcome Yoshiaki Okawa back to the Main Matsuri after four years.
More about Yoshiaki Okawa:
https://www.kotomen.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/kotomen
https://www.instagram.com/ookawayoshiaki/
https://twitter.com/ookawayoshiaki