Kaoru Kakizakai

Kaoru Kakizakai was born in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture in 1959 and started playing the kena while he was in his teens. In university he started playing the shakuhachi in the Kinko style. His teacher recognized an unusual ability to play so he recommended him study with the master,Yokoyama Katsuya. He graduated from the NHK school of music and is the winner of the prestigious Kumamoto Hogaku competition. He has recorded with Katsuya Yokoyama on his CDs and is a popular leader of shakuhachi workshops for the International Shakuhachi Training Center (Kokusai Shakuhachi Kenshukan) in Tokyo. He has performed extensively in America, Europe, Asia, and Australia and is a faculty member of the Boulder Colorado summer intensive camps as well as the Australian Shakuahchi Festivals. Kakizakai is the successful recipient of the Japan Victor Records Audition and just released his first solo CD of honkyoku.