Yasuhiro Minamizawa 

Musician - Sitar

He was born in Shiga, Japan.

In 1986, Minamizawa experienced Indian classical music in the holy place Varanasi for

the first time, and started his education on the Sitar, string instruments,

and the theory of Indian classical music under the tutelage of Dr. Shrawani Biswas.
He then relocated to Varanasi and continued musical studies under his mentor’s supervision for several years, and with his teacher's recommendation he started to

perform live in concert in India and Japan.
His raisonne includes not only classical Indian music, but also a variety of musical and avant garde spiritual dance theme genres at multiple performing arts venues including temples, galleries, and auditoriums.
In 1995, he became a founding member of 'Tenkoo Orchestra', a well recognized group in Japan and internationally, famous for its 'tribal rock' style of music performed by mostly tribal instruments.
While with the 'Tenkoo Orchestra' he played the sitar at the 'World Jazz Stage' and at the 'Avalon Stage' in the 'GLASSTON BURY FESTIVAL' in UK in 1998 and in 

'Green Future's Field' at the same festival in 1998 and 2000.
In 1999 and 2002, the 'Tenkoo Orchestra' performed at the 'FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL',

the largest festival in Japan, in front of five-figure audiences each year.
'Tenkoo Orchestra' has released five CD’s in Japan to date and all of them have been and still being re-produced for distribution.
In Germany, one of their CD's, 'Heaven in the KOO',

was released by IC/digit music GmbH., BFM87 4021-2, in 1997.
As a concert soloist, he also performs Indian classical music in numerous venues, especially at Japanese SHINTO* shrines,

and at Buddhist temples such as TODAIJI in Nara,Honen-in in Kyoto, etc.
His sound from the sitar instrument renders a 'spiritual resonance' that only a skilled technique can generate.  At his soloist concert performances, most of the audience was enchanted by the spiritual resonance and felt a 'spiritual unity',

as he wishes whenever he plays the sitar.

He currently lives in the historical city Kyoto, Japan.
 
*SHINTO  is the way of the gods, based on respect and awe of natural phenomena,

the sun, moon, weather, mountaintops, trees, rivers,

which are considered to contain their own gods (Kami).