Yumiko Tanaka

Yumiko Tanaka is a distinguished Japanese gidayu shamisen player and improvising musician renowned for both her mastery of traditional Japanese music and her adventurous work in contemporary, improvised, and interdisciplinary performance. Born in Fukuoka Prefecture, she studied musicology at Tokyo University of the Arts and trained in gidayu shamisen and gidayu‑bushi under Living National Treasures, including Kinshi Nozawa IV and Juteru Tsuruzawa, debuting in 1981 and performing under the name Yumi Tsuruzawa.

Tanaka-san has received numerous honors — including the Art Encouragement Prize from Japan’s Minister of Education and certification as an Important Intangible Cultural Property as part of the Gidayu‑bushi Preservation Society — and has collaborated internationally across genres with composers, improvisers, orchestras, and theater artists while also releasing recordings and teaching.