“Dawnlight”

Hiromitsu Agatsuma—known internationally as simply Agatsuma—is arguably the world’s leading ambassador of the art of Tsugaru-Shamisen, the centuries-old traditional Japanese musical form that is being reinvented by a new generation of contemporary stars—and becoming a youth-fueled popular craze both in Japan and far beyond its borders. His latest album, 2004’s appropriately titled Beyond on Domo Records, is only the latest extraordinary milestone in what has been a lifelong passion.

“Lots of artists have tried to connect traditional ethnic musicianship into pop, with varying degrees of success. Celtic music has been very successful at this kind of cultural fusion, and now Japan’s Agatsuma is climbing the same mountain…in East-meets-West arrangements that tap the blues, rock, dance music and even jazz. In all, it is unusually exotic, yet familiar at the same time.”

“Matsuri Bayashi”

Hiromitsu Agatsuma—known internationally as simply Agatsuma—is arguably the world’s leading ambassador of the art of Tsugaru-Shamisen, the centuries-old traditional Japanese musical form that is being reinvented by a new generation of contemporary stars—and becoming a youth-fueled popular craze both in Japan and far beyond its borders. His latest album, 2004’s appropriately titled Beyond on Domo Records, is only the latest extraordinary milestone in what has been a lifelong passion.

After receiving raves in Japan, Beams made history as the first-ever contemporary Tsugaru-Shamisen album to be released in the United States, when Domo brought it Stateside in early ’03. Agatsuma’s latest, 2004’s Beyond, continues the artist’s pioneering reinterpretation of Shamisen, as he marries its evocative simplicity with influences from a broad range of popular music genres. “It is my dream to introduce the beauty of the Shamisen to many people and cultures,” says Agatsuma.