Tsugaru shamisen player MAYU SUGAI
Influenced by her grandparents and older sister who were learning the shamisen, Mayu Sugai began playing the Tsugaru shamisen at the age of five under the tutelage of Odajima Tokunaga II.
She has won many national competitions since she was in elementary school.
In 2014, at the Tsugaru Shamisen Japan No. 1 Championship held in Aomori Prefecture, the home of Tsugaru shamisen, he won the highest division "Japan No. 1 Division" at the youngest age of 16 (high school sophomore) at the time.
The charm of the shamisen is not only the precision and delicacy of its sound, but also its powerful use of the plectrum and beautiful, elongated tones, which are second to none for male players.
In Tsugaru Teodori, she belongs to the Hisako Mori school and was taught by Kasumi Tarasawa, winning the first prize at a Tokyo competition in her second year of elementary school.
Currently, in addition to her solo activities, she has formed the Tsugaru shamisen sister unit Mayukari with her older sister Yukari to expand her range of activities.