was a prominent Japanese '' shamisen'' player and '' rōkyoku'' singer. In addition to performing and recording traditional music, he was also the only prominent ''shamisen'' player to perform and record bluegrass music; he spent some time in the 2000s in the bluegrass program of

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. Although it is part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the university is governed by an institutional Board of Tr ...

in Johnson City,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. He also performed and recorded in a

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

-influenced style. At the age of 14 Kunimoto attended a

Bill Monroe William Smith "Bill" Monroe (; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre take ...

concert in Tokyo and shook his hand, thus inspiring Takeharu to play bluegrass. Kunimoto died at the age of 55 on December 24, 2015, following an illness.Bluegrass Today: Takeharu Kunimoto passes
/ref>

Discography

;Contributing artist * '' The Rough Guide to the Music of Japan'' (1999,

World Music Network World Music Network is a UK-based record label specializing in world music. The World Music Network website features news, reviews, live music listings, and guide sections on world music. It also features an online "Battle of the Bands" competit ...

) * The Last Frontier: Appalachian Shamisen (2005, Now and Then Records)

References

External links

Takeharu Kunimoto page
from Last Frontier site
J-Pop World interview

Video

Music video for "Tai Tai Zukushi"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunimoto, Takeharu Japanese bluegrass musicians 1960 births 2015 deaths East Tennessee State University alumni Shamisen players Musicians from Chiba Prefecture