violin

14th richest man in Japan buys one of the world’s most pricey violins…to share with the world?

Billionaire Yusuke Maezawa has purchased a Stradivarius violin. His promise to send it around the globe has netizens humming, but not in a good way.

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Japanese paralympic athlete plays emotive violin piece using her prosthetic arm as the bow【Video】

Paralympic swimmer and nurse Manami Ito has more talent up her sleeve – a prosthetic violinist’s bow. A perfect fit to play heart-rending melodies!

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Shamisen player, guitarist, and violinist team up for epic impromptu street collaboration 【Video】

They’d never met before, but when they rocked out together they made some incredible music.

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Japan’s beautiful cosplay violinist dazzles the eyes and ears in cover videos, surprise concerts

Musical and visual tributes to anime including Your Name, Sailor Moon, often require her to cosplay as two different characters in the same video.

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Top violinist Ayako Ishikawa to release major label debut album with anime covers 【Videos】

Although a number of Japanese music labels have been hesitant to embrace YouTube, over the last few years uploads from independent Japanese artists and personalities have reached higher numbers than ever before.

For some, like BABYMETAL, Ladybaby, and these adorably cute kiddos, the popular video sharing site is the ticket to instant Internet fame. For others, like top violinist Ayako Ishikawa, the road is a little longer, but nonetheless rewarding, with the recent announcement of her major label album debut featuring re-worked anime covers.

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One-of-a-kind Ultraman violin to be sold this November

Coming to the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Theater Concert Hall on 2 November is the Ultraman Symphony Concert 2015. At this event music from the high-culture tokusatsu masterpieces of Ultraman and related shows will be performed by a full orchestra.

It’s sure to be a luminous evening of sci-fi splendor, but to mark the occasion a single Ultra Violin, the only official Ultraman violin in existence, will be sold to one lucky buyer.

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Legendary violinist upstaged by eight-year-old son’s ridiculously cute gift to Santa

Even if you don’t recognize the name Taro Hakase, you’ve probably heard his world-renowned violin music before. Ever flown All Nippon Airlines (ANA)? Then you’ve heard him. Ever been put on hold? You’ve heard him. Every played Final Fantasy, watched anime, or heard of Celine Dion or Ariana Grande? Yep, you’ve heard him.

But this time around it’s not one of Taro’s masterpieces, but instead one made by his eight-year-old son Mantaro, that’s getting people excited online.

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Take a tour of video game history and violin majesty with Teppei Okada

The Super Mario Bros. theme song has got to be among the most covered melodies online. From guitars to ancient Chinese shengs, it’s hard for anyone to not want to knock out those opening notes: d-do do d-do DO do.

So with all the videos of people playing the song online, it’s hard to stand out. Hard unless you’re Teppei Okada (a.k.a. Teppei Sensei) of Fukuoka Prefecture. This guy not only does a subtly beautiful rendition of the classic platformer’s background music, but he recreates the sound effects of the game such as collecting coins and breaking blocks.

And Mario is only the tip of the video game iceberg for Teppei Sensei. His skills reach out to a variety of titles on generations of Nintendo consoles and beyond.

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Touching Final Fantasy X cover on the violin takes you “To Zanarkand”【Video】

If you love classical music, and you love Australia, then the name Ayako Ishikawa, is a name you are familiar with. However, if you aren’t familiar with “Devils Ayako”, you’re missing out on an artist that has been given the honorary title of “The Best Performer in Australia“. Already a phenom on the classical music stage, she has recently been making a name for herself on the Internet. Since she began posting her videos to Niconico back in 2013, her popularity has blossomed into a real fan following and she is just hitting her stride now with a string of well-known songs in Japan. Today she takes you “To Zanarkand”…

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Japanese violinist whose face and music are equally beautiful causes a stir online

Meet Machi Okabe, the gorgeous violinist whose music is just as beautiful as her face (or is it the other way around?). Her exceptional musical talents combined with her breathtaking beauty have been attracting a lot of attention from netizens around the world this week.

Watch the following videos to see for yourself what’s everyone’s been talking about!

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Japanese violinist perfectly mimics patrol car siren, blows our minds

There’s no shortage of brilliant musicians on the Internet putting their unique spins on popular songs or performing in unusual locations. From shamisen duos playing on moving vehicles to symphonic video game music, it seems like there couldn’t possibly be anything new for us to discover.

Emphasis on the “seems like,” because you are not going to believe what this Japanese violinist manages to pull off!

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