Agatsuma Hiromitsu ( 上妻宏光) (b.1973) is a Japanese musician, playing the tsugaru shamisen Born 27thJuly 1973 in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, Agatsuma began studying the tsugaru shamisen at the age of six, and won first prize at the 1988 All-Japan Tsugaru Shamisen Competition at fourteen. This was followed in 1995 and 1996, by top honors at the Tsugaru Shamisen National Competition. Despite the high acclaim he received in the hogaku, or traditional Japanese music world, for his accomplishments, Agatsuma did not rest on his laurels.