Photo/Illutration Violinist Himari Yoshimura (Photo by Erina Ito)

Eight-year-old violinist Himari Yoshimura already has the world on a string.

Even at her young age, she has already entered 39 contests at home and abroad, and won the top prize in each.

“I want to deliver music to people all over the world,” said Himari, a second-grader at Keio Yochisha Elementary School in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward.

The prodigy has been fascinating music fans around the world for her skills great enough to play transcendental pieces by Italian composer Paganini (1782-1840) and for her regal manner.

Born to a composer father and a violinist mother, Himari started playing the violin when she was 2 and a half years old.

“I was toying around with the violin my mother had used when she was small,” she said.

Her close circle was surprised to see how much she was enthralled by the instrument. Himari went on to hone her skills, including taking lessons from an internationally distinguished instructor.

The girl entered a contest at age 4, before performing with an orchestra when she was 6. Himari has been performing in Austria, Ukraine and many other countries.

“I get nervous before a performance, but I concentrate when I play,” she said with a shy smile.

In December 2019, Himari competed in the "up to 14-years-old" category of the 20th International Television Contest for Young Musicians “The Nutcracker” held in Moscow as the youngest contestant, winning first prize.

The young violinist lets her imagination run wild when she plays: “For the sad melodies in ‘Zigeunerweisen,’ I imagine a scene of a zebra in search of her baby eaten by a lion.”

Himari practices three to four hours a day on weekdays, and works up the energy to do so for about six hours on her days off. She even shows a cautious sense of professionalism at school.

“Playing dodgeball is popular at my school. But I play with everyone as I try not to touch the ball while I run from it because I can’t hurt my fingers,” she said.

Hating to lose is what motivates her to work harder.

“I placed second in a (mixed-gender) footrace at a sports day when I was a first-grader. I was frustrated because I have never finished second in a violin contest,” Himari said.

She came in first at a sports day held in the fall last year.

Her hobby is reading. She passed level 9 of the Japan Kanji Aptitude Test, which examines kanji characters learned by second-graders, with full marks when she was 4.

“I don’t watch TV because it’s boring,” she said.

Himari studies English so she can talk to people from around the globe, and obtained a Grade 3 diploma in a Test in Practical English Proficiency (a level equivalent to junior high school graduates) when she was 7. It is one of her goals to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in the United States, which has produced many distinguished musicians.

The child prodigy was scheduled to perform at Shibuya Public Hall in Tokyo on Oct. 13 last year at an event to celebrate the reopening of the venue renovated as Line Cube Shibuya. But the event was canceled due to Typhoon No. 19.

“It was so disappointing,” the girl recalled.

This year, Himari is set to perform with the Japan Century Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and other Japanese orchestras.

“I’m practicing so that I can produce a wide variety of melodies like sad and fun sounds. I hope many people listen to my performances,” Himari said with a smile.