Nobuyuki Tsujii

I'll be honest, the first time I heard Nobuyuki Tsujii play, I forgot to breathe for a second. Born in Tokyo in 1988 and blind since birth, he learns these massive, complicated pieces entirely by ear, then pours them out with a color and clarity that feels almost impossible, and somehow it never reads as a stunt or a story, it's just music at the highest level. I love that he doesn't lean on flashy showmanship; he sits down, and the playing does all the talking, which is why a room full of skeptical international judges and listeners tends to go dead silent. There's a gentleness to his touch that gets me every time, like he's handling each phrase with real care. He composes too, and his sound has this quiet, unforced warmth that just kind of wraps around you. Total respect for this guy.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Nobuyuki Tsujii is a Japanese pianist and composer born on September 13, 1988, in Toshima, Tokyo. Blind from birth, he developed a celebrated career through his exceptional musical sensitivity and ear-based mastery of the piano repertoire. He graduated from Tokyo College of Music High School and Ueno Gakuen University, and in 2009 became the first Japanese winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, sharing first prize with Haochen Zhang. Tsujii is represented by Avex and is recognized internationally for performances distinguished by their tonal clarity and expressive depth.

Name (English)

Nobuyuki Tsujii

Name (Japanese)

辻井伸行

Reading

つじい のぶゆき

Born

September 13, 1988 (age 38)

Origin

Toshima, Tokyo, Japan

Occupation

Pianist / Composer

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Virgo / Dragon

High school

Tokyo College of Music Attached High School

Works summary

Works

575

By year (titles with a known year)

2005: 2, 2007: 1, 2008: 3, 2009: 11, 2010: 13, 2011: 15, 2012: 16, 2013: 6, 2014: 11, 2015: 13, 2016: 14, 2017: 12, 2018: 10, 2019: 8, 2020: 12, 2021: 3, 2022: 1, year unknown: 424

Filmography / notable works

• Official sitehttps://avex.jp/tsujii/
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%BE%BB%E4%BA%95%E4%BC%B8%E8%A1%8C
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1197779

Tags

• From Tokyo
• Pianist
• Composer

Last updated

October 18, 2026

Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. Works and profile fields sourced from Wikipedia reflect content as of 2026-08-26. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.