Japan’s Yoshimoto Wins 2nd Prize in Genoa Violin Contest

Jiji Press

10:29 JST, October 26, 2025

PARIS (Jiji Press) — Japan’s Rino Yoshimoto, 22, won the second prize at the 58th Premio Paganini, an international violin competition in Genoa, Italy, on Saturday.

The first round of the competition started Oct. 15 with 20 participants including four Japanese violinists.

Yoshimoto, China’s Zhang Aozhe and South Korea’s Kim Hyun-seo competed in Saturday’s final round, with each contestant performing two pieces.

Zhang, 17, won the top prize.

Born in 2003, Yoshimoto, from the western Japan city of Kobe, started to play the violin at the age of 3. She moved to Europe when she was 14 and studied in Vienna and Brussels.

Yoshimoto won the second prize in the Fritz Kreisler International Violin Competition in Vienna in 2022.

The Premio Paganini started in 1954 in commemoration of Genoa-born violinist Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840).