Prominent Japanese bluegrass artist Kazuhiro Inaba is marking a major milestone, his 50th year in bluegrass music.
Kaz started out playing banjo, and has since branched out onto the other bluegrass instruments. These days we see him mostly playing guitar and singing, often alongside his brother, Masatoshi, as The Inaba Brothers.
He will celebrate the anniversary at the 12th annual Kazuhiro Inaba Bluegrass Camp, a festival he runs in Osaka each year, on May 17. It’s a remarkable event, with more than two dozen bands from across Japan coming in to perform on stage from 11:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.
There is also a special concert coming up in June in celebration of his 50th.
“I will have a concert called, ‘Kazuhiro Inaba – 50 Years in Bluegrass,’ that features my banjo teacher, the Inaba Brothers, New Smiling Mountain Boys (we played together in 1980s), Shin Akimoto, Alisa (my daughter), and the Bluegrass Ramble (my current band) at Kobe Shushinkan in Kobe on June 28, 2025.
If any of you around the world who travel to Japan in mid-May, please plan to spend a day at KazCamp 2025.”
Many congratulations to Kaz!
We hope to have coverage of this year’s camp later next month.
