Yuki Koshimoto - The 'First Lady' of the Spacedrum


This post is a small tribute to the beautiful, and talented, Yuki Koshimoto’, a HandPan performer who, at time of posting appears to have no album to sell, or band to promote, but regardless, has fast become one of the most seen faces in HandPan music online - with the classic video of Yuki playing her Spacedrum in a serene looking area (embedded) - going viral, over, and over again.  

World traveller, and street performer, Yuki Kosimoto, has spoken of a journey she undertook to find something important in her life, and of how that journey led her to India, where she discovered, and adopted, a completely new, ‘way of life’.  

Later, in 2009, inspired by a busker she met in London, Yuki acquired, and began to perform, on what has now almost become a Yuki-signature instrument, the thirteen-note chromatic Spacedrum (a HandPan produced in France).  

There are probably over a hundred different copies of the Yuki vid above, littered around YouTube, titled as everything from, ‘Amazing Space Drum!’, through to, ‘Sexy girl and a Hang Drum’.  Over the past few months, we’ve stumbled across this video being shared on Facebook, and blogs, etc. more than any other. Often racking up thousands of likes at a time, on larger Facebook groups, and always drawing great praise.  

And while the argument could be made that the success of Yuki’s iconic video is partially because, let’s face it, she’s HOT! (and that she makes a pretty welcome change from dudes with lots of facial hair),

with Yuki, you come for the looks, and stay for the skills.  Because this girl can play, and still, years now since we first saw the Yuki vid, it’s a struggle to recall any other Thirteen note chromatic Spacedrum video, where the instrument is played with the same kind of flair.  And as a point of note, both Yuki, and Metalsounds (the Spacedrum makers) both recently shared a photo of a new fourth generation 13-noter, thanking each other - a well earned gift perhaps? For the huge amount of attention she has brought to the Spacedrum...
In addition to her most-viewed video, there are also some stellar performances of Yuki, performing with a didgeridoo player named, ‘Taku’, to be found on YouTube.  And while we stated above that Yuki doesn’t appear to have an album for sale, she does seem to be using her growing Facebook fan-base to promote a range of (presumably Yuki designed) jewellery (which we must admit, does look pretty cool).

Find Yuki Koshimoto at Facebook: HERE, or find more video at YouTube: HERE.


© HandPans Magazine