Hirosaki-born quena player Hikaru Iwakawa and Argentinian guitarist Quique Shinesi performed live at "Senguin" (Shinmachi, Hirosaki City) on March 19th.

The quena is a traditional Argentinian vertical flute that Iwakawa first encountered when he was 9 years old, and began performing at the age of 12. When he was a student at Hirosaki University, he traveled to various countries in South America, where he performed with Kique and other Argentinian musicians. Moved to Argentina in 2013.

Quique is one of Argentina's leading guitarists and a pioneer of 7-string guitar players. Mr. Iwakawa admires Kike and says, "Since I was a teenager, I've always wanted to be a musician like this." The two first co-starred in 2010, and have released two duo albums.

The live venue is the main hall of Sengyuin. I performed in a room with a statue of Amida Nyorai. Mr. Iwakawa told the audience, "It's exciting to see people who have been taking care of me since I was in junior high school." In the middle of the live, he showed off his own quena, and invited the audience to laugh with a pun about 3 different sizes of quena, "Dekena".

Mr. Iwakawa and Mr. Kike have been staying in Hirosaki since the day before. “The Japan tour with Kike is no longer a gourmet tour. On his Twitter account, he posted a photo of a smiling Kike holding up a bowl of nakamiso ramen with chopsticks. Kike said, "On this tour, I was able to feel more about Japanese culture, the warmth of people, and the breadth of their hearts."

Encore applause resounded for the two who performed all 12 songs. Kike responded to the encore by saying, "The most beautiful applause in the world."

The duo's Japan tour ended on March 21 at the Morioka performance. Starting in April, Iwakawa will go on a world tour in Argentina and other European countries.