Pianist Naoko Akutagawa is a native of Hiroshima; she began to play the piano at the tender age of three. After studying in Tokyo with Masayasu Oshima, Akutagawa decided to take up the harpsichord and entered the Tohogakuen College of Music to study with harpsichordist Chiyoko Arita. After obtaining her degree in 1997, Akutagawa traveled to Germany to study with Glen Wilson at the Musikhochschule in Würzburg, and was named a professor there in 2001. In 2007, Akutagawa was still teaching at the Musikhochschule in Würzburg and playing with Wilson in harpsichord duets; she is swiftly making a name for herself as a soloist.