Japanese violist Nobuko Imai (b.1943) studied at the famous Toho School of Music in Tokyo and then at Yale University and the Juilliard School. She is the only violist to have won the highest prizes at both the Munich and Geneva International Viola Competitions. Nobuko Imai is established as a distinguished international soloist. In 1996 she received Japan's most prestigious prize, the Suntory Hall Prize, awarded to her by a unanimous jury. She is professor at the College of Music in Betmold, Germany.