Junko Sakimura is a Japan-based marimba and cimbalom player. A graduate of the percussion department of Kunitachi College of Music, she studied marimba with Akiko Suzuki, Tomoko Kusakari, Shinichi Ueno, and Tomoyuki Okada, and cimbalom with Yasuko Kano. Her performing career dates back to at least 1986. In 1989, she appeared on NHK-FM’s FM Recital, performing Paul Creston’s Concertino for Marimba and Orchestra, Op. 21, among other works.
Her orchestral appearances include Kurtág’s …quasi una fantasia… Op. 27 with pianist Hiroaki Ooi and the New Japan Philharmonic under Christian Arming in 2003; the Japanese premiere of Kurtág’s In memoriam Stephan Stein Op. 15/c with the same orchestra in 2005; and Dutilleux’s Mystère de l’instant with the Saito Kinen Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa in 2007. Sakimura played the cimbalom part in the 2007 Matsumoto concert, which was broadcast live on NHK’s BS hi-vision service.
On August 2, 2017, Sakimura appeared as the cimbalom-playing guest on BS Japan’s Ongaku Kosaten, performing Albert Péch’s Sonnet No. 4 for solo cimbalom and movements from Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances with violinist Yasuko Ohtani. Her 2019 album DIVERTIMENTI – Marimba Alive! vol.2 includes all three movements of Seiji Yokoyama’s Divertimento for Two Marimbas, Kiyukyoku, performed with Moyuru Oda. In November 2024, Sakimura performed at the 17th World Cimbalom Congress in Seoul and served on the jury of its international competition.
Sakimura is a contract artist for Korogi’s Neoria brand.