Maeda Shuri is a first-year student and Setsu's classmate. She was initially the only member of the Tsugaru Shamisen Lovers Association. She started playing the Tsugaru Shamisen because she wanted to get a clue about the song that her grandmother once heard at her evacuation site when she was a girl and tell her grandmother about it. The song was part of the impromptu song "Spring Akatsuki" that Setsu's grandfather Matsugorou created over 30 years.
Those Snow White Notes
Setsu Sawamura runs away from his small home village following the death of his grandfather, the legendary shamisen master Matsugorou Sawamura. On his deathbed, Matsugorou told Setsu to give up the shamisen if he was only going to imitate others instead of playing in his own way. Grieving, Setsu heads for Tokyo, hoping that the big city can inspire him to discover his own unique playing style. But Tokyo defies his expectations by drowning out all other sounds with the deafening noise of its city life. Concerned about her son, Setsu's rich and successful mother, Umeko, waltzes back into his life and forces him to enroll in Umezono Academy. At the school, he meets Shuri Maeda, a girl who is fascinated by the Tsugaru shamisen and wishes to perform a song her grandmother once heard a long time ago. Shuri starts up a shamisen appreciation club and convinces Setsu to teach the members how to play the instrument. As he becomes more involved with the club, will Setsu be able to recover his love for the shamisen and discover the unique sound he lacks?
