Born in Tokyo, Eiichi Chijiiwa studied music at the Tokyo University of the Arts. He then received a scholarship from the French government and enrolled at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP), where he was awarded first prizes in violin (in Pierre Doukan’s class) and chamber music. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician with the Diotima Quartet (from 1996 to 2005) and the Thymos Quartet (from 2007 to 2012), as well as at numerous festivals (Berliner Festwochen, Cervantino in Mexico, Kuhmo in Finland, and Parisian festivals such as the Festival d’Automne and Présences).

A passionate advocate of contemporary music, he premiered Marc-André Dalbavie’s Violin Concerto at the Donaueschingen Festival. His performance under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach at the Théâtre du Châtelet was recorded for the Naïve label. In 2011, he released Solo Migration on the Indésens label, an album dedicated to the 20th-century repertoire for solo violin. Since 1998, he has been second concertmaster of the Orchestre de Paris. He plays a 1740 Omobono Stradivari ‘Freiche’ violin.

In 2010, Eiichi Chijiiwa was appointed Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.