Japanese violinist Kyoko Yonemoto has won first prize at the Moscow Paganini International Violin Competition.

The competition on Wednesday, marked the first time a Japanese citizen has won first prize at Paganini, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Friday.

Yonemoto, 22, is originally from Tokyo but now lives in Belgium. She played a concerto by Antonin Dvorak in the final round to take first place.

In 1997, she took fourth place in the Paganini Competition in Italy and in 2002 she won third place in the violin category of the Long Thibaud Competition in France.