Born in Sapporo, Japan, Shigenori Kudo began learning the flute under Nobuhiro Sasaki at age 10 and was a student of Souichi Minegishi at the Toho Gakuen School of Music. Kudo later studied under Jean-Pierre Rampal at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, where he completed his degree with the First Prize in 1979.
