Harumi Hanafusa received her musical education first at the Toho Gakuen School of Music and subsequently in Paris at the Conservatiore National Superieure de Musique, on a scholarship from the French government, where she studied piano under Pierre Sancan and chamber music under Jean Hubeau.

Whilst in Europe, Harumi Hanafusa was awarded top prizes in various international competitions, including the 1975 Queen Elisabeth Competition, where she also received the composer´s award for her performance of a new concerto, and second prize in the Gyorgy Cziffre International Piano Competition (no first prize was awarded).

On returning to Japan, Harumi Hanafusa came to the forefront of public attention through her sensational debut in the NHK Concert for Young Musicians in 1977 and her reputation as the leading pianist of her generation was consolidated upon winning the Japan Chopin Association Prize. Since then, she has been performing regularly with all the major orchestras in Japan, including NHK Symphony Orchestra, and currently focuses her career around recitals, chamber music and concerto performances are Japan. She also appears as guest soloist with orchestras and ensembles in Japan and throughout Asia. Her concerts are often broadcast on radio and television in Japan, and her 1993 London recitals and concerto performances were broadcast by the BBC, leading to many recital and concerto invitations to play in Europe.

Harumi Hanafusa has championed many lesser-known 20th century works, and has recently received acclaim for her performances of the concerto by Viktor Ullmann with the Tokyo Philharmonic and Kazushi Ono.

A dedicated advocate of the piano duo repertoire, she performs with her sister, Mami Hanafusa, as the Hanafusa Sisters Piano Duo as well as with William Ranson as Duo Crescendo.

Harumi Hanafusa's recordings include well-received French releases of Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit, Miroirs and Debussy's Préludes, Book One. Other recordings have included a collection of works by Liszt, Debussy's Préludes, Book Two, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Ravel's Pavane pour une infante défunte, Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1, as well as a recording of piano duos with her sister. The success of her first collection of popular works, lead to the release of a second collection entitled Encore, Harumi Hanafusa.