Yonezawa began studies of the shakuhachi under master Miyata Kouhachirou, top soloist of the Pro Musica Nipponia and joined the group in 1978.
Yonezawa has received such awards as the Ongaku no Tomo Prize, the Remy Martin Prize for musical excellence, the Mobile Music Prize and the Matsuo-geinou Special Prize as member of the PMN.
From 1979, Yonezawa has toured, as soloist, the US, Canada, France, Austria, the Netherlands, the former West and East Germany and Korea.
As a member of PMN, Yonezawa has also toured the former USSR, Finland, Belgium, France, the former West and East Germany, the US, Australia, Korea, Hong Long and Taiwan. The number of cities visited is over 50. Yonezawa has also performed with numerous orchestras, including the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (under the direction of Kurt Masur), the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and also many Japanese orchestras.
In the Adelaid Festival (Australia), Yonezawa won great admiration by his performances of Miki Minoru's "Autumn Fantasy" (duet for shakuhachi and 20 string koto).
In 1991, Yonezawa performed with a traditional Korean orchestra as a soloist with professor Park Bun Hoon conducting. These performances were an impetus for the founding of the Asian ensemble PENTASIA, including four soloists from China, Korea and Japan.
Other accomplishments include performance of the theme music of NHK's News 21 program, music for theater (super kabuki) and many others.