Kobayashi's awards include three Yamaguchi Prefecture "Glory Culture Prize" and the special Frédéric Chopin passport from the Polish government.

AADGT (the American Association for Development of the Gifted and Talented), a New York-based non-profit organization, has supported Kobayashi for many years.

Kobayashi's management company is To-On Artist's Promotion Agency, and she graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music.

In 2002 she placed 1st Young Piano Competition Piano Teachers' National Association of Japan In 2009, she won the junior section prize of the Asia-Pacific International Chopin Piano Competition in South Korea In 2011, she was the gold medalist at the Asia International Chopin Competition for her performance in the concerto section and won the Yasuko Fukuda prize In 2012 she placed 3rd Gina Bachauer Young Artist Competition She has released three further CDs, two of which exclusively feature music composed by Chopin, and one with music by both Chopin and Franz Liszt.

[2] On January 1, 2023, she married Kyohei Sorita, a childhood friend and fellow laureate of the XVIII Chopin Piano Competition.