●hatao & nami
hatao & nami is a duo that creates its own distinctive music rooted in Celtic and Nordic traditions, reimagining the beauty of traditional melodies through the musical sensibilities of its two members.
Formed in 2011, the duo brings together hatao, who plays a wide variety of flutes and whistles, and nami, who plays harp, piano, and kantele. Inspired by the traditional music of Celtic regions such as Ireland, Scotland, and Brittany, as well as the Nordic traditions of Sweden and Norway, they draw on the rich melodies and sounds of these cultures to create original compositions and their own arrangements of traditional tunes.
Landscapes encountered on their travels, the people they meet, the changing seasons, and small moments and feelings from everyday life all find their way into their music. Through the warm, organic sounds of traditional instruments, hatao & nami weave a musical world that evokes the landscapes and stories of distant lands.
Based in the Kansai region of Japan, the duo performs concerts throughout the country and has also appeared internationally in Taiwan, South Korea, Norway, and France. In 2025, they performed at Ireland-related events at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, including Ireland’s National Day celebrations. In 2026, they toured Taiwan, continuing to expand their musical activities both in Japan and abroad.
To date, hatao & nami have released five albums: SILVER LINE, Ame Tsubu to Kaze no Uta, Mori no Jikan, 5 Funkan no Mahou, and The Happy Cabin. They have also created music for visual and spatial projects, including commercial music for ROYCE’ and background music for a light installation at the Kochi Prefectural Makino Botanical Garden.
French
Hatao (flûtes traversières en bois, whistles) Nami (harpe, piano) ‘Hatao’ Tomoaki Hatakeyama est l’un des plus talentueux joueurs de flûte traversière en bois et Nami Uehara l’une des meilleures harpistes/pianistes du Japon. Bien que leur considérable parcours de musiciens professionnels se soit jusqu’ici majoritairement déroulé dans l’Est de l’Asie, le répertoire qu’ils interprètent ensemble depuis 2011 est en partie inspiré par la musique celtique (Irlande, Pays de Galles et Bretagne) ou par la musique scandinave. Tous deux ont d’ailleurs largement contribué à la diffusion de ces musiques au Japon, par leurs nombreux concerts et par l’enregistrement de trois disques fort appréciés. Plusieurs compositions personnelles et quelques morceaux de la tradition populaire japonaise complètent leur répertoire. Hatao et Nami respectent leurs sources d’inspiration mais ne s’y noient pas, les utilisant de manière très personnelle pour produire une musique originale, à la fois onirique, raffinée et énergique.
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