Arpa Player Mika Agematsu Rediscovers Joy of Music with Mini Harp; Learns New Instrument to Handle Neurological Disorder

By Takamichi Asakawa / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

11:00 JST, July 11, 2025

Mika Agematsu used to be one of the top Japanese players of the arpa — a type of harp and a Paraguayan folk instrument. Last month, she released three new albums at once. She also has resumed concert activities. For the past nine years, Agematsu has been suffering from a disorder that stopped her from being able to play as she wished. Through an encounter with another instrument, however, she regained her willingness to go forward as a performer again, she said.

Agematsu was born in 1982 to parents who were both performers of Latin American music. Therefore, she was naturally surrounded by music. While it is an instrument unfamiliar to many Japanese, she picked up the arpa because of the influence of her mother, also an arpa player.

She rapidly improved after starting arpa lessons. When she was 15, she participated in the largest music festival in Paraguay and won a special award. She made her major label debut at 17 and became known as a leading arpa player. Besides concert activities, she has also released many compositions of her own.

It was nine years ago that Agematsu, who was leading a happy and fulfilling life as a musician, developed focal dystonia. Patients suffering from this disorder become unable to move part of their body as they wish due to trouble with how the brain and nerves communicate. Apparently, the condition is particularly common among musicians who repetitively practice their instruments.

What’s more, it is unknown if it can be cured completely. For an arpa player, fingers are of paramount importance, but Agematsu became unable to use hers well. She used to be a cheerful person before getting focal dystonia, but she said: “I was in darkness. I didn’t even want to look at my instrument. It was that agonizing.” She continued with rehabilitation but had to distance herself from concert activities.

Playing with fellow mothers

A few years ago, she started to see the light shining through in her life again.

“I met many mothers who loved music at the kindergarten my son was going to,” she said. “Talking about music with them was really fun, and I asked if they were interested in starting a band together.”

The band was named Wakuwaku Ongakutai, which roughly means an exciting band. The pure thrill Agematsu felt when she went on stage with the arpa in her hand and played with the other women gave her the push she needed. Her fingers did not move well, and her performance was by no means to her satisfaction.

“[But] when I saw the other moms’ smiles, I really felt the joy of music,” she said. “I thought, from the bottom of my heart, ‘I want to make a full recovery from this disorder.’”

Mini harp helps open doors

She picked up a mini harp initially for rehabilitation purposes. The mini harp is much smaller than the arpa, small enough to be held in one’s arms, and it also has fewer strings. Yet the encounter with this instrument encouraged her to begin again as a performer.

To play the arpa, one needs to use almost all their fingers, but the mini harp can be played with just two fingers. It also has a distinct sound.

“Compared to the arpa, which has brilliant sounds, the mini harp produces modest sounds. It’s like a wildflower in a field in my hometown of Azumino [in Nagano Prefecture],” Agematsu said.

Despite its small size, the instrument has infinite possibilities. The mini harp opened new doors in her life.

3 new albums

It can be said the three albums Agematsu released this time represent her “past,” “present” and “future.”

The arpa songs in the album “Colors” were recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the recording, she trained her little finger, which she did not usually use in performances, and devised a playing method wherein she could play the music without using her thumb, which she could not move because of her disorder. However, those pieces had to be shelved because her condition worsened after the recording, and she became unable to play them.

The album “Hajimari no Namida o Daki¬shimete” (Embrace the tears of the beginning) is mainly an anthology that includes tracks she created while practicing the mini harp with the mothers of her son’s kindergarten friends. They represent the “present” Agematsu has reached after shedding many tears.

And “Hoshi no Kujira” (The star whale), is an album by the duo Megane to Harp, consisting of Agematsu and vocalist Mami-chan, a member of Wakuwaku Ongakutai. It is a lovely album in which Agematsu’s mini harp resonates with Mami-chan’s crystal-clear voice.

“After all, it’s thanks to music that I can go on living with a positive mindset,” Agematsu said. “Music is at the core of my being.”

With the mini harp in her hand, she plans to chart a new path.

She is also resuming concert activities in earnest. On Sept. 19, she will give “Mika Agematsu with 14 Arpistas Anniversary Concert,” a concert in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the beginning of her career, at the small hall of Suginami Kokaido in Suginami Ward, Tokyo. Send an e-mail to Minfaplan (minfaplan01@minfaplan.com) for inquiries. Information can be found by scanning the two dimensional code below to the Minfaplan website.