We distribute and play music and create various designs for the Celeste Gakuden.

Celeste means "sky" in Italian.

Gakuden means “Orchestra” in Japanese.

We spin blessings and small happiness from the sky.

We design and produce CD, paper, video and animation together.

Yoko Dazai (singing and harp) and Indian drum tabla, Toshio Dazai (photography and design).  We bring you the sound that is easy on your mind and body.

Yoko Dazai

Song and harp / Lyrics and composition 

　I loved to sing and dance and worked in musicals and operas. In the midst of all this, I started writing lyrics and composing to create comfortable music that I myself could play and feel comfortable with. Then I started playing the harp, which I had always admired, so that I could play without an accompanist. I enjoyed the feel of the strings in my hand, and I've been singing my favorite songs on my small harp ever since.

　I want to bring you happy music that makes flowers bloom in your heart and beautiful scenery come to mind.

　Besides music, I've loved sewing and knitting since I was a little girl, and once I start, I lose track of time and do it all the time. I also love to make sweets. However, I always make things on my own, whether sewing or cooking, so I make a lot of mistakes and only a few of them take shape.

　And I really love to travel. When the warm breeze blows, my heart is in a rush and I want to go on a trip. I like to feel the air of an unknown town.

Toshio Dazai

Tabla (Indian Drum) Photography / Illustration / Design & Animation

I love photography/painting, and music. My special skill is computers, influenced by my father. I grew up in the nature of Hokkaido/Ibaraki and the development of machines. When I was a student, I studied music at the Electronic Musical Instrument Department and often made flyers for music events. From there, I naturally went on to work with computers, mainly in photography, graphic design and website development. During that time, I came across the Indian drum tabla, which makes my favorite sound, and I studied under the North Indian classical musician Prehmadasa Hegoda, and then I started working with the Celeste band as a way to put together what I could do. It is very pleasant and happy to practice my instrument in nature.

I feel that it is very nice to meet and say goodbye to the people you experience as a traveler.

I am also in charge of the orchestra's recording, web/CD jacket and video production.

Our Instruments

●Harp

A 25-string Irish harp made of walnut. It is also known as a therapy harp, and has a particularly gentle tone. We chose to make this harp light and easy to carry so that it can be played at various places like the medieval minstrels. The tuning system, including A=432Hz, is recorded and played in a variety of ways.

●Tabla

It is a North Indian classical percussion instrument, an accompaniment instrument for Indian vocal and stringed instruments such as the sitar. In recent years, it is often used for solo performances and for all kinds of music. It is a rare drum that produces many different sounds and can be played with varying pitches. I started by looking into it.

Journey and Our car

　In 2011, I decided to say goodbye to my beloved house in Tokyo, where I had lived for many years, and decided to take a trip. I was looking for a car to do that and I met the Cheret, the car of my dreams. 

　It was an early model Bongo Friendee with a roof that opened up to reveal the second floor. 

It was a special wonder color as it was a mobile office for a telephone company.

It was love at first sight because it was close to the color called Celeste color. 

　As neither of us were familiar with cars, we found out later, it is a very travel-friendly car with a place for a battery for daily use and an excellent generator for the body of the car, so it is a very valuable car that can be a substitute for our home. We are devising ways to travel comfortably while improving it for travel, such as installing a homemade solar system. 

When it is available, it runs on biodiesel fuel (repurposed tempura oil).

In 2019, We went on a Camino pilgrimage to France and Spain.