I am a flute player based in Belgium, dedicated to the hitoyogiri — a short, vertically-held bamboo flute that fell into oblivion in eighteenth century Japan. My practice lives at the edge of research and revival: learning from surviving manuscripts, listening for what they cannot say, and playing into the silence they leave.

I studied Western flute before the hitoyogiri invited itself into my life. The two instruments share almost nothing except breath. Befriending the older one required forgetting, and that forgetting became its own education.

This site is a notebook about giving a new breath to an ancient musical instrument — from the perspective of an eternal beginner, a hermit seated on the edge of the world, dwelling in the hush between drifting clouds and the hum of purring cats.

Here, I jot down thoughts about what the flute teaches me, about the Buddhist contexts in which it flourished, about the poetry it sings with — I seek inspiration through Japan, China, and in the wider culture that shelters it all, very much like a rich, ancient ecosystem.

✉️ — You can reach me at Odrey@hitoyogiri.com.

📚 — My teacher is Nick Bellando, founder of the Shin Sosa Ryu.

🇫🇷 — L'école a un espace dédié en Français, contactez-moi pour en savoir plus.