Born and raised in Niigata, Japan, Manami Nagahari developed her interest in music at an early age when she played the trumpet and later the trombone in school bands. After studying at university in her home town, Manami Nagahari moved to Tokyo at the age of 23 for her office job. There she met Kumiko Hara (1954-2005), with whom she took singing and music theory lessons. This broadened the scope of her musical activities. At this time, she also began to experiment with music on her computer and wrote her first songs. Some of her early works, which she wrote together with Kenji Yamazaki, can be seen on games industries such as Playstations.

In 2006, she moved to Berlin. Since the nuclear accident in Fukushima in 2011, her artistic focus has not only been on pure art, but also on political issues and ideas of social relevance. This is where her approach to music became more conceptual. Her long-standing collaboration with the Heinrich Böll Foundation and her participation in various media art and radio play festivals demonstrate her commitment to the broad field of experimental music.

She is currently working with classical musicians in her own notation and on a research project exploring other areas of sound.