From today on I started livestreaming on the Japanese site "Showroom", with the goal to broadcast every single day until my album release date (December 7th 2017). The times differ each day, depending on my schedule but will be announced during the stream the day before. 
​You can watch my livestream HERE 

I will be using the stream to share my daily life, answer your questions and share singing practice time. I'm streaming in English & Japanese simultaneously so I don't have to run two streams at the same time depending on who is watching. 

As of today my team and I finished mixing all tracks and are approaching deadline at full speed, which means my CD will be pressed, booklets printed & shops will be notified for pre-orders during this month. 

It's a very exciting progress and I can't wait to share the finished product with all of you! 
Most song titles and also the name of the album are still kept secret until the cover reveal, however the shop release date is December 7th 2017, which is also my birthday. However you will be able to pre-order the CD and - as far as I know - the iTunes version a week in advance. 

As a special treat for all my loyal listeners in Japan there will be early releases of the CD during my Tokyo Tour which will be taking place this winter. The dates, times, venues, where & how to get tickets will be announced at the end of this month, so stay tuned for that!

Also coming soon is the full recording of my preview live performance from Ueno Summer Festival, which took place at  August 2nd, however I am still waiting on some data and edits to give you the best possible version of the event. 

If you want faster news, updates or even listen to preview versions of the song go to patreon.com/himezawa and subscribe for a monthly package, filled with infos, prints and special merch!​

On the first day of Comiket last week I revealed my FIRST EVER Cosplay Photobook, which almost sold out during the 3 hours I was at my table. As a little Thank You to all of you who couldn't make it to C92 or don't live in Japan, I decided to put the remaining copies up on my store (HERE), linked above. 
If you want one, I recommend you to get them asap, as they will not be restocked and are highly limited in quantity. 

The theme of the Photobook is "The Idolm@ster", so it includes my most recent Idolm@ster cosplays and some (so far) unpublished favorites. If you want to get it signed let me know via message on tictail! 

Thank you for your support!

Welcome to the daily videos!

If you haven't noticed it already, I am currently in the (exact) middle of #VEDA (Video Every Day of August), uploading daily vlogs, tips, art and more to my main channel. So far I'm loving the experience of having regular content, the editing is still too long for me though. 
I actually started filming upfront to get the queue ready, as I am in the middle of recording for my first album right now. Fitting this theme in today's video I actually got to talk about writing lyrics and revealing some lines of the first song to you. 

You can watch the whole playlist of #VEDA so far HERE
And if you want to listen to my song demos, practice clips and lyrics, you can sign up for my Patreon HERE

Before we get to what I have to say about my upcoming performance; The schedule for August 2nd is fixed, I will be on at 14:50 (see below for the full schedule). I also want to correct my translation error from earlier on, the doors still open at 14:30 but CLOSE at 15:30, meaning if you walk in after Eri's live you might be refused entry, so be early and support all artists at the event!

As I mentioned earlier on, on my Ameblo, this performance will be for the sole purpose of my next release preview. I am working on my first album in English and Japanese, mixing a lot of different styles and genres to something completely new that I haven't seen like this anywhere before. 
I feel like I have grown up a lot since my debut single, and I'm ready to leave that chapter of my life behind for good now. 

In the very beginning "Japans Nr. 1 Idol" (*cringe*) was my goal, but my dreams have changed. 
I can't see myself fit into the image of a cute, pure, forever young teenage girl anymore, especially music-wise. 

Ever since I started I got a lot of feedback online saying "That's not you, what are you trying to be?!", and though I always felt like I had to brush it off as "just hate", I looked into my mirror one day and had to ask myself "Who the fuck are you?!". 
I never thought I'd lose myself in the picture of a certain image I had to portray as much as I did, so I set out on a journey to find out who the hell I actually am. I haven't found that person yet, but I got a glimpse on what I had to do. 

For now I want to sing my own songs. I want to tell my own stories in my own voice. 
Not a computer-generated echo of someone elses idea of what I should have been. 
I am not going to return to working for agencies, unless I am offered the freedom I gave myself with this project in return. 

I heard a lot of agents complain about their clients in the past, saying they were too much of a diva, asking for things. Back then I would take their side and say "yeah, sure, I'll work for free". 
By now I understand that there is nothing more valuable than creative freedom and being able to express yourself through the mediums of your choice. 

I feel incredibly lucky and grateful for all of your support of my old self. 
I couldn't have become who I am today if I didn't lose myself, yearning for the admiration of strangers. 
But I want to live on as an artist, but another cardboard-cut-out of money-hungry companies.

If you chose to stick around, I'd like us to become friends and leave that distance between us to a different part of this story. I'm not above the people who support me, I am the exact same as you, starting over from scratch, dreaming big and falling every now and then. 
And that's the best possible way we could go together. 
Our own. 

​
Thank you. 

Himezawa

Just a short post to announce that my tictail shop (linked above) reopened today with a variety of new prints and print sets, mostly cosplay ones. I am planning to add on some Lolita themed prints and new merchandise that will be available first at my show on August 2nd. I wanted to give everyone coming to watch me priority on that one and then also offer new items at Comiket on August 11th and my shop simultaneously. There is one more item coming on August 11th that will be added to the shop later - if there are any of it left after Comiket.