Official Umeda Erika Twitter Opened

Umeda Erika’s official Twitter account has been opened.

Her first tweet was:

The Umeda Erika! Twitter started! みんな、フォローしてください^^
English: The Umeda Erika! Twitter started! Everyone, please follow ^^

I’m glad to see that Erika has opened up a Twitter account since it gives her fans a chance to follow her through her new modeling career, and even though it has just opened we will most likely see many more Tweets during the next few weeks.

For now she has tweeted in Japanese, English (part of her first tweet), as well as in Korean, along with a few photos of her at work:

Hopefully we get to see more former and current H!P and UFA members make Twitter accounts so that fans can keep up with them, but for now I suggest Erika fans follow her account so they can get updates of what she is doing during the day.

Official Umeda Erika Twitter

Umeda Erika and Ichii Sayaka To Model In “Girls Award 2010”

Former C-ute member Umeda Erika and former Morning Musume member Ichii Sayaka are set to appear as models at a fashion event titled Girls Award 2010.

I have to admit that I was surprised when I heard the news but it was kind of expected that Ichii and Umeda would appear in an event together someday since they both have decided to pursue modeling careers, and that moment has come rather quickly since this will be Umeda’s first modeling event (from what I know of).

If I remember correctly they haven’t had a chance to appear together before since Ichii graduated from H!P in 2000 to continue her education  and Umeda didn’t join the H.P. Kids until 2002, so it will be interesting to see their reaction (if any) when they meet.

From the site you can tell that it will be a somewhat big event since there are 71 models currently set to appear (including Ichii and Umeda) so hopefully the event is big and it is publicized well.

I wish the best of luck to Umeda in her event since it will be one of the first of many times we will see her walking down the catwalk.

Official Girls Award 2010 Site

Official Umeda Erika Blog Opened

Former C-ute member Umeda Erika has just opened up a blog on Ameba.

She hasn’t posted an entry yet but I’m glad that she will finally have a way to communicate with her fans and that we will have a way of finding out what she is doing in her daily model life.

The header is made up of a picture of Umeda and a chocolate bar with the title of Erika no SWEET DIARY (the corrected banner is at the end of this post), which sounds kind of cute.

The blog hasn’t been linked to her model profile but hopefully it is linked soon when she makes her first post.

Official Umeda Erika Blog

EDIT: Erika has just updated her blog with her first post and she posted a new picture of her at the Illume office holding fan mail:

Also according to her the title of the blog is Umeda Erika no SWEET DIARY which is a cute title since it matches her personality perfectly, and hopefully we find out more about her new modeling career as time goes by since we haven’t had that much information about her since she graduated.

EDIT 2: The banner for Umeda Erika’s blog has been corrected:

Umeda Erika Officially Signed To A New Model Agency

Umeda Erika has signed with a new model agency called ILLUME Models.

It has been quite a while since we last heard from Erika, specifically since her graduation last year, so I’m glad to finally find out that she has finally signed on with a model agency.

There are not that many pictures of Erika since she seems to be barely starting out, but the few that are there are very impressing:

There are also some more links that don’t work right now, although the most interesting one is “Blog” which gives us the hope for a future Erika blog, although we will have to wait and see what happens.

I’m glad that we are finally finding out more about Umeda after her graduation, even more that she is finally getting a chance to model, so hopefully we get a chance to see more pictures from her soon.

Umeda Erika Profile On ILLUME Models

Umeda Erika Officially Graduates From C-ute And Hello! Project

Today Umeda Erika graduated officially from C-ute and Hello! Project after performing in NHK Osaka Hall with C-ute in their “Cutie JUMP” concert tour.

According to some accounts from 2ch there was no fancy graduation ceremony of handing of flowers or individual messages. Erika simply stood on the stage and thanked everyone while the members cried. It seems kind of simple for fans who paid a lot for their tickets to go see her one last time, but Erika might have wanted just a simple goodbye instead of a big ceremony.

At today’s final concert they sold a special “FINAL muffler towel” only available at the concert today in honor of Erika’s graduation:

Even though we won’t probably see the graduation muffler towels at H!SU anytime soon (since they are event goods) it was a nice touch from UFA to give Erika a special item for her fans to remember her by.

There were also a special photo set of the tour with some graduation messages from C-ute members to Umeda Erika that were released a few days ago:

Umeda Erika (Translation: Chikichi@H!O) –

I have made it here today because of all your generous support
From now on I will continue to do my best
I believe that we will not have many opportunities to meet each other at events and concerts like we have done throughout the years
However – even if we cannot see each other
I know that all of you are still here and with that thought in mind I will continue to work hard

I love you all

—————————————————————————————————————————–

Yajima Maimi (Translation: Chikichi@H!O)-

DEAR…My beloved Eri

Congratulations on your graduation. Having to part from you sure makes me feel lonely.
You know, I really like the kindness and generousity that you have shown to everyone.
No matter who is in trouble, you always take notice right away and offer your support.
You have given all of us so much of your attention.
Seeing you offer your help to others makes me want to work hard to become more like you. I learned a lot from watching you.
The two of us have been very close for these seven years that we spent together – there are so many incredible memories that I cannot begin to count.
There were times when we laughed together, and times when we cried together. All of those times are moments that I will treasure.
Although our ways are separated, this road that we had walked on together will remain the same, and I will continue to value all those steps we took
We probably will not have the chance to see each other as often as we have been, but you have always wanted to become a model, and I will support you more than anyone else.
Without you with us, °C-ute will work even harder to make up for your absence.
Thank you so much for all your kindness throughout the years. Thank you for treating me as family and listening to everything I had to say.
I will never forget all the difficult times and enjoyable moments that we experienced while we chased after our dream together.
Let’s put everything we have towards our dreams, and let’s make sure we both reach our goals!! I really like you and I always will

FROM Maimi

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Nakajima Saki (Translation: TnB @ MM-BBS) –

To Umeda no Erika-chan,
Congratulations on your graduation.
You’re reaaally funny, and super awesome!
Please do your best as a model.
I truely love you.
From Nakajima no Saki

—————————————————————————————————————————–

Chisato Okai (Translation: TnB @ MM-BBS) –

DEAR→Erika
It’s really sad to see you graduate from C-ute after we’ve been together all this time…
But I don’t want you to give up on your dream, and I want you to do your best until it comes true…
C-ute will work even harder okay!!!
Erika!!! Let’s work together again someday, okay?
I’ll alllways, alllways love you!!
The possibilities are endleessss
FROM→Chisato

—————————————————————————————————————————–

Suzuki Airi (Translation: Nouciel@H!O) –

Erika-chan, congratulations on your graduation u.u
Although C-ute is going to feel lonely when Erika-chan is not part of it anymore…
We’ve laughed and cried together… those moments count as memories. I won’t forget them.
You have my support as a model Do your best, okay?
Thank you  *crying face*

—————————————————————————————————————————–

Hagiwara Mai (Translation: TnB @ MM-BBS)-

I love you♥♥Erika
You were always teaching me stuff about clothes and lots of other things!!
Let’s both continue to do our best from now on (´艸`♥♥

—————————————————————————————————————————–

It is always sad to see a member of H!P leave, and Erika isn’t the exception. She rarely got a chance to sing a solo line and most of the time she was either in the back or on the side of the group in PV’s, but there is no denying that she was a great member.

Umeda thanks for being a part of C-ute, and even though you most likely won’t sing anymore I wish you the best in your modeling career. Hope to see you in the covers of magazines soon!

Good Luck Erika!

Umeda Erika To Graduate From Hello! Project

Thank you for your continuous support of H!P.

Umeda Erika, a member of C-ute who just started their concert tour, will graduate from H!P on the last day of this tour, i.e 25th October.
After graduation, she plans to become a fashion model and pursue her studies in this field.
She plans to work even harder as a C-ute member in the upcoming 3 months until her graduation.
Please support her.

Source: H!O (Translated from the official Hello! Project site announcement)

Umeda Erika has decided to graduate from C-ute and Hello! Project on the last day of the tour (10/25) to pursue a career as a fashion model. She was always one of the members that didn’t stand out that much, but she had a great voice and she was a part of C-ute, it’s good to at least know she is going to have a decent graduation.

I am certain there are no other reasons for her leaving, since she is specifically saying what she wants to do when she graduates and because she is getting a ceremony, so I don’t think there is room for any rumors. From the message on the H!P site she is leaving on her own accord, so I see no reason in blaming UFA for the graduation, and she is still going to be active studying and becoming a fashion model.

I am speaking from my own opinion but I think Umeda and C-ute fans should be supporting her now more than ever instead of pointing fingers to who is responsible (no one is, she decided on her own) and jumping to a conclusion that they are trying to reduce C-ute (extremely difficult to believe and as far as I know not true at all), the least we can do is support her.

Hopefully her career as a fashion model goes great and she remains active in the fashion scene. If you happen to be in Japan in the next 3 months and you are a C-ute fan I think it would be almost necessary to at least attend one of the concerts before she graduates to show her support before she starts to become a fashion model.

Good luck Erika!

Sponochi Article About Umeda Erika’s Graduation Announcement

Oricon Article About Umeda’s Graduation

Barks Article About Umeda’s Graduation

Natalie.mu Article About Umeda’s Graduation