The text of this activity report is written only by Japanese language.
(Clicking “日本語” in upper right corner of screen, the text will be displayed.)

The text of this activity report is written only by Japanese language.
(Clicking “日本語” in upper right corner of screen, the text will be displayed.)

Thanks to you all, we finally finished the album!
We submitted all the data, and all we have to do now is to wait for them to arrive.
I feel somewhat relieved knowing how far we’ve come but also still a bit anxious until I actually see the product.


This time I’d like to introduce the technicians who helped us finish the album, recording engineers and mastering engineers.

Mamiko Kawakami
She worked on the three songs written by Akira Inoue.
I call her “Mami-Mami,” and we actually have known each other for a really long time. She was an assistant at a recording studio I had an audition at when I was a senior at high school. She knows me even before I debuted as a singer, and what’s more, we worked together for the recording of “squall.” I even feel it’s like a fate.

It meant so much to me that she worked on as many as three songs from the album. She is calm but when it comes to music she becomes passionate. I could feel that in the songs. “Tsumuki” “Izayoi” “Mariefred Vind,” they all became great songs. The recorded sound was very nice too. The recording for strings instrument for “Tsumuki” was like a dream-come-true, and has definitely become one of the unforgettable recordings.





Next, Naoki Ibaraki worked on “Snow,” “Merry go-round,” “Osentaku(Laundry),” “Maigo no Kurage (Lost Jellyfish).”

I met him through my 3rd album “catharsis,” and recently he’s participated in “I’m home,” “Inoribi.” He has become one of the crucial members to make songs with.

In this recording, he often worked until so late with me to meet all my requests even small ones. At the end, we were able to make the songs perfect. His gentle smile made me feel easy, and when I was lost, he gave me on-point advice. I relied on him so much for this album.

Assistant Otaki cheered us up and kept the positive vibe, and Kusanagi brought some homemade snacks for us. I thank them for making the recording go smooth.

For all the recording and trackdown, there have been so many engineers who worked for my album. Some of them I forgot to take picture with and I cannot introduce in here, but I cited all of their names on the liners note in the album, so please check it out when the CD comes to you.


Lastly, I’d like to introduce Mitsutaka Abe, mastering engineer.
That was my first time to work with him, and was such a great time!
Mastering is like decorating a cake, which is a very important process but requires a great musical sense.
The taste of songs really vary in this album, so I was not sure if I would be able to give them one solid taste to make the album coherent.

Akira Inoue came to see the mastering process, too. They are true geniuses of music, and as they work on the songs, I could literally see the songs shine with their magic. Before I know all the songs became bright and colorful!

His attitude toward work was.. holy in a way. He takes the work very seriously and the dedication to the work makes the atmosphere holy in a way. I’m grateful that I get to have him in my work. I’m sure the songs are happy because a great musician like him have worked on them.

So many people have worked on this album to make this album a great one with full of love, and I just cannot thank enough for all of them!!
I hope that you will add your own color to my “Coloring Book” to make it even more bright.

Please look forward to the day of the release :)

I had a concert at KIWA TENNOZ the other day and I had MANAMI as a guest chorus singer. Her chorus was really nice so I asked her on the stage if she wanted sing a part in one of my songs.

The recording was almost done, but I had a little bit of time left until submitting, so I invited her out to the studio and we had a recording.

We all heard her cute harmony at the KIWA TENNOZ live,
but in the recording too she performed so well and cute.

“Osentaku (Laundry)” became even more gorgeous in sound!
The lyrics is actually scary tho..
It came out as cutesy scary!
Please look forward!

Early download has started! [Only applicable for those who purchased early download offer]

Crowdfunding page for Eiko Matsumoto’s 20th anniversary project was finally over.
We had no problem throughout the campaign.
Thank you so much for all your support.


From yesterday December 1st, the early download for two songs and one music video from the album has started.

Those who signed up for:

-Invitation to special talk show retrospective discussing the creation and release of the new album followed by a mini live performance concert

-Exclusive download of 2 songs from the new album prior to the official release

-Digital download of radio styled introduction to the album by Eiko Matsumoto

Invitaion to studio viewing of Eiko Matsumoto’s recording of new album

please download the songs on “my page” on this site after logging in.

*Please use PC for downloading
*Due to the mechanical restrictions, you cannot download any files from other companies’ websites to iPhone/iPad devices.
If you’d like to listen to the songs on your smart phone or tablet, please do so by first downloading the songs on PC and syncing them.

*If you signed up for “Invitation to special talk show retrospective discussing the creation and release of the new album followed by a mini live performance concert” BEFORE 11/29, you are not able to see the download button on your page, so we have emailed the details.
If you didn’t get the email, please contact to
cf@eikomatsumoto.com

It was the last day for the Crowdfunding page.
Thank you for supporting me until the very last moment,
I really appreciate all the support.

The title of the album has been decided as “Coloring Book”!!
I chose that title because in this album I wish to add color to unique songs just like a coloring book.

Here are the list of songs:

m1. Coming Home
m2. snow
m3. Merry-go-round
m4. Niji To Sayonara
m5. My Coloring Book.
m6. Osentaku (Laundry)
m7. Maigo no kurage (Lost Jellyfish)
m8. Nagare Boshi
m9. Squall
m10. Izayoi
m11. Tsumiki
m.12 Mariefreds Vind


This time it is not only CD.
It comes with a “bonus DVD,” it includes music video of “Coming Home,” and a documentary movie about the recording in sweden.

If you signed up for early download course, you will be able to listen to “Coming Home” and “Niji to Sayonara” mastered by Douglas. Of course you will be able to watch “Coming Home” music video.


Also, the cover art is done!
The illustration below was drawn by Kazuyo Hino. Even when it was still the sketching stage, the illustration was so beautiful that I was surprised.
The coloring process was nicely done too. Please look forward to the inside design as well.

The Crowdfunding page is over now, but if you are still interested and have missed the Crowdfunding opportunity, you will be able to sign up for the regular reservation of the album at HMV from December 1st, 10am. Please check it out!

I couldn’t have come this far without this person,
Yurika Oishi.

She and I went to Sweden back in July for recording, and we made a song together with Douglas.

She also participated as a chorus as well. To complete the song we made together, she and I added some ideas on the basic code Douglas made at the beginning.

The title is the same as the title of this album: “My Coloring Book.”!!

We also wrote the lyrics together, and she directed the final output.

She wrote the first song for the 15th anniversary album as well. I am so grateful that we were able to work together this time as well.

I can rely on her about anything when it comes to music.

All we have to do now is to wait for Douglas to arrange the song.

More and more songs are complete, and we’re able to see the goal now.

The deadline for the Crowdfunding deal is coming soon, but I will continue to write blogs in here so please stay tuned!

We had the last orchestra recording and as always, we welcomed the greatest musicians!

To begin with, guitarist Yoshiaki Kano.
It was over 10 years ago.. he, Izumi Kato and I participated this event in Nagoya. At the after party he and I just clicked and we became really close since then. At the time I thought of him as a funky person..
Time had passed and we finally had chance to work together.

He had various taste in how he played the guitar. Sometimes he played it funky like I thought he was, but other times he plays an acoustic guitar gently. Also it was really cool when he came up with a intricate phrase really quickly.



Bassist Yoshinobu Takeshita
He is a good looking and very talented person who is a bassist, but is also known as an actor. Most famous work as an actor is “29 y.o. Christmas.”
He played electric base and acoustic base int the recording. How he played both of the bases and the phrases he came up with were very cool!
He played wood base for “Lost Jellyfish,” and played electric base for “Laundry.” Please look forward to both of the songs!!

Drummer Keisuke Komori
I was nervous when I first saw him, but he greeted me with a smile, which made me a big fan of his.
He interpreted the lyrics into his mind and executed really well into the sound. He played the drum very emotionally, and seeing him play the drum became a great energy for the vocal recording later int he day.
He took the lyrics very seriously so maybe that’s why but he pointed out some typo in the lyrics. Thank you so much for that!


Sax and flute player Shunosuke Ishikawa

He played the tenor and alto sax for “Laundry,” and the flute for “Lost Jellyfish” He played in many tones to create a nice harmony, and it sure came out so nicely!

Those instruments really stand out and show the persona of the player. In this recording I saw his warm and a bit quirky personality through the sound of his instruments. And I mean quirky in a good way.

This recording was done with talented members and the songs came out very nicely. Please look forward to the album!!

We are now half way through the recording for the new album, and I’m revealing bits and pieces here.. Have you guys been enjoying this blog??

For this album, some of the musicians who I’ve asked to compose / arrange songs for me have played at my concerts or worked with me before, but it was the first time to work with this person; in a studio Takeshi Tsurutani.

He’s supported me with piano in my “Piano and singing” series before.
For this album, he arranged “Lost Jellyfish,” and also wrote me a brand new song called

“Osentaku” (Laundry)

I’ve never had a song like this in my career, so it feels like I’ve discovered a new way of expression. It’s a really cool song and you’ll never forget it once you listen to it.

I wrote the lyrics first and he wrote a song to the lyrics. When he gave me the demo tape, how he sang it was really nice so I asked him to join me as a chorus. It doesn’t happen that often!
I really want you to listen to it soon!

We had fun at the studio and the last recording day was so fun that was unforgettable. I will talk about it at my concert on January 13th!

I really can’t wait to tell you the story!!

Yoshitaka Taira from The LOVE.
I call him “Tairappi “ usually.

We’ve known each other for about 20 years. We used to belong to the same label, and also we had the same director for radio program. We get together for “Nakameguro party” where various radio DJs and musicians get together. So we had a lot of connection over the 20 years, and I feel like he’s one of my family members.

I really liked his works since his debut. We once made a song together; composed by him and lyrics written by me. Sometimes I joined their concert as a chorus or made songs together.

Now he’s become a popular composer, so I hesitated to ask him to write a song for me like when I asked Minako Kawae.
But I really wanted him to write me a song because he knows me well. So I ended up asking him to write me a song and also its lyrics and he said yes!
I was really looking forward to the song and the other day he sent me the song!

The title is…

“Lost Jellyfish”

I was like “Jellyfish”?!

You may be feeling the same way..

Hmm.. what is the song going to be like..?

Please look forward to it!

Drummer Hideo Yamaki.

My dream has finally come true!!

I’ve been a big fan of his for a long time and my dream was to work with him in my album one day.

“Izayoi” is made by the greatest artists; keyboard by Akira Inoue, guitar by Masayoshi Hurukawa, and drum by Hideo Yamaki.

His drumming can be described by one word, “beauty.”
It was so beautiful that I found myself crying.

I thought working with him was once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I watched him play the drum very closely. Sometimes he played the drum with his eyes closed which was interesting to look at.

We worked together for Fukuyama Masaharu tour. I remember myself being impressed by his attitude toward work. He practiced a lot during the tour and also kept good diet. In this recording, I learnt how his routine work came out as the great sound of drum.


We now are half way though the recordings.
We will do a thorough work for the remaining as well!

Please look forward to the album!

-“Izayoi” arranged by Akira Inoue-

This song was written by Chihiro Imai, my husband, more than 10 years ago. I sang at my concerts but never have officially released it.

This song describes a woman’s regretful feeling that she wishes she could fix the relationship but has to breakup. “Izayoi” in Japanese means the moon just passed full moon. “Izayoi” is used as a metaphor of the woman’s feeling in this song.
The guitarist I would like to introduce today, Masayoshi Furukawa, helped make the song even more emotional.

Mr. Furukawa and I have mutual artist friends such as Satoru Sakamoto and SHUUBI. He also supports a lot of great artists and I have seen him at their concerts, and this time I asked him yo join my album for the first time.

We recorded his acoustic guitar and electric guitar, but he plays them so well that I couldn’t stop smiling.

He now is based in LA, so I’m really glad our schedule worked out.

He is a very kind person and you can hear it in the sound of guitar too.
Please look forward to “Izayoi,” written by Mr. Furukawa!

Rei Yamashita Chromatic Harmonica player

I first met her sometime in this year so I haven’t known her that long,
but since we did a radio program together, I became a big fan of hers, and I invited her to my concert as a guest musician.

In this album, there’s a short song written by Akira Inoue. He suggested using harmonica sound as a melody instead of vocal.
Rei immediately came to my mind, and I asked her if she wanted to play the part.
The recording went really well, and I realized that she was good at improvisation too.

The temporary title of the song is “Scandinavian Summer.”

This song is made based on the stories in Sweden that I told to Akira Inoue.
I will have to decide the official title later, but please look forward to the song!

I’d like to introduce Tetsuo Tachibana, the composer for “Tsumiki” for my upcoming album, and the leader of a vocal group called “AJI” He is in the picture in my pervious post, so please check it out!

When we belonged to the same agency, we often went on tours and events together. In one of the tours we went together, we made the song “Tomiki.” He composed the song and I wrote the lyrics, which later on AJI released in one of their albums.

After the release, the song has been sung by various artists like “Hayabusa,” and sometimes I sang it too in my concerts. The recording went really great and was memorable with Mr. Inoue Akira such great artists I introduced before.

Tetsuo Tachibana came to see the strings recording, and gave me some advice on other songs. I can really rely on him when it comes to music.

I love the melodies he makes. “Omoide” is a song written by him too, but he always makes melodies that make me cry. I’d been wanting to release this song so it was like my dream come true and I could not be any happier.

I’m really looking forward to how it comes out.

It's now less than a month until the day my crowdfunding ends..
We’ve decided on the tote bag design for one of the Crowdfunding return!

We’ve seen a male participant for the tote bag offer, so Eiko has selected a shoulder bag with unisex color, and the size that easily fits A4 documents with gusset.

The size specification is below:
W: 24cm x H: 37cm x D: 12 cm

It is a convenient size for commute, shopping, etc.
And it has 20th anniversary project logo on the bag that we introduced before.