For this album I’ve asked Akira Inoue to arrange 3 songs, and we just had the recording of one of the songs called “Tsumiki”

This time our band consisted of two violins and three cellos.
I got teary and goosebumps when all the talented musicians got together and started warming up.
I’d like to introduce all those who participated in this recording!

-Asuka Kaneko (Violin)
“Kaneko Asuka Strings” is a well known team of string instruments that represents Japan. I grew up listening to them so I’ve really admired their music.
I worked with her for the first time in tour of Fukuyama Masaharu. She was very friendly to me and we were even joking around when we were touring. She was cute like that but when she played the violin she was so cool and I really admired..
Whenever I listen to her violin, I think she truly is an “artist.” And this time as well, she played violin for my album with her great taste.

-Chieko Kanehara (Violin)
“Cheko Kanehara Strings”, is also what I’ve looked up to growing up because their name is almost always on the credit of the CDs I’ve listened to. They are essential to Japanese pop music scene today. She worked with me in “Katharsis” and since 2015 we’ve worked together for Fukuyama Masaharu tour. Last year she even joined my tour, so she has been very important to me when it comes to music. She has a great personality too and I respect her in that sense too. She’s cute to begin with, fun to drink with, and cool when she plays violin. I feel even jealous because she is so perfect! Lol
I really love the passionate sound of her violin. In this recording I got teary because the sound and the posture when she played the violin was so beautiful. I still get teary when I remember the scene..

-Ayano Kasalara (Cello)
I’ve known her name from long time ago. I’ve been to her concerts and thought she was such a rock and dedicated artist. I’ve always wanted to talk to her but I was kind of afraid to do so because she has an aura about her. But that’s why I was surprised by how friendly she was when we grabbed a drink for the first time.
Cello is very important for this song. And it starts with the cello which she plays, so please pay attention to the intro part of this song too!


-Shinichi Eguchi (Cello)
It was my first time to work with him. He listened to “Tsumiki” really closely before the recording to have his own understanding of the song. I especially remember he said to me before the recording that he thought it was a really emotional song. And his interpretation of the song really showed in how he played the cello for the song. Please pay attention to the emotional cello sound in the song, too!


-Yuki Shinozaki (Cello)
It was also my first time to work with her. She keeps her serious face all the time, and is known to be a serious and hardworking artist, so I was very nervous at first. However, she was actually a very friendly person! She executed the emotion I wanted to depict with the song, which is “I love you but goof bye”, really well with her passionate yet soft sound of cello.



Each one of the musicians played the instruments very artistically, and when they play music together, it becomes a tremendous energy. Sound is a powerful way of expression. I cannot thank Mr. Inoue Akira enough for arranging for strings.

I was actually burnt our for a little days after this recording, but I take it as a good thing, like catharsis effect, maybe.
I will try my best to complete this song!

We invited those who purchased “Studio viewing of Eiko Matsumoto’s recording of new album” to the recording studio on October 14th and 20th.
We first took the guests to the control room and saw Eiko sing during the recording. We could also enjoy the sound coming through the speakers.

After that we took them into the recording booth where Eiko was singing. Eiko and the band members were listening to the sound through headphones so inside the room,
the only sound the guests could hear was her singing, which was a very unique experience for them.


For most of the guests, it was the first time to go to a recording studio and see the recording process, so they looked sort of nervous at the beginning, but they seemed to have gotten along with each other well, and we ended the day with taking a picture with Eiko and all of the guests included.


Here are some feedbacks from the guests..

It was a rare opportunity to go to a recording studio, and it even felt like a dream to see her recording!
I’ve learnt a lot from seeing the actual production process.
Recording process was smoother than I thought, it was like watching a magic happened. I came to realize that a song couldn’t have reached to us without all the skills and effort of Eiko, and all other band members and staffs.
Thank you so much for today’s experience. I will never forget what I felt today.


Based on the tracks recorded today, we will add harmony, adjust sound, and brush up the quality to be ready for release.
I will be sharing more about the new album later on. Look forward to it!

I’d like to introduce those who joined my latest recording on October 14th.

On that day we recorded the instrument for 2 songs.
It’s been a while for me to record in a big studio with a band, maybe it was the first time since the album released in 2003. It was a really fun recording.
The recording was for instrument so I didn’t really have to sing seriously but I did, and it turned out great so it may be used as the actual vocal.

To begin with, this is Kumiko Hasegawa, plays the piano, electronic piano, and is an arranger.
I talked about her in the “Introducing the members for 20th anniversary project vol.2” so please go back and read the blog if interested!

And here is Yuiko Takahashi, plays the drums and percussion.
I hadn’t met her before but I actually had heard about her and her music from long before that day.

Her band “GOMES THE HITMAN” was a major band and belonged to a label that was right next to mine when I just debuted, so I knew well about her music.
The vocal of the band Mr.Yamada also has joined this Crowdfunding page before, and we even had joined an event together before, so I felt it was some kind of fate that we got to work together for this recording.
Before the recording, Yuiko read into the lyrics and executed each songs really well with her drums. She actually had a concert earlier on that day but she directly came to the studio after that and worked with me until late at night. I can’t thank her enough for that!

Yusuke Onishi played the guitar in this recording.
I have known him or a long time, I would say we have known each other for 16 years?
He’s supported me with my work for the entire 16 years, and I couldn’t have gone through my 20 years of musical career without him.
He is a great guitarist who can play any song amazingly. This time too, his guitar sound was so smooth and comforting. Please look forward to listening to his guitar solo in the coming album!

Lastly I’d like to introduce Sunayama Junichi whom I met for the first time.
A gentleman always with a trademark hat. This time he joined us with his wood bass.
We have so many mutual musician and artist friends and I wondered how I DIDN’T meet him until that day.
He suggested so many great ideas during the recording, and really helped us brush up all the songs.

I haven’t been able to add the vocal yet but the recording went so well that I feel like the songs are all finished..
I can’t wait for you to listen to all the songs!

It was the day of the recording viewing day (Crowdfunding return) as well, I will write about how it was in the next blog! Stay tuned!

In this blog I’m introducing Minako Kawae.
She wrote me the song called “Omoi no Hanataba” in my album “Kimi no Ne” released in 2003.
Also her arms appear in the cover art of the album actually.
(The photographer wanted to take photos of me being relaxed and natural and asked me if I wanted anyone to join the photoshoot to make me feel relaxed during the photoshoot. I said I wanted “Gyan-chan” (Minako’s nickname) to join the photoshoot)
I love her dearly as my friend.
She now writes songs for popular artist such as Miki Imai, Mika Nakashima, Hiromi Go, so lately I have hesitated to ask her to write me a song..
I would casually tell her like “I want you to write me a song again someday” when I had a chance to see her or text her, but didn’t have courage to officially ask her to write me a song.
However for my 20th anniversary project, I strongly thought that I wanted to sing her song again, and this time I brought myself to call her to offer.
Although she was busy touring with Miki Imai, on top of being a mom,
she sent me a song immediately after the call.
She told me that she already had ideas for the atmosphere of the song and the title of the song when we were talking on the phone.
I was moved by hearing that story, but I was moved even more when I saw the lyrics for the first time.
I was mesmerized by the beautiful lyrics and I’m so glad that I asked her to write me a song.
The new song she wrote me is charming yet emotional.
Usually when I hear demo songs, I always feel sort of nervous but excited like I open a love letter at midnight. When I heard the demo of this song, my excitement was even bigger than usual from the intro part.
The title of the song is “Snow.”
I haven’t done the recording of the song yet, so I will be sharing about the recording with you later.
Kumiko Hasegawa will be arranging the song. I’d love to talk about the relation between Kumiko Hasegawa and Minako Kawae someday too.
These days I’ve been thinking how I will sing “Snow.”
I hope to do a great job at the recording!

This time I’d like to introduce Kumiko Hasegawa a.k.a. “8(Hachi),” who is known for “Ginza NAGANO talk & live.

Kumiko’s voice is sometimes relaxing and comforting, at other times it’s powerful and emotional. She always brings out the best in the singers she works with.

It was more than 10 years ago when I met 8 for the first time. At that time I often joined the female singer-songwriter event called “flower voice” at FAB Omotesando.
8 was playing the keyboard for Ayako Ikeda, and I was shocked by how beautifully she plays the keyboard and the harmony with the vocal. After the live show, I went to introduce myself to her.

In 2011, I reunited with her for the production of a compilation album “On/Off” released by TAKUMI NOTE.
Since then I got to work with her every year for the compilation album. Her voice and arrangement kept attracting me, and I gradually thought that I wanted to work with her for my album.

The dream came true when I produced my 15th anniversary album, “I’m home.” She co-composed and arranged a song called “Let’s party at my home!!” with Ayako Ikeda. The recording was really fun like a girls’ party.

For several years after I had opportunities to work with her for shows such as Ginza NAGANO series, Hoshizora concert at Utsukushigahara in Nagano, etc.
At every live performance she played some of my songs and some cover songs with me. Knowing my musical style, she wrote me this song called “Merry go round.”
It’s a jazzy, cute song but when I sang it, it was fun but difficult to sing!
Every time I sing it at live shows, I execute it differently, and now the song became an essential song at my live shows.

I distributed this song sung and recorded at my birthday show this year, but this time I’m going to record it and put it on a CD album for the first time.

You wonder how the arrangement will be? please look forward to it!!

Eiko Matsumoto

Thank you for supporting “Eiko Matsumoto 20th Anniversary album” project.

Today we’ll talk about “Your name will be credited in the “Special Thanks” section of the album” offer.
There is actually only one week left to apply for the offer.

This is the first time that we offer an opportunity to include your name in her album.
It’s going to be one of the few chances that you can turn the memory of being part of her project into a tangible item.
Please don’t miss the opportunity!*
*Because of the production schedule, we cannot accept any late applications.

We also want to note that for
“Special talk show followed by a mini live performance,”
we provide the offer in limited quantities.

The entrance at the event will be the order we receive the purchase order for the offer here, so please apply sooner than later!

Thank you!

Eiko Matsumoto staff

Hello! This is Eiko Matsumoto writing.

It’s been almost 3 weeks since the Crowdfunding started.
I wanted to thank all of you who already supported me on Crowdfunding.
The production of the album has started, and is moving forward with all the support.

A lot of people have been helping me with the production of this 20th anniversary album.

In order to make great songs, it is necessary to take time and work on each step of music prouction, such as composing, writing lyrics, arranging vocal and instrument, mixing and mastering, with passion and no compromise.
For this album, the greatest musicians will collaborate with me to achieve that goal.
I am truly grateful to be able to work on my 20th anniversary album with such talented people.

This project couldn’t have happened without all of your support.
This Crowdfunding also gave me the opportunity to share the process of music production with you.

In this blog, I’ll be introducing the musicians, artists, engineers and staffs who take part in this project, one by one. Please stay tuned for more to come.

The first person I’d like to introduce is..
Akira Inoue (Keyboard player / Arranger / Producer)

(Well actually I talked a lot about Douglas Carr in the articles about Sweden so it will more likely to be the second person to introduce..)

I got to work with him for the first time in Fukuyama Masaharu tour that I joined as a chorus in 2015. Since then I’ve always been amazed by him playing the instruments, and the great arrangement he makes for songs. I got to see him produce music very closely in the tour and I always wondered how his brain works to produce such great songs. He always came up with unique ideas and never hesitated to try them out. His attitude towards music had a positive effect on that of mine as a singer, and I thought it would be great if I can sing an original song made by him one day.
I held onto that dream since then, and I asked him if he can make a song and arrange it for me for the 20th anniversary album. He willingly accepted my offer.
I still can’t believe that it’s happening, but he and I already started working on the song. We’re now in the process called “pre-production,” where we try variety of keys and tempo for the actual recording of the song.
I will be sharing how the production goes on this blog, so please check it out!

We made a special Logo for Eiko Matsumoto’s 20th anniversary project.
It’s designed by Makoto Sato, a.k.a Makochu, who also designed the cover art of her 15th anniversary album “I’m Home.”

Eiko’s request for the special logo was “postmark.” The reason behind it is that she is hoping to deliver new works to you as part of the 20th anniversary project.
The tree in the logo design is the illustration of Zelkova tree found in Eiko’s hometown in Akita.

We are planning to make original merchandise using the logo, so please stay tuned!!

As I told you before, I reunited with Douglas last year and kept being touch with him since then.
(Many people helped me with translation. Thank you so much Jun, Emi, Yukky, and Sumy!)

After 8 months of preparation, the day of the recording trip to Sweden finally came!

This time a videographer and translator came along with me to shoot music video and documentary film for the album.

Here’s a little movie clip of the first day of the trip that I put together.
(Most of the Crowdfunding movie clips are taken by me so forgive me if some of them are very shaky.. )

For Eiko Matsumoto 20th anniversary project, we prepared a variety of offers for the Crowdfunding.
Among all the offers we provided, here is our recommended offer.

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

Some of you may already know but Eiko Matsumoto has long been a DJ for her radio program “Eiko Matsumoto’s Sound Sketch.”
In that radio program she welcomes new guests every week to talk about their upcoming songs as well as the guests private lifestyles.

It makes you more curious about the artists if you get to know a little about their lives outside of work, isn’t it?

We were thinking that it would be great if we had a radio program like that for her 20th anniversary album, so we just decided to make one! This radio program will be an one time only for the Crowdfunding offer. In that radio program, she’ll be the interviewer AND the guest.

We hope that you will enjoy listening to the album, and be able to know the background of the production with the program.

My 20th anniversary project began with the reunion with Douglas Carr, music producer from Sweden.
He is the producer of my first album “My First Touch” and he is someone who helped me build a base as a singer when I started out.
For 18 years after recording with Douglas, I kept thinking that I wanted to make music with him again, but he is in Sweden and I had no way to contact him so every time I thought of that, I just convinced myself to give up.
Later on we started using SNS, and all of a sudden I decided to try to find Douglas on facebook.
I found him right away. I wasn’t sure if he remembered me or if my broken English made sense to him, so I hesitated first but decided to send a message anyway.
Then he replies me, “Yes, of course I remember you!”
I was so happy and excited that we reconnected after such a long time! We kept messaging back and forth for a while, and one day he told me that he’d be coming to Japan for work. So we decided to meet up.
I felt kind of stupid because I wasted so much time thinking about it. Ultimately we made plans right away and we met up last year here in Tokyo.
Then he replied to me, “Yes, of course I remember you!”
I was so happy and excited that we reconnected after such a long time! We kept messaging back and forth for a while, and one day he told me that he’d be coming to Japan for work. So we decided to meet up.
He hadn’t changed in 18 years. He told me about what he had been up to all these years. It was so fun to catch up with him and the time felt very short.
At the end of our meeting, I brought myself to ask him if we can make music together again for my 20th anniversary album. He says, “Of course! I have some music here.” He gave me a USB that already had some demo songs on it.
I think he might’ve known from the moment I contacted him. He’s a quick smart person.
From this moment my 20th anniversary project had begun.
To be continued..

It was my first time to try out Crowdfunding so I was very nervous on September 1st, the day my Crowdfunding page launched. I couldn’t sleep well the night before, and I had a lot of work to do on that day but I couldn’t concentrate on what I was doing because I was too worried about it. That is why I was so surprised and happy that I raised 50% of what I’m intending to raise just on the very first day. I was at a loss for words when I saw that happened. My staff and I were so moved we cried. We can’t thank you enough!
We just started working on my 20th anniversary project, so we haven’t finished the album yet but we will be sharing the making of it with you all during the Crowdfunding.
We’ll be sharing the updates of album on this blog too, so please check it out!
Thank you so much!