I’m going to do my best in my new projects, too. I don’t want to leave Japan-my heart will always remain here. “I’m about to get on the plane to go back to Canada.
Without steady work, Himeka was unable to renew her visa, and in June 2014, the singer sent out a tear-jerking tweet on her way to the airport. This was followed by a trickle of video game and anime theme performances (usually at a rate of one or two a year), but the outlook wasn’t good for Himeka’s long-term singing career in Japan.Ĭomplicating things further was the fact that after her five-year deal with Sony Music Japan was up, the company declined to offer her a new contract. In 2010 she released an album of anime covers, but it wasn’t until 2011 that her first album of original songs, "himekanvas," went on sale. After her unexpected victory in the summer of 2008, Himeka’s debut single, “Asu e no Kizuna” (“Bonds to Tomorrow”) was used as the opening theme for the TV anime adaptation of video game publisher Sega’s "Valkyria Chronicles."Īfter the heady rush of her early successes in Japan, though, the road began to get bumpier for Himeka. While six of the seven Anison Grand Prix winners were Japanese, the contest’s second iteration was won by Himeka, who had moved to Tokyo to pursue a career in the Japanese music industry that same year. The winner of the competition, which was open to contestants all across Japan who sang covers of preexisting anime themes, would receive a recording contract with Sony Music Japan and be featured as the vocalist for a future series shown on Animax, which is partially owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan. A year later, though, she’s singing a very different tune, tweeting that she “probably shouldn’t have come to Japan” in the first place and regrets her time in the country.įrom 2007 to 2013, anime satellite television broadcaster Animax held an annual singing competition called the Animax Anison Grand Prix. Unable to secure commercial success or a new work visa, Himeka had to return to Canada in 2014, even as she wistfully stated she wanted to remain in Japan forever. The then-27-year-old Canadian singer had just won a national anime song contest in Japan, besting over 3,000 rivals to secure a recording contract and guaranteed theme song performance for an upcoming anime series. Onge, better known by her stage name, Himeka. In 2008, anime fans around the world would have loved to trade places with Catherine St.
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