What is "Haruka Tomatsu's character" as seen on the occasion of her 10th anniversary as a singer?　Interview with Haruka Tomatsu on her 4th album "COLORFUL GIFT

Haruka Tomatsu released her 4th album "COLORFUL GIFT", her first original album in 3 years. It is a monumental album that was born from a combination of all these timing factors: gratitude for the past activities, a sense of self in retrospect, and an energetic spirit with an eye toward live performances. We asked her about the orange color and her "debut as an actor," her growth and confidence as an artist, and the realization of her long-held dream, all told for the first time.

The last track is the first time Haruka Tomatsu sings about her experiences as a singer in words.

─ Your new album "COLORFUL GIFT," your first original album in three years, is being released just before your 10th anniversary as a singer. First of all, how do you feel about the 10th anniversary of your debut as a singer?

Tomatsu: I often see artists talking about their 10th anniversary on music programs and think, "It's amazing to have been singing for 10 years," but when the time came for me to celebrate, I wasn't aware that it was my 10th anniversary at all (laughs). (Laughs.) It was the same for the 5th anniversary, and I only became aware of it when I received flowers from a fan. I had already received a fan letter last year saying, "Next year will be our 10th anniversary! I had already received a fan letter saying, "Next year will be our 10th anniversary! It was such a short time, and I realized once again that I have been able to come this far thanks to the various forms of support I have received from everyone, and it gave me a chance to reevaluate my past.

─ When you made your debut, how many years did you have in mind for the future?

Tomatsu: At the time, I wasn't thinking about the future. It was the first time for my agency to release a CD, and I had only experience in recording character songs, so I started from the idea of what it would be like to sing under my own name, Haruka Tomatsu. I am a very curious person, so rather than thinking about how long I could do it for, I just tried to do my best with what was in front of me and enjoy it as much as I could as long as I had the chance and timing to do so, and before I knew it, we had reached our 10th anniversary. I had a lot going on in the past 10 years, including my activities as a voice actor and with Sphere, so I think that everything was connected and that is what led me to this album.

─ Is this album based on the concept of the 10th anniversary?

Tomatsu: We didn't put it out there as a whole, but we suggested that we include something related to it as a "back theme". It's been three years since I've made an original album, and also, during these three years, the way I expressed myself and my skills were changing rapidly, so I made notes of things I wanted to try and things I thought would be even slightly interesting during this time.

──You mentioned in what you just said about the changes in your own skills, how do you yourself view these changes?

Tomatsu: I think it's not just the individual expressions, but also my physical strength, which inevitably declines after the age of 25, so I have started to make an effort not to lose it. Until then, I had been able to do what I wanted because of my youth and energy (laughs). But after I turned 25, it was just a little bit of daily awareness, such as not neglecting muscle training even when there are no live performances, but I have more stamina now than in my early 20s, and my throat is stronger. This is the result of my various experiences, such as the increased opportunities to perform live as a soloist and in Sphere, and the re-training of my voice through performing on stage, which has made me more enjoyable and spontaneous than before and given me more confidence. In both solo and in Sphere, I can now say, "What? I can do it now. I can do it now.

(laughs) ─ I think the last track "Color Diary" is the one that shows such a journey of Tomatsu-san's most strongly in this album.

Tomatsu: I think this song was made possible because this was our 10th anniversary year. I have been supported by so many fans that I am here today, so I told the staff that I wanted to convey my feelings of "Thank you" through the song and asked them to write it for me. I had written songs like this in the past, but I wanted to express it in my own words, so I told the lyricist what made me happy and what impressed me during my 10 years of activities. So the seeds of these lyrics are based on episodes that only Haruka Tomatsu experienced, or on her own intentions, so I think some fans will be able to tell that the lyrics must be about that time. The second half of the song is a song of "Thank you," but it is also a song that says "I wish you all the best in the future," so the second half of the lyrics are filled with our will and thoughts for the future.

─ How did you think about the direction of the song?

Tomatsu: I think that many of the songs with this kind of theme are quiet ballads, but there was a lot of discussion before we decided on the song. I thought that if the lyrics were about a weighty theme and the song was a moist ballad to match, it would be a bit different from the image I had of Haruka Tomatsu. The lyrics are filled with things I wanted to convey, so I wanted the song to be bright and positive, with an image of "Thank you and best wishes for the future. I told her that I wanted the song to be cheerful, positive, fresh, and lighthearted, with the image of "Thank you and best wishes for the future. After listening to a variety of songs, we finally settled on this one. I was able to follow my beliefs in this song.

─ How did you put those feelings into the songs?

Tomatsu: I put my feelings into every song, but this one, "Color Diary," was special. In other songs, I sometimes choose a main character and sing as someone else, but this song is the first time I put my own experiences and words into it, so when I recorded it, I felt like I was really expressing Haruka Tomatsu's emotions. Whenever I came to a lyric that contained a memory, the scene of the original experience would come to mind, and that alone would change the expression of the song. I recorded the song with these visions that were only in my mind.