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Houkago Princess: 2013

On January 6th 2013, Hayamizu Rin, Aiuchi Kohana and Yamakawa Risa joined Houkago Princess and completed the 4th generation Candidates.

 

On March 15th, 3rd generation members Shiraishi Rika and Yamaguchi Miran were both promoted from Apprentices to the Regular lineup, as was 4th generation member Kizuki Saori. Around this time, it was revealed that Kobayashi Rena of the 2nd generation had been Dismissed from the group, most likely for breaking the rules of her contract.

 

Sometime in March, Miyashita Mayuka returned to Houkago Princess, however began again as a Candidate. She became the sole member of the 2.5th generation.

On April 6th, Matsumoto Ria of the 4th generation Candidates had been Dismissed from the group, and following on April 22nd it had been announced that 3rd generation Candidate Asakura Megumi was also Dismissed, both for breaking the rules of their contracts.

 

On May 5th, a new member named Suzukawa Kanari was announced for the 5th generation Candidates through Houkago Princesses blog.

 

On May 15th, Houkago Princess went on to release their fifth single, Juliet~Kimi wo Suki na 100 no Riyuu~ (2013 ver.) publicly. The song came in four versions, and contained newly recorded versions of songs from previous singles. This was the first public release from the group in over a year.

 

Around late June, early July, it was announced that Suzukawa Kanari had withdrawn from Houkago Princess. The reason for her leave cited that, due to travelling difficulties from her hometwon of Aichi to Tokyo, Kanari could not fully participate in live or promotional events, and so she chose to leave Houkago Princess.

 

 

On June 2nd, 3rd generation Apprentice Momoko Fuuka had withdrawn from Houkago Princess upon her own request. She was followed by 2nd generation member Nagafuji Aoi who, on June 30th, graduated from Houkago Princess in order to focus on her studies.

 

On July 5th, Chiba Sakino made her second Graduation announcement and had her final live performance and graduation ceremony on July 21st in order to focus on a career in fashion. Three days before Sakino's graduation, 3rd generation Apprentice member Aiuchi Kohana announced that she would be withdrawing from Houkago Princess on July 21st as well in order to focus on family circumstances that had arisen.

 

It was on July 21st during the Graduation ceremonies that Ayase Miho was promoted to the Regular lineup, as well as the final 3rd generation member to become a full member of Houkago Princess. On this day, Sakurai Riho was revealed as the groups newest 5th generation Candidate member. Both Fukuhara Kyoka and Nagasawa Marina were also introduced as the 5th generation Apprentice members.

 

On July 27th and July 28th, Houkago Princess performed at Tokyo Idol Festival 2013 for the first time.

On July 28th, Sakuragi Nene announced her hiatus from Houkago Princess. Her reasons for doing so were so that she could focus on her University studies. There was, at the time, an undecided point that she would return.

 

On August 7th, Houkago Princess collaborated with GuitarMan GPK and various other artists for the cover mini-album, KING OF POPS 2. This was the groups first collaboration.

 

 

On September 10th, Noda Hitomi had been Dismissed from Houkago Princess after it was discovered that she had been personally contacting and dating a fan. The fan in question had been banned from all future Houkago Princess performances. Following the incident, Noda Hitomi issued an apology to her fans, the group members and staff via her blog. Because of the incident, the Staff made an announcement that they would strengthen the security between members and fans, as well as monitor any messages and interaction between the members and the fans.

 

Later, on September 28th,  both Chiba Sakino and Noda Hitomi announced that they would be a part of a new group named READY to KISS. The group would be made up of five former members of Houkago Princess, as well as managed by HouPri's former agency, Get-Crazy. The members included: Chiba Skaino, Noda Hitomi, Nagafuji Aoi, Kobayashi Rena and Suzukawa Kanari, as well as a new member named Ichinose Anju.

 

On October 5th, Odagiri Nana released her very first solo Calendar for the year 2014. On October 11th, it was announced through Twitter that READY to KISSES Suzukawa Kanari had chosen to stop her activities within the group.

 

On October 13th, 4th generation Apprentice members Hayamizu Rin, Yamakawa Risa and the 2.5th generation member, Miyashita Mayuka, were all promoted to the Regular lineup. Both 5th generation members Fukuhara Kyoka and Nagasawa Marina were then promoted to Apprentice status.

During the October 13th performance, Michishige Saho was announced as the groups newest member, and the first of the 6th generation Candidates.

 

On October 19th, Houkago Princess released their first group calendar for 2014. On October 20th, Shiraishi Rika made an announcement that she would be going on hiatus from Houkago Princess in order to study for her then up-coming exams. She did not give a time period for how long she would be away from the group.

 

On November 27th, Houkago Princess released their sixth single, Samu wa Fuyui! to the general public. On the same day, Odagiri Nana also released her debut Gravure DVD.

 

On December 7th, Shiraishi Rika announced her Graduation from Houkago Princess. She cited her reasons for leaving as that she wanted to focus on studying in order to get into University. Her final performance with Houkago Princess took place on December 14th and December 15th.

 

On December 26th, Sakurai Riho, who had also been chosen to participate in the Young GanGan Gravure contest for 2014, revealed that she would be suspending her activities from December 19th until early January 2014, as she would be travelling to Vienna, Austria, in study Classicla Piano. On December 22nd, Fukuhara Kyoka went on a sudden hiatus from the group.

 

On December 26th, Yamakawa Risa announced her suspension from activites until January, as she would need to treat her foot after fracturing it during a performance.

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