Erika Umeda

Biography

Erika Umeda (梅田 えりか, Umeda Erika; born on May 24, 1991) is a Japanese singer and former model. In 2002, she became a member of Hello! Project in their junior group, Hello! Project Kids. In 2003, she became a member of the girl group ZYX before formally debuting in Cute in 2006. In 2009, Umeda graduated from Cute and Hello! Project to pursue a solo career in modeling. In 2013, she returned to her music career with the release of her debut solo single "Crush On You."

2002–2004: Hello! Project Kids and ZYX

Umeda was born in Minami-ku, Yokohama, Japan. In 2002, she auditioned for Hello! Project Kids with the song "White Love" by Speed. Her audition tape was aired on Morning Musume's variety show Hello! Morning. She was placed in the group with 14 other girls. In the same year, she appeared in the movie Koinu Dan no Monogatari.
In 2003, Umeda became a member of the subgroup ZYX along with Mari Yaguchi from Morning Musume, Maimi Yajima, Saki Shimizu, Megumi Murakami, and Momoko Tsugunaga. They released their debut single, "Iku ZYX! Fly High" on August 6, 2003, followed by "Shiroi Tokyo" on December 10, 2003. Later, in 2004, she participated in singing "All for One & One for All!", a collaboration single released by all Hello! Project artists under the name "H.P. All Stars."

2005–2009: Cute

In 2004, Berryz Kobo was created with the intention of rotating all of the members of Hello! Project Kids to make time for school, but the idea was later scrapped, and the remaining girls who were not chosen were rebranded under the name Cute on June 11, 2005. On August 1, 2009, Hello! Project announced that Umeda was graduating from the company on October 25, 2009, the last day of Cute's concert tour, to become a fashion model.

2010–present: Solo career

In 2010, Umeda was signed into a model agency called Illume Models. She made her runaway debut in Girls Award Summer 2010 and continued to appear as a regular model at every seasonal show until 2013. She also appeared at the Tokyo Girls Collection Spring/Summer 2012 show.
In 2013, Umeda left modeling to return to music and signed with Brand-New Music. She released her first solo album Erika×erika12 February 2012 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracks1White Anniversary4:572Crush on You !4:293キミはClione4:094All for U !3:505My Sunshine5:066Waitin' For Your Love4:087New Year Song5:34 on February 12, 2014, with the lead single "Crush On You." In 2018, she became the advisor for the girl group Turtle Lily.

Personal life

On August 15, 2021, Umeda announced on her blog and Instagram account that she had married Hirokasu Goto, a radio personality from Niigata Prefecture, and that she was pregnant with their first child. Their son was born on January 1, 2022. Their second son was born in June 2023. On July 2, 2026, Umeda announced through her Instagram account that she and Goto had divorced in March 2025 but have a co-parenting relationship.