Hana Hope

Overview

Hana Hope (ハナホープ) is a singer-songwriter born in 2006. She grew up singing with a ukulele at home and in local live houses, and her voice drew attention to the point that Yukihiro Takahashi signed her as a singer. She debuted in 2022 as Hana Hope on the independent label UMAA, and made her major debut on July 30, 2023 with Sony Music Associated Records. Her 2023 album HUES placed second in the J-POP / Kayokyoku category of Music Magazine's Best Albums 2023.

Career

2019: At 13, she joined the Yellow Magic Children tribute concert marking YMO's 40th anniversary and began performing in earnest, then under the name HANA. She appeared on March 14, sang on ROTH BART BARON's track "Kemono no Namae" from the album Kemonotachi no Namae, and joined the tour opening on November 27 at Shibuya WWW X.
2020: She sang lead vocals on TOWA TEI's "MAGIC" (June), took part in the theme song "Melody-Go-Round" for the documentary film Onkyo House Melody-Go-Round, and appeared at Keiichi Suzuki's 50th anniversary live at Billboard Live TOKYO on November 28.
2021: She voiced Satoshi, Megumi's younger brother, in Mamoru Hosoda's anime film Belle (Ryu to Sobakasu no Hime), released in July.
2022: She debuted as Hana Hope on February 25 with the single "Sentiment / Your Song". In November she released her second single "Kimi wa Mou Hitori ja Nai" and "16 – sixteen," which she wrote and composed herself. In December came "Soredemo Ashita wa," the theme song of the film Atsui Mune Sawagi.
2023: On March 1 she released "We've Come So Far," produced by British electro-pop duo HONNE, which ranked second for three consecutive weeks on J-Wave TOKIO HOT100. Her first album HUES was released digitally on March 15. On July 30 she made her major debut with "flowers," the Fate/Grand Order Memorial Movie 2023 theme. In October she performed the opening theme "Kieru made" for the TV anime Hametsu no Oukoku, released as a single on November 29. On December 14 she held her first post-major-debut solo show, Hana Hope 2023 : The new chapter, at Shibuya duo MUSIC EXCHANGE.
2024: In March she released "Rain Or Shine," written and composed by cero's Shohei Takagi. In April she appeared at "super folklore," a music event produced by Takeshi Kobayashi, performing with Mr.Children's Kazutoshi Sakurai, and sang "Tabi no Yukue," the opening theme of the TV anime Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf. She released the digital single "Summertime Blues" in August and "Akairo," the second-season ending theme of The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse, in December.
2025: From January she sang "Auld Lang Syne" on NHK's Meikyoku Album. On March 5 she pre-released the collaboration "Free Bird" with jo0ji, and on March 19 released her major first album Between The Stars, which includes it. She held the solo show Between The Stars at Shibuya WWW on April 20, and in May appeared on Music Station with the Pocari Sweat commercial song "99 Steps feat Kohjiya, Hana Hope." In July she released "Sapphire," the ending theme of the TV anime Ruri no Houseki, and on August 11 held the solo show Written In The Stars at Daikanyama UNIT.

Background and Musical Style

Born and raised in Tokyo to an American father from Pennsylvania and a Japanese mother, she studied piano from a young age, took up the ukulele at eight, and began writing songs around eleven. She attended an international school and served as student council president in high school. A devoted fan of overseas indie music, she cites Ashe, Boygenius and Lizzy McAlpine among her favorites. She is set to attend university in the United States from September 2025, balancing study and her career. Her work is categorized as anime music, and she has performed many anime and film themes.