ANNOUNCES A NORTH AMERICAN TOUR IN 2026 ALONG WITH THE RELEASE OF THEIR NEW EP CALLED “HOT TOPIC”
Coming off from their busy 2025 European tour, the all female Japanese Metal Band HANABIE. is on a mission to continue to deliver their style of metal music called HARAJUKU-CORE all over the world. S.L.R. MAGAZINE and I are here with the ladies of HANABIE. for this exclusive interview of their latest adventures in life and in music and about their upcoming 2026 North American Tour and latest EP.
Title photo by the bands management.
Photos and written by © Don Marcelo Photography 2026.
• Hello Ladies of HANABIE. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me/us here at S.L.R. MAGAZINE. How is everyone doing? How was your European tour altogether? Were there any special moments, funny moments, or stories or whatever that you would like to share to all your fans that stood out during your European tour?
Chika : Every time we come to Europe on tour, we feel like the number of familiar faces in the crowd keeps growing, and that makes us really happy! We’ve also noticed that more and more people can speak Japanese, which is always amazing to experience.
One especially memorable moment was when we held a “graduation party” for one of our merch staff members. She has been with us since our very first European tour, so the band wrote her letters and gave her presents to show our appreciation. It was a bittersweet but really fun and heartwarming night.
• I was once corrected by a super fan that your music and genre shouldn’t be called “KAWAII METAL” but instead to describe this genre as “HARAJUKU-CORE METAL.” Please explain to music fans who don’t know the meaning of “HARAJUKU-CORE METAL” and the origin of the term and who came up with that term and why it shouldn’t be described as Kawaii Metal.
Hettsu : We first came across the term “HARAJUKU-CORE” in a comment from an overseas fan on the music video for our song “-我甘党-(WE LOVE. SWEETS)” .
We really liked the expression, so we started using it ourselves.
Harajuku is a place where many different fashions and cultures mix together, and where people freely express their individuality in their own unique ways. In the same way, our music is a mixture of metal, rock, pop, and many other genres and influences. Because of that, we feel a strong connection between our sound and the spirit of Harajuku.
That’s why we feel that “HARAJUKU-CORE” represents our music much more accurately than simply calling it “Kawaii Metal.”
• I have been following your music and LIVE performance since the summer of 2023 and I first saw your show in Los Angeles at The World Famous Whisky A Go Go, in which I also covered that EPIC performance in October of 2023 for S.L.R. MAGAZINE. I have seen your live performance 5 times now (twice covering for S.L.R. MAGAZINE and three times just as a music fan) and I have seen the tremendous growth and popularity of your band since then. What has been the most challenging thing for you as a band or as individuals while touring these past several years since you have been non-stop busy touring all over, especially right after Jose Mangin, The Ambassador of Metal, dubbed you as one of his “new favorite Metal Bands” right after your show at AFTERSHOCK FESTIVAL and you immediately blew up after 2023 gaining a lot of new Western fans.
Matsuri : Meeting Jose was a major turning point for us as a band. After he played HANABIE.’s music on his radio show, we really felt that many more people started to discover us, and we are truly grateful to him for that.
Life on tour isn’t made up of fun moments alone. However, with the joy we feel on stage and the support of our happy team—who are always able to laugh together—we’ve been able to overcome many challenges and make it through each tour. I believe that every one of those experiences has helped build confidence in all of us as band members.
• Describe to us your new EP, “HOT TOPIC.” How did you come up with the title of this EP? How would you compare this new EP with your previous ones? Are there any differences or do the fans expect the same type of explosive raw energy and hard pound riffs with this new EP or maybe even more explosive. Any favorite songs from each one of you.
Matsuri : The two new songs on the EP, “ICONIC” and “Tokimeki About you” are tracks that express the simplicity of the sound and the dynamic energy of HANABIE. in a very straightforward way.
By adding those new songs to already explosive tracks like “Spicy Queen” and “GIRL’S TALK” which really emphasize power and intensity, we think the appeal of the new songs stands out even more. My personal favorite is “ICONIC”!
Please enjoy the music together with the lyrics.
Chika : My favorite song is “Tokimeki About you”!
The drums and bass are really groovy, and when I’m playing it, I feel like I get completely absorbed into the world of the song. I love that feeling!
Hettsu : My favorite is “Spicy Queen”!
It’s a song we made to celebrate our 10th anniversary as a band, and it’s a super popular track where everyone can sing along to the chorus and have fun moshing at shows. Just like spicy food, the sound is addictive—you can keep listening to it again and again♪
Yukina : For me, it has to be… “Theme of Hanabien-chan.”
After four really cool songs, I want to see people’s faces when this suddenly starts playing at the end. This character with the nose-shaped design is something I created myself. Oh, but it’s an unofficial character—she hasn’t been officially approved by the other members yet. Haha!
In Japanese kids’ TV shows, you often see a “singing big sister” performing together with a character. Of course, Matsuri is the big sister, and I’m Hanabien-chan! It’s becoming kind of a tradition for us to include a unique, playful track at the end of our EPs and albums. We just can’t stop having fun!
• For 2026, you announced that you are having an ambitious 21 shows across The United States. That’s a lot of shows especially since you had a ton of shows and festivals in 2025, from concerts headlining at various music venues in the early part of 2025 in The U.S., including VANS WARPED TOUR, as well as your European tour. So tell us, where do you get all that energy, especially Yukina who seems to have so much energy jumping all the time while performing? How do you balance and find rest during touring and performing at such high energy levels all the time on stage. Any advice you can give to other musicians from diet to routines to vitamins or any secrets you want to share on having all this energy and stamina on stage all the time.
Yukina : When I’m in Japan, I try to take care of myself by going to a personal gym, getting bodywork treatments, and sometimes doing Pilates for maintenance.
But honestly, once I’m out on tour, I don’t really get to do much of that.
And when it comes to food, I absolutely love anything that goes well with mustard and ketchup! Junk food, thank you! Haha.
My way of relaxing on tour is shopping. Every time, my suitcase ends up being a total disaster, so next time I’ll try to be more careful not to buy too much!
But my energy definitely comes from the audience. Without everyone there, I probably wouldn’t even be able to jump at all.
• So question for each member, which music venue or music festival has been your favorite one and tell us why?
Matsuri : My favorite was Greenfield Festival in Switzerland in 2024.
It was the first time in my life that I got to see Green Day live, and their performance was absolutely overwhelming. I enjoyed it as a fan, but at the same time I received so much inspiration from it.
In fact, the song “Butchigiri Tokyo” was created after being inspired by that day’s show!
Chika : For me, it was “Pol’and’Rock Festival 2025” in Poland last summer.
It was the festival where the largest audience in HANABIE.’s history came to see us. The lighting was huge and incredibly vivid, and seeing the crowd enjoying the show like a massive celebration is something I’ll never forget. I really hope to see that scene again someday!
Hettsu : My favorite was Good Things Festival in Australia in 2023!
It’s a festival that travels to three cities—Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane—with the same lineup of artists, so there was a strong sense of unity throughout the tour.
Each show also had its own unique vibe, and we had a lot of fun at every stop—like riding the “Zekkyo Machine” (the scream ride) at the festival! My favorite was Good Things Festival in Australia in 2023!
Yukina : Louder Than Life 2023 is especially memorable for me.
We had just started performing overseas, and that day we played on the stage next to the Japanese band SiM. They performed right after us, so I still remember the moment of passing the baton to the senior band we’ve always admired—right there in America.
It was also the first time in my life that I saw Limp Bizkit live. The crowd was so huge that you couldn’t even see the back, and the way they kept the entire audience moving was truly overwhelming.
• Any last words you would like to share with your fans or any dream music venues or music festivals you would love to perform in the future either here in North America, or Europe, or Asia?
Matsuri : I’m always supported by the energy we get from all of you! In 2026, starting with HOT TOPIC, we’re going to keep going full throttle, so please keep supporting us!
When we played in Toulouse during our 2025 EU tour, we saw a venue nearby called Zénith Toulouse Métropole. We all said, “Next time, that’s the place.” So that’s a goal we really want to make happen!
Chika : Thank you so much for always listening to our music! We’ve created a really cool new release called HOT TOPIC, so please check it out! And keep watching us as we continue to grow and evolve!
One of my big dreams is to play the main stage at Download Festival someday—we performed on a sub-stage in 2024, so next time I want to go even bigger!
Yukina : Thank you for all the love, always! Because of you, we’re able to be ourselves.
I want us to become a band that can headline festivals all over the world. And when that dream finally comes true, I hope you’ll be right there in the crowd with us.
Hettsu : Thanks to all of you, we’ve been able to perform in so many different places. We’re truly grateful!
There are still so many festivals we want to play and so many cities we want to visit. We’re going to keep pushing forward and pick up even more speed, so please keep cheering us on!
Thank you very much to HANABIE. for taking the time to talk to me and S.L.R. MAGAZINE. We truly can not wait what’s in store for us in 2026 and beyond with your band. Best of everything to each and everyone of you.
– Don Marcelo
HANABIE. is:
Hanabie links
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