After a journey spanning nearly a year, HIMEHINA WORLD Tour 2026 “LIFETIME is BUBBLIN”, which kicked off in November 2025 reached its grand finale in October 2026. Starting from six cities across Japan (Yokohama, Fukuoka, Osaka, Sendai, Nagoya, and Sapporo) and then expanding abroad to Taipei, Seoul, and San Jose, the virtual artist duo HIMEHINA carried all the emotions and memories built along the way,and finished the world tour by making a triumphant return performance in Tokyo.
Prior to the grand finale, we spoke with Ms. Kawamura, CEO of LaRa Inc., about the story behind conducting the first-ever solo world tour by a VTuber artist, the passion driving the project, and their vision for the future.
Kano Kawamura
CEO and Creative Producer at LaRa Inc.
Appointed CEO of LaRa Inc. in June 2026, while also serving as Creative Producer.
Reasons behind expanding worldwide
━━ We heard that it was originally planned as an Asia tour. What was behind the decision to expand it into a full world tour?
Kawamura：To be honest, it wasn’t something we strategically targeted from the start, nor did we have a world tour in the plans initially. For North America, we unexpectedly received an email with a passionate request asking us to hold a HIMEHINA concert there. On top of that, for South Korea, we were able to secure a venue through an introduction by Kakao (*1), a shareholder of Brave group. That’s how the scale expanded into a world tour. In countries where HIMEHINA had never performed live before, we decided to take a bet on the people who took a chance on our potential. Although it meant overturning all the merch plans we had already prepared for the ASIA Tour, as entertainers, we felt we simply had to ride this “big wave” that would help accelerate our global expansion. It may have been a coincidence, but I truly believe it was a drama brought together by pure passion.
Differences in Audience Reactions Between Japan and Overseas
━━ What stood out to you most about the passion and reactions of overseas JOJI (HIMEHINA fans)?
Kawamura：When holding shows in each country, I felt a different kind of excitement compared to Japan, such as in the call-and-response and the timing of their reactions to the performance. Overseas fans don’t know when the next opportunity to see a concert in their country might come, so they hold a deeply passionate appreciation for having a live performance on their home turf. Because of that, there were many moments where we saw an intense level of enthusiasm, with crowds cheering even louder than those in Japan.
Challenges Unique to Overseas Performances
━━ Since this was a world tour, were there any specific challenges unique to performing overseas?
Kawamura：Yes, there were quite a few, but if I had to pick one example, it would be the challenge of doing MCs in the local language. When communicating during MC segments, even slight differences in intonation or pronunciation could cause misunderstandings and dampen the atmosphere in the venue, so they had to practice their pronunciation as much as possible to properly reach the local fans. Naturally, there were other overseas-specific hurdles as well, such as issues with locally sourced equipment and finding the optimal promotional approach for each country.
Future Strategies for Overseas Expansion
━━ Could you tell us about your future plans or strategies for expanding overseas?
Kawamura：We are eager to actively continue our overseas expansion. Through this tour, we were able to experience firsthand how fan communities are developing in different parts of the world and just how passionate those fans truly are. This strengthened our desire to push forward with global expansion. We plan to start in Asia, particularly regions like Taipei that have a high affinity for Japanese content like anime and VTubers, and then progressively expand to North America and Europe. Since music is a medium that transcends language barriers, we aim to focus on music moving forward, incorporating local languages into our releases and taking a localized approach that stays close to fans in each country.
Essence of Live Performances and Uniqueness
━━ Could you tell us about the key characteristics of HIMEHINA’s live shows, as well as the moments that moved you during this tour?
Kawamura：To be honest, there were so many emotional moments that it’s hard to put into words.
I believe the absolute highlight of a HIMEHINA concert is, without a doubt, the crowd shouting and sing-alongs. A journalist who has covered countless concerts once told me, “The atmosphere at a HIMEHINA show is extraordinary. Seeing the entire audience join together to sing along to so many songs alongside the artists is something you just don’t see with any other VTuber”.
For me, the true essence of seeing our JOJI fans lies in those sing-alongs. It shows that a live concert isn’t just something to “watch”, but rather a shared, all-in experience where attendees pour their hearts into it, sweating, getting completely exhausted until their legs feel like lead, and shouting until their voices go hoarse.
Additionally, though this is something we do for every show rather than just this tour, we carry out meticulous technical adjustments at every venue, such as precise audio distance calculations and LED brightness tuning. Beyond pre-event simulations, we continuously make last-minute adjustments during local rehearsals in close collaboration with our veteran stage staff to make every production element work seamlessly.
When I think about all of that effort, I start getting emotional right from the opening countdown. Compared to other VTubers, HIMEHINA’s fanbase spans a remarkably broad demographic across all ages and genders, with even parents and children coming together. Whenever I witness the audience right in front of my eyes crying, laughing, and singing at the top of their lungs, it hits me every time just how many people support us, and my heart fills with heat and gratitude.
The Philosophy Behind the Tour Title “LIFETIME is BUBBLIN”
━━ Could you tell us about the reasoning behind the tour title “LIFETIME is BUBBLIN”?
Kawamura：This is a concept led primarily by the philosophy of Gohgo, who produced the album Bubblin and directed the live show as a whole. His outlook on life has always been accompanied by the idea that “life and death are two sides of the same coin”, and I once heard him say that both hold equal and sacred value.Whether for humans or animals, if you boil life down to its absolute extreme, the destiny of existence consists of “encounters and partings” and “life and death”. I believe the exact same holds true for virtual characters like VTubers. This perspective has been spoken of since HIMEHINA’s earliest songs, such as “Hitogata” and “Utakata Yo Ikanaide”. HIMEHINA has consistently sung about the concept that life can fade away and end in an instant.
The title LIFETIME is BUBBLIN encapsulates this sentiment perfectly. It represents the philosophy that “life is like a bubble”, destined to be born and fleetingly disappear.
Since their debut eight years ago, HIMEHINA has earnestly confronted the profound theme of “life and death”. Even throughout the production of songs like “Yuigon” (Last Will), one could see their commitment to channeling their deepest emotions into their lyrics and vocals. As a result, that powerful expressive ability has touched the hearts of countless fans, and we witness their ongoing growth as artists every single day.
HIMEHINA’s Growth and Awe-Inspiring Power as Artists
━━ Could you share any ways you felt Hime and Hina have grown as artists throughout this tour?
Kawamura：Their singing and dancing have evolved, of course, but these days, we are often saved by their innate talent as performers. Live shows are full of unpredictable moments, and there are times when the staff panics, wondering, “What do we do now?” Yet in those moments, the wealth of experience they’ve built up steps in to pull us through time and time again. Even when equipment got unstable during an MC segment, they naturally distracted the audience with their banter and actions so no one would notice. While they remain their goofy, silly selves at core, that deep well of experience from performing live so many times is precisely why we can trust them with the stage.
Furthermore, through this tour, I was reminded once again that they possess the artistic strength and dignity required to carry the fundamental weight of a theme like “life and death”. HIMEHINA plays the role of a loudspeaker, amplifying music and lyrics out into the world, but they are not just any loudspeaker; they are a loudspeaker infused with the power of will. For vocalists, that power translates into their vocal expression, how they carry their voice along the flow of the words and the nuance of the notes is the true mark of their artistic caliber. I believe the expressive power they possess today is the result of eight years of gradually facing and embracing this philosophy step by step.
Looking to the Future Beyond the World Tour
━━ Once this World Tour concludes, where will Studio LaRa and HIMEHINA head next? Could you share your vision for the future?
Kawamura：The grand finale marks the goal of this adventure, but at the same time, it serves as the wind launching us into a brand-new journey. We’ve set up Day 1 to get everyone hyped as an eve festival, and for Day 2, we’ve prepared a variety of special surprises as the ultimate culmination of this past year.
There are so many futures we want to pursue and things we want to do, and whether what lies ahead is a utopia or a dystopia, I honestly couldn’t tell you. But personally, I prefer a journey with an uncertain destination over a predictable future.
Even in an unpredictable future, I believe we’ll still be fighting, refusing to give up on creating our own version of “the absolute best” in every moment!
I have a feeling that the future of virtual entertainment will ultimately be one that deeply values our very human qualities.
(Interview Date: August 6, 2026)
HIMEHINA LIVE 2027 at NIPPON BUDOKAN
Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2027
Doors Open / Show Starts: 16:30 / 17:30 (tentative)
Venue: Nippon Budokan (2-3 Kitanomaru-koen, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8321)
Performers: HIMEHINA (HIME TANAKA, HINA SUZUKI)
HIMEHINA is fulfilling the promise they made during their 2023 live show, “Chochin Anko, Natsu wo Yuku” (Paper Lanterns in the Dark, Journeying Through Summer)—to reach Nippon Budokan within five years.
▼ Click here for the Budokan Live special website
https://spc.himehina.jp/LiveatBudokan27
