From Puffy AmiYumi’s official website April 1st, 2012:

“I have a personal announcement to share with everyone. I’m going to become a mommy this summer! I’m a little worried since everything is still so new to me but there’s so much to look forward to that everyday is very fulfilling. As for work during this period, I will be consulting Ami and the staff to balance and work as much as I can, so please keep supporting us.” – Yumi Yoshimura

Yumi married her long-term friend who is described in the media as “a businessman five years younger than her”. You go girl! She was previously married to singer Takanori Nishikawa aka T.M. Revolution.

In her previous announcement on her 2009 wedding she said:

“I have a personal announcement to make. I, Yumi Yoshimura, has gotten married on December 31. I’ve been able to catch this great happiness but I still plan to take charge as always so please continue to send us your support. I will continue trying to do my best. He is 29 years old, and we’ve been friends for 7 years. As he doesn’t work in the same entertainment industry it would be great if we are quietly supported. Hope everyone has a great year!

Oh, btw, no worries cause I’m not pregnant.” – – Yumi Yoshimura

So looks like Ami’s growing daughter will soon have a baby to play with.

Links
Puffy AmiYumi Official
Puffy AmiYumi World
J-Pop World News and Comments Homepage
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“Thank You” album covers (Limited Edition left, regular right)

Fifteen years later… Puffy are still going strong with their latest anniversary album, “Thank You”, including a twelve show tour of Japan from April 2 to May 15. The limited edition includes a bonus (region-2 encoded) DVD featuring 17 music videos including “Hajimari no Uta” and “Happy Birthday”.

Thank You
2011/03/09
Sony Music Entertainment

1. MY COUNTRY ROAD
2. LOVE
3. R.G.W.
4. HOSHI GIRL
5. WAKE UP. MAKE UP WITH ANI.BOSE
6. HARU NO UTA
7. KOI NO YAMAARASHI
8. AI NO ODESSEY
9. BANZAI!
10. FISH ON
11. NO! NO!
12. YOKUBOU
13. HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Links

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R.G.W. album cover

Ami and Yumi reunite with their mentor Tamio Okuda for another three song release.

R.G.W. (11-17-2010)
Label/Distributor Sony Music Entertainment

1. R.G.W. (lyrics: Tamio Okuda & Puffy/music: Tamio Okuda)
2. Jet Love (lyrics: Yumi Yoshimura/music: Shigeo Naka)
3. Koi no Yama Arashi (lyrics: Ami Onuki/music: Taka Aoki)

Also in the news, Puffy’s previous two albums “Bring it!” and “honeycreeper” are now available for download from iTunes.

Bring it!
honeycreeper

Links

J-Pop World News and Comments Homepage
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Puffy AmiYumi: Yumi (left) and Ami (right)

It’s been awhile but Puffy will be doing a show on October 10, 2010 at New York’s Irving Plaza as part of the “Far East To East Showcase (FETES)” in the New York Anime Festival. In addition to their ongoing Japan tour they will also be making stops in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

HONG KONG
Date: September 23, 2010
Time: 8pm
Place: Hall 5G, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Ticket price: HK$690/490/290
Contact: Bravo Entertainment
Tel: +852-8104-7355

TAIWAN
Date: September 25, 2010
Time: 7:30 pm
Place: TICC Taipei International Convention Center
Contact: Kuang Hong Arts Management
Tel: +886-(0)7-7809900

NEW YORK
“Far East To East Showcase (FETES)”
Date : October 10, 2010
Place : Irving Plaza, NY (adress : 17 Irving Place, New York, NY 10003)
TICKETS: $22 / tickets bought day of show will be $25
Information : Irving Plaza
Ticketmaster

Links:

Puffy’s MySpace page
Superglorious.com

J-Pop World News and Comments Homepage
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Puffy AmiYumi: Yumi (left) and Ami (right)

Yumi started the new year with a new husband. She apparently broke up with her long term boyfriend Nao Omori in August and has been dating what is being described as a “29 year-old businessman” since September (Yumi will be 35 on January 30 — you go girl!). The two have been friends for 7 years. They registered their marriage on December 31st but so far no news about a wedding ceremony.

Here is Yumi’s official announcement from their website:

—————————-

“**** Message from Yumi:

“I have a personal announcement to make.
I, Yumi Yoshimura, has gotten married on December 31.
I’ve been able to catch this great happiness but I still plan to take charge as always
so please continue to send us your support.
I will continue trying to do my best.
He is 29 years old, and we’ve been friends for 7 years.
As he doesn’t work in the same entertainment industry
it would be great if we are quietly supported.
Hope everyone has a great year!

Oh, btw, no worries cause I’m not pregnant.”

January 2, 2010
Yumi Yoshimura

—————————-

Here was Ami’s official response from her blog:

“I’m sure alot of you were surprised by Yumi-chan’s news.
There is no happier news than this for me, being her other half.
AmiYumi have gone thru so much together that
pain is split in half and happiness is doubled
so I am jumping with joy.
Of course I don’t know all the little details about the 2 but
I’ve met him.
We’ve both taken care by him when we were totally wasted.
The first time I met him was a few years ago
but it was last fall that I was properly introduced to him
as her boyfriend.
My impression of him was that he’s really clever, sweet and he’s really attentive to what’s going on around.
I feel like the “Father of the bride” when I met him,
but it was a great first impression.
I tried to find something wrong about him but couldn’t (LOL).
So, I thought if he’s the one, I’m ok with letting Yumi go.
Congrats, Yunko.
I wish you all the happiness.
You’re always welcome to come back.
…just kidding.”

So what are some of the perks of having once been Japan’s goodwill ambassadors to the US? If you’re Ami and Yumi, you get two seats to watch President Obama give a speech in Tokyo’s Suntory Hall during his first visit to the US last week.

For anyone who missed it Yumi injured herself while driving. Here is the info from Ami’s September 3rd, 2009 blog entry:

“Yumi-chan. Damaged her ribs. More than just a crack but less than a broken bone.

The reason is… While she was driving, she tried to reach for something in the backseat and hit her chest in the headrest. According to Yumi, “Ummm, I felt something was hurting but thought it was just my body going thru adolescent changes so I left it alone for a while. Then the pain didn’t disappear and I realized it wasn’t puberty (LOL) so I finally went to the hospital and I was told it’s cracked. How embarassing.”"

“If you wanna talk about embarassing, it’s the fact that she even thought the pain was puberty(LOL). But, She is totally happy like always so no need to worry. BTW, Ami is sensory sensitive.”

Here is the direct link to their MySpace blog on the subject: MySpace blog

Links:
Puffy official
Puffy MySpace

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“I said to the students (with Puffy in mind) “Imagine this as a pop song for two Japanese girls” and I started to sing this little composition in a furious tempo with a high-pitched voice.” – David Myhr

If you’re a fan of Puffy AmiYumi, Fujifabric or Yuko Yamaguchi then you’ve probably already heard the music of the songwriting duo Anders Hellgren and David Myhr of The Merrymakers. When Tokyo needs someone to make that Boom Boom Beat, The Merrymakers studio in Stockholm, Sweden often gets the call. And yes the rumors are true: they really do play in an ABBA tribute band called Super Trouper.

So come learn about the duo behind such Puffy songs as The Story, Oedo Nagareboshi IV and Otomemoriaru and learn what Andy Sturmer (the American musician who coined Puffy’s name) thought about the band’s decision to translate the Swedish word “festprisse” into the name “merrymakers.”

On August 3, 2009 Anders Hellgren and David Myhr of The Merrymakers were kind enough to give an updated interview to J-Pop World. The Merrymakers Interview.

Dareka Ga regular version album cover

Dareka Ga bonus version album cover

Hot on the heels of their last album, Bring It, Puffy have returned with a new single on July 29 featuring the theme song to “Naruto the Movie: Shippuden Hi no Ishi wo Tsugu Mono” (by the Birthday’s Yusuke Chiba). Also included is the 80kidz Remix version of “Wedding Bell”. The regular edition’s cover art shows Yumi protecting Ami from a stream of water with an umbrella. The bonus version shows a rainbow.

Yumi was good enough to pose with the CD backstage while doing some Mc-ing for Live Factory’s gig at Zepp Tokyo.

Yume with new CD

Dareka Ga (7-29-2009)

Label/Distributor: Sony Music Entertainment

Order from CD Japan
Order from YesAsia

Links:
Puffy official
Puffy MySpace

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Puffy AmiYumi x Puffy album cover

On March 25, 2009 Puffy released a 19-track album containing cover songs of various artists. Most of the songs had been previously released on albums or on singles.

Here was Ami’s blog info on the new release:

PUFFY AMIYUMI / PUFFY Cover album
“PUFFY AMIYUMI x PUFFY”
2009.3.25 In Stores!!
KSCL 1371 / 3,059 YEN(tax incl.)

“We’ve put together specially selected songs as AMIYUMI have participated in many tribute albums and covered many songs.
“BASKET CASE (GREEN DAY)”, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (CYNDI LAUPER)”, “Tenshi no Wing (Seiko Matsuda)”, etc. PUFFY aka PUFFY AMIYUMI (name overseas) have added their own flavor to each song!”

Here is the track list:
1. Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper)
2. Nichiyoubi Yori no Shisha (The High-Lows)
3. Basket Case (Green Day)
4. Frontier no Pioneer [Shiitaka version] (Tamio Okuda)
5. Joining a Fan Club (Jellyfish)
6. Tenshi no Wink (Seiko Matsuda)
7. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (The Beatles)
8. Ningen wa mou Owari da! (Magokoro Brothers)
9. Radio Tokyo (Marvelous3)
10. Kenkou (Tamio Okuda)
11. Not Listening (Snuff)
12. Tokyo Hanabi (New Rote’ka)
13. Can-Nana Fever (Guitar Wolf)
14. Hito Natsu no Keiken (Momoe Yamaguchi)
15. Don’t Bring Me Down (Electric Light Orchestra)
16. Yuki Ga Furu Machi (Unicorn)

BONUS TRACKS
1. Hi Hi [Spanish TV MIX]
2. Hi Hi [Portuguese TV MIX]
3. Happy Birthday To You [Dear OOO version]

Order from CD Japan
Order from YesAsia

Links:
Puffy official
Puffy MySpace

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