Random Updates About Destination Nowhere

Since the Closed Note incident happened, Erika has stayed out of the public eye for quite a while. Just recently, under the name "ERIKA", she has appeared on the TV once again, this time about her new single. When asked about how she felt about the release of her this new single, Erika with a bright smile replied "I really look forward to it!". The promotional video for 'Destination Nowhere' was filmed about 10 days ago, two weeks after her now infamous appearance on 'Super Monday' to apologize for her attitude at the Closed Note premiere. Erika is very excited about this release, and says it's a song she's always wanted to do, and she sincerely hopes people will listen to this song! Once they were done filming the video, Erika went to her backup musicians and asked "Should we consider naming the band?". Finally, they mention that in September, Erika had gone alone to a desert in America to experience being in one. This is probably where she got the idea for the lyrics!

information, basic translation from hydetetsu@esn

Destination Nowhere PV Preview!

Or, download here. (FLV File, 11.2MB, Opens with VLC Player, Media Player Classic, FLV Player)

Destination Nowhere Covers + Promotional Photo!

Destination Nowhere (English Translation)

Destination Nowhere - ERIKA
Lyrics: ERIKA × LOVE
Composition: COZZi

In a soundless desert, under the star filled sky,
I raise up my head and look at it.
This scenery will continue until where?
And where will I walk to?
I reach out my frozen hand to touch the light
Before that imaginary star disappears.

Take off to the sky,wind is crying,
Don't let this confuse you.
Hear the calling from the other side,
And together, we will hear a voice we have never heard before.

What was gathered that night, felt just like walking on snow.
Walking in silence,
But when I look back there's sure to be a footprint left.
When tomorrow morning comes...
I had never met myself yet,
But the shadow over the other side had already disappeared.

Take off to the sky,wind is crying,
I am myself.
Hear the future in the wind,
And together, we will hear a voice we have never heard before.

Destination Nowhere,
Always miss the Destination.
The shape of it is always changing, like sand.

Take off to the sky,wind is crying,
Don't let this confuse you.
Hear the calling from the other side.
Feel it now..
Because I want to see you.
I release what i feel in my heart.
Hear the future in the wind,
And together, we will hear a voice we have never heard before.

thanks to hydetetsu from esn

Destination Nowhere (Full Song)

We have the full version of Destination Nowhere now! This should only be used to preview the song, and if you like it, buy the single!

You can download the song at any of these links:
Sendspace | Mediafire | Zshare | Megaupload

Thanks Square07 at ESC

MOT SPACE FOR YOUR FUTURE

On Oct 26, 2007 Erika attended an Art-Related event (Space For Your Future) which was held in Tokyo, this is the first time Erika has appeared at any event since Closed Note PR incident happened. Since the only people allowed to enter the exhibit were invited guests, no interviews or photos have been taken.

Information from ESN.

New Oricon Poll

Oricon ran a survey asking 500 high school girls, "If you could become a particular celebrity for only a day, who would you be?" Out of female celebrities, the number-one answer was pop star Ayumi Hamasaki, apparently perceived as having a glamorous lifestyle. At number two was Maki Horikita, partly chosen because of her role in the "Hana Kimi" drama series, where she was surrounded by good-looking men. Kumi Koda tied for second with Horikita. Erika Sawajiri, still recovering from bad press, ranked fourth, ahead of popular actress Masami Nagasawa. Ai Otsuka and Karina were not far behind, tied for sixth. The survey also covered male celebrities. "Waratte Iitomo" host Tamori surprisingly topped the list. Many girls commented that they wanted to experience his work. The always-popular Takuya Kimura came second. L'Arc~en~Ciel's hyde made the list at #3, along with Tomohisa Yamashita. Fifth place saw a three-way tie among Masahiro Nakai, Kazuya Kamenashi, and Minomonta.

Credit to tokyograph.

All 100 W53S Images

On the Sony Ericsson W53S website you can now view all 100 images of Erika's new phone campaign. You can visit the page here.

Erika in Sabra Dec 2007 Issue

All the time after the infamous press event of 「Closed Note」 Erika stayed very much under the radar. We have only seen rumors of all kind since her apology on TV. While tabloids try to come up with stories about her private life, she now is back in the business, the gravure business; and not with just some average pictures. Today, October 25, is the release of the new issue of the 「Sabra」 magazine and Erika made it straight to the cover again. Together with Ninagawa Mika, the most popular photographer of Japan, she took a couple of very unique, provocative and suggestive pictures. It's Mika's first work since her directorial debut with the movie 「Sabra」, featuring Anna Tsuchiya. The shooting was after the whole mess back in late September, but the magazine doesn't really bother about it. "So what, she cried? She did the same in dramas and it has been quite entertaining up to now, right?", they commented in a very suggestive way as well. The magazine also features an interview with her and a clip on the 「SUPER EXTRA DVD」 that comes with it.

Information + Translation from HPRIEST @ ESN

About 'overrocket'

This is 'overrocket', the people who have done the 'FREE (101007 mix)'. Their music is described as techno/electro-pop/house. Maybe this can give us an idea on how the remix for 'FREE' will sound? You can listen to a few of their songs on their official Myspace page.
Myspace | Last.fm

Erika for Sony Ericsson W54S

Erika and Takashiro

Here are the photos of Erika and her boyfriend Tsuyoshi Takashiro that were published in this weeks issue of JOSEI SEVEN magazine!

'Destination Nowhere' Tracklisting

Erika's official website has bee updated with the track listing for 'Destination Nowhere'! The single will include 'Destination Nowhere', of course, a b-side titled 'ESCAPE' and a remix of FREE!

M-1. Destination Nowhere
M-2. ESCAPE
M-3. FREE (overrocket101007 mix)
M-4. Destination Nowhere (instrumental)

http://www.erika-web.com/info/index.html

Erika in Audition + AERA Oct 2007 Scans

Erika in 流行通訊GIRL Scans

Erika Chosen As #1 Fashion Leader

Even though a lot of 'bad' attention is being focused on Erika, Oricon has put up a chart of the female fashion leaders in Japan, and Erika is #1! She was chosen for this because of her originality. Coming up right behind her is Miho Tanaka, a female sports player. In third place is the pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki.

'Destination Nowhere' Ringtone!

Here is the ringtone for Erika's new single 'Destination Nowhere' to be released on November 28, 2007.

ZShare | Sendspace | YSI | Mediafire

Closed Note Moves Down To Third Place

Erika's latest movie 'Closed Note' has moved back down to third place this week. The movie 'HERO' which has been in first place for over 5 weeks now, is still in first place on its sixth week. 'Closed Note' was second place last week, and was only pushed down by a new movie opening.

Erika's Sudden Retirement, Planning to Move Overseas

There is a big headline on the latest issue of Weekly Gendai! They report that Erika has told people she plans to retire suddenly, and move overseas. But where, and why? Is this even true? We will have to wait for the release of this magazine, next week, on October 27! I will post more information as it comes.
Information from HPriest@ESN

FREE Week 14 Sales

FREE is still selling!! It sold 362 copies in its 14th week of release, which brings the total amount of copies sold to 119,817. Next week she just has to make it to 120,000!

'Destination Nowhere' Longer, Clearer Preview!

Because of Mop Girl airing last night, that also meant a longer, clearer preview of Destination Nowhere! No talking in this one, the song is clear and good quality, around 1:30 total. You can use one of the many download links below. A stream is coming soon.

Mediafire | Megaupload

Sony Ericsson W53S Images

Rest coming soon (73 Total!)

'Closed Note' Does Extremely Well!

Public opinion is a major factor for companies to market something.
The movie 'Closed Note' has been the victim of criticism and arguments right from the beginning. The starring actress Erika Sawajiri attended a press event with folded arms and gave short, impolite answers, yet it still proves to be a box-office hit! In the first 10 days it made more than 5-billion yen. One reason for the success, obviously, is that the media kept concentrating on this issue. Several shows compared the rude Erika to the sensitive role she plays in the movie and many people probably were eager to do the same. Her acting ability got reappraised and received a lot of good comments. In the box-office ranking, 'Closed Note' made 170 million yen in it's first week and alone, ranked 3rd, with an improvement during the 2nd week when it ranked 2nd. 'HERO' is on 1st place for the 5th week in a row and the distribution company can be more than happy about the unexpected success of the movie. Early forecasts predict that it will break the 15-billion yen mark soon. It's going to be released in South Korea as well. 'Closed Note' is the very popular mobile novel that has been turned into a movie this year.
A college student (Erika Sawajiri) accidentally finds a note and begins to read it, getting involved into a sweet story about love and it's troubles. Iseeya Yuusuke and Takeuchi Yuuko complete the main cast.
At Pusan International Film Festival, director Yukisada Isao apologized for Erika's behavior to Japanese reporters. "The film is cute, please go and see it." he said.
Source: innolife, ESN
Translator: HPriest @ ESN

'Destination Nowhere' Will Be Available Early

ERIKAの2nd single「Destination Nowhere」の着うたが、
ドラマ「モップガール」の第2話が放送される10月19日より
超先行配信されることが決定！！

その後、発売日まで続々と着うた配信を企画中です！

ご期待下さい！

携帯サイトへの行き方はこちらから。

This basically says that Erika's new song, Destination Nowhere, will be available in some form on October 19, 2007.

Erika in Mezamashi Oct 2007 Scans

Enta-World.net Poll - Vote for Erika!

Enta-World.net has put up a poll asking visitors to vote for their favorite celebrity! Please vote for Erika! You can vote here. Erika (沢尻エリカ) is currently in third place, with 551 votes. She is right behind Saegusa Yuka and Izumi Sakai.

Isao Yukisada Will Continue Working With Erika

At the Pusan International Film Festival in Korea, the director of Closed Note, Isao Yukisada, has said that even though the recent incident involving Erika has caused a lot of trouble, he still plans to work with her in the future. He says that while he doesn't know what was bothering Erika that day, at all of the other Closed Note events, Erika was very pleasant. He knows that something in particular must have been bothering Erika that time, and it was not just her having an attitude. He will however, work with her again if he has the opportunity to.
Information from on.cc, translated by Thomas.

Closed Note Moves Up To Second Place

'Closed Note' just finished its second week of release, and it actually ranked higher than the previous week! Many people reported that they had lost interest after her bad behavior on the opening event of "Closed Note". In it's first week the movie already managed to make a position in the top three. Now in it's second week, it surpassed 'Perfect Stranger' and ranked second. People seem to be interested in the movie, despite the incident at the premiere.
Information from HPriest@ESN

Update on Erika's Contracts

We all know Erika's contract with Subaru has been terminated, but what about the others?
Suntory says that while they are receiving complaints about Erika from viewers, they have no plans to stop airing Erika's Pepsi commercials, or terminate the contract they have with her.
Kanebo Cosmetics stops airing Erika's commercials for their SALA beauty products on October 10th, but also do not plan to cancel Erika's contract. They do confirm though, that their COFFRET D'OR product campaign, starting in December, will still feature Erika.
Meiji, like Kanebo, has also stopped airing Erika's FRAN commercial, as of October 4th.
Sony Ericcson has made no comment on whether they plan on terminating Erika's contract. However, they do plan to continue the current W53S campaign, which is a good sign.

Information from J-CAST, Translated by Chris.

GLAMOROUS Oct 2007 Scans

1min Preview of Destination Nowhere

Here is a bit longer preview of Destination Nowhere! It's 1 minute long, and still has some talking over it, but you can still hear the song pretty well in the background.

Or, download here.
From nobu-k @ ESC.

Closed Note Success

Erika's new movie, Closed Note, has reached #2 on the official Toho Cinema website. Within the first 6 days of release, the movie has made 3,000,000 yen, and should be able to reach a total of 15,000,000 yen. Also, Closed Note was shown in the Pusan International Film Festival yesterday, and all 5,000 tickets were sold out that day. Staff have said that over the past 12 years, only 10 films have managed to achieve this result, with Closed Note being one of them.




Information from hydetetsu @ EWN.

Both Meiji and Kanebo Keep Silent

Gendai.net has tried to get a comment from both Meiji and Kanebo on whether or not they would terminate their contracts with Erika, like Subaru has done. Apparently they said that before they give an answer or make any final decisions, they will further discuss the matter and ask others what their opinions are. A few days ago Subaru had announced that they ended their contract with Erika because of several reasons, the main one being the negative publicity surrounding Erika right now. Because image is the most important thing when advertising a product, everything going on with Erika right now could affect the sales of any product she advertises. Because of recent events, Erika will have to once again prove that she is still capable of selling products, before anyone else will want to sign her.

Information from ESN.

Subaru Contract Terminated

It seems that this recent 'scandal' has caused one more bad thing to happen to Erika. Erika's contract with car company SUBARU has been terminated today, apparently because of the recent events which have been going on. The contract has been terminated at the last moment, even though a new CM was shot just last month. They were recently thinking of using a foreign person to advertise for them, instead of Erika.




Sports Nippon/Translated by Chris

Digital Photobook 'Color' Reaches #1 (Again)

Erika's 2005 photobook 'Color' is on 1st rank of digital photobooks again!
(Weekly ranking for 9/25~10/1)

This photobook has been in the ranking for about eight months already and it never has been ranked worse than 2nd place. In the list of digital books in general, it also scored high and landed on 3rd rank for this week. It looks like that the downloads of the photobook didn't get affected by the recent events, but the opening event was at the end of the week anyway... Let's see whether it can continue it's streak or not!

Translated from HPriest

Closed Note Opens in Third Place

Erika's new movie 'Closed Note' ranks in third place for its first weekend in theatres. This isn't amazing, but it's not too bad either. To pass 'HERO' would have been almost impossible. The movie has been in first place for four weeks now, and still shows no signs of slowing down. In second place comes the Hollywood movie 'Perfect Stranger' starring Bruce Willis. Erika's movie may have done better if it weren't for the recent events, but that is just a theory. Maybe the movie will do better in the coming days, and hopefully won't fall down lower than third place.

Taken from Oricon, ESN

FREE Week 12 Sales

This week FREE continues to sell, it sold 515 copies in its 12th week, which brings the total amount of copies sold to 119,455. I hope next week she can make it to 120,000!

Erika on TV Asahi - Denies Suspension

Erika will be on TV Asahi for an exclusive 2 hour interview. It's the first time she will talk about what was going on in recent events. However, it is already known that Erika denies the 1 year suspension.

Update 10/03/07:
The show airs with almost 90% live ratings!
Preview, last part of interview:


When the interview had started and Sawajiri-san was 'emotionally-stable' it was a lot of general questions, such as "Did you think you'd be (so well) rated/viewed so quickly?" and questions such as "If you weren't an actress would there be something else you'd like to do?"

Sawajiri-san replied that one with "A waiter at a restaurant I like." Things like that, as the interview came to a close, the question which invoked her to cry was whether or not there was something she truly wanted to say/explain to her fans about the incident. The narrator said more than 10 minutes of silence went on, as she broke down and her interviewer empathized with her. Sawajiri-san did say earlier in the interview that there was a cause to the incident, but that she didn't believe (prior to the conference) it would effect her in that manner. She feels that she acted very unprofessionally and betrayed her fans. (The interviewer questioned at one point whether or not the apology on her homepage was written by Sawajiri-san, and whether or not she had assistance with it).

In the end summary, the interviewer had said she believes that Sawajiri-san despite the common notion that she is an incredibly established actress, she's still a normal 21 year old girl. That the reason for her behavior is most definitely not a single cause, but likely numerous ones which she cannot bring herself to say. Many of the other panelists agreed, yet one of them wondered whether or not her fans would be accepting of such a 'response'.

"Everything has fallen apart by the occurances of that day.

Taken from HPriest & Kurosaki @ ESN.

Preorder New Single

YesAsia
CD only | CD+DVD

CD Japan
CD only | CD+DVD

Play Asia
CD only | CD+DVD

Amazon Japan
CD only | CD+DVD

HMV Japan
CD only | CD+DVD

Please purchase a copy of this single to support Erika!
The single should still release, as she will complete 2007 as planned.

Erika Suspended for 1 Year

According to the news, Erika has been suspended from work for the full next year. It is not clear as to whether she will be able to continue singing (with Sony).



Discuss.

Erika is not attending Pusan Film Festival

It has been confirmed that Erika has decided not to attend The 12th Annual Pusan International Film Festival, apparently because of the current chaos that is surrounding Erika at the moment. I'm guessing that Erika has decided to take some time off after this, and rest before promotion for Destination Nowhere begins. Speaking of which, Mop Girl airs in japan on the 12th of October, meaning we should have a longer preview of Destination Nowhere very soon, and probably more information on it as well.

Aftermath of Closed Note Event

Sentaku has put up a poll asking what you think of Erika's recent behavior. You can vote here. Please vote for the '素敵' option! Yahoo News has put up a poll asking users if their view on Erika has changed after the Closed Note event. The first option is 'My opinion has improved.' which has 4,435 votes at the moment. The second is 'My opinion has worsened.' which has 258,623 votes. The third is 'My opinion hasn't changed.' which has 39,648 votes, and the final option is 'I have just heard of Erika for the first time.' which has 14,088 votes. Vote here. The thing I don't understand is how worked up people are getting over this. 80% of people taking the poll now have changed their views on Erika because of this event? It doesn't make any sense, to me. J-CAST reports today that a lot of people think retirement is the best thing for Erika at the moment! This event has caused a lot of chaos recently, but retiring just because of the negativity surrounding her at the moment would be crazy. Erika's official site has been flooded with traffic recently, making it hard, and sometimes impossible to even access the site. On Toho's website about Closed Note, the comments had to be disabled because of all of the negative notes left. Some people say they now have no interest in watching the movie now, just because of Erika.

Erika's Attendance to Pusan Film Festival

Erika has been scheduled to appear at the 12th annual Pusan International Film Festival, but because of recent events, it is unclear as to whether she will participate or not. A person from Toho explains that "Her physical health has to be considered, and soon her management will announce their decision." The film festival shall start on October 4th, with Erika appearing on the 6th. For now, the only thing we know is that Erika has been in bad condition, according to the official site. Her agency, Stardust, has no comment. "At the moment, Erika's physical condition is questionable, and we will have to wait for more information before announcing her plans." says Toho. The opening of Erika's latest movie, Closed Note, has been full of chaos. Erika's official site has recently had trouble handling all of the traffic coming to the site, mainly to her BBS. Comments on Closed Note have also recently been disabled. Stardust has reported that the current situation is being discussed and that there will be an official announcement in the next few days.

Credit: ESN + Sports Hochi

Erika's Apology For Closed Note Premiere

I apologize for my attitude the other day at the Closed Note premiere. I have the mother of all of vices and have to take the consequences. I have disappointed my fans and I apologize to all of you for my remarks on the other day's stage greeting.

I thought like I shouldn't have...like a person that was not professional. It was immature and I see now how my behavior was received. I should have stopped, but now I am able to learn through this experience before it becomes a lost cause.

I think and hope that I am able to return to everybody something even a little in the future though it is not a thing where I apologize, it ends, and it's over.

I am sorry.
- Erika Sawajiri

Official Apology - Translated by us.