The official Hello! Project website has announced the release of the 10th single for the Japanese pop group Juice=Juice. Currently, details of this eagerly awaited release are scant. This will be the first physical Cd Single release from the Japanese pop group since the addition of the two newest members, Nanami Yanagawa and Ruru Danbara. The single appears to be a triple A-side release. Of the three songs to be featured on the disc, the title of only one of them has been made known to the public, "SEXY SEXY". On the Hello! Project website, the titled of the single is listed as "SEXY SEXY/Title Pending/Title Pending." It is scheduled to be released on April 11.
Karin Miyamoto's status
News of this new disc hitting the shelves comes after some concern about Juice=Juice member, Karin Miyamoto, and her health. Miyamoto has taken some time off from performances with her group in the two ongoing concert tours, "Juice=Juice LIVE GEAR 2018 ~Go ahead~" and "Hello! Project 20th Anniversary!! Hello! Project 2018 WINTER~PERFECT SCORE+~" due to being plagued with problems with hearing herself onstage, among other ailments. The current status of Miyamoto's condition has undergone several changes since the summer of 2017 after she had to cancel her live events with Juice=Juice due to being diagnosed with a "functional voice disorder". Upfront Promotion, the agency that manages the group of female singers under the Hello!
Project umbrella, (such as Morning Musume '18 and Angerme,) has released reports on the Hello! Project official website about the state of Miyamoto's health and her status as a performer. After some months of returning to the spotlight and completing a world tour with Juice=Juice, it had been announced that she was suffering from Bell's palsy.
As a result of this diagnosis, she has missed some performances on her most recent scheduled tours since returning home to Japan.
Promotional activities and moving forward
On February 8, Upfront Promotion had announced that after further consultation with her doctor, it had been determined that her last row with mystery symptoms that affected her ability to perform were actually the result of "sudden deafness," also known as sensorineural hearing loss.
The Japanese news site Modelpress reports that Miyamoto has received permission from her doctor to return to the stage for "partial performances" in the ongoing tours over the next few days, but her health will continue to be monitored. Modelpress also reports that Miyamoto herself has stated: "Because I am feeling great, I really want to get back to participating (in concerts)." Handshake events to commemorate the release of the single are scheduled for some of the concert dates for the Juice=Juice tour titled: "Juice=Juice LIVE GEAR 2018 ~Go ahead~." three versions of the single have been revealed. All three versions are regular edition singles, that will ship with collectible photo cards of the Juice=Juice members enclosed.