Hinatazaka46: Mei Higashimura's astonishing yet very belated.... Happy 24th Birthday post!

 

 Whew, thought it'd be another one post day but then recalled that this was way overdue and this will be one super duper post. Very belated as I'm exactly one month late as #24 took place on August 23rd but it wasn't a case of me forgetting. Did mention in some group posts that I would be working on one for Mei's birthday but when the date rolled around there really wasn't all that much to post about. Could have done one on that date but glad I waited as there's been so many new pics the past month such as those top two. They're from Mei's first ever photobook and will discuss that often in this post.

 First solo post in a long, long time for Mei but this is her fifth one overall and not many members can say that. I've always liked her immensely but it's been hard to do posts for her as she doesn't attend those huge fashion shows nor is a model for any site or magazine. Least there's been plenty of pics in Hina's group posts and there should be a few of those posts next month as on October 26th their eighth single will be released. Mei is tied with two others at being the shortest member as her height is barely 154 cm and she's a first generation gal. Bring that up for though there will be two second generation graduations this year no member from 1G has left the group for 2 1/2 years which is a key reason I've become such a huge fan of the group. But you wonder when one leaves will that open the floodgates like it did with Nogi?

 Those above are older birthday pics and have some brand new ones in this batch of recent IG pics, like most 1G members Mei now posts her pics there instead of the group blog.

 Here's some real, real ancient birthday cards from when Hina was known as Hiragana46.

 In the last group post had these interview pics promoting her first photobook and they're from the Entame Next site.

 Mei has done a lot of interviews to promote the book, here's another batch of pics from the Model Press site and also have the link to it: Model Press interview

 Shame there was no event for this book and there hasn't been one for any '46' member the past two years. Not sure why as the members from the '48' groups have been having events for their books and so haven't many models. Instead they always promote the book on 'Showroom' and Mei has hosted it three times the past month, will have one of the shows at the bottom of the post.

 These are in no order which are 2022 promo pics for Hina's "Mysterious Library' web game.

 'Mitsuketa" or Found is the title of Mei's first photobook that was released on September 13th. Was surprised she had a book over some other more popular members but glad she was able to have one. This marks the sixth solo book for a member which means there's fourteen others without one, who will be next? The top four pics here are the covers plus have some outtake/promo pics for the book.

 There was an advance printing of 100,000 copies which seems to be a bit high to me but noticed the all recent Hina and Keya books have had that many printed. First week sales were close to 38,200 copies sold and that seems like a decent number. Very few books these days sell over 70,000 in their first week but bet a book like this will remain a solid seller for the next month or so. Would think they sell many copies at concerts and Hina is currently on their Autumn tour. Do have the book and will admit there's some ultra superb pics in it but am kind of biased as I've liked Mei for a long time. As many know have this rule that I wait at least three months before posting a '46' photobook as not to affect sales, next book up will be on November 1st. This book I have to wait until December to post, perhaps a week before Christmas? Here's some pics you've never seen from the book and guarantee this is one book all fans will truly enjoy.

 Will end off with promo pics for the 'Uni's on Air' web game, they go backwards from August which feature pics for Mei's birthday until April. After the pics is a video of her promoting the book on 'Showroom', it's from September 8th.