Higuchi Kaede

Higuchi Kaede (樋口楓) is a female Japanese Virtual YouTuber and a member of NIJISANJI's first generation along with Tsukino Mito, Elu, Yuki Chihiro, Shizuka Rin, Shibuya Hajime, Suzuya Aki, and Moira. Within the first generation, she forms the unit "JK gumi" (JK組, high school girl group) along with Tsukino Mito and Shizuka Rin.

Profile
Kaede is a sophomore high school student living in Virtual Kansai. She's tall and has a great figure. She's loved playing the trumpet since she was a child, and is currently a member of a brass and marching band. She likes to be stylish and live with her cat. She wants people to know more about the things she likes, so she became a VTuber.

Personality
Her best features are her silver ponytail, white ribbon, and mole under her right eye. She's known for her "nah-ha-ha" laugh and has a habit of saying "Naande!" (なぁーんで！ Whyyyy!). She tries to speak in standard Japanese, but as she's from the "Kansai region of the virtual world", her Kansai dialect often slips through, which often leads to her own unique vocabulary, such as "Manji no jijou" (卍の二乗 Manji squared), "Warota piipou" (わろたピーポー LOL people), and "Marumaru piiman" (○○ピーマン XYZ bell pepper). Being a member of the High School Girl Gang, she uses the most schoolgirl-like language of the three and is the most youthful, to the point where she's sometimes referred to as "the NIJISANJI Highschool Girl" (にじさんじのJK担当, NIJISANJI no JK tantou).

Background
On 11 January 2018, Ichikara Inc. announced that it was recruiting "Official Virtual Livers" to serve as representatives for its iPhoneX app, NIJISANJI. Higuchi Kaede's YouTube channel was made on 31 January 2018 and her Twitter account in the same month. Her first tweet was made on 31 January 2018.

On 9 February 2018, Kaede uploaded her first YouTube video. Later that day, she streamed for the first time in a relay with the other "NIJISANJI Official Virtual Livers" on Mirrativ.

2018
On 24 December, Kaede reached 150,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel.

2019
On 18 June, Kaede reached 200,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel.

On 5 December, Kaede reached 250,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel.

2020
On 8 June, Kaede reached 300,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel.

On 25 October, Kaede reached 350,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel.

2021
On 2 April, Kaede reached 400,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel.

On 5 October, Kaede reached 450,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel.

2022
On 28 March, Kaede reached 500,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel.

On 25 June, Kaede reached 550,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel.

On 27 October, Kaede reached 600,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel.

Events

 * On 30 August, she participated in Battle Field V BFJ Streamer Cup as Team B's Squad Charlie along with Shibuya Hajime, Kanda Shoichi, and Nagao Kei.

Relationships

 * "Sepiast" (セピアスト)Sepiast Logo.jpg - Kaede (Shu), Shizuka Rin (Ren), Yuhi Riri (Tobari), Inui Toko (Mio), Nui Sociere (Yui), Fumi (Ten), and Shirayuki Tomoe (Yukari).
 * A unit consisting of seven female Liver starring their male alter ego
 * Media: YouTube | Twitter | Voice Drama
 * Hashtags: #セピアスト | #セピあーと | #セピアストボイス


 * "JK gumi" (JK組) - Kaede, Shizuka Rin, Tsukino Mito
 * "Kaede to Mito" - Kaede and Tsukino Mito.
 * "Kaeru" - Kaede and Elu.
 * "Derochi" - Kaede and Yuuki Chihiro.
 * "Deromoi" - Kaede and Moira.
 * "Deromoichi" - Kaede, Yuuki Chihiro, and Moira.
 * "Deroroki" - Kaede, Gilzaren III, and Todoroki Kyoko.
 * "Nijikuji7/Njisanji no Kujijuji" - Kaede, Tsukino Mito, Elu, Shizuka Rin, Ienaga Mugi, Mononobe Alice and Kenmochi Toya.
 * "NIJISANJI GALS" - Kaede, Sasaki Saku, Shiina Yuika, and Takamiya Rion.
 * "Mikaeru" - Kaede, Tsukino Mito, and Elu.
 * "Maple StrawBear" - Kaede, Yuuki Chihiro, Ushimi Ichigo, and Morinaka Kazaki.
 * "Yankee gumi" - Kaede, Kenmochi Toya, Kuzuha, Todoroki Kyoko, Amemori Sayo, Kudo Chitose, and Saegusa Akina.
 * "Rinkae W" - Kaede and Shizuka Rin.
 * "i's" - Kaede, Rindou Mikoto, and Lize Helesta.
 * "Derobo" - Kaede and Roboco.

Trivia

 * Color: #FBAF71
 * She shares the same illustrator as Tsukino Mito, Suzuya Aki, Moira and Yuuhi Riri.
 * She is sometimes referred to using the words "Hey!" (ちょっと！, chotto!) or "hetero" (ヘテロ). Those stem from a (not publicly recorded) livestream where a fan sent her lesbian fanart (a parody of the Yuri series Citrus) involving her and Tsukino Mito, and Kaede responded indignantly with those words.
 * When she was in the second grade, the boy she liked was going to change schools on Valentine's Day, so she learned how to make cookies from her mother and gave them to him (uncooked).
 * Her favourite anime is "Love Live!" and she's also a fan of voice actors, her favourite being Miyuki Sawashiro.
 * On 12 January 2019, she had her first live event Kana-Dero at Zepp Osaka Bayside, also featuring the other members of the JK Gumi Tsukino Mito and Shizuka Rin, also Elu. A sample clip is available here and video of the event can be purchased on NicoNico.
 * She, alongside Shizuka Rin. They made cameo appearance in the first episode of the second season of the anime "I'm Standing on a Million Lives".

Media

 * Higuchi Kaede's corporate profile on the NIJISANJI website
 * 楓様ファンクラブ - NIJISANJI Fan Club page
 * 樋口楓【にじさんじ所属】 - YouTube channel
 * @HiguchiKaede - Twitter account
 * @kaederon - Instagram account
 * @30551652593 - TikTok account

Further readings

 * 樋口楓 - Unofficial NIJISANJI Wiki
 * 樋口楓 - Nicovideo Encyclopedia
 * 樋口楓 - Pixiv Encyclopedia
 * 樋口楓 - Japanese Wikipedia
 * 樋口枫 - Moegirl Encyclopedia
 * 히구치 카에데 - Namu Wiki