Cosmic Explorer, which was released on April 6, 2016, and selected as one of "20 Best Pop Albums of 2016" by Rolling Stone. Their sixth studio album Future Pop was released on August 15, 2018. Members Perfume members use their official nicknames on stage and TV rather than their real names. Current Former Yuka Kawashima left the group to pursue her studies. She later joined another group called Risky and then attempted a solo career as Yuka. She graduated from the Hiroshima University of Economics in 2011. She now lives in Hiroshima and works at YNN47. Name Because Ayaka Nishiwaki ("a-chan"), Yuka Kashino ("KASHIYUKA"), and Yuka Kawashima ("Kawayuka") had the same Japanese kanji character for in their names, they named the group "Perfume" ( in Japanese). The original name was "ぱふゅ〜む" or "ぱふゅ→む" written in hiragana with thirteen strokes. Nishiwaki stated that they wished to follow the success of four-member dance group Speed (thirteen strokes in uppercase), who trained at Okinawa Actors School. Due to Kawashima's exit and Omoto's entry, they gave a new meaning to this name. When asked why they chose it, Nishiwaki replied, "The fragrance of perfume can soothe your feelings or make you feel happy. We aspire to be such artists." In spring 2003, they moved to Tokyo and joined the management agency Amuse, Inc. Then the management changed the group name to English. They wanted to keep the hiragana name associated with their heroines, Speed, but eventually acquiesced. Omoto later said, "The powers-that-be are scary." History 2000–2003: Formation, early career development and local recognition in Hiroshima In 2000, Nishiwaki, Kashino, and Kawashima voluntarily formed the group inside young talent academy Actors School Hiroshima (ASH), which was run by TSS Production, a subsidiary of TSS-TV Co., Ltd. (formerly called Shinhiroshima Telecasting), and also had a deep relationship with the Tokyo-based management company Amuse Inc. Before the group could even debut, Kawashima decided to pull out of the project to focus on her studies (and later formed another group called Pinkies). Nishiwaki set out to find a replacement, and Ayano Omoto ("NOCCHi") joined as the third member. The three girls attended ASH as part of the inaugural class of 1999. While Kashino, Kawashima and Nishiwaki were all in the beginner's class, Omoto was in the advanced class for her vocal abilities. In March 2002, Perfume debuted in Hiroshima with the single "Omajinai Perori". They followed up the