30 comments on “Columnist Inuyama Kamiko talks about Morning Musume and their female fans

  1. when she said “virgin mary”, i thought of chayu half-naked in bed with that guy in that tv show…

      • It was at a movie the title is “kare wa, imouto no koibito”
        Don’t worry I saw Chayuu wearing a white cloth thingy behind the bed sheets XD
        (I saw it ‘cuz I paused it ‘cuz I know Tsunku-san won’t allow. and the kiss scene there is fake too)

    • I know. It’s this and other examples of determination and endurance that made her my all-time favorite idol. I wish the media would start calling her “The Greatest Idol.” You know, like they call Matsuda Seiko “The Eternal Idol.”

  2. Thank you for another great translation. I truly hope traffic on this site would generate enough income for your efforts.

    Also thanks for including a pic of Iruyama Kamiko, she’s gougeous and she has excellent taste in idols.

    • Thank you and everyone else for your kind words.

      As far as income from this site goes, it’s more than I could’ve dared to wish for. That is to say, it’s just enough to pay for its hosting and domain name, plus every now and then a bottle of cheap vodka. What more could one ask for?

  3. woooooot Henkka! Many thanks as always!

    Truth be told, I used to be a hardcore, H!P-exclusive wota for many years. Thankfully, two years ago I finally overcame the bigotry and can fully enjoy and support all idol groups, AKB included. Looking back on all that irrational hatred, and seeing it live on in so many wota on 2ch and elsewhere, fills me with disgust.

    It’s easy to hate something when you’re utterly ignorant about it, which is likely the case with many of these haters…I know that was certainly the case with me. Maybe one day they’ll open their eyes and ears, and realize what they’ve been missing as idol wota.

    ~ALL IDOL, ALL LOVE~

  4. After the translation of the article was over, I was shocked to see all the thread comments too!! This was really interesting; much appreciation for the hard work.

    What’s with all these people saying “those who don’t know about ____ aren’t true fans”? Even IF someone was getting paid to say all this, why do they care? It’s good publicity for the group no matter what.

  5. I can agree with the sentiments of this article in general being a female fan–not just the written portion, but also some of the comments by the 2ch users. In particular, 293 and 335 really hit home for me because that’s how it was in my situation. I had been following Morning Musume for a couple years already, but I gradually lost interest in the music and my favorite members having graduated.

    I hadn’t heard anything of/or by Morning Musume for the longest time until recently when I randomly was looking at an Attack on Titan video in where “One・Two・Three” was actually used as the background song. I found myself feeling quite energized by it that I kept replaying the video just to hear the it, not even bothering to watch it. After a couple of listens, I felt compelled enough to internally inquire who actually sung this and wow! I was so shocked to realize it was my beloved Morning Musume behind the catchy tune.

    And because of that song, I started looking up who was still in the lineup and bit by bit, getting familiar with each of the new faces and learning about their personalities through some of the YouTube videos and translations of articles (such as this wonderful site!) in my free time. Listening and watching the MVs on their official YT channel–it was if my interest in Momusu was just a fresh as it was back when I first started liking them.

    I’ll admit that I was extremely saddened that Michishige was the only recognizable member left and never was a favorite to begin with… But in my short time of refamiliarizing myself with the group and reading about Michishige’s endurance and love for Morning Musume, she quickly shot up to being my number one idol, especially after reading that translation of the Top Yell interview between her and Nakazawa-san. Everything that was said by her there, even though it could be just the interpretation of the translator, really showed a different side that I had never seen past that poison-tongue character of hers in variety shows. It was really moving, to say the least.

  6. “our audience is older men — our singing and dancing doesn’t need to be that good.” = AKB48 money whoring overrated ****. Stop hogging the media.

    • while the money whore comment is unnecessary – sasshi’s comments have been making me dislike more and more, especially since i’m a fan, a girl, and ‘we don’t have to be good’ is a disappointing mindset.

  7. And how about the member who is getting noticed for her unusual personality, Sato Masaki?

    She has the cuteness of how, even if she does something mischievous, you’ll just think “oh, the puppy’s feeling playful again” and you’ll want to pet her.

    THIS!

  8. I just read this, really good article i specially like what she said about Sayu and Zukki and reading some Sayu love in the 2chan comments and here as well made me more happy i really want this to get to Sayu so she can see that we all love her and appreciate her efforts for the group =)

    • (laughs) Yes, if there is something I’d say to Michishige it would be to please continue working hard to guide everyone in how to deal with the stress and pressure of being an idol. The girls need someone with her tenure to be able to show them how to handle situations when they arise because of her years in the group. I feel it is not enough to be someone on the outside giving advice, but for her to be alongside the newer members, to be experiencing the same hardships and feelings as they are happening, makes her presence so much more important.

      Michishige is only a couple years younger than me, but her confidence is something to admire.

  9. Agree with all Sayu part, that girl has guts, and manlier than most of the men, in the form of beauty btw.

    And this girl must be real wota

  10. Standing ovation to Henkka!!! Best post of the year

    As a fan who’s been around since the Platinum era days is must say that this lady truly understands wut Sayu went through in those dark periods of Momusu, when the group was looking real bleak, she willfully played the poison tongue character just to keep the group relevant even though she became hated by other females for the character she was playing…We know how much of an angel Sayu is and she normally goes out of her way to keep people around her happy, so I love when other fans share my views on how hard Shige-sama worked and why she deserves all the success she has ever gotten or ever will get

  11. My reaction to the people talking about things she didn’t know. As a relatively new fan myself, I find it a lot easier to research and find out about the history of the groups and girls themselves than it is to try to keep up with all the wota-created in-jokes and terminology like Recession Era.

    • I just wanted add a note about “Recession Era.” I don’t know if there is a translation that’s generally used for “低迷期”. I’m not sure it’s even widely used on 2ch. Certainly I’ve never seen the term used in relation to Momusu on any English-speaking site.

  12. Being a Sayu fan during her variety days was an absolute horror. You could count on seeing comments made about her being a bitch, or wanting her to stop being in morning musume because she was useless and creating a bad name for musume. Now I wonder if those people feel dumb knowing just how hard she worked in the past in order to put morning musume on tv. I think one thing we can learn from this is that every girl will have their time to shine despite the hatred/harsh criticisms being spouted about certain girls.

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