Morning Musume 20th Anniversary Official Book Interviews: Kaga Kaede

Posted by Henkka on July 7, 2019
Posted in: Other. Tags: . 3 comments

Kaga Kaede
November 30, 1999 — Tokyo
2016/12/12 ~

Kaga: I’d already spent four years in the Kenshuusei — I thought that by this point, there was no longer any chance of me getting into Morning Musume. So in all honesty, when they made that surprise announcement there was also a part of me thinking, “…why now?” Still, regardless of the timing, I was glad to have made it into Morning Musume — the group I so loved — and ever since my activities in the group started it really has been so much fun.

Me? In Morning Musume?

— The 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th generations have all had Kenshuusei members join the group. Still, you had no idea that you would be the next one in line, right?

Kaga: Yes. I’m the same age as Kudo Haruka and Sato Masaki. I was nearing the limit of how long one can be in the Kenshuusei. Once I got in, I felt that I had to seriously think about why I had been chosen and to do my best to catch up to my seniors.

— Was there any of that sense of being the “newbie of the group” in your case?

Kaga: I had no time to depend on others or act like “the new member.” I wanted to immediately be an asset for Morning Musume and my seniors. I wanted to make myself useful. But in reality, even now when I’m talking to my seniors I still find myself holding back, and there are things I don’t know how to do in terms of our performances.

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Morning Musume 20th Anniversary Official Book Interviews: Yasuda Kei

Posted by Henkka on June 30, 2019
Posted in: Other. Tags: . 7 comments

Yasuda Kei
December 6, 1980 — Chiba
1998/05/03 ~ 2003/05/05

Yasuda: Every year in May, I remember my graduation concert. And every year on May 5th, I watch the DVD of it and I think about just how happy I am.

— I understand that’s a custom you’ve been following for 15 years now.

Yasuda: I was a member for exactly five years. The first three years were difficult, but during the latter half I started to get more out of it. That last day especially is something I’ll never forget. It became a special day for both me and all my fans.

— You originally wanted to become an artist like Amuro Namie, didn’t you?

Yasuda: Back in those days, my clothes, my make-up, my hair — it was all Amuro. I think lots of girls who liked to sing saw Amuro as a kind of role model. Everyone wanted to be a singer like her.

— You wanted to become a solo artist, and yet you applied for the Morning Musume auditions. What was your reason for doing so?

Yasuda: I would watch every single episode of “ASAYAN.” I was watching when the original members were selling their debut single by hand, cheering them on with all my might. So when Tsunku♂ announced on the show that he was going to add more members to the group, I honestly thought he was doing something pretty awful to them.

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Morning Musume 20th Anniversary Official Book Interviews: Kudo Haruka

Posted by Henkka on June 21, 2019
Posted in: Other. Tags: . 6 comments

Kudo Haruka
October 27, 1999 — Saitama
2011/09/29 ~ 2017/12/11

Kudo: It all started with my father telling me, “hey, that’s the same company that does Morning Musume!” I desperately wanted to meet the members of Morning Musume, and so I sent in my application for the Eggs audition.

— Your father is a big Morning Musume fan — to the extent that he was there to buy “Ai no Tane” when the group was selling it in-person.

Kudo: That’s right. It’s like my father unknowingly gave his daughter a dream. I’d come to love Morning Musume thanks to his influence, and so I immediately announced that I wanted to apply for the auditions.

— You didn’t have any prior singing or dancing experience, did you?

Kudo: I was this “sports girl.” I’d always been big into swimming, but then my attention completely switched over to being an idol, just like that. I didn’t know left from right and there was a lot to be anxious about, but even for someone like me — someone with no singing or dancing experience — there were moments when I was doing these things that were completely new to me and it still felt like I could actually do it. Those moments made me happy.

Moreover, despite being so tiny, I had an unusually husky voice and I was a bit of a cheeky girl. My seniors and the staff all seemed to dote on me because of that. And honestly, having grown up as the eldest daughter of my family…? I didn’t dislike being doted on. (laughs)

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Sato Masaki gets pissed off at H!P management! “Why don’t you just delete my whole blog then?!”

Posted by Henkka on June 9, 2019
Posted in: 2ch, Morning Musume. Tags: . 24 comments

1: 名無し募集中。。。 2019/02/17(日) 11:22:45.50 0

(On the topic of being told by her manager to blog more.)

Sanma: Is it a bother?

Sato: It’s not that. It’s because they make me do so many corrections. It’ll take me 5 or 10 minutes to write a post, but then I’ll have to spend 2 hours fixing it!

Iikubo: But it takes the rest of us an hour to write a post, too.

Sato: But for me it takes two hours and ten minutes. I just think it’s such a waste of time for me to have to be there with my phone in hand for two whole hours.

Iikubo: So why not just spend an hour to write it properly in the first place?

Sanma: You don’t want them to correct your blog posts?

Sato: It’s all stuff like… “Why don’t you put a question mark here?” It’s like, is that really necessary? They’ll interfere with stuff that’s totally not important at all.

Sanma: But you’re an idol — you’re a Morning Musume. You have to write them properly.

Sato: The other day they asked me, “Sato, do you mind if we delete this part of your post?” So then I went, “Just delete the whole thing then.” I told them that, if they were to delete a part of it, to me it would’ve felt the same as if they’d deleted the whole thing.

Sanma: Maybe you don’t quite fit in the framework of Morning Musume.

Sato: When I’m seriously told things like that, it’s… Like, they tell me it’s okay to just write freely what I feel, but lately most of my posts aren’t even my own writing.

Sanma: Huuuuuuuh?! (laughs)

Sato: Like that post about the auditions on our Instagram, pretty much everything I wrote for that was changed.

Sanma: They want to let you write freely, but they’re also afraid that what you write might get in the way of Morning Musume’s success.

Sato: As of late, pretty much nothing in my posts is my own writing.

Sanma: The office won’t allow it.

Sato: It’s not that I even write anything too crazy. But lately I just tell them to do with my posts as they like.

12: 名無し募集中。。。 2019/02/17(日) 11:31:51.42 0
“The remedy is worse than the disease.”

There’s an expression I’d like for this shitty office to know.

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Guys, let’s have a thread in English!

Posted by Henkka on June 9, 2019
Posted in: 2ch, Wota. 14 comments

1: 名無し募集中。。。 2015/01/21(水) 17:50:21.03 0.net
Let’s speak English! (laughs)

14: 名無し募集中。。。 2015/01/21(水) 17:56:37.12 0.net
Make me Woman!

17: 名無し募集中。。。 2015/01/21(水) 17:57:25.00 0.net
Haruna Ikubo’s voice lokes like Mickey Mouse’s one.

12: 名無し募集中。。。 2015/01/21(水) 17:56:19.41 0.net
Does Chinami live in China?

21: 名無し募集中。。。 2015/01/21(水) 17:58:25.21 0.net
Obama’s State of the Union Addresses was “Hello!Project is cute”

23: 名無し募集中。。。 2015/01/21(水) 17:59:42.36 0.net
I want to marry Miki Nonaka

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Morning Musume 20th Anniversary Official Book Interviews: Fukuda Asuka

Posted by Henkka on May 24, 2019
Posted in: Other. Tags: . 8 comments

Fukuda Asuka
December 17, 1984 — Tokyo
1997/09/14 ~ 1999/04/18

Fukuda: To me, Morning Musume is a family. If I was to compare it to the family in “Sazae-san“… It’s like Abe Natsumi is Sazae, I’m Masuo, Nakazawa Yuko is Namihei, Ishiguro Aya is Fune, and Iida Kaori is Tama. (laughs) Nakazawa-san, the warm head of the family. Ayappe, the one who supports the family from the shadows. Nacchi, the heroine. Iida-san, the mascot character. And me, the son-in-law… The position of someone who’s not blood-related — someone who’s a bit of an outsider. (laughs)

— For the first time in 18 years, the five of you recently got the chance to meet once more.

Fukuda: There was no weirdness whatsoever when we were reunited. No one said “long time no see!” or anything — we just started talking to one another as if the last time we’d seen each other was yesterday. That lack of any distance between us felt very family-like.

— Was it a big decision for you to appear on so many stages together with everyone for the 20th anniversary?

Fukuda: If anything, I was surprised by how happy me being there seemed to make everyone. I was glad about having so many people welcoming me back, and it was fun having these conversations with my friends and family. “How did I do?” “You were great!“

When they first approached me about it, I of course immediately gave them my OK. But as it’d been such a long time since my graduation, I also felt worried if I would really be able to do it. I may have been working as an artist, yes, but it’d been ages since I had been in Morning Musume. “Can I still do this?” It’s a group after all, and in a group you have to match your choreography and your backing vocals and the rest of it with everyone else. I had a strong feeling of not wanting to drag the other members down with me.

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Suzuki Airi: “I love elementary school boys!” Miyamoto Karin: “Me too!”

Posted by Henkka on May 7, 2019
Posted in: °C-ute, 2ch, Juice=Juice. Tags: , . 7 comments

1: 名無し募集中。。。 2019/03/04(月) 22:46:01.74 0.net
From the latest HELLO! DRIVE!:

Airi: Elementary school boys really have a way of healing me with all their cheekiness!

Miyamoto: I get that! It’s like they make fun of you in just the right way!

Airi: Are you a masochist?!

Miyamoto: They’ll be like, “hey miss, you really are ugly!” Then when I go, “say that again and I’ll tickle you!,” they’ll again just say, “stop it, ugly!” It’s so cute~!

Airi: Sometimes when they come to my handshake events, they’ll say, “marry me when I get bigger!” So cute~! And I’m just thinking to myself, “I’ll be quite an auntie by the time you’re a big boy… Don’t abandon me, okay?!“

3: 名無し募集中。。。 2019/03/04(月) 22:47:00.83 0.net
Karin-chan…

1. カラフル名無しさん 2019年03月05日 19:48 ID:udL5rsmN0
It’s strange how a statement like that is something that guys can’t get away with, but when it’s a woman saying it then it’s perfectly fine.

3. カラフル名無しさん 2019年03月06日 11:56 ID:auixNM0Q0
Seriously? Hang on, I’m gonna go change into an elementary schooler.

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Morning Musume 20th Anniversary Official Book Interviews: Oda Sakura

Posted by Henkka on May 1, 2019
Posted in: Other. Tags: . 11 comments

Oda Sakura
March 12, 1999 — Kanagawa
2012/09/14 ~

Oda: The 11th generation audition was called the “Suppin Utahime Audition” (“Makeup-Less Songstress Audition“). Singing was all I had — this was my chance. Had it been called a “dancing audition” or a “beautiful girl audition,” I probably would’ve given up from the get-go. I got lucky with the word “songstress” being in the title.

The Beginnings of a Songstress

— Tsunku♂ has previously stated that he thinks the all-time top vocalists of Hello! Project are Matsuura Aya, Takahashi Ai, and you.

Oda: He said that in reference to how our skill levels were when we’d just joined Hello! Project. I don’t know whether he still holds that opinion of me or not. I’m just glad that there was at least one point in time where he felt that way.

— The first time you met Tsunku♂ was at the S/mileage audition.

Oda: That was actually the first time I’d ever sung with all seriousness in front of other people. I was always a shy person. But he heard my singing when it was still “pure” — before I’d done any voice training and all that — and he got curious about me because of it. That made me glad.

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