What sort of occupation they'd like to try once - Country Girls & Suzuki Airi (Big One Girls NO.032 April 2016)

Q. What line of work would you like to try once?

Tsugunaga Momoko
Kindergarten teacher. I've always loved children, so I've always found it to be a really appealing line of work. So in middle school, when we were allowed to pick workplace experiences, I chose to go to a kindergarten, and I got kindergarten teaching qualifications at university. If I wasn't an idol, I think that I'd be a kindergarten teacher. However, if that were the case, all the boys' first love would be Momochi (laughs). I think that it would be the general state of things. Taking that into consideration, I chose the idol profession, where being in loved by everyone wouldn't be a hindrance (laughs).

Yamaki Risa
A mangaka assistant. I love drawing, and that's the sole hobby I've continued on with since I was small, but I'm completely self-taught, so I've got lots of simple questions that have built up ever since I was small. And so, I'd like to be taught from scratch by a pro mangaka.

Inaba Manaka
I love dancing, so much that I can't go through a day without dancing at least once. I want to dance so much that it sometimes wakes me up in the middle of the night. So I think it would be nice if I became a dance instructor, as I'd always be engaged in dancing.

Morito Chisaki
I'd like to work at a cake store, and invent all sorts of cakes. I'm skilful, so I think I'd probably be able to do it.

Ozeki Mai
I love ice cream, so I'd work at an ice cream store, and I'd buy ice creams every day on my way back.

Yanagawa Nanami
A nurse. I'm interested in the medical profession, so I'd like to try it, to experience it.

Funaki Musubu
I love learning about makeup and cosmetics, so I'd like to try being a makeup artist, and make entertainers look beautiful.

Suzuki Airi
I'd like to try being a planner for commercials. I've got tons of ideas. Currently, I'm on the acting side, but instead, I'd like to try the other side once, having someone do what I've thought up. That, or something that I've always wanted to try: handling a cash register at a supermarket.

Momochi no Kimochi: Sushi Janken (Essay #9/22)

At my home, when we order sushi, 

we use a system whereby

janken is used to decide the order 

of who gets to pick what they prefer. 

By right, my favourites are amberjack and white fishes, 

but I've developed a strategy for those times:

I'll pick up the popular ones like sea urchins or fatty tuna first.

And in the midst of that, my Papa will happily be going,

'I got the the egg♪' or 'Ah, lean tuna, that's mine'.

While I normally wouldn't think something like 

'If I can't get my hands on the fatty tuna, 

then tuna rolls can act as a substitute', 

I'll end up getting taking them

Having gotten caught up in the mood of the moment.

How childish~

Well, for me, the ones I like are easy to line up, 

so Papa's presence is welcome.

I'm always grateful ♥

More from this book

Tsugunaga Momoko Photo Essay "Momochi no Kimochi"

Momoko Tsugunaga

Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute Cross Talk 60: Tokunaga Chinami x Hagiwara Mai

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Hello! Project Kids in 2012, a book entitled Rival - 12 shoujo no 10-nen monogatari - (The 10-year legend of the 12 girls) was released. The book contains 2-page discussions between various pairings of the girls, covering all 66 possible combinations. In the process of reading this book, I'll be putting up some highlights as I read through the interviews.

Tokunaga Chinami X Hagiwara Mai

↨↨↨

Tokunaga: Mai, you've got your original characters that you made yourself, right?

Hagiwara: They're characters named '"Hagio" and "Hagiko"', and I think I draw them at times when I'm troubled (laughs). [...] Chii, you use a lot of colours [to illustrate photos], it's amazing.

Tokunaga: I prefer things to be colourful, so I've got to be careful about using too much colours when it comes to painting. And I don't end up using similar types of colours like blue and aqua either, like if I've done something in blue, then I'll go for pink or orange, I'll find something to match the subject colour in a way that stands out.

Hagiwara: Your sense of colour is amazing. On the other hand, for me, I have no idea if one colour goes with another. I only know of safe colour combinations, I can't take risks. Airi often uses pink and brown, but I didn't know that pink and brown could go so well together, I was like 'Ah, that's great' (laughs).

↨↨↨

Do the 2 of you have any common memories from when you were small?

Tokunaga: When we were in the Hello! Project Kids, Mai and me and Miya referred to one another with a 'chan' appended to our names. But at some point in time, we talked about no longer using the 'chan' - but it still stuck. So we ended up declaring that anyone who used 'chan' would have to pay 100 yen.

Hagiwara: And it seriously ended up working. You really can get things done if you get serious (laughs). But I wonder what led to us saying such a thing? I guess we wanted to be even closer as friends.

What impression did you have of one another at the time?

Hagiwara: I thought that Chii was highly excitable.

Tokunaga: Mai was the youngest, so she was just Mai-chan, everyone's little sister.

Hagiwara: Chii could shape the mood. Once before, I alone was on a bus with Berryz Kobo, and Chii made cracks at everyone at the time, which I thought was amusing.

Tokunaga: Eh, what did I do at that time?

Hagiwara: You invited everyone to play shiritori.

Tokunaga: Ah. I like shiritori. But the rest find it a pain, so they'll be like 'Right, right, "zukan" (dictionary)', and it'd end just like that, so I'd attempt to bounce back with a word that starts with an 'n' (laughs).

Hagiwara: ℃-ute is funny in a different atmosphere. Also, what I think when we perform live together, is that Berryz Kobo have like an aura.

Tokunaga: We don't have any such aura.

Hagiwara: I guess you could say it's like you've got a high level of professional awareness, and all of you stand out in a good way, you have your own unique characteristics.

↨↨↨

Tokunaga: All of Berryz Kobo are uncoordinated, we do as we please, so even when we're told to assemble, we don't (laughs). But that comes out in our dancing as well, and we end up really going all over the pace, which is no good. 

↨↨↨

You both came from the same H!P Kids. How do you think things would have turned out if the two of you had switched places?

Tokunaga: I feel like I'd still be like how I am now, even in ℃-ute. I feel like I wouldn't change.

Hagiwara: It might turn out the other way, like because of your influence, the others would change (laughs). If I were in Berryz Kobo...... I can't imagine it. While I thought that it was great that they were able to become part of a group when they made their major debut, with the difference between their ages and mine, everyone in Berryz Kobo would be way more grown up, so I feel like I'd only burden them. 

Tokunaga: But Mai, you have this amazing ability to bring out huge bursts of laughter at MCs. Whatever you say will never fall flat. You're funny.

More interview excerpts from this book

Message to fans (H!P Maruwakari Summer 2015)

The HaroPuro MaruWakari Books are released in conjunction with the twice-yearly Hello! Con tours. The contents usually take the form of questionnaires to the members, mainly asking about other members.

This one, which came out for the 2015 Summer Hello! Cons, would be the first without Berryz Kobo, and the first with Kobushi and Tsubaki Factories. As new entries into H!P, the members of the two Factories also got a 'New Face Maruwakari Special', which has additional questions for the girls.

Q10. A message to the fans!!!

Yajima Maimi: Thank you very much always giving us support ♥ From now on, let's all make a warm H!P!! If I catch sight of the newbies, I'd like to talk with them about all sorts of things and become good friends ♪

Nakajima Saki: Without the support from all of you, we wouldn't have been able to come out with this book or hold concerts. I'm trully filled with gratitude towards all of you. Thank you. There are times when the fan letters I receive have made my tears flow. Thank you for everything. More than anything, you support my heart!

Suzuki Airi: Thank you very much for always giving us your support. It's been 13 years since we passed our auditions, and we've constantly been supported by all of you. We wouldn't have got here just by ourselves (>_<) Thank you so very much. We're concentrating every day with the goal of becoming idols that are close while distant at the same time, so we beg for your kind, continued support.

Okai Chisato: Thank you very much for all your support ♪ ℃-ute are celebrating our 10th anniversary this year, and we'll do our best to not yield to the young ones (Momochi excepted). Please keep following me as well as ℃-ute ☆

Hagiwara Mai: Thank you very much for always cheering us on. I'm glad to receive so many heartwarming words at concerts and handshake events. I beg for your kind, continued support!

Berryz Kobo x ℃-ute Cross Talk 43: Sudo Maasa x Suzuki Airi

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Hello! Project Kids in 2012, a book entitled Rival - 12 shoujo no 10-nen monogatari - (The 10-year legend of the 12 girls) was released. The book contains 2-page discussions between various pairings of the girls, covering all 66 possible combinations. In the process of reading this book, I'll be putting up some highlights as I read through the interviews.

Sudo Maasa X Suzuki Airi

At first, the planned theme of discussion was about black hair. 

However, we instead had an opportunity to learn about the unexpected relationship between the two of them, something that's rarely heard about!?

This is embarrassing to mention, but when I was assigned for the discussion between the 2 of you, the common feature that I came up with was 'black-haired'... Is there a better theme? Maasa-chan, are you a big fan of Airi-chan?

Suzuki: Maasa always says that I'm cute. Even on New Year's cards and messages, she'll definitely mention that I'm cute somewhere. It makes me self-conscious (laughs), but happy.

Sudo: We're like sisters, I support Airi. I got to watch a Buono! concert the other day (Buono! Live 2012 "R•E•A•L"), and when you came out for 'Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!' at the encore, you were holding a frisbee, and I thought you were super adorable when you let your face peek out! If I was a guy, I think I'd be completely taken away (laughs).

As for Buono!, there are 2 members in it from your very own group though..... (laughs)?

Sudo: Um~, they're roughly supplementary (laughs). I hadn't really seen Momo doing rock before, so it was nice to see a new aspect of her. Miya is always amazing, and even in Berryz Kobo, she's special, so calling her Natsuyaki-sama would be the least I could do (laughs). I always watch the 2 of them from nearby, but I hardly ever meet Airi, so seeing her after so long made my heart skip a beat.

Suzuki: Even at the BeriKyuu concerts (Berryz Kobo & ℃-ute Collab Concert Tour 2011 Autumn ~ BeriKyuu Island~'), you'd tell me at rehearsals what points you liked when I sang. Which made me think, 'She's watching me!' (laughs).

Sudo: My eyes get drawn to you. At any rate, you're cute, and it's like you'd disappear if someone were to touch you, like you're a cloud. You've got things that I don't possess, so you're an idol to me, like a younger sister to me. 

I do my best because Maasa watches me by Airi

For the Airi-chan who is so beloved, what do you think about Maasa-chan?

Suzuki: Maasa is someone who can be depended on for anything. When I'm with Maasa, it's like anything's fine, and we can go anywhere! For questionnaires concerning Hello! Project, Maasa's name always crops up everywhere for questions like 'If you had to enter a haunted house together with someone, who would you pick?' or 'Who would you pick to be with you on an unpopulated island?' (laughs).

They both think that the other is amazing

The acting test at the auditions

What they love so much that they could faint! - Manakan, Chiitan, Yamakki, Kishimon, Ozeko

{LoGirL is doing features on the stage-play Engeki Joshibu 'Kizetsu suru hodo Aishiteru!', including some interviews with the cast members. Here are some parts that tickled my fancy, from two of those interviews.

I realise that Countryside Translations has already translated the whole Inaba x Morito interview, so that's a more complete read. But since I'd already done these excerpts, and I hate to discard something that's already been fully completed, I thought I'd just put up what I'd done.}

Interview with Inaba Manaka and Morito Chisaki

──In connection to the title [of the play, 'Kizetsu suru hodo Aishiteru!' - 'I love you so much that I could faint!'], Inaba-san, is there anything that you love so much that you could faint?

Inaba　Dancing. I've been dancing from when I was small, but my love for it grows more and more every day. Recently, there have been times when I can't sleep because I can't help but want to dance.

Morito　That's amazing! You like it that much?

Inaba　I end up getting out of bed and doing some light dancing. Once I feel like it, I go back to sleep. There's not a day that goes by without me dancing. There are times when I'm dancing before I know it, and when that happens, I think that it means I probably haven't danced enough on that day. I can't live without dancing.

Tsugunaga Momoko: Spotlight Interview (Feb 2016)

{With the release of their latest single 'Boogie Woogie LOVE / Koi wa Magnet / Ran ra run ~Anata ni Muchuu~' in March, there's been quite a flurry of coverage of Country Girls recently. One theme that's been cropping up is how Momochi trains these girls in her role as Playing Manager, either by asking her directly or through interviews with the younger members (like in this one).

This interview by Spotlight is of the former type. The interviewer latches on to the fact that Momochi possesses a teaching licence, and talks with her about teaching and leadership. The original interview is of epic length, and if it wasn't for time and skill constraints, I would have liked to have translated the whole thing. Still, here are excerpts that I thought were worth translating.

Note that emphasis is mostly not mine, but are based on the original article.}

♥♥♥

---Tsugunaga-san, you joined Country Girls full-time almost immediately after Berryz Kobo's hiatus concert. How did you prepare yourself for being separated from the group that had been your entire youth, and leaping into a new group?

We entered our hiatus through our Budokan concert on the 3rd of March of 2015, while the first time I appeared in front of everyone as a member of Country Girls was on the 7th. But the day before that, the 6th of March, was my birthday, and I held a solo event by myself. It was an event that came between my concert as Berryz Kobo and my event as Country Girls, and I used the day I turned 23 to act as a juncture. Doing an event by myself was a really good cushion.

♥♥♥

---Tsugunaga-san, you've assumed the position of 'Playing Manager'. In other words, you're 'a player and supervisor at the same time'. We would like to ask about the what the role entails directly from the horse's mouth.

But I have no idea about what it entails either though (laughs).

The 'play' part is that I join in together with activities with them, but when I was thinking about what I should do for the 'manager' part, the fact that I've continued to experience the idol lifestyle definitely is a big part of what differentiates me from a 'manager-san'. The members knew nothing when they started off, and they'd hit walls, such as taking some time to remember the dances and the songs, while I've got the experience of going through the process of overcoming those walls before.

And because of that, I can talk about the difficulties I faced at that period of time, and talk about what I did in order to overcome them, so I think that I can care for the members in a way that would be difficult for our manager-san or the people from the office. Particularly with the new members, I've been talking to them, since I need to weed out as much as possible what sort of girls they are.

If I wanted to be 'relied upon', on the contrary, it might instill something weird in them... I could impart the wrong kind of wisdom to them, so it burdens me with a strong sense of responsibility.

It's really rare to see groups with this sort of playing manager system. If you just limit it to Hello! Project, it's really special, it's one of Country Girls' advantages.

A plus point of being the Playing Manager is that I get to listen to opinions from both the staff-san's point of view and from the members' point of view. And so, I have the freedom to immediately say whether some information might be better relayed later on in time, or to bring to a halt information that definitely shouldn't be told to the members. And it's fun to listen to the managers' inside stories that I hadn't been privy to before. I'm in a very advantageous position (laughs).