Firstly, congratulations, Kojimako, for being selected for the single!
Yuko & Michan: Congratulations ~
Kojimako: Thank you very much! I was so surprised, I wasn’t sure how to take it.
At last, one of the young girls from Team 4 was selected!
Miichan: Until now, I haven’t been paying that much attention to who was selected for the single, but this made me really happy.
How was she as a first-time Senbatsu member?
Miichan: She was so passionate about the day when we’d be shooting the music video. Then on the day itself, she turned up looking like an elementary school girl who’d been waiting excitedly for the school excursion and said, “I caught a cold ~ [cries]”
Yuko: You were looking forward to it?
Kojimako: That’s right. But we were taught the choreography on the day itself, so I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to match up to the senior members.
Yuko: On top of that, it was your first time doing something with that mood, wasn’t it?
Kojimako: Yeah.
Yuko: The new song has a melodic hardcore feel to it, and it’s the first time AKB48 has been into that genre. Moreover, it was your first time in the Senbatsu, so I was worried.
Yuko, last summer you said, “Watching the video of the trainee performance was really moving for me.”
Yuko: I watched it at home together with my father, who likes performances. It was really intense. After that, I learned everyone’s names one by one.
Miichan: That was the concert at the Budokan. Afterwards, you came to me and said, “Kojimako and Sahoo were really good.”
Yuko: I hadn’t seen the concerts by my juniors or the sister groups before, but I knew you were worried about your role in organising the trainees, so I thought I’d make the effort to see that one.
From then, people started talking about how great Kojimako’s smile was. We were thinking about that for a long time, and discussing having her on the front cover this year, so this has been being prepared for a while.
Yuko: Really ~? Even before the Senbatsu were announced?
Before your graduation announcement on New Year’s Eve, we’d requested to have you three on the cover for the February issue.
Yuko: That’s amazing! What a coincidence.
Miichan: Listening to this conversation reminds me how important the mass media is for being noticed by people.
Yuko: Yeah, that’s right. It’s the most important thing.
With your earth-shattering announcement at New Year, and you (Kojimako) being selected for Senbatsu at Request Hour, it was also a surprise for us. Well now, how hs it been, working together?
Kojimako: [Tenses up and listens intently with a serious face]
Yuko: Talking of the song, this time, even for the regular senbatsu, it was pretty tough. It was difficult to know exactly how much power to put into it. Akimoto wanted us to do something that resembled The Blue Hearts, but nobody in our group had that kind of experience.
An idol group doing something like The Blue Hearts is…
Miichan: It’s so hard to be anything like Komoto Hiroto, right? [laughs]
Yuko: Mako was immediately amazing, but on the other hand she was also troubled about everything. Well, she’s someone who’s not yet completely perfect. She’s careful about everything, and she really feels like someone who faces problems head-on, so I think from now on she’ll be one of the members who leads AKB48 forwards.
Kojimako, how about Yuko?
Kojimako: I don’t really feel like I’ve had any significant conversations with her, but she did say, “Fly higher than me! No, more than even that, graduate before me! [laughs]”
Miichan: It’s short isn’t it, life in AKB48, but flying higher than Yuko is haaard ~ [laughs]
Kojimako: I’ll do my best at that!
Yuko: If you don’t fly higher than me, it’ll all be over in an instant, so you have to try your best [evil laugh].
Mr Okada: Kojimako, you’re essentially a slow starter. But since your announcement at Request Hour, you’ve been exceeding everyone’s expectations.
Kojimako: I thought I wanted to stand out.
And about your dancing...
Kojimako: At the hook point, Yamamoto Sayaka was next to me. The way she was moving her head was so skilled, so I kept looking to the side and trying to imitate her.
Mr Okada: What did you talk to her about?
Kojimako: I was too nervous, I didn’t talk to her.
Was there anyone you did talk to?
Kojimako: I talked to Yokoyama, Kawaei and Paruru. Oh, and Milky.
Mr Okada: The other day, Kashiwagi Yuki asked Kojimako, “Why are you always smiling?” and she replied, “Isn’t everything fun? Kashiwagi, think about fun things!”
Everyone: [Uncontrollable laughter]
Miichan: Nobody would think that Yukirin was enjoying herself. She always looks normal [laughs]
Yuko: Yeah [laughs]
Kojimako: Yukirin is also next to me at the end of the single. After it’d finished, she muttered to me, “It’s so hot, isn’t it?”
Yuko: The most boring conversation in the world [laughs]
Miichan: Sasshii also talks to Kojimako. We make a point of introducing our new girls to each other. For example, she introduced Yabuki Nako from HKT48. Last year, she introduced Meru and Mio to me.
Talking of Yabuki, Yuko, there’s also a two-shot of you and her.
Yuko: At the time when Team K was formed, Maachan was an 11-year-old. Elementary school students were rare at that time. But nowadays, there are loads of young girls, so it makes me think about how much AKB48 has changed. I expect that from now on, all these new members will bring a new feeling to AKB48.
Tell me about the time when you were thinking about graduating. The documentary that was broadcast last year was the first time that you conveyed to us that you were thinking of graduating.
Yuko: Honestly, I first started thinking about it one or two years ago. After that, I decided to start talking to Akimoto about it more concretely.
Miichan, how was it watching from your position?
Miichan: At Akimoto Sayaka’s graduation performance on the first day of the Dome Concerts, I was worried about how tired Yuko seemed in both her heart and her body. Actually, in the dressing room, she seemed to completely collapse. Not seeing Yuko’s smiling face made me feel really uneasy. During the documentary programme, Yuko seemed to be being criticised for squatting down and not talking to anyone during a rehearsal, but in AKB48, we understand that that kind of thing is completely normal. Things like, “It’s better to give her some space at the moment.”
Yuko: We all understand having that kind of feeling.
Michan: There are times when you don’t want to hear people asking, “Are you okay?” The members can read the atmosphere at times like those. Everyone understands. And then as soon as we go out out on stage, she’d start dancing like it never happened. “That’s definitely Yuko.” I thought.
Yuko: Hmm?
Miichan: I sometimes see the trainees watching a performance from backstage with their eyes sparkling. “Who are you looking at? Who are you studying from?” I’ll ask them, and their answer is always, “Yuko”.
Kojimako, what is it about Yuko that you were watching?
Kojimako: Ummm, she’s a really amazing senior member.
Everyone: [Laughs]
Kojimako: At school, she’s thought of as a person who’ll transcend history. She’s that far away from me. During the summer Dome Tour, I thought I was dreaming when I was selected for the Senbatsu alongside her.
Miichan: You’re really happy that you can be in Yuko’s last single, right?
Kojimako: I’m so happy!
Yuko: Ufufufu.
Miichan: What do you want to learn from Yuko?
Kojimako: Uhhhh… everything.
Taking away everything at once would be difficult wouldn’t it?
Kojimako: Certainly, I want to watch her dancing. And of course I can’t learn to do everything she does, but I do want to learn as much as I possibly can from her.
How do you feel about being on the same stage as her?
Kojimako: When Yuko was doing her solo at the start of “Mae Shika Mukanee”, a group of us were watching from the back on the monitors. [Kojimako puts her hands together diagonally to make a peak] I realised that I want to become like this even faster.
Miichan: Like...that?
Kojimako: Like this.
Miichan: What do you mean?
Kojimako: [Puts her hands together diagonally again and stretches them out] Like this…
Yuko: You want to become as amazing as me? Thank you very much [laughs]
Kojimako: No, that’s not… aaah.. ah … like something. .. in front…
Yuko: Hey, hey! Be careful - explain properly! You’ve got to explain to the journalist what you mean clearly, or people might misunderstand! [laughs]
Kojimako: So this [puts her hands together again] means that I’m saying that Yuko gradually became able to sing from the very front easily.
Yuko: I see.
Kojimako: I think that’s amazing ~ It’ll take me this long to be able to do that! [stretches her hands out in front of her]
Yuko: Phoo, it won’t take you any time at all! [laughs]
Miichan: The short time it took Yuko to be able to do that kind of thing amazes you, right?
Kojimako: Yes! That’s it! [laughs brightly]
Can you tell us any more concretely what it is that amazes you about Yuko?
Kojimako: Ummmmmmm… I’m not really sure, I’m a really big fan of hers, so I think everything is amazing.
Yuko: How old are you?
Kojimako: I’m 16.
Yuko: 16, huh…
Miichan: Will you forgive her for not being able praise you clearly?
เค้าพูดอะไรบ้าง Minegishi Minami, Oshima Yuko & Kojima Mako Interview (AKB48 Newspaper)
Firstly, congratulations, Kojimako, for being selected for the single!
Yuko & Michan: Congratulations ~
Kojimako: Thank you very much! I was so surprised, I wasn’t sure how to take it.
At last, one of the young girls from Team 4 was selected!
Miichan: Until now, I haven’t been paying that much attention to who was selected for the single, but this made me really happy.
How was she as a first-time Senbatsu member?
Miichan: She was so passionate about the day when we’d be shooting the music video. Then on the day itself, she turned up looking like an elementary school girl who’d been waiting excitedly for the school excursion and said, “I caught a cold ~ [cries]”
Yuko: You were looking forward to it?
Kojimako: That’s right. But we were taught the choreography on the day itself, so I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to match up to the senior members.
Yuko: On top of that, it was your first time doing something with that mood, wasn’t it?
Kojimako: Yeah.
Yuko: The new song has a melodic hardcore feel to it, and it’s the first time AKB48 has been into that genre. Moreover, it was your first time in the Senbatsu, so I was worried.
Yuko, last summer you said, “Watching the video of the trainee performance was really moving for me.”
Yuko: I watched it at home together with my father, who likes performances. It was really intense. After that, I learned everyone’s names one by one.
Miichan: That was the concert at the Budokan. Afterwards, you came to me and said, “Kojimako and Sahoo were really good.”
Yuko: I hadn’t seen the concerts by my juniors or the sister groups before, but I knew you were worried about your role in organising the trainees, so I thought I’d make the effort to see that one.
From then, people started talking about how great Kojimako’s smile was. We were thinking about that for a long time, and discussing having her on the front cover this year, so this has been being prepared for a while.
Yuko: Really ~? Even before the Senbatsu were announced?
Before your graduation announcement on New Year’s Eve, we’d requested to have you three on the cover for the February issue.
Yuko: That’s amazing! What a coincidence.
Miichan: Listening to this conversation reminds me how important the mass media is for being noticed by people.
Yuko: Yeah, that’s right. It’s the most important thing.
With your earth-shattering announcement at New Year, and you (Kojimako) being selected for Senbatsu at Request Hour, it was also a surprise for us. Well now, how hs it been, working together?
Kojimako: [Tenses up and listens intently with a serious face]
Yuko: Talking of the song, this time, even for the regular senbatsu, it was pretty tough. It was difficult to know exactly how much power to put into it. Akimoto wanted us to do something that resembled The Blue Hearts, but nobody in our group had that kind of experience.
An idol group doing something like The Blue Hearts is…
Miichan: It’s so hard to be anything like Komoto Hiroto, right? [laughs]
Yuko: Mako was immediately amazing, but on the other hand she was also troubled about everything. Well, she’s someone who’s not yet completely perfect. She’s careful about everything, and she really feels like someone who faces problems head-on, so I think from now on she’ll be one of the members who leads AKB48 forwards.
Kojimako, how about Yuko?
Kojimako: I don’t really feel like I’ve had any significant conversations with her, but she did say, “Fly higher than me! No, more than even that, graduate before me! [laughs]”
Miichan: It’s short isn’t it, life in AKB48, but flying higher than Yuko is haaard ~ [laughs]
Kojimako: I’ll do my best at that!
Yuko: If you don’t fly higher than me, it’ll all be over in an instant, so you have to try your best [evil laugh].
Mr Okada: Kojimako, you’re essentially a slow starter. But since your announcement at Request Hour, you’ve been exceeding everyone’s expectations.
Kojimako: I thought I wanted to stand out.
And about your dancing...
Kojimako: At the hook point, Yamamoto Sayaka was next to me. The way she was moving her head was so skilled, so I kept looking to the side and trying to imitate her.
Mr Okada: What did you talk to her about?
Kojimako: I was too nervous, I didn’t talk to her.
Was there anyone you did talk to?
Kojimako: I talked to Yokoyama, Kawaei and Paruru. Oh, and Milky.
Mr Okada: The other day, Kashiwagi Yuki asked Kojimako, “Why are you always smiling?” and she replied, “Isn’t everything fun? Kashiwagi, think about fun things!”
Everyone: [Uncontrollable laughter]
Miichan: Nobody would think that Yukirin was enjoying herself. She always looks normal [laughs]
Yuko: Yeah [laughs]
Kojimako: Yukirin is also next to me at the end of the single. After it’d finished, she muttered to me, “It’s so hot, isn’t it?”
Yuko: The most boring conversation in the world [laughs]
Miichan: Sasshii also talks to Kojimako. We make a point of introducing our new girls to each other. For example, she introduced Yabuki Nako from HKT48. Last year, she introduced Meru and Mio to me.
Talking of Yabuki, Yuko, there’s also a two-shot of you and her.
Yuko: At the time when Team K was formed, Maachan was an 11-year-old. Elementary school students were rare at that time. But nowadays, there are loads of young girls, so it makes me think about how much AKB48 has changed. I expect that from now on, all these new members will bring a new feeling to AKB48.
Tell me about the time when you were thinking about graduating. The documentary that was broadcast last year was the first time that you conveyed to us that you were thinking of graduating.
Yuko: Honestly, I first started thinking about it one or two years ago. After that, I decided to start talking to Akimoto about it more concretely.
Miichan, how was it watching from your position?
Miichan: At Akimoto Sayaka’s graduation performance on the first day of the Dome Concerts, I was worried about how tired Yuko seemed in both her heart and her body. Actually, in the dressing room, she seemed to completely collapse. Not seeing Yuko’s smiling face made me feel really uneasy. During the documentary programme, Yuko seemed to be being criticised for squatting down and not talking to anyone during a rehearsal, but in AKB48, we understand that that kind of thing is completely normal. Things like, “It’s better to give her some space at the moment.”
Yuko: We all understand having that kind of feeling.
Michan: There are times when you don’t want to hear people asking, “Are you okay?” The members can read the atmosphere at times like those. Everyone understands. And then as soon as we go out out on stage, she’d start dancing like it never happened. “That’s definitely Yuko.” I thought.
Yuko: Hmm?
Miichan: I sometimes see the trainees watching a performance from backstage with their eyes sparkling. “Who are you looking at? Who are you studying from?” I’ll ask them, and their answer is always, “Yuko”.
Kojimako, what is it about Yuko that you were watching?
Kojimako: Ummm, she’s a really amazing senior member.
Everyone: [Laughs]
Kojimako: At school, she’s thought of as a person who’ll transcend history. She’s that far away from me. During the summer Dome Tour, I thought I was dreaming when I was selected for the Senbatsu alongside her.
Miichan: You’re really happy that you can be in Yuko’s last single, right?
Kojimako: I’m so happy!
Yuko: Ufufufu.
Miichan: What do you want to learn from Yuko?
Kojimako: Uhhhh… everything.
Taking away everything at once would be difficult wouldn’t it?
Kojimako: Certainly, I want to watch her dancing. And of course I can’t learn to do everything she does, but I do want to learn as much as I possibly can from her.
How do you feel about being on the same stage as her?
Kojimako: When Yuko was doing her solo at the start of “Mae Shika Mukanee”, a group of us were watching from the back on the monitors. [Kojimako puts her hands together diagonally to make a peak] I realised that I want to become like this even faster.
Miichan: Like...that?
Kojimako: Like this.
Miichan: What do you mean?
Kojimako: [Puts her hands together diagonally again and stretches them out] Like this…
Yuko: You want to become as amazing as me? Thank you very much [laughs]
Kojimako: No, that’s not… aaah.. ah … like something. .. in front…
Yuko: Hey, hey! Be careful - explain properly! You’ve got to explain to the journalist what you mean clearly, or people might misunderstand! [laughs]
Kojimako: So this [puts her hands together again] means that I’m saying that Yuko gradually became able to sing from the very front easily.
Yuko: I see.
Kojimako: I think that’s amazing ~ It’ll take me this long to be able to do that! [stretches her hands out in front of her]
Yuko: Phoo, it won’t take you any time at all! [laughs]
Miichan: The short time it took Yuko to be able to do that kind of thing amazes you, right?
Kojimako: Yes! That’s it! [laughs brightly]
Can you tell us any more concretely what it is that amazes you about Yuko?
Kojimako: Ummmmmmm… I’m not really sure, I’m a really big fan of hers, so I think everything is amazing.
Yuko: How old are you?
Kojimako: I’m 16.
Yuko: 16, huh…
Miichan: Will you forgive her for not being able praise you clearly?