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Hope of SKE48　MAYA SUGAWARA

Dita Earlgrey

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Here's an interview with Nacky from July. It was posted in two parts on Melos. It's different from the usual idol interviews but I liked it.

https://melos.media/hobby/29073/ https://melos.media/hobby/29075/

In this interview entitled “Idol, sports, and youth” we’ll hear about the wonders of competition from an idol who has a background in athletics. The idol in question whom we asked to take part in this interview is Kamata Natsuki of SKE48, who released their 23rd single, Ikinari Punchline, on July 4. It ranked first on Oricon on its release day. Kamata is a liberal arts type who likes reading and manga. She’s known as a shougi idol and has played against the former pro Kato Hifumi (Hifumin). However she’s also a sports idol, having done swimming for six years, ballet for seven years, archery for three years, kendo for two years, rugby for three years (in her P.E. classes). She has a rich history of doing sports, and this year she ran the Nagoya Women’s Marathon. In this first part we’ll go over her infancy and her reasons for picking up swimming and ballet and we’ll ask about her experiences and impressions. The road to becoming the best swimmer in SKE48 -You have the image of being the indoor type since you like shougi, books, and manga, but you have a long history of sports too. I’m not particularly good at exercising, but I’ve always loved moving around. At home I was raised to try my hardest at everything I do, so I think my strong point is continuing to do things for a long time. -What got you interested in swimming? My kindergarten was linked to a swimming school so when it was summer I’d go to the pool once a week after the classes. It was fun. We were divided by skill into the eel, goldfish, and crab classes. -Those are some funny names. Which class were you in? I started in the crab class and thought it’d be nice if I could be like the other kids around me who could swim, so I practiced floating. After that I practiced the backstroke so I wouldn’t be scared about putting my face in the water. By the second year of elementary school that school ceased to exist. I went to another school after, but their plan was to start with floating and move onto the crawl, so I had to start over and float again. -That seems quite frustrating. After learning the crawl we moved onto the backstroke, which I already learned, so it felt like a waste of time. It’s a bitter memory. -When did you stop taking swimming lessons? I had classes until the fifth grade of elementary school, I think. I learned the crawl, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. After that I did a medley of them. However there were middle schoolers at that school and I wasn’t able to compete with them endurance-wise. People around me thought it was a waste to quit, but I did so since I couldn’t compete at that level yet. -Staying on that topic, you used your swimming experience in your idol life too. You got the best spot on the swimming competition on Zero Position in 2014. For the first part we swam in teams, and then I raced against the members of the winning team… I was in the water for almost an entire day. I must have swam ten kilometers. The second battle was more a battle of endurance than anything else. -That sounds tough. It was really fun. I was happy that a pro told me that my swimming form was good. I hadn’t swum in a while but it was like riding a bike. Discovering the importance of being on the side through ballet -When did you start ballet? I did ballet from the second grade of elementary school until the second year of middle school. I ended right in time to focus on my studies for high school acceptance exams. -What got you to pick up ballet? I had a close friend who was doing ballet, and I was surprised by how flexible her body was. I saw how she could bend her legs and thought that I wanted to be like that too. -So it wasn’t because you liked the outfit then. Well, it’s impressive that you continued doing it for so long after starting ballet so casually. It was fun to discover new things I wanted to do with ballet, such as wearing pointe shoes, doing different kinds of moves, and performing a certain role during a recital. -You had swimming and ballet lessons during the same time. How did you manage that schedule? I did ballet four times a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. When a recital was coming up I’d have practice on Sunday as well. I did swimming on Wednesdays and Saturdays. -That sounds like a tough schedule. Ballet started at seven at night, so I had time to play with my friends. On the days where I didn’t have any extracurriculars I went to borrow books from the library. That practice has stayed with me, as I still love reading. -What did you start your ballet lessons with? In the preclasses for small kids we’d hold a ball while elevating our bodies, that was fun. I made a promise with my mom to stretch for thirty minutes a day, so my body got very flexible. -So you’d get that promise done with your class. So why did you continue ballet? While learning the moves during elementary and middle school I really got the feeling that I wanted to wear pointe shoes quickly. At the school I went to we didn’t all get to wear the shoes at the same time. Therefore I wanted to wear them faster than anyone else and I adopted a competitive mindset. -Did you get to wear them before others? The school I went to didn’t let you wear the shoes until you matured past a certain age. -Why’s that? If your feet get accustomed to the shoes while your body is still forming your body isn’t able to grow properly and you become unable to dance. Your feet become really warped if you wear the shoes while you’re still growing. I didn’t start wearing the pointe shoes from such an early age, but some of my toes still became weird. My index toe is long, but if I push downwards with it, it bends outwards. -Are there a lot of people whose feet change shape? Ballerinas upload pictures of their feet on social media, and you can see that their feet are messed up. They often say that they can’t sleep at night due to the pain. Those who start ballet at a very young age are especially like that. -I’m assuming that people continue to do it because it’s fun in spite of all the pain? I found it fun to complete the units one at a time. You begin with standing up, then learn how to spin, and eventually become able to do a pas. (Step/movement) -Was there any particular moment in which you felt a sense of achievement? I felt a sense of accomplishment when I was able to do my first pique (tiptoe and twirl) while wearing pointe shoes. At first my body swayed while I tried tiptoeing, and I couldn’t keep my balance steady, and in the worst cases I’d fall on my butt. Therefore when I was finally able to do the movement cleanly I remember feeling extremely good. -Where there any recitals that left an impression on you? There are many! The one I’ll never forget is when I danced on the side. -Rather than the center? The dancers in the center are more noticeable, but during big performances side dancers and soloists are also present. The side dancers hardly move at all during a song. A song lasts around five minutes, and they only move three times. The rest of the time they don’t move at all. -That sounds pretty tough. Yes, but doing that part is the way to success. A lot of people are entrusted those parts and then become picked to dance in the center -So if you can’t do the side role you can’t be in the middle. I was entrusted with that role too, but only because I raised my hand. It was hard to concentrate while following other people’s dancing, and people got mad at me, it was really hard. In elementary and middle school you really want to move, so I wanted to practice spinning rather than standing in place. I don’t remember it, but my mom told me I complained about being fed up of just standing. But looking back at it I think it was a good experience. You need to experience that before becoming the prima donna of any ballet group, and now I know that ballet productions are propped up by the people who have such roles. -So it was a good lesson then. Did you feel a similar thing in SKE48? Yup. For example, if only one person’s arms are slumped while dancing lined up next to everyone else, the whole scene looks bad. In ballet and idols, as well as many other things, the center isn’t always the most important thing. Archery in middle school and an appearance at the prefectural tournament -It seems like you started kyudo (Japanese archery) in middle school. Why did you start? During that time I was still doing ballet, so my evenings were very long. Therefore I thought it’d be good to take a sports club that took place in the morning. I thought about a liberal arts club, or the cooking club. However I thought it’d be better to move around, so in the end I settled on kyudo. -How was it when you joined? I heard it wasn’t popular, but there were about twenty girls from my grade alone so I was surprised. But there were only four circular targets and two hay targets. So we’d practice by substituting each other during each half. Other than shooting arrows we’d go running around the school and up the steps. -How far would you run? The school’s circumference was about one kilometer, and we’d do five or six laps, and sometimes ten when we’d do a lot. There were some quiet girls who weren’t good at sports in the kyudo club who’d think things like “we’re running so much despite being in the kyudo club”, and so they resented the club. -What kind of firing practice did you do? First you spread your feet and face forwards, and you follow the same order until you fire the arrow, called the eight steps of archery. First you hold the arrow with the kake, the glove made out of deer’s hide, and practice your stance while looking in a mirror. Once you do that, you fire from nearby the hay targets, but it’s quite hard to hit. -It’s difficult merely to fire an arrow. What’s more, a bow and arrow have enough force to make a hole. If your arm shakes just a little, the bowstring will hit your arm and you’ll get some marks on your arm that look like earthworms. So it’s really dangerous. For this part we got some thorough coaching. -Did you appear in any tournaments? Yes. I took part in the prefectural tournament when I was a first grader. -That’s great! Few schools have a kyudo club in middle school, and I won twice at the municipal tournaments, and I went on to the prefectural tournament. -How were members chosen? First we were picked by our school, and my grades happened to be good so I was picked. At the time I was doing ballet and I wasn’t practicing kyudo very passionately, so I felt some stares when I was picked which was a bit scary. -What are the rules at the tournaments? There are a bunch of rules, but when I went we were a team of three competing against other teams, and each person fired at a target six times, with your hits getting you points. -Was it ok merely to hit the target? Archery and Kyudo are both part of the same discipline where you fire arrows, however it’s rather easy to hit the target in archery. Therefore it becomes a competition to see how close to the middle your arrow can land. However it’s much harder to hit the target in kyudo. When I went to the tournaments it was enough to hit three of your six shots to advance onto the prefectural tournament. -Were you able to focus more on your club after appearing at a prefectural tournament in your first year? Not at all. I think it was pure luck that I got to the prefectural tournament. I leaned towards ballet over kyudo, so I just tried to enjoy myself when I was practicing the latter. -How was it balancing it with ballet? I had kyudo every day of the week, and before a tournament we’d go on Saturdays to a neighbouring city to practice. I went to do ballet after the kyudo club. -I said this before, but that’s a tough schedule. I don’t have any recollection of it being that way during that time. I only remember being bitten a lot by mosquitoes! The shooting range was outdoors, and you spend much of the time maintaining the same movements in stillness, so you’re an all you can eat buffet for the mosquitoes. The biggest impression I have of that club is how itchy it was. Starting kendo with aspirations of becoming a police officer -In high school you moved onto the kendo club, correct? At that time I wanted to be a police officer. In order to become one you need to pass the first dan of a martial art. At the school I went to lots of people wanted to become police officers or JSDF officers, so there was a reference book for that in the club room, and the club was built around that. I planned to do kendo for a long time, but in autumn of my first year I passed the auditions for SKE48 and I was unable to continue the club. However I absolutely wanted to pass the first dan, so I tried my best until I was able to pass it. -When did you pass it? I was already in SKE48, so I think it was during my second grade. After that you had to practice for tournaments, so I thought that if I’d participate in those I’d be a bother, so I didn’t participate in those, but I stayed on as part of the club, so I’d show my face near the end. -So there was a period where you were an idol and did kendo. That’s right, and there were many people who were of a high skill level, so it felt natural to drop out. One of my seniors ranked number one in Aichi in terms of physical strength, they were really strong. It was scary to face them, the pressure of facing a certain blow once you moved was intense. -Posture is important in both kyudo and kendo. Did your experience with ballet help? Hm, I wonder… Image-wise, ballet has the feeling that you’re being suspended from above. However it feels like your body is firmly on the ground in kendo, so it’s different. You also focus on the area below your navel. -So they’re opposites. Yes. In kendo your lower back is curved a bit, while it’s completely straight in ballet. Therefore when I was told to fix my posture in kendo and thought I fixed it, I was startled when the problem turned out to be my lower back. -By the way, you also have experience playing rugby. When did that begin? I only played rugby in my school classes. We played it every winter. -It’s still impressive for girls to play it. My high school was on top of a mountain, so there weren’t any sports like baseball where objects go flying a great distance. It seems like rugby was its replacement. The boys also wanted to be made to play rugby but it would’ve led to injuries if they went at it for real so only girls did rugby. -Did you practice tackling? We did tackles and lined up for scrums too. We learned how to hit with our shoulders and chest, and we learned the proper way to hit others so that our collarbones wouldn’t break. -That’s the real deal. At the time I thought that kind of class was perfectly normal but it seems rather rare. Her current interest is mountain climbing. She's running in preparation. -What exercise do you do nowadays? You recently ran the Nagoya women’s marathon. I run about three times a week. -How far do you run? About five kilometers. On days where I want to challenge myself I run ten. Depending on the day I’ll run after a theatre performance too. -By the way, how long did it take for you to run the marathon? 5 hours and 51 minutes. However I had some help from the trainers and other helpers along the way, so it felt like I was being helped along. -Even so, completing the race is impressive by itself. I don’t mind steadily doing the same action. I’m bad at having to do something like dancing, where you have to move while thinking. -So you feel like you’re not good at dancing despite having done ballet. Doing ballet and doing idol songs are two completely different things. In ballet you dance in a certain form that’s been decided from the start, with a clear idea of what is correct. With dance there is no feeling of correctness. It also seems like I have no sense about it, since even though others around me tell me that my movements are creepy, I can’t pinpoint those movements myself. -SKE48’s new single, Ikinari Punchline, has a rather hard choreography, right? The new song has a jazz-like choreography, so my ballet experience has no relevance. -You don’t get dizzy? I don’t. I’m actually good at games where you need to tag someone after spinning around. This ability comes in useful for dance and other things. -This is your second time being in the SKE48 senbatsu. You’ve surely felt some frustration seeing people from your generation and your juniors making leaps within the group. Did the lesson you learn in ballet that being the center isn’t everything help you succeed in continuing to work hard? It did. When I first joined the group I was the type put to the side, and I just thought that my moment hadn’t come yet. I was commuting to my ordinary high school on my bike and thought that the important things you need to do in any kind of work are always the same. There was a period where I didn’t worry about being in the senbatsu. -That’s what you thought, then. However Oya Masana told me that it was too early for me to think that way, and I changed my way of thinking after being told that. Being an idol is about making your fans smile, and it wasn’t good to worry my fans with my lack of confidence and cowardice. Since then I got myself to start saying that I wanted to enter the senbatsu. To be honest I think I was given a lot of chances to enter the senbatsu, and my fans gave me the ticket to make it in, so I want to -Is there anything you’d like to do? This year is SKE48’s tenth year, so I’d like to work hard to spread the group from my home area to all over Japan. The first step is a live concert at Nagoya Dome! -How about for you personally? I want to do some mountain-climbing related work. A lot of my friends from the kendo club used to climb mountains and it looked fun. So I’ll keep running while waiting for that opportunity to come knocking.

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18/09/08 SKE48 Ikinari Punchline Handshake @ Port Messe Nagoya

This handshake felt like it came a bit fast, only a week after my last one. Last Saturday Maya asked me to wear a yukata or jinbei to the next event, and my friends urged me to wear one so I ordered one on Rakuten. Thankfully the shipping here is fast and I got it the day before the event. I was a bit shy at first but I got a very positive reaction from everyone, getting a lot of kakkois etc. My usual handshakes at Port Messe are held in hall # 3, but the event this time was held in hall #1, which is the hottest hall I’ve been to. It’s very wide and spacious, and fans were set up everywhere. In addition there were stations handing out free water/tea bottles, shaved ice cream, and popsicles. I think this is the first time I get anything free at a handshake event, and it was quite nice to not have to leave the venue to get something. I usually only go see Maya, but after going to so many Team E performances I felt like going to see some of the members since I’ve grown to like them a lot. In addition I went to see a former oshi… My first handshake of the day was with Nacky (Kamata Natsuki). There is a very kind Japanese Nacky fan I know who connects with the international fans in English, so I hit him up before going. He was very nice and introduced me to some other fans and Nacky. I was a bit nervous since I kind of idolize her more than the other girls on a personal level. The nice guy introduced me, she recognized me from the theatre and I said I liked her performances. She was wearing her seitansai shirt and her flower wreath. Next I went to see Maya (Sugawara Maya). Of course she was wearing her yukata and some other fans wore some too, while some wore jinbei. I actually thought about buying a jinbei at first but a friend told me you can’t wear that in public since they’re like pajamas and what you wear to take out the trash. I don’t think they’re that shameful, since Maya was surprised to see me in a yukata and asked me why I wasn’t in a jinbei. I answered that this just seemed cooler, I don’t know. Anyway she liked the design a lot and said it went well with my skin tone. Next time I went she asked me how her yukata was, I said it was cute, then I asked how my cosplay of a Japanese person was. She said the colour and design were really nice and she felt the fabric up. Next up she asked me if I’m going to Request Hour. I said no since I spent too much on the sousenkyo. She apologized but asked me if I’ll help her next year. I said of course, and she said she’s aiming for #11. I went to see Ouchan (Suenaga Ouka) after. She was cosplaying as Roux Louka from Gundam Double Zeta. I bought tickets just to see her cosplay and talk about Gundam. As far as cosplay outfits go it felt a bit budget but it was cool to see her with that wig. I said hi, and told her I came because I like Gundam. She asked which series I like, and she guessed correctly: Gundam Zeta. She laughed and said “Kamille!” and I told her my favourite character from that show is Paptimus Sciroco. She said ah, and then told me about her cosplay. This was my first handshake where you hold hands cross-wise. I went to see Nacky again after. I wished her a belated happy birthday and told her I read her blogs and they’re my favourite out of all the member blogs. She was surprised that I could understand them, since some members like Kitano Ruka apparently can’t read them. She uses some difficult vocabulary, and I told her it’s why I like them since I can learn a lot from them. She was happy. Afterwards I went to see Ouchan for the last time. I noticed her Double Zeta Gundam gunplay model she had with her. I told her I want to start building one of my own and she asked me which ones I want to make. I told her the Messala or Zeta Gundam. She told me she was thinking of bringing the Zeta Gundam today too. I guess she will bring her models from the original series on the 30th when she cosplays an Earth Federation soldier. I went back to Maya, and she was berating my friend who went first. I couldn’t stop laughing so she brought me over “You like laughing huh? You were laughing back there, I saw you. Was it funny, am I funny?” I answered of course, and told/asked her something I forgot about. Next time I did the stupidest thing ever, telling her my next ticket is the last one. “Last for this block, today, or life?” No no no, just today, I don’t have any for the next block. “Oh ok…” For my last time she told me I was the spitting image of a handsome Japanese man today and asked me to bring my own yukata next year. I informed her that this one was indeed mine, and she was surprised since she assumed I borrowed it from someone. I told her I’d be lending it to my friend next. Before taking it off I went to see Churi (Takayanagi Akane). The fans went nuts at seeing me in her lane after so long, yelling “The Sugawara wota has come!”, “Why are you here?”, “That ticket suits you well”, etc. It was nostalgic lining up with them again. As always Churi said it had been a long time, she said the yukata looked super good on me, I said thanks, she asked me if I only had one ticket today, I said yes, and I was shoved aside. It was nice to see her again. I lent my yukata to my friend since he wanted to wear one to see Maya today and ask her on a yukata date… He predictably got turned down pretty hard. The verdict is that it doesn’t look as good on him as me. She even complimented the way the belt was wrapped around, and he was forced to say I did it for him. I think the lesson to learn here is to not be a massive gachikoi in front of the member. Unfortunately that meant I wasn’t able to show it to Kumachan (Kumazaki Haruka), who I went to next. The man in front of me must have told her it was his birthday because she sung him the happy birthday song. Her outfit was just way too cute and she has a strong grip. It was my first time meeting her so I wanted to say nice to meet you, but she interrupted me with a “I KNOW YOU! You’re always at the theatre!” I said yeah, you give such nice performances and I see you a lot during the bye byes. She thanked me, and extended her other hand cross-wise. She asked me to shake it and come to see her more. I shook and she said it was a promise. I told her I’m coming on the 30th. It was a good thing I only had one ticket for her, I would have died or oshihenned on the spot otherwise. It's just not fair. I went back to Nacky afterwards. The guy I was with made sure she was aware of my change of clothes and she couldn’t stop laughing. She was practically wheezing at the sight of me in shorts and t-shirt in contrast to the yukata. I told her I lent it to my friend now and she said I’m very nice. Next time we went she kept laughing at the guy before since he kept talking about me to her and she found it funny how he was doing this elaborate introduction of me every time. I told her I like history and jogging, hobbies that we share, and she was happy to hear that. I told her I’m not marathon-ready yet and she told me that if she can run a marathon anyone can and encouraged me to try. Finally she remarked how many times I came and said thanks, I told her I’m coming again on the 30th, and she said she’s looking forward to what outfit I’ll have. We laughed and she told me my normal clothes are fine. I’ve been getting really awesome handshakes recently, with a lot of pretty genuine reactions from everyone. I should probably think of more topics to tell Maya, but when you go with one ticket at a time there really isn’t much time.

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Sugawara Maya Flash 18/05/20 High School Uniform Gravure Interview

-This is the school uniform gravure you’ve been longing for! I’m really happy! I’ve been saying that I want to do some school uniform gravure for about an entire year. I wanted to leave something over from my time as a high school student. -You’re wearing a uniform that gives off the feeling of a prim young lady, and a blazer that gives the impression of a contemporary high school student. Which one do you like more? Probably the young lady one. I haven’t really seen it much so it feels rarer. The blazer definitely suits my image better though. -That’s not true, the young lady one suits you too. Hm? Yeah, you’re right... -What do you mean, I’m right...? I mean yeah, it does suit me~ Maybe I have a prim and proper character after all. -What are your memories of high school? I moved to Nagoya in June of my first year of high school and transferred to a correspondence (long-distance) school, so I don’t have many memories of Nagoya. However I did two months of high school in Miyagi, and it was a lot of fun! I remember buying little carp streamers from the hundred yen shop with the three friends I commuted to school with every day. We put them on our bags (in May) since children’s day is in May.*1 -You seem like a bit of an airhead.*2 Ahaha. It was short, but I got close to the other girls in my class. On my last day at that school I walked into the class and saw tons of sweets on my desk. Afterwards some of my friends gave me flowers while I cried. -You were well liked. Was there anything you’d have liked to do while you were still wearing a uniform? There is, but it’s only a fantasy, hehe. If I wasn’t an idol... I’d have liked a boyfriend from another school. -Oh, so this is a romantic story? Yup! After my extracurriculars he’d come to my school to pick me up. Just like shoujo manga. -So you’d have a date with your uniforms on. For me it’d be enough for him to come see me after school, but we could go on a date afterwards since he came all the way. We’d take purikuras at the game center, and go on the swings at the park. -Are you sad that you’ve lost the high school “brand” with your graduation? Just a little. I’ve been part of SKE48 for the three years I’ve been in high school, so it’s a bit hard to believe I’m no longer a high schooler. I thought I’d be a high schooler for life. -Is there anything new you’d like to try out now that you’ve graduated from high school? I’d like to travel alone in private. My lack of direction makes itself apparent sometimes, so first off I’d like to travel to Gifu or somewhere nearby. I want to go to the hot springs in Gero. (A city in Gifu prefecture) As a member of SKE48 though, I want to once again stand atop the stage in Nagoya Dome! *1 Carp streamers are a symbol for Children’s Day in Japan. It’s unclear in the interview whether Maya and her friends put these streamers on their bags every day of May or a few times, or even beyond that. *2 Actually I wanted to translate this as "You're a bit of an idiot, aren't you?" but that seems very harsh in English. The interviewer used the word baka.

[akanemachurida-blog]

Special Blog

2018-07-30 21:18:57

I’m SKE48 Team KII’s Takeuchi Saki (´-`*) I will present you a special blog features Ryouha 🐰💗

Today I drank Tapioka with Ryouha.

We had a date.

We were joking around~~~

We ate some delicious foods too

After we went back…

We were getting hyped while talking about this topic 💗

Extra note: The topic she talked about was “ if they were to be reborn, they want to become Tapioka -_- And what kind of Tapioka they want to become…”

By the way, we are going to enjoy ourselves after this😘

Ah! Right! Lately, a lot of people asked us “If we are a couple, who is the boyfriend and who is the girlfriend?”

If we ARE dating each other, most likely I’m the boyfriend and Ryouha is the girlfriend 💗

[akanemachurida-blog]

Great write-up on the Osaka handshake event! What time did u reach the venue and what time did u leave? Just wanna understand usually how long do such handshake events take. Also, did any of your other three usual twitch podcasters go to this event with you that day?

I got to the venue around 11:30 am (I had to wait until 12:30 until I could use my tickets for Yumana) and I left around 8:00 pm. Maya’s stuff was from 3:30 - 8:00 pm but I wanted to get there early. I’ve taken buses where I’ve been several hours late.

No, none of them were there.

[akanemachurida-blog]

18/07/15 - HS Report

I went to the handshake event on July 15 in Osaka. (SSK single)

I had been to Intex Osaka two years ago and this was my first time at Kyocera Dome.As far as handshakes go I’m really mixed about baseball stadiums. You can sit down but they feel so cramped when you have all the 48 groups present. I’ve never had too much of a problem at Nagoya Dome even when it was crowded, but it felt like there wasn’t enough space or seats at Kyocera Dome. It was hellishly hot but Kyocera Dome felt pretty cool for most of the day. In comparison Nagoya Dome always feels like a furnace.

I went by bus and I arrived hours in advance in case there was any traffic. I had only bought tickets for Maya but I had four hours to wait until her slots opened so I decided to oshimashi six of my tickets.

Takagi Yumana x 5

I’ve been a fan of Yumana’s for a good four years now but I’ve never been to a handshake. I introduced myself and told her that I’ve been watching her for years and that I wish her the best and that there are a lot of people like me who don’t come to her lane for whatever reason but are cheering her on. I told her not to give up and the usual stuff. She asked me who my oshimen was and I told her it was Maya, and she looked confused so I told her I followed KII since my previous oshi was Churi. She laughed a lot and called me an oshihenner and thanked me for my words. Maybe five tickets was a bit overkill but I said what I wanted and she’s exactly as I expected (and incredibly beautiful).

I'd like to go see her again since we have a lot of hobbies in common.

Nomura Miyo x 1

I never have much to tell Miyo since I don’t follow her social media much so I always get a single ticket or so per event. She never fails to impress as she’s a very sharp and good talker. She was wearing her glasses so I told her they look good on her and I saw her Showroom where she was wearing them recently. She then compared my arm with her own, saying I’m so white and she’s jealous. I feel like she tells me this every time I see her, except this time she noticed that my arm is long (I have no idea why but I’ve heard this from Maya too – I have long limbs in proportion to my body I guess). I had a bit of a blank expression and she giggled a lot and she called me handsome (who are you kidding) and asked me to come again.

As you can see you can get a lot done with a single ticket when you go to see Miyo.

Sugawara Maya

There were three blocks so I’ll divide them. As always this is a bit long and I wrote a little rant too.

I You can only use three tickets in the first thirty minutes of a block, so I used three tickets to say hello. I told her to bear with me today since I didn’t have much prepared to talk about. She told me that she can talk to me for a long time and it’s no problem and she asked me how many tickets I have and she flipped out when she heard. She thanked me a lot for my votes. Like Miyo she had to mention how white I am.

I spent some time thinking about topics before going back in, however I got in too late and right as I was about to enter I got cut off by a staff person. We had gone over the allocated time and the next block began right after, so he gave all of us these redo forms to give in at this other area where they would redo our tickets or something. I tried asking him some questions but he didn’t know anything and just told me to go there. Of course I could have read the paper I was handed which clearly indicated that I should go to the desk in 30 minutes but I was just furious and foaming at the mouth. All my animalistic brain could think was to go over to that desk and just get this over with ASAP. I went over and lined up another twenty minutes only for the person to tell me the next block’s “stuff” hadn’t arrived yet so he asked me to line up again.

At this point I had been lining up for a good hour straight and had nothing to show for it so the red mist really started to descend. I started arguing with him and told him there was no way I could line up again at this line since there were far too many people and the same thing would happen again, where I wouldn’t be able to use my tickets by the time I got the makeup ones. He started giving me a bunch of alternative dates to use my tickets on and I told him to stop and just give me tickets for the next block as I had asked since the beginning. He again told me there was a “problem” but he wouldn’t specify it and honestly I was getting a bit fed up because I needed to meet my idol right NOW.

I could see the lightbulb going on in his head as his highly rigid and disciplined German Idealist mode of thought analyzed my barbaric way of thinking. He knew there was absolutely no way our two modes of thinking could ever be reconciled and he decided to invoke the Holy Rule of Japanese Bureaucracy and call his boss to ask him what to do. At this point the other Maya fans and I were beating our chests like apes and we were ready to jump over the counter and take our tickets with our own hands.

“Ah the tickets have arrived” he exclaimed as no tickets arrived and he simply wrote over my pre-existing tickets and apologized profusely as the accumulated sweat on his brow gushed onto my tickets, soiling them.

II By the time we had achieved victory the lanes were accepting 3+ tickets so I scurried over there since I didn’t want to experience that again. I got to bond with the other fans who were in the same circumstance and we talked together for a bit. Honestly it felt a bit like surviving a terrible disaster, you build bonds with the other survivors as you exchange stories and try to find a way forward.

Although the line looked short it took me a good forty minutes. Since I was combining the tickets of two blocks I had 40+ tickets which meant I was about to talk to Maya for a bit over seven minutes.

We started off by talking about me since I never really introduced myself to her before. I had to retell the whole oshihen story again, which she was happy to hear. We talked about the past and the future (personal stuff).

She asked me how many languages I speak and I taught her a general greeting in French (salut) which she asked me to use every time I see her. (I forgot to use it after) She asked me where I lived and it turns out she knew quite a lot about the city even if it’s in Aichi. She told me to eat a dish that’s famous here so I guess I will have to.

She asked me what I miss about Canada and I told her I miss my cats and she told me she doesn’t like cats since they scared her as a little girl. She doesn’t want any pets but if she had to pick an animal she likes it’d be a bulldog, since they are so ugly they’re cute.

The conversation went on and she talked to me about Miyagi and other things and it was time to go.

Unfortunately my friends entered later. They have a bad habit of talking about their exotic gaijin friend when they’re out of ideas and I think this rubbed off on Maya, as this time she decided to praise me and talk about me to them so they were understandably a bit pissed. They started to insult me and tell Maya that I’m all sorts of bad things and my Japanese is crap but she defended me from the bullies like the angel she is.

III At the end I talked to her about how there weren’t that many events in August and I’d probably see her in September. We talked about upcoming events and her hopes for them. She asked me what event I want to see the most and I said I’d like to see her live recording of the niconico show. I didn’t know that the next recording will be in the SKE theatre so told me to come. She then took my arm and compared skin tones and said I’m like Egochan. She asked me what my secret was and how I don’t get darker and I told her I just get red for a few days. I decided to lay down the wisdom and tell her that we always want something we don’t have/can’t have and that in many Western countries people want darker skin. This blew her mind. Unfortunately I let slip that I went to Miyo’s lane that day and Miyo told me the same thing and I had to tell her that I only go once in a while and with friends only. I swear! 

I had a lot of fun and it was a totally different experience as five tickets were the most I’ve ever used in one go before. You lose all notion of time and can just talk freely. I was honestly worried that I’d reach a “limit” with my Japanese but everything went perfectly fine. The real highlight was getting a front seat for Maya’s expressions. I’m so easily amused by her little mannerisms and reactions.

Of course it was an absolute blast to talk with the fans, including some new people I met while lining up. People were really friendly and there was a good mood that day.

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Hello, I am attending SKE’s mini live and watashikai in Osaka on the 12th. I have read your report on these kinds of events and I want to ask how early should I show up ? I am thinking of 2 hours but I am not too sure.

Hello anonymous.

Sorry for being late since this is tomorrow.

I looked up the event. (I’m going to a watashikai on the same day but in Nagoya)

Maybe you already know this but to be sure:

It’s in a mall and viewing is free, but if you want to be in the area right in front of the stage you need a ticket. You get a handshake ticket and a ticket to enter that viewing area near the stage if you buy the CD there. They’ll only give you one ticket to enter the area but you can buy two CDs for two handshake tickets if you want.

With a single ticket you get to shake hands with all the members present.

CD sales start at 14:00 and the live at 18:00.

Alright, so these types of events are free standing and it is first come first served. Two hours is a reasonable time. It’s not too early and it’s not too late - but I’ve come to events two hours before it started and didn’t get a great view. I also went to an event five hours before to line up and I was only in the third row. It’s up to you. All I can say with certainty is that there will be some group of guys who will line up an insane amount of time beforehand so don’t expect to be first.

So my recommendation is to try three or two hours before. It depends on how long you want to wait and how good of a view you want. For the handshakes I don’t think it will matter at all since you will get a ticket unless you are late or a lot of people show up - so get there early just in case.

If you have time, maybe you can get a CD at 14:00 or 15:00 and then check to see how many people there are.

I will be going to the SSK single handshake held in Osaka on Sunday (the 15th) so let me know if you are going and want to meet up.

[akanemachurida-blog]

Yoz, understand that you guys had recently did your SKEncore podcast ep17. Will u guys be uploading that on Y0utube, as with the case for ep1 to ep16? Last I checked, it wasn't uploaded... Thanks!

Yeah, we’re waiting on Chris to upload it but he’s out of town.

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Thanks for your reply on my previous topic! Just realised I missed your podcast again, so I am watching it on y0utue now. On a side note, these past ten days after the SSK has been terrible for me as a Jurina supporter becos of 3 events. I had watched the clip where she rudely screamed "I am not tired" at the fans during the SSK concert, the incident where she dissed Sakura during the SSK concert, and just last night DownTown had criticized J for not greeting him. (to be continued...)

I don’t keep up with Jurina so take my opinion lightly.

The thing about shouting to fans is really nothing. She was emotionally out of it and she told her fans she wouldn’t give up. I would probably be shaken as one of the people there since it was a very awkward exchange, but now that we know the details I didn’t see it as being rude.

I don’t want to talk about the “diss” because I don’t find it news worthy in any way. It’s just drama fuel that gets people divided.

Greeting people at work in Japan is a big thing as you’re expected to greet everyone, at least indirectly by greeting everyone vaguely when you enter a room. Matsumoto got angry (or maybe pretended to for the show’s ratings) because she didn’t greet him when they were doing work together. Sashihara said that it was just bad luck that it turned out that way.

For Westerners this is totally nothing, but in Japan a lot of people will get angsty if you don’t greet them and partake in all the social “rituals” so I can easily see why he got angry. I don’t really buy it though since I don’t place any kind of importance on that stuff and we have no idea as to what the setting was. A lot of times you can’t talk to everyone individually, there’s no time.

[akanemachurida-blog]

Sugawara had a similar number of votes as Arai Yuki cos they both sported the same hairstyle that night? :) (From that same Singapore fan who supports SKE48 and Jurina, aka "qwerty" from your twitch stream)

I... don’t think that’s quite right.

I’m not sure exactly what Yukichan’s campaign was like, but clearly the idea was to push her high enough so she can’t be ignored anymore. I think they were successful and she will appear in the next single. If she doesn’t it’s such a slap in the faces of every single one of her supporters. (Which happened to Goto Risako when she ranked 52nd and got nothing; but then again 28th and 52nd are a bit different)

I’ve always had the image that Yukichan’s fans are the type who have a lot of money/are well organized for this event. She doesn’t have the same numbers of fans as, say, Rara, Maya, and maybe even Yuzuki, but she outperforms them at this event. Some members just have fans who are willing to spend a lot of money on the sousenkyo or are well organized for this event, so their lower numbers don’t matter as much.

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Sugawara Maya’s Sousenkyo speech subbed.

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"They told me I wasn’t allowed back in so I just ignored them and entered." But how did you manage to enter when they were blocking you?? (From that same Singapore fan who supports SKE48 and Jurina, aka "qwerty" from your twitch stream)

The door staff are always given orders to not let people back in who don’t get tickets. I always tell them the situation and they tell me they want to let me in but don’t know and need to contact their bosses for permission - it’s standard practice here in Japan where a younger employee doesn’t want to break a rule even if they think it’s harmless so they ask their superior which takes forever because that superior needs to ask his superior and etc.

You’ll never go anywhere if you try and be nice and wait so I just get them to be sympathetic to my cause by telling them my story and looking desperate and proceed in while they’re wondering whether to call their boss or not. They always tell me it’s ok afterwards and give up since they have enough work on their hands and don’t want more trouble.

[akanemachurida-blog]

Post-SSK Handshake Report

Today I went to the post-Sousenkyo handshake event.

I had ten tickets for Sugawara Maya – I actually applied for 200 of them but I only won four of them. (The other six were from the earlier guaranteed round)

I came to the place exhausted from last night’s high and had no plans of what to say other than congratulations.

Let me start by saying that the amount of people who came today was just insane. Every group was present so there were tons of fans. I didn’t eat properly since I was on a high and I didn’t bring enough water. I thought the inside of the venue was unbearably hot so I got dehydrated and didn’t feel well. It didn’t help that there were tons of people. I’ll get back to that later.

Maya’s lane was massive. There were way more people than the usual Kansai-Nagoya crowd for this handshake, and we were crammed into two slots instead of having the usual four. I waited an average of thirty to forty minutes each time I lined up, so I went three times to the first slot and once to the second.

STU’s single senbatsu was announced during the first slot, which stopped all the lanes. I don’t follow STU so I can’t comment on that, but it made the situation worse since the lanes all got pushed back. There was a thirty minute delay for the start of the next slot.

We weren’t able to finish the second slot. There were simply too many people and they forcibly stopped it so the next member’s lane could begin. As such we didn’t get a bye bye with Maya when it ended. It seems like there will be retakes of those tickets at a later date.

Alright, so here’s what I talked about:

#1 I wished her congratulations. We were both surprised about the ranking, I told her I’m still speechless. She was just thanking me the entire time.

#2 I told her I was really glad I met her and I was proud of her growth. She told me she’s happy to have me as a fan too and told me she’s going to cry if I continued.

#3 I did the cheesiest thing ever. I put the photo of the first team E theatre I entered in my ticket holder and I showed it to her. I said it was where I met her and became her fan. She got emotional (I don’t know if she was crying at all) and asked me to stay by her side.

#4 Half the time I was bumbling my words and had to repeat. I told her it was the last ticket, she asked me if I was going back, I said I’d stay a bit longer, and I have a stack of tickets for next month, she remarked that wow, I went hard on the senkyo, I told her I did all I could, and she again told me that her rank was great and she is so surprised. I asked her what she wants to do next and she said she wants to aim higher. I said “Like what, 16th?” and she said “Sure, let’s go for that then! Let’s do our best to get there!” I feel like a bit of an idiot for saying that but she’s in a great mood and feeling pumped. She squeezed my hand, said she loved me, and waved me bye for a while as I went to get my bag.

I felt really dehydrated and faint at that point so I went to look for water. I asked some people and they said the machines were outside (they were selling extremely overpriced, tiny juice inside) so I went. I thought about staying outside but Maya tweeted that she wanted to wave us bye and asked us to get back in the dome. When I went to get back into the dome I was asked to show my tickets and I told them I didn’t have any left and I just went out to get water. They told me I wasn’t allowed back in so I just ignored them and entered.

Maya asked the managers to wave goodbye to us. It was too crowded and dangerous to come up to us and she couldn’t do it at her lane so we went to very edge of the dome where a handicapped area was. She waved to us but couldn’t stay long. She had a message written on a piece of paper but I couldn’t see it since my view was blocked. Even if it was very brief I’m really moved that she wanted to thank us that much that she begged the staff and managed to find a way to do it.

I am totally exhausted and I don’t even know what to think about this event. It just feels like everything happened so fast and it still hasn’t sunk in. All I know is I need some sleep.

As an aside, Maya’s lane was right next to Churi’s. She looked at me a few times and I felt pretty guilty. I’ll go see her next time.

[akanemachurida-blog]

SKE48  KITAGAWA YOSHINO Dita Earlgrey

[akanemachurida-blog]

I'm so happy to have found someone who likes Don-chan! She is such a nice girl and she deserves a lot, and it's sad to see that she hasn't a lot pf supporters!

Yeah, she’s great. Although Suda is Team E’s leader and Makiko is the group captain I always get the impression from the theatre that Donchan is just about ready to become the leader. I just feel a lot more passion for the team coming from her role as co-leader. I think a large part of that owes to her dedication to the team and of course her age in contrast with those other two.  (That is no criticism for the other two, they have done an incredible amount for the team. Those two also maintain good relations with the other members of the team, so it is not like they are absent leaders.)

She was announced in the sousenkyo preliminaries yesterday at number 43. I was in a voice call with my friend who oshis Donchan and he was obviously very happy. This came out of nowhere for us, so I hope she can ride the momentum and rank in at the event.

[akanemachurida-blog]

Yoz Nick, regarding your latest post, I am pretty surprised that u had registered heightened interests in some of the girls even though you have not went for their handshake events before. So among those 3 to 4 girls, who do u think will be on the top of your list for u to meet when u attend the next handshake event? (From that same Singapore fan who supports SKE48 and Jurina, aka "qwerty" from your twitch stream!)

Hi,

I don’t go out of my way to see other members at events. I only buy tickets for Churi or Maya unless I’m with friends and we decide to buy tickets for certain members so we can go together.

My reason is that handshakes are an investment: I believe that if you go once or twice it doesn’t really mean much, since you don’t get to say much and the cost is quite high. You will always get the same conversation: hi, who are you, I’m ___ from ___, nice to meet you, come again.

However if you keep going to see a certain member over a long period you’re able to build a kind of relationship, since they recognize you and are usually able to make conversation with you easier. Tickets are expensive, so I don’t get for more than two members usually.

However I’ll go see Kumachan if I can use a ticket for her at the SSK handshakes. I’m a fan and she’s been really nice to me for a long time. I really need to say thanks and hi to her properly. I wanted to go see her last handshake but I didn’t have enough tickets or time.