Not live without her (Saito Fuyuka b.l.t vol 23)
Before they noticed, their busy summer has ended, as the wind brings autumn. What did we get after running through the season…? It might take a long time before they understand what is it. So for now, let’s reach out our hands the best we can. And one day there will come a time where we can reach the moon floating in the night sky --- Let’s believe
Thank you for your hard work. I think Saito Fuyuka is the first one from Keyakizaka46 to have a shooting at dusk
Thank you for bringing me to a such beautiful place. A gravure shoot for blt graph is my life goal but… Am I able to convey my thoughts?
Of course you can, you definitely did.
When my manager contacted me, they only told me about a solo shooting, when they told me the magazine, i was like “It’s finally here!” (laughs). But, there wasn’t much time until the shooting date, “I wished i could make more preparation”….
No no, I don’t think we’ve seen these kinds of expressions and poses from Saito-san before.. So, speaking about Saito-san, because of the depth of your love for Keyakizaka46, you are known by the fans as the member who is trusted by the members, but other than the group, no one really knows much about you.
That’s right… I think i’m indifferent to myself (laughs)
And continuing on, about Keyakizaka46’s amazingly packed summer, from Saito-san’perspective I saw you saying that the blog you wrote about the summer didn’t have everything you wanted to say in it.
That’s right. It was hard to write it... I’m afraid that I couldn’t really say what I wanted properly. Usually when I opened the blog to write something sentences would come to mind, but this time I couldn’t really find the words to express my feelings (* She previously posted a long blog on the 5th September)
Alright then, let’s take a look back then. First of all, in mid July you had your first outdoor live at FujiQ, “Keyaki Republic”. And then you had a national tour in August. I want to talk about what happened in between (those two events).
There was 10 days from Republic to National Tour, but sometimes i wished that we had more time. There was a flag performance at the beginning of Republic, and i remembered preparing for it in a big studio pretending we were outside.. After memorizing the flow of the live, we had a time just for members, then we learnt about the dance. On top of that, TAKAHIRO also finished teaching us the dance, because we prepared really well, we were looking forward to create a good production, i felt a big sense of accomplishment.
At the same time of the concert, the stage director praised you through ear monitor saying “You guys are the best”...
After our best Live performance finished, when we had time to relax, that feeling of accomplishment lasted 10 days from Republic to National Tour and it felt really short. It may also be because the choreography for the new songs wasn’t going so well and I was the main reason must’ve been that I was getting impatient I guess.As expected, i didn’t want to show the audience a half completed thing but, the day of the performance was getting closer, the 10 days gap was getting shorter, and I still practiced with members as much as time would permit, just to remember the choreography, and then i faced the day of the performance.
With that in mind, you performed in Kobe for the first day of your national tour. Did you ever feel like your level of performance was going up with each performance?
Hm… Yes, i still think that there are parts that could get better. However, seeing everything as a whole, i can’t say that i am satisfied with our performance. When i think about the last performance (in Makuhari Messe), there were parts where i think we have grown, but in each performance i think we could’ve done better. Because the aim was to gradually get better with each performance, every time we did a live performance the motivation wouldn’t change but i think that this summer Keyaki was unable to make our performances better.
During the tour, Hirate (Yurina) was absent, how did the members deal with that?
I always knew how big Hirate’s presence was, but that was the first time i felt it in the flesh. On the first day of our performance in Kobe, we performed without Hirate for the first time, and at that time the reaction from the audience could be felt from the stage. That moment was very shocking to me. I think, the atmosphere of the venue that day and the expressions of the fans, and the reaction from members, was something that i will never forget for the rest of my life.
And how did you overcome that situation?
I was very troubled with what should we do in the first day of concert, i cried. I think there were a lot of members who cried, and at that time there was a member who would go around saying “We can’t cry! Stop crying!”, it was (Harada) Aoi.
Aoi scolded members who were crying, but after the live she herself was sobbing. In Keyaki, a lot of the members are the youngest in their family or they are little sisters, but Aoi in her family is the eldest sibling and because she’s an older sister, at the time she was firm. I thought, “Wow, Aoi is amazing”, I’m glad that I could know this sides of the members that I never knew before. But for those who came, wouldn’t you as an audience member want the same level of enjoyment at each venue?
That’s why I think the messed up performance that we did wasn’t good. On the other hand, if i were the audience, i would’ve wanted to see a live,and i would’ve wanted to enjoy it. That is because we are idols, that’s why we have to smile when we need to smile, right?
Keyaki has a lot of songs that are performed with straight face, but there are also times when we need to smile, when we think about the view of the world don’t you think that smiling is better? But, because of the confusion and being busy, i never got to ask “What are the other members thinking? What are their opinions?”.
Even when i asked, i only stopped at the level of individual members like (Ishimori) Nijika, or (Nagahama) Neru, or (Watanabe) Risa. And, i talked with Aoi or (Uemura) Rina, about how the group could face the same way together. But of course, we can’t draw conclusions if we only talk individually like this. I think that all members have to come together and talk, and if not we will never be able to move forward, so on the 2nd day of the Nagoya leg of the tour i gathered everyone, and we talked.
At that time i said to them, “No matter how much sleep time you sacrificed for lessons, if there is even one member who cannot perform with 100% of your feelings during the actual performance, then there’s no reason to do it.” And i told them to honestly tell, one by one, what they thought.
I can’t tell you what happened, but there are members who think about the group a lot, there are also members who have the same thinking as me and there are those whose opinions vary, but by being able to talk together and to each other, i feel like the group is facing the same direction a little bit, and moved forward a little.
That’s why the 2nd day of the Nagoya was significant and I won’t forget that it became our turning point.
I see. And there were two big festivals during the tour, what about that?
I am truly grateful that we could perform at the festivals. Maybe i can’t say that it’s something different from the tour but, since the production and theme are completely different, I wish we could’ve changed the stage that we were standing on.. And, there was a different atmosphere in the backstage to the the other one in tour, and everyone was enjoying it, and seeing those faces makes me happy. Next year again I’d want a group like us to be called back again. Honestly, the festivals became a great summer memory for me.
And as you entered into the second half of the national tour, we talked about the groups change in atmosphere after the 2nd Nagoya live. Is it okay if you can explain that?
That’s right. Even with so many troubles, the members did not get upset. After that, by performing in front of the audience with 100% feelings behind it, everyone’s consciousness united as one, and from then i felt that our lives gradually improved.
In Keyakizaka46’s only summer song, “Abunakkashi Keikaku”, members come to the support of Hirate. It’s in relation to what we spoke about early, wasn’t it?
I don’t know whether it’s true or not, but there are a lot of times when Hirate supports me, my own consciousness changed after being stimulated by Hirate’s performance, so there’s this feeling that i want to give it back... She supported us, so if we can be her strength even for just a little bit, i thought that would be better.
I see. And thus Keyakizaka46 returned to Makuhari Messe, and reached the end of the tour... But talking about the big topic, that’s when Imaizumi Yui returned, right?
I thought that she might return in Makuhari, when she did it, honestly made me happy. In fact, the Silent Majority and Futari Season with Imaizumi in it were completely different.
Did you talk with Imaizumi in Makuhari?
I wasn’t really able to have a good conversation with her. . It seems like she herself feels bad to the members. So I couldn't talk to her with the same tension that I would before her hiatus, but i still contacted her through LINE. On LINE we could talk normally. Also, after the end of the live, she occasionally hung out with members (laughs), seeing it made me smile. I don’t think there is a need to hurry, if we wait slowly she will be able to play with members again like she used to before, so i think i’m going to wait for it.
Yes, i think it’s good to proceed slowly. Talking about Saito-san herself, on the 2nd day of Makuhari during the MC during encore, Moriya Akane showed her love and gratitude to you, that seemed like a surprise
That was really a surprise. At the time, originally the plan was that Akanen would handle the MC this time. I casually asked “Have you decided what to talk about?”. And then she gave a vague answer, “Ah~ It’s okay, it’s okay.” I started to wonder whether everything would be okay and became worried. But as I was thinking, suddenly my name was mentioned during the performance, i was really surprised (laughs). By the way, it seemed like Akane likes MCing. She has a good flow and a lot of shouting, i feel sorry since it seems like i used up her time.
Only that, the members seems to think “Without you (Fuuchan) Keyaki will be in trouble”, isn’t that right? So, on the same 2nd day there was a double encore, unexpectedly starting from Jibun no Hitsugi and ending with Fukyouwaon
That’s right... If i could, i wish we could have performed Fukyouwaon in all venues but there are parts that are difficult. But, at the end, we wanted to show a performance that used all of our strength.
That performance was sensational. I don’t really know how to put it into words, it was just amazing. Leaving without greetings... The New Hollywood like curtains are also challenging.
That was the first time we finished like that. Usually we ended with “W-Keyakizaka no Uta”, but i talked with members that we wanted to try to end it differently. We talked to the staff and asked if we could end it with a different song. Also, there was the desire to end the live right after a performance.
If it’s like this, the expectations for your next live will be even higher.
For me too, the desire to make an even better live becomes stronger. I don’t know about the specifics yet, but i want to grow so we are able to show a stage that only Keyaki can do.
So, do you have any opinion about the unit you participated in, Goninbayashi?
That’s right... In Shoujo ni wa modorenai we are dancing on the stairs, the truth is being unable to look at your feet is very scary. But, Oda Nana was singing while climbing the stairs backways during practice, i thought “Wow~ that’s amazing, that she’s not scared. She’s really a professional”. Ah, see, in the end we are talking about the other members again(laughs)
(Laughs). Alright then, if you were to give feedback to yourself for future activities, what would you tell yourself?
Personally, i want to ask the other members more questions, and want to listen properly to what the members are saying and what they are thinking. The night of the 1st day of Makuhari and before the end, i sent a LINE message to the group line, and they replied with what they felt. When i confirmed that, it put people at ease, knowing that i shared the same thoughts as everyone else. I felt like i could work harder, and we could turn and head forward again. I think it would be nice if we communicated more, because if you don’t communicate with each other and only think about it to yourself then no one will know.
Even if you are together for a long time, you can’t really say that you know everything about a person
When i think about it, this summer has had a lot of moments where i thought “Ah, so that's what she was thinking”. Especially that one moment we spoke about before, where Aoi is becoming more and more reliable. She really thought about Keyaki, Aoi has her own ideal image of and for the group. But, she still not able to say everything she feels to members yet. So for her to be able to do so, i think that as a group we have to grow stronger.... As i said, it looks like we ended up talking about the members again (laughs).
Saito Fuyuka
Born 15th February 1998. From Tokyo. Aquarius. Blood type O.
As Keyakizaka46’s dance leader, she is trusted by the members. A member of “Goninbayashi” unit. Keyakizaka46 will be appearing in Music Station Ultra Fes 2017” on 18th September
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