Koike Minami interview in B.L.T January 2021

 

Interviewer: At the time of this interview, not even a month has passed since Keyakizaka46 turned into Sakurazaka46, but how about Koike-san’s feelings? Have you switched yet?

Mii-chan: I gave my all as Keyakizaka46 at the Last Live, so now I have the feelings of being a Sakurazaka member, but I’m still not used to saying “I’m Sakurazaka46’s Koike Minami”, or when I write my name I still hesitate for a moment, so there are still parts where I haven’t fully got dyed in Sakura yet.

Interviewer: Talking about this, just before, during “Hannya Kaneda to Sakurazaka46 to Hinatazaka46 no Yuugata Paradise”, Harada Aoi rephrased herself when she said “I’m Keyakizaka-- Or not, Sakurazaka46’s Harada Aoi” (laughs).

Mii-chan: Aoi (laughs). But since we’ve always been Keyaki for 5 years now, I get her.

Interviewer: Even so, I think it's really nice that you could assert that you "gave your all as Keyaki" at the Last Live.

Mii-chan: But, up till the Last Live, my mind was full of unfinished business. During the not-so-long period between the rehearsals and the live, I was wondering how I could accomplish the things I haven’t done, and that it may affect myself in the future, so I was facing the rehearsals every day with even more anxiety than before. The atmosphere of the studio was also tense, but I’m sure it wasn’t because I was the only one who felt “I have unfinished business”, but because everyone was feeling the same way.

Interviewer: I observed both days of the live; the quiet overwhelming feeling on the first, the sense of unity with a dynamic feeling on the second day, the feeling of a story coming to an end that can’t be put to words, I realized that I was holding many emotions. During the Live, you performed for the first and last time the unit song “Concentration”, it was great without a doubt.

Mii-chan: Thank you very much. We only performed this song with these 5 people (Koike, Ozeki Rika, Fuyuka Saito, Matsudaira Riko, Yamasaki Ten) once, so while remembering the feelings we felt 1 year ago (when they recorded the song), we discussed with everyone saying “This is a challenge to see how much of an impression we will leave with this one-time performance”. So to be able to deliver this to everyone watching the live made me honestly very happy. When the live ended, the dancers told us “Concentration is trending on Twitter” we even told TAKAHIRO-sensei about it, he was overjoyed and fistpumped us like a little boy, which made me even happier (laughs).

Interviewer: I can see it in your eyes (laughs). However, I think the environment and feelings would have changed significantly from a year ago when you were given the song......

Mii-chan: Now when I think about it, at that time the fact that I didn’t enter the senbatsu for the title song dragged my heart, and I might not have been able to face the song “Concentration” in a positive and cheerful way. But as I was looking forward to the Last Live, there was also a different element of the group’s name change, so compared to 1 year ago I think I could grasp it in a brighter way. Ever since the rehearsals everyone was smiling a lot, so I feel like we really were able to have a performance with the true meaning of positivity. It’s just that, when we looked back at the live footage, our expressions were somehow different. There are moments when we weren’t just simply smiling but making a sad face, I felt like that duality was really nice.

Interviewer: Also, the 5-year “History” features of the members that were sandwiched between the key points of the Last Live just makes you want to cry, right?.....

Mii-chan: We too were tearing up backstage just by listening to the sound. But since we would end up showing a performance where we would be bawling, we said to each other “Hang in there, hang in there, hold back your tears!”. Furthermore, we didn’t know the footage for “History” up until the show, so when I saw it my eyes were tearing up......

Interviewer: I understand. Also, since your live stream in July you had the opportunity to appear in various music programs, while you were welcoming the Last Live, I feel like you became stronger as a group.

Mii-chan: I was closely watching over the members during rehearsals, I thought that the 2nd gens have really grown, I had this kind of conversation with the other 1st gens too. Exactly because they had been a fan of our performances, maybe their feelings towards Keyakizaka were stronger compared to the 1st gens. But that kind of feeling from the 2nd gens became a stimulus for me, I thought “I have to change!”, during the rehearsals the aura from the 1st gens felt like it became “We have to do our best even more!”. It’s just that at the same time, activities for Sakurazaka had started, so there were also moments when everyone’s feelings and thoughts got confused.

The 14 people who will be performing “Nobody’s fault” (Sakurazaka46’s 1st single’s title song) were also announced, but even if Sakurazaka’s stance is to deliver a variety of songs with the whole group, the frustration from the members who couldn’t participate in the title song is felt. However, we all turned those feelings towards the Last Live. With that, I thought that using the frustration as a springboard is something really strong, and exactly because our feelings towards Keyaki are strong we could grow. When I thought about it like that, I tightened up like "There must be something we're still lacking", or rather if that was also a period of exploring how we could step up as a group.

Interviewer: So, did the members discuss with each other? Like the fellow 1st gens.....

Mii-chan: This time it felt like we talked with the whole group. In my opinion, the fact that the group will rebrand we didn’t need to differentiate the 1st gens or the 2nd gens anymore. Having seniors and juniors somehow feels like there’s a wall, so during rehearsals everyone talked together regardless of 1st gens or 2gens, I believe we were able to express with words what we thought about each other. I feel like that was a really good thing.

Interviewer: Indeed, if there is hesitation, the strength of the team will decrease.

Mii-chan: This is just how I feel but, it’s like this wall is almost gone, the 2nd gens have become able to speak their thoughts and opinions, when we confirm the choreography they say things like “This part is a little weird”, they’ve become able to ask without hesitation if there’s anything they don’t understand, I feel like like we have resolved the separation between gens. It may also be the timing of welcoming “Keyaki’s last” but, we all felt like we wanted to show the best performance ever, we felt like we could do it because we were all together. It may have been a little late but, we were able to discuss various opinions and for me that was something very big, I took it as a happy accomplishment.

Interviewer: If that's the case then I can't help but have high hopes for Sakurazaka46, where the members have mixed together in a good way. On the other hand, together with the end Keyakizaka46’s activities, Sato Shiori-san graduated and started walking towards her dreams. Can you share with us your thoughts on her whom you shared good and bad times with these past 5 years?

Mii-chan: Our positions were often next or close to each other, so we often talked about performances, but we almost never went out together in private, so I only knew the Shii-chan (Sato) as a Keyaki member. But, just one time she asked me out saying “let’s talk, the 2 of us”, she took me to my beloved omurice shop. It was around October last year (2019), she said “I’m planning on studying abroad, and I’m thinking of a hiatus or graduation”, she confined me on the spot. Shii-chan had the image of talking such things to Yukka (Sugai Yuuka) or Fuu-chan (Saito Fuyuka) first, so I wondered why she talked to me, but we have shared most of many things during Keyaki, so it was probably easy to tell to me.

It’s just that hearing the words “I’m thinking of graduating” from her was complicated after all. At the time, I noticed that Shii-chan’s presence was bigger than I thought, so I thought I should treasure the days we could spend together. When I think about it, among the members who collided the most with what I wanted to say was Shii-chan. When I remember how we encouraged each other after we clashed, I can't help but feel sad, but she’s graduating to move towards her dreams, so I want to support her from the bottom of my heart.

Interviewer: It’s an old story but, 6 years ago in January during your “Omotenashikai” you two drew a big painting as part of the arts club.

Mii-chan Actually, at that time too we clashed and argued with each other (laughs). In terms of the performance we talked a lot about even the small details, if we were seen by the members they would probably think “They don’t get along?!”, but for us we totally didn’t feel that way. Discussing about what we think was something important, and Shii-chan being that kind of presence was really big. I think I was able to grow mentally because I learned the importance of accepting the opinions and ideas of those around me.

Interviewer: It would be nice if someday a collaboration between the artist Sato Shiori and Sakurazaka46 were to take place.

Mii-chan: Yes, for sure! It’s wonderful for Shii-chan to find a new dream through her activities, and because she did her best for the 5 years she was in Keyaki I think she was able to step forward towards her dream, so we also want to deliver to her a lot of support through our activities. The members have all said that it would be nice if someday we could do a collaboration between her and Sakurazaka on CD jackets or artworks. I really want to make that happen.

Interviewer: I’m praying that someday it will come true. By the way, the person who often tells Koike-san wonderful words, who does the choreography and direction, TAKAHIRO-san. Facing the Last Live, were there any words of motivation?

Mii-chan: What he often says to me is “Win against your previous self”. He’s said it to me so many times, it has touched my heart and became a stimulus. When I think of rivals I tend to think of the members, but I realized again it’s not them, it’s my past self. When I’m performing I forbid myself from showing my weak points, but when he said “It’s fine to show that kind of self without hiding”, I felt like he affirmed everything about me. After that, my heart became lighter..... TAKAHIRO-sensei’s words have saved me countless times, but this time too he gave me a lot of courage.

Interviewer: By the way, during Last Live’s performance of “Garasu wo Ware!”, there was a dancer that looked like TAKAHIRO-san, or at least that’s how the rumor went......(laughs).

Mii-chan: As expected, that wasn’t the case (laughs). But he was very particular in producing the confrontation with the dancers in “Garasu wo Ware!”, inspiring us with passionate words like “Make it more like BAAMM!” to make the best “Garasu wo Ware!” up till now. We all gave our best to meet that desire.

Interviewer: As it was also during the end of 2nd day of the live, I got the impression that “Garasu wo Ware!”’s strength was high. This and, personally, “Sajin” was also very good.

Mii-chan: If we had recorded and sang it earlier as Keyakizaka’s 9th single, I thought it might have come up in a different nuance. During the performance I saw everyone’s bright face, I wonder if “Sajin” looked great live exactly because the timing was right before we became Sakurazaka. But we really poured our everything while performing each song, we wanted to have a performance with no regrets as Keyakizaka, so when the main part of the live was over we prayed “It would be nice if it could be received by everyone watching the live stream”.

Interviewer: After all 27 of you performed “Silent Majority” there were end credits showing all the names of the people who were associated with Keyakizaka46 and surprisingly it continued with Sakurazaka46’s first performance.

Mii-chan: While those credits were playing everyone was crying so hard, the floor became like a puddle from the members’ tears.

Interviewer: Is that so! But honestly talking, I was skeptical about the surprise because I wanted to immerse myself in the reverb from the ending music. However, when the intro and the singing started I thought “Isn’t this nice!” (Laughs).

Mii-chan: Up till now Keyakizaka’s title songs had the story of “Boku”, but in “Nobody’s fault” there’s a feeling of it changing to “Ore”. Even if you listen to other Sakurazaka songs, it varies from Keyaki’s “Boku” to “Watashi” or “Watashi-tachi”, I think that it continues in various shapes and forms. That’s why, it’s not like Keyaki has disappeared, it’s more like it’s above the thing that we have built up till now, this is how I personally felt while recording or shooting MVs.

Interviewer: By chance, I felt like you wanted to embody the words Yamasaki Ten-san said, “It’s not a change, I want to evolve”. Moreover, Koike-san who carried the stem position aka the middle of the 3rd row in Keyaki’s “Silent Majority”, for “Nobody’s fault” was arranged to carry the core position of the middle in the 2nd row, I feel like there’s a meaning to it.

Mii-chan: For “Saimajo”, I was in charge of Keyaki’s stem, so I realized I wanted to do my best for the group in this position. Actually, during the Last Live when we performed “SaiMajo” in the end with everyone, the formation was to fill in the front positions of the previous 1st gens but, I wanted to do the “stem” no matter what, I consulted the staff about it and I was in charge of the stem together with (Tamura) Hono-chan. At the very end the stem became thick and I was really happy about it, but at the same time I embraced the new feeling of receiving a major position in the song that became the start of Sakurazaka.

In the B melody of “Nobody’s fault”, there’s a choreography where everyone creates an image of a sakura tree, and TAKAHIRO-sensei to me again "I want Koike to do the stem of the tree," and taught me the dance. The center of the 2nd row, I believe plays an important role in a different meaning from the center, so the thought that in Sakurazaka I have to become a thicker “stem” compared to my time in Keyaki became even stronger. 

I have to stand properly or else the appearance of the whole picture may change, there’s always a sense of tension, the many things that had been fuzzy in my mind felt like they have come together, or rather, the things that were my goals turned into determination, and I think that’s a very big accomplishment for me. Of course, I think there are pros and cons to my position, but for me I’ve never been satisfied with “I’ve done this much so it’s OK”, so I will continue to improve myself so that someday I can enjoy a moment that I’m satisfied with.

Interviewer: But every time I meet Koike-san for an interview I would think about it. "She’s gotten stronger, huh?"

Mii-chan: Thank you very much. But I honestly think that I still have a long way to go and since I was appointed with the 2nd row middle position, I feel like I have to show myself who has grown and evolved so that people could recognize “That's Koike Minami, right?”.

Interviewer: Yes, I understand your thoughts. You were able to participate in all the songs in the single. You were also chosen as 1 of the “Sakura 8”, what do you think about this........?

Mii-chan: For me, I don’t know how “Sakura Eight” will be positioned in the group in the future, but I think it may change depending on how Sakurazaka’s first single will turn out, and I feel that in every song. For example, for me, I think I have to overcome my weak self that sometimes appears. I understand the frustration of the members who couldn’t participate in the title song because I have the experience of not being chosen in the previous senbatsu.

I felt guilty for entering the senbatsu, the side of not getting chosen is very frustrating. I want to take my position proudly. That’s why, as long as I’m chosen as one of the “Sakura Eight”, I’ve made up my mind not to be depressed or show the weak me. “I have to put myself together more” is not only for my own sake but also for the members. I’m behind the center but that doesn’t mean I’m a guardian deity (Laughs), but there are 3 people (Morita Hikaru, Fujiyoshi Karin, Yamasaki Ten) standing as the center in various songs and I want to give power to them.

Interviewer: I think that’s a wonderful mindset. How do I say, it seems like you’ve become more stoic.

Mii-chan: Not at all, I don’t think of myself as stoic. When I look at the members, I honestly feel like “I’m still lacking in so many things”, Nogizaka46’s presence I felt when I watched Shiraishi Mai-san’s graduation live the other day was so big, I was keenly aware of the fact that I’m so insignificant compared to it. It’s a poor comparison but, I can’t be like Shiraishi-san who could be a reliable figure to her juniors. I felt I hadn't left anything behind or accomplished anything yet, so graduation is likely to be a long way ahead.

Interviewer: In terms of career alone, there are 4 more years until Koike-san catches up to Shiraishi-san, so can I expect you to stay in the group for the time being? (Laughs).

Mii-chan: I don’t know about that (Laughs), when I think about how much I’ve grown over one year, in the end I always feel frustrated that I haven’t reached the goals I set..... And it keeps repeating. Every year I think “Next time for sure”, so in Sakurazaka I really want to meet the new me and acquire more and more strength. It’s true that I gave my all during the Last Live, but when I look back at the footage I find things like “if only here I had done it like this”, I can’t forgive myself who is lacking something.

Interviewer: People who are strict with themselves like that are called stoic..... (laughs). By the way, do you pay attention to your expressions?

Mii-chan: My expressions, my lax movements...... I prioritize either one and end up neglecting the other. I want to be able to deliver both with a high quality, but then my voice is small and there are times when it can’t be heard at all, so I get disappointed with my lack of voice. That’s why, for me, my feeling of respect towards Yuipon (Kobayashi Yui) is getting gradually stronger. Lately, before I realized I find her already next to me, we’ve been spending a lot of time together, and acting spoiled towards me.

From the fans’ point of view, Yuipon has the image of being cool, mature, the person who pulls the group, but when I look at this side of her, I often think about how I have to protect the members, and I realize Yuipon is also a year below me...... (Laughs). Of course I have to think about the juniors but, for younger 1st gens like Yuipon and (Harada) Aoi I’ve been recently thinking how I have to create moments to spoil them.

Interviewer: Kobayashi-san really got herself together, huh.

Mii-chan: The other day Yuipon became 21 years old, so I said “Just for a little while we’re the same age, huh”. We've been sharing our thoughts and feelings about the group and each other on LINE, and I often feel like we share the same thoughts. That’s probably why our time together has increased. After becoming Sakurazaka, both Yuipon and I feel like our motivation increased because we both share the common understanding that we're still not very well known, it wouldn’t be weird if only the people who have been supporting us since Keyaki knew about the name change to Sakurazaka. Then, how will the group Sakurazaka46 leave an impression, us 2 talked about that recently, but it’s not easy, on the contrary, we came to the conclusion that it’d be very difficult. But that’s why we’re passionate about it, our motivation is high.

Interviewer: That’s nice, I can feel your passion.

Mii-chan: Of course it’s not just me and Yuipon, everyone is passionate about it! Also, I feel like the members have become more cheerful than before. Additionally, what makes me happy is that (Yamasaki) Ten-chan started to act spoiled towards me. During the rehearsals for the Last Live, I was always Ten-chan’s candy shop~ (laughs).

Interviewer: Candy shop......?

Mii-chan: Ten-chan would cling to my arms and say “Koike-sa~n, chocolate plea~se” and I said “I have one~, it’s fine to take it~” and I spoil her (laughs). Also, it’s so cute to listen to what Ten-chan thinks of the candies. Right now she’s holding back on the candies a little, so I feel a little lonely, but please write that Koike will always be a candy shop just for Ten-chan.

Interviewer: I got it, noted.

Mii-chan: Also, Ten-chan recently started to call me “Mii-chan”. I told her I wanted to be called that, but for her to actually start calling me this, I feel super duper happy on the inside. I thought that I absolutely want to protect Ten-chan.

Interviewer: Inoue Rina-san would seem to be jealous (laughs).

Mii-chan: For Inori (Inoue), she seems to be very particular about calling me “Mii-san”, so it’s probably fine (Laughs). But I really want to become a presence that the members could act spoiled to, recently I think about it a lot. One time, during rehearsal (Fujiyoshi) Karin-chan suddenly leaned against me, I thought to myself “!” but, I thought that if I moved in any way she might run away, so I stayed still for a while. In the end, it was only a one time thing, so I want Karin-chan to act spoiled towards me. If she does that, the “whole Koike” in me will be overjoyed.

Interviewer: Back when Keyakizaka46 was formed, the one who got spoiled was Koike-san..... to think of that makes me feel moved.

Mii-chan: But when I get spoiled I really do get spoiled. I let Yuuka or Habu (Mizuho)-chan spoil me (laughs). A little while back, the 3 of us went to eat hotpot, they put me aside and did everything for me.

Interviewer: That was a relaxing story, thank you very much. For the end, I would like to hear from you about debuting as Sakurazaka46. What kind of feelings are you having while approaching that day?

Mii-chan: When you think about Keyakizaka’s debut song, “Silent Majority” that became the song that represents the group, there’s no denying that “Nobody’s fault” would also become an important song for Sakurazaka, so I hope each member could interpret the song in their own meaning and deliver it in a way that allows each of us to shine.

Also, the main character of the lyrics turned from Keyaki’s “Boku” to various identities depending on the song, so I would be happy if you could enjoy the range of the lyrics. In the song where Karin-chan is the center, the main character is “Watashi” but, somehow, it feels like it’s a continuation of “Ambivalent”. I think it's interesting to think about it that way, and I hope that someday our “Sakura-like” image could reach many people until it’s deeply rooted.

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Translation: SatoneShichi

QC: Nira

Raw: kiryu