Saito Fuyuka and Masumoto Kira's interview from ExTaishu August 2022 edition
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| Picture from official source |
A special relationship that’s more than just “senior” and “junior”
Their mutual admiration and playful love
When she reaches the point that she can dance, she likes to show it off with a proud look on her face.
ーMasumoto-san, when you were a fan of Keyakizaka46, what was your impression of Saito-san?
Masumoto: I used to watch Keyakizaka46 videos with my father often, and we did have a conversation once about how “Fuu-chan’s dancing is on a different level.”
Saito: Ehh～!
Masumoto: Sorry! At the time, I was calling you “Fuu-chan.” Oh, and I laughed together with my father while we watched her doing her serious Awa Odori dance.
Saito: (lol)
ーAnd Saito-san, what impression did you have of Masumoto-san when she first joined the group?
Saito: When we performed “Silent Majority” at Keyakizaka46’s last live (October 12th & 13th, 2020), Kira-chan was near me in the formation.
Masumoto: I was diagonally behind her.
Saito: I was surprised when I looked into the mirror (lol). It’s the first time I’d seen dancing like that.
Masumoto: I was too loose in how I was dancing. Fuyuka-san taught me the part of the choreo where we put a hand up to our heads. Do you remember?
Saito: I don’t (lol).
Masumoto: I was grateful to have a senior point something out to me for the first time. The next time we talked, it was about the price of the shoes I was wearing.
Saito: That I might remember (lol).
Masumoto: I said, “I bought these shoes for 300 yen but they ripped when another member stepped on them during the lesson.” I was talking really fast because of the embarrassment from falling during the lesson, but Fuyuka-san found it funny and laughed with me.
Saito: When I think about it now, Kira-chan is the typical shy type, so maybe she talked because she couldn’t stand the silence.
ーSaito-san, you’ve said that to Masumoto-san before, right? “You just talk because you don’t like silence”
Masumoto: I think there are other people out there that will understand this, but when Fuyuka-san told me she noticed that about me, it made me realize that I don’t have to force myself to talk so much. Lately there have been times that I’m quiet too, right?
Saito: Eh!? You’re still always talking (lol).
Masumoto: Is that right..?
Saito: I guess you become pretty quiet when you’re dancing a lot. Of course, after you learn the dance, you don’t shut up. You go around like “Here, would you like me to teach you?” (lol)
ーThere are things Saito-san teaches you as well I’m sure.
Saito: With Kira-chan, if you point something out, the next time she tries it she’ll be able to do it. I’ve started feeling like I want to help her out ever since “BACKS LIVE!!” (June 16th ～ 18th, 2021).
Masumoto: I like showing off when I figure out how to do something.
ーSaito-san, in your MC with the new 2nd generation members, you said “Everyone’s eager attitude in how they approach everything is what changed the mindset of the entire group.”
Saito: It’s not just Kira-chan, all of the 2nd generation girls inspired me by how hard they were working. The 1st generation members have been together for 6 years and for better or worse, we had gotten used to things, so being able to do something from scratch with the 2nd generation members was fun.
ーMasumoto-san, it seems like you go to hang out in the 1st gen’s dressing room often.
Saito: Since there aren’t too many 1st gens left, Kira-chan and all the excitement she brings has been a welcome presence.
Masumoto: There was a stretch of time where I was living in the 1st gen’s dressing room. It was so comfy being on (Moriya) Akane-san’s lap (lol).
Saito: Whenever Akane didn’t want to be bothered, she’d just go to another member... and she’d do this over and over. It was surprising to see Akane become so close to a junior member, so I think Kira-chan is responsible for closing the distance between the 1st and 2nd gen members.
ーHave you ever visited the Masumoto Amusement Park, Saito-san? (Masumoto Amusement Park is when Masumoto slides around on a roller chair with another member sitting on her lap)
Masumoto: Yeah, have you ever come by?
Saito: I think I’ve always refused (lol).
Masumoto: Right, among the 1st gens only Habu (Mizuho)-san has visited, though Masumoto Amusement Park has been popular among the 2nd gens. I think Uemura (Rina)-san has also ridden the less scary attraction.
Standing in line for an hour for the first shrine visit of the year only to be lectured by her fortune
ーI hear you two did your first shrine visit of the year together.
Saito: Kira-chan said she was nervous about the upcoming BACKS LIVE (January 8th & 9th, 2022), so she stayed in Tokyo for the new year. Working hard is very important, so while I feel it’s better to return home for New Year’s, I wanted to respect Kira-chan’s wishes. Since my parents live in Tokyo, I got in touch with Kira-chan and asked her if she wanted to go to our first shrine visit of the year together.
Masumoto: I think it was really tough just practicing for New Year’s, but being brought along to the first shrine visit of the year really made me feel better. That was the first time I’d gone out with Fuyuka-san, so casually chatting with her while we were in line also became a memory for me.
Saito: But you don’t want to go again?
Masumoto: No, I don’t.
ーEh?
Saito: We were in line for over an hour so our feet were hurting (lol).
Masumoto: We ended up going like right when it was getting crowded.
ーDid you get your fortunes?
Masumoto: We did.
Saito: It didn’t say “excellent luck” or “bad luck” etc, instead there was just a writing passage written on it. Mine had something like “You’ll be fine as long as you have confidence,” and that was encouraging, but the one Kira-chan got had “If you don’t try, you won’t succeed” written on it (lol).
Masumoto: Somehow the tone seemed angry (lol). After standing in line for over an hour, I get lectured by my fortune.
Saito: While I was comforted with “Just keep it up and everything will be fine” (lol).
Masumoto: But I was really happy afterwards because we went to CoCo ICHI (Curry House CoCo Ichibanya) which I really like, and Fuyuka-san ate the item on the menu that I recommended to her.
Saito: It was the first time I’d been to CoCo ICHI myself.
ーAnd what did you recommend to her?
Masumoto: Scrambled eggs.
ーJust scrambled eggs?
Masumoto: It’s scrambled eggs over curry.
Saito: You two are not on the same wavelength (lol).
ーI was just wondering if there were any other toppings (lol). You two have gotten close enough to go to the first shrine visit of the year together, huh?
Masumoto: Another time, she also took me to a theme park that I’d never been to before.
Saito: We were supposed to go on Kira-chan’s birthday, but we put it off twice. Eventually I went with both Kira-chan and Mii-chan (Koike Minami).
Masumoto: I got to enjoy them both.
ーYou're the host of the Masumoto Amusement Park, but there are some theme parks you’ve never been to, eh?
Masumoto: Masumoto Amusement Park is modeled after a small park.
ーMasumoto-san, did you contact Saito-san on her birthday?
Masumoto: For her birthday this year, I sent her last year’s birthday message followed by “↑This is last year’s birthday message. Did you notice?” and then this year’s birthday message after that. I staged it that way.
Saito: The wording from 1 year ago was different, I could feel just how much the relationship has changed. Kira-chan is smart and thinking of others is something that’s just an every day thing to her. I think the image that fans have of Kira-chan and the real Kira-chan are actually quite different.
ーDo you think she’s grown in terms of performance?
Saito: I think she’s changed immensely.
Masumoto: That makes me so happy!
Saito: She blends in with everyone else when you’re watching the whole group, and even watching her dance by herself, you can see she’s really good. And in addition to that, even though this is something that’s difficult to say as a junior member, Kira-chan will point things out like “Fuyuka-san, you’re doing this part wrong.”
Masumoto: I’ve even cut out parts of videos and sent them to her (lol).
Saito: (lol). I’m grateful for that.
ーYou can point that out without any hesitation, Masumoto-san?
Masumoto: I managed to build up the courage to say it once and was thanked in return, so ever since then I’ve started looking for mistakes (lol).
Saito: There was even a period of time where it felt like I was being sent a video every day (lol). I didn’t notice it myself, so it was helpful.
Masumoto: Fuyuka-san is fun to teach because she’s quick to absorb things and immediately makes corrections.
Saito: You’ve been very helpful.
ーYou teach Fuyuka-san out of the respect you have for her, right?
Masumoto: Of course. I use videos of Fuyuka-san and (Yamasaki) Ten-san as examples for myself. Just, if I’m watching Fuyuka-san’s and and think “Isn’t this part wrong?” I’ll check Ten-san’s video to make sure. If the two of them are the same, I’ll know I was wrong, but if they’re different, I cut the video and send it to Fuyuka-san.
Saito: Kira-chan often memorizes the correct choreo. There are a lot of times where we’d argue, but in the end Kira-chan ends up being right.
Masumoto: The choreo that I memorize is correct (she says firmly). But in my case, I can’t dance if I’ve only half-memorized something, and there are times that I’ll freeze up.
ーDo you have any advice, Saito-san?
Saito: Hmm... I wonder.
Masumoto: She’s praised me saying she likes my cold eyes in “Dead End.” The advice she gave me was that “it’s best not to change things up too much.”
Saito: Kira-chan’s cold eyes fit the song well. Like if we’re talking about (Onuma) Akiho-chan, her strong point is putting her heart and soul into her performance. Each of them has their own different movements and expressions that they make when they’re performing on stage, so I think it’s good for them to develop from their strong points.
ーSakurazaka46 is in the middle of auditioning new members, does Masumoto-san seem like she’ll make a good senior?
Saito: It’s fair to say Kira-chan is more excited to have juniors than anyone else. It might not work out so well once they enter though (lol).
Masumoto: Of course (lol).
Saito: I think it’d be nice if a girl as passionately hardworking as Kira-chan joined.
ーMasumoto-san, I heard you’ve been affectionate towards Nogizaka46’s 5th generation.
Masumoto: I ate omurice together with (Okuda) Iroha-chan, so I’m thinking of taking her to CoCo ICHI next time. When Sakurazaka46’s 3rd generation joins, I’ll probably shower them with more love. I just have to be careful about spending too much money on them. When I do have juniors, I think I’ll carry around some candy everywhere I go.
ーCandy is enough, you don’t need to give more than that. W-KEYAKI FES 2022 will be held between July 21st and July 24th.
Masumoto: It was mysterious how the fog rolled in at last year’s concert. This year, I’d like to have a concert under a rainbow like when I was watching “Keyaki Republic,” so if we can I think I’d like to try spraying water.
Saito: When we were talking about this, we realized a surprising difference in what the 2nd generation members and new 2nd generation members have experienced. I think it’d be good for Kira-chan to have lots of new experiences.
ーHarada Aoi-san and Ozeki Rika-san’s graduations are drawing near. Masumoto-san, is it sad for you whenever one of your seniors graduates?
Masumoto: Yes. It really hits me that they've graduated when I see that their position is empty in the next rehearsal after they’ve left. But I’ve accepted that the graduation of my seniors are part of the steps the group takes moving forward. I became very reliant on Akane-san, so when she graduated I was so depressed that I didn’t know what to do. So I’m going to try to make lots of fun memories so that I won’t be so reliant on my seniors.
ーSaito-san, I would imagine you’re thinking of sending off the 1st generation and being the last of your gen to graduate.
Saito: That’s not the case (lol). I think each of us is just thinking about our futures and we’ll decide to graduate when the time is right. That’s why I haven’t done anything to try to keep anyone from leaving either. It’s just not the right time for me yet. I’m doing everything in my power to work hard as part of Sakurazaka46.
Saito Fuyuka
First generation member born in Tokyo on February 15th, 1998. She supports Sakurazaka46’s charm during concerts as a leader in performances.
Masumoto Kira
Second generation member born in Hyogo prefecture on January 12th, 2002. With her unique personality, she makes a full demonstration of her charm and value through “Soko Magattara, Sakurazaka?” and other programs.
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