Nakashima Yuzuki interview from BUBKA June 2023 edition
Q: Seems like you were growing up surrounded by nature when you lived in Oita?
I was raised in the countryside (laughs). I would catch bugs, climb trees, and play at the beach. In the summer, I would get really tanned.
Q: Did you spend a lot of time playing with friends, and not by yourself?
I was the type of kid who gets along with everyone.
Q: Did you take a lesson for anything when you were a kid?
I learned dance, flower arranging, and calligraphy.
Q: You had a wide range, didn't you?
My mother wanted me to be calmer, so she enrolled me in flower arranging and calligraphy lessons. I was a kid who couldn’t stay still (laughs).
Q: So did you become a calmer kid?
I became able to stay still, but I still wasn’t a calm kid (laughs). In a way I was a thick-headed kid, I would just move without thinking. There was a time when I got really hurt while I was running around.
Q: At what age did you start dance lessons?
I started at around age three or four, but it was more like another place I can play in. I also did dance in high school, but it was only because it was fun, we didn’t aim to enter a competition or anything like that. I’m the type who will lose motivation if I get sternly scolded.
Q: Have you ever thought to focus on one skill before?
I was fully focused on the wind instrument club during middle school, but I wasn’t able to join the wind instrument club in high school. I kept thinking that it would be good if I continued, but I still wasn’t able to join. At that time, basically, if there was something that piqued my interest, I would do it, then I would play around when I wanted to, and I would study when I wanted to. My parents also supported my choices.
Q: How did you come across either Sakurazaka46 or Keyakizaka46, and which songs left an impression on you?
I watched “Soko Magattara, Sakurazaka?” and they seemed like a close-knit group and it left a good impression on me. Then I watched a “Samidare yo” performance on a music show, and Yamasaki Ten-san’s performance struck me. I admired them and wanted to be like them.
Q: Tell us the reason you entered Sakurazaka46’s audition.
I had too many dreams and it was actually too scary to pick only one, so whenever someone asks me “What do you want to do in the future?”, I couldn’t give an answer. That’s why, I’ve never challenged myself either. If I tried to challenge something just once, I thought that I could maybe change myself, so I took the audition. Even if I didn’t pass, challenging something on its own would’ve been something positive for me anyway.
Q: Were you surprised to learn that you passed the final evaluation of the audition?
Yes. To the extent that while I was progressing through the rounds, I kept thinking “When will I fail?”
Q: When did you finally make your resolve?
I went back and forth between my hometown and Tokyo during the trainee period, and to me it felt really strange, like I was going back and forth between reality and a dream world. My family and friends from the real world said, “You should give it a try” and gave me a push, so I was able to do my best.
Q: So your mother is supportive of your activities in Sakurazaka46?
I’ve always decided things like what I want to learn and picking schools and part-time jobs by myself, I’ve never asked my parents’ opinion. I took the audition without telling my parents, but when the notice for the second round of audition came, they said “That’s great” and gave me their permission. They gave me freedom, but they never said things like “Do your best!” or “Don’t go to Tokyo”. They just said, “We’re glad that you found something you wanted to do”.
Q: How did you feel when standing in front of the fans during the “Omotenashikai”?
Until the very day, I was worried whether the fans would really come or not, so when I stood on stage and saw that a lot of fans came, I was happy.
Q: You led the MC part together with Kojima-san, did you come prepared?
I prepared for it hastily after it was decided that I’ll be in charge of the MC.
Q: You seemed calm when you were talking though.
That wasn’t the case at all. I’m the youngest child, and I’ve never done anything like this before except when I was the class leader at school, so when I first did the greetings, my parents thought that I was paralyzed with fright. (laughs)
Q: You were the center for “Buddies” during the live performance part of the “Omotenashikai”.
The “Buddies” performance was fun too, but “Natsu no Chikamichi” moved me the most. My feelings about the song changed from before I performed it in front of the fans. It’s a song about youth, but the protagonist also expressed their feelings of frustration in the second verse. In the MV, us third generation members danced with the feeling that we don’t have the ability to catch up with our seniors. But after finishing the “Omotenashikai”, I was able to perform the song with a more optimistic and refreshing feeling.
Q: After becoming an idol, do you feel like you’re living in a dream?
Yes. Every day has been wonderful.
Q: What kind of idol do you want to be?
I want to be a kind person. I want to be able to have a comforting aura so that even people who are not good at talking or people who aren’t assertive would want to come talk to me in the online meet & greet.
Q: Are the third gen members kind?
Of course. Everyone is cute too.
Q: Is Nakashima-san something like a big sister figure for the third gen members?
That was my intention, but I’m more in the position of being teased by everyone now. (laughs)
-----
Comments
Post a Comment