Kojima Nagisa x Taniguchi Airi x Nakashima Yuzuki x Murai Yu feature from CanCam August 2023 edition

 

A deep dive into the third generation’s “now”! 

It has been around half a year since their debut as Sakurazaka46 members. We asked them what they really think about their lives now, which have completely changed from the past, and their future!

Photoshoots are still nerve-racking, but they’re getting more used to being looked at!

— How was today’s shoot?

Kojima: It was so nerve-racking, no matter what!

Nakashima: Same for me. It was my first beauty shoot and there were a lot of close-up shots, so it made me nervous (laughs).

Murai: If my whole body is being captured, I can do poses as if I’m dancing, but if my upper body is the focus, I can’t seem to do well and it’s difficult. I found a new side of myself!

Taniguchi: It was my second beauty shoot, but I’m still not used to it after all. But the clothes and makeup look were cute, weren’t they?

Murai: Right~ ♡ I’d like to do an orange makeup look by myself too.

Kojima: It suits you! I got to put on a brown lipstick that I don’t usually use, and the eyeshadow was from a brand that I was curious about, now I want it!

Taniguchi: There are a lot of makeup products, so we got excited. I had a pink eye makeup look, and since I usually use pink eyeshadow too, I learned that I could put it on this way too.

Nakashima: My cheeks is the main point of my look today, but I usually don’t put on blush ons when I do my own makeup, I realized that I might suit putting on blush ons too ♡

— It has been around half a year since you joined Sakurazaka46. What has changed for you?

Murai: I became able to face myself. Before I joined, I just lived without thinking (laughs), but now I’ve been thinking more on how I should present myself.

Kojima: Since I became aware of the fact that we’re being looked at, I started to pay more attention to my appearance, not only when I’m working, but also on my days off. I’ve stopped wearing jerseys (laughs).

Taniguchi: Yes, yes. I have never really been one to let myself be pampered by my family and friends before, but after meeting the third gens who support me and work hard with me every day, I learned how to let myself be pampered (laughs).

Kojima: Huh~! Now you really like to be spoiled though ♡

Nakashima: Airi’s answer was unexpected. While doing various activities every day, I can feel that the third-generation members are getting closer to each other. I’m glad I met precious friends who I can grow with through our friendly rivalry.

Teaching each other the difficult choreography and wanting to improve their performance

— Sakurazaka46 is known for their powerful choreographies, how do you feel after doing them? 

Murai: I like dancing, but honestly dancing to “BAN” during the first day of the training camp was very difficult. 

Taniguchi: Certainly… We were being taught the choreography so fast, we couldn’t keep up.

Kojima: The filming for “Natsu no Chikamichi” music video was quite a hard process too, so we huddled together and cheered to get fired up. Even now, I feel that the difficulty of the choreos is increasing day by day.

Nakashima: I’m really struggling to keep up! I always have these three teach me the moves. 

Kojima: I ask the others to help me too. We all help each other out!

— Tell us your goals for the future!

Taniguchi: We’re now participating in a tour for the first time, and I can feel that we’re leveling up through each performance. I’m doing my best to improve day by day too! 

Nakashima: That’s right. I want to catch up to our cool seniors even just a little!

Murai: With each performance of the tour, I was able to see the fans’ reactions more and more. From now on, I want to be able to live up to the fans’ expectations!

Kojima: I hope we can put on a show that will make “Buddies” happy that they came. I also want to improve my performance even more!

— Comments about the shoot

Kojima: The girly one piece is cute ♡

Taniguchi: It’s like a fashion shoot, so it feels novel!

Nakashima: I got my photos taken from various angles!

Murai: Posing with my whole body might be easier…!

We want to know more about them ♡ We asked the four of them this and that! 

We asked nine questions to the four of them to thoroughly compare their personalities and what’s on their minds! Their charms and uniqueness will be revealed through the answers ♡

Q: What do the members call you?

Kojima: Nagi, Nagi-chan

Murai: Yu

Nakashima: Yuuzu

Taniguchi: Airi-tan, Airi

Q: What are you in charge of within the third-generation members?

Kojima: Talking. When I find a conversation partner in our waiting room, I will keep talking the whole time. Everyone, thank you for always listening to me ♡

Murai: Dance. I’m confident in my dancing! I often teach the moves to the members during lessons.

Nakashima: Happiness. I often think that I’m a lucky person, so I’ll share my good luck so that everyone can be happy ♡

Taniguchi: Neutrality. We talked about what we are in charge of before the shoot! Sometimes I joke around and sometimes I’m serious, so I’m in charge of being neutral (laughs). 

Q: A phrase to describe your personality?

Kojima: “Impatient”. For example, I always want to push the close button in elevators right away (laughs). I just can't wait.

Murai: “Relaxed”. I don’t overthink things in a good way, I often space out (laughs). I take things easy at my own pace.

Nakashima: “Gutsy”. I don’t really have anything I can proudly say I’m good at, so I get over everything with my determination! Determination is all I have!

Taniguchi: “At my own pace”. After the lessons, I usually start getting ready to go home when everyone is already ready to go home, our timings never match up…!

Q: One thing you won’t lose at between the four of you? 

Kojima: Song intro quiz! Not just for Sakurazaka46 songs, but I often listen to old songs too, so I think I won’t lose! 

Murai: Eating deliciously! People often tell me I eat more deliciously than anyone. I feel the happiest when I am eating ♡

Nakashima: Being a morning person. I once woke these three up when they overslept (laughs)!

Taniguchi: Eating spicy food. I have a sweet tooth, but I also like spicy food! I eat sushi and sashimi with a lot of wasabi ♡ I also like the spicy noodles from South Korea.

Q: A person you admire?

Kojima: Ten-san. Yamasaki Ten-san from the second generation has such an aura that you’d never guess she’s the same age as me! She’s also very cool during performances and her modeling jobs ♡

Murai: Ten-sama. She’s cool when performing, but she also has a youthful side, it makes my heart skip a beat ♡ She’s someone who brightens up her surroundings.

Nakashima: Matsuda Rina-san. I love how she’s bright and full of positive aura since morning! She always takes care of me during rehearsals and such ♡

Taniguchi: My younger brother. He’s studying really hard now, he also asks me about study methods. His willingness to learn and hard-working attitude are amazing!

Q: If you were to be reincarnated, what would you like to be?

Kojima: A cool woman. I want to be a dignified and strong woman who is admired by other girls! 

Murai: A small bird. I want to fly! Yuuzu also answered bird, so we’ll fly together in our next life (laughs).

Nakashima: A big bird (immediate answer). I want to be a hawk with a handsome face! I don’t like commuting, so I want to commute by flying. 

Taniguchi: A tall and handsome guy. I want girls to fawn at me (laughs). I want to be tall no matter what!

Q: Try drawing Doraemon without looking at the reference!

Kojima: Self-score: 80 points. “I’ve actually never watched the anime before, but I think I did fine!” I drew it with the help of the Doraemon drawing song! It came out looking kind of scary, so I subtracted 20 points. 

Murai: Self-score: 75 points. “It might have been perfect if an outline* appeared from the eyes!” I’m lacking in artistic ability, but I wanted to have the Bamboo Copter in the past so I’m only confident in drawing Doraemon! 

*[T/N: Referring to Doraemon's inner face outline]

Nakashima: Self-score: 90 points. “I feel like the silhouette of the torso is pretty similar” Didn’t the chin look like this…? It’s close, so I’ll just subtract 10 points! 

Taniguchi: Self-score: 80 points. “A bit too slim…!?” I think I did pretty well! It’d be better if I drew the tail, though… 

Q: Something tasty you ate recently?

Kojima: Caesar salad. I ate it with Murayama Miu from the third generation. I've been addicted to salad recently!

Murai: Strawberry pancake. The sweet and sour strawberry with a lot of cream was the best ♡ I love sweet food!

Nakashima: Red bean butter croffle. Both Airi and I like red bean paste, so we went to eat it together ♪ 

Taniguchi: Fruit sandwich. I ate one made with crispy bread like baguette for the first time, and it was delicious~

Q: What do you want to do this summer?

Kojima: Barbeque! The last time I did barbeque was during the early years of elementary school, so I want to do it with the third-generation members ♪ 

Murai: I want to go to a festival ♡ I’d definitely eat chocolate-covered bananas! I’ll do the thing where you get another one if you win at rock-paper-scissors. 

Nakashima: I want to eat fluffy shaved ice. I’ve only eaten them at festivals, so I want to try going to a shaved ice shop! Uji* green tea flavored shaved ice with red bean paste sounds good.

*[T/N: Uji is a city in Kyoto known for their matcha]

Taniguchi: Sparklers. Playing with sparklers is an annual summer tradition for me. I hope to do it with everyone this year!

---

Source [Interview] [Q&A] (There are more pictures in it!)

Translation: meg

QC: tmi