Fujiyoshi Karin in B.L.T. July 2024 edition

Q What does Fujiyoshi-san, who has been appearing in dramas and a movie in-parallel with your activities in the group, think of the past 1,5 years that have passed since the last Tokyo Dome performance?

Karin: It felt very fast. As you said, I have been able to try a lot of different things, and it feels like a year has suddenly passed as I was giving my all and working hard.

Q At least it doesn’t feel slow, right? (laughs). Speaking of which, as you go back and forth between the filming site and your group activities, did you see a new side of the group Sakurazaka46?

Karin: If I must say it in one phrase, then I felt “an encounter”. I have been only working within the group, so I’ve been not only with the members but also the staff members, and that’s all I knew about. It felt like I was in a school, and then I went outside for a bit. And from there, I was able to learn a lot of things.

Q It might be a bit rough to group acting, which you described as “in the outside world”, together with the act of performing on stage, but are there any links between the two?

Karin: Not at all… At first, I thought that there might be something like that, and because of that expectation I wanted to give it a try; but in fact everything is different. I felt confused at the beginning, but that was fun. You don’t really get the chance to find something new, right? That’s why I enjoy it.

Q I see. Speaking of becoming someone else when you are in a role, is it still different when you are standing as the protagonist of your center song, “Start over!”?

Karin: Hmm~... But it feels that I have always been “me” in my activities as Sakurazaka. To be honest, I never really thought of it that deeply (laughs).

Q The interlude part in “Start over!” that you danced with Kobayashi Yui-san at her graduation concert was a very emotional performance. That’s why I was wondering who would take her role for the 4th Tour.

Karin: At first, there was an idea to have one of the 3rd gen members enter the position, but personally… I can’t really put it into words well, but when I imagine someone other than Kobayashi-san doing that part, I feel that it will feel a bit wrong. But, from a performance standpoint, it will definitely look more sophisticated if someone takes the role, no? And the number of original members is simply decreasing, after all.

Q Tamura Hono-san also said, “With the graduation of seniors, it’s becoming harder to make a “slope” for Karin-chan to climb”.

Karin: It’s really difficult. But… the formation might change again in the future. Although we won’t know until we try it.

Q I look forward to seeing how it will change. Speaking of which, have you seen something that surpasses the “beautiful world” that you experienced as you performed “Start over!” on the last day of the 3rd Tour in Osaka?

Karin: Ah~ Even now I haven’t seen anything that surpasses that moment, and I don’t think I ever will…

Q So that’s just how amazing that first performance was for you.

Karin: Hmm~... It’s not really about how amazing it was, nor how it turned out. The scenery that I saw at that time was just truly beautiful… So I think it’s just a personal issue.

Q Do you have the stance of wanting to find something that will surpass that?

Karin: I was thinking of finding one, but ever since experiencing that, I have never felt anything that does… It’s pretty difficult.

Q I see. Then, what do you feel about standing on Tokyo Dome for the third time?

Karin: It felt like we finally stood there as Sakura. It felt like we were finally able to stand there as a culmination of all of our hard work together. After all, up until now… The first one was fully thanks to our seniors’, and for the second one, we were able to stand there for Sugai (Yuuka)-san’s graduation concert. And just like what happened when our appearance in Kouhaku was decided (after two years of absence), it made Team Sakurazaka’s staff members truly happy, and it made me happy as well. I’m glad to be able to see the people who make things work for us day after day look happy.

Q In drama and movie sets, actors are placed in a section called the “acting department”, but is there a similar feeling in Sakurazaka? Such as how the stage is prepared for you, and then you perform as your character.

Karin: Right, it does feel that way. But I felt that more, or rather, became aware of it ever since I did a lot of acting work outside the group last year.

Q With that in mind, I’d like to hear about the reactions that you felt from the 4th Tour.

Karin: I could tell that the fans are having a lot of fun, and that makes me happy… But I’ve been doing it with the hope of seeing the scenery I saw in Osaka last year once again. But there’s something that feels a bit off… and I hate myself for not being able to perform without putting all my heart into it. Didn’t I talk about this before last year (in blt graph vol. 91)?

Q You said something along the lines of not being uncomfortable with yourself for being so easy to understand.

Karin: Yeah, that’s it! I feel uncomfortable with myself for somehow becoming this way...

Q In that interview, I took the liberty to say, “Please stay the same”, so while I feel relieved about it… I also feel a bit worried about Fujiyoshi-san, who lives honestly with her feelings.

Karin: But I also feel that I have become an adult… and I wonder if I’m being too honest to say that that too, gives me a strange feeling? (laughs).

Q Right (laughs). But that’s why people want to get to know you. Just what keeps making Fujiyoshi Karin stand on the stage even now?

Karin: Hmm~... A faint hope, I guess. I’m still hoping to experience the same feeling back then again, I guess. But it’s been about a year since that “Start over!”, and I haven’t been able to get back into that zone, so I think it might be difficult. So I’m hoping for something new that will take me to a place where I can see such scenery.

Q But the God of Expression may not show such scenery to Fujiyoshi-san easily. Because you might become satisfied if they did.

Karin: Ah~ that’s true… If I think about it like that, it’s still something difficult. It seems difficult, isn’t it?

Q I think that what Yamasaki Ten-san said, “There’s still a long way to go”, is one answer to it.

Karin: Ten-chan sure is amazing. She’s so positive. I know that she has a different way of thinking than me, but when I hear stories like that, I sincerely think that she’s amazing. But I also have my own thoughts about various things, so I hope that I can find something in the next single period.

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Raw: kiryu

Translation; tmi

QC: meg