Inoue Rina Interview in B.L.T December 2025

 

Q You have announced your graduation from the group, but it doesn’t feel real yet… right?

Inoue: That’s right, I still haven’t gotten the chance to speak directly with my fans yet (in Meet & Greet), and I think that it will feel more real as I hear many words.

Q It might just be a coincidence, but apparently a lot of people graduate from their groups when they are 24 years old. Inoue-san herself is also 24 years old, right?

Inoue: Yes. But it’s not like I particularly had it in mind as a time limit, that's just how it naturally ended up for me. But it could be that there’s a part of me that started thinking about this because I’m on the verge of turning 25 years old, since that’s kind of a milestone… I’m saying this as if it’s not me we’re talking about (laughs).

Q Right, when someone reaches 25 years old, society generally has the perception that they are a full-fledged adult. Taking that into consideration, I’d like to ask you to talk about your decision to graduate, at least within the scope of what you’re able to divulge.

Inoue: I’ve been thinking about graduation for a while, and just like I wrote on my blog, it is because I have “done everything that I could as Sakurazaka46’s Inoue Rina”. For example, I’ve been able to appear in a lot of variety shows, I’ve been able to act as a radio personality (Kochi Hoshi), and since the year before last, I’ve also had our namesake television show “SakuraMeets,” and even been able to do events for it. So with that, I thought that maybe I’d already done everything I can in terms of giving back to the fans. I don’t know if everyone feels satisfied, but as I felt that I’ve given it my all, I decided to graduate from Sakurazaka46.

But, if I could stay in the group forever, I would. I truly love the group, and if the concept of “graduation” didn’t exist, it would be a “place to belong” that I wanted to stay in. But, I wondered if that’d be too self-indulgent. As the next generation of members joined and the group changed, I myself also started to want to become someone new. That is why I decided to take the next steps.

Q So, do you feel like the 2nd generation member Inoue Rina has fulfilled her role, and can leave the group to your juniors… that kind of thing?

Inoue: No, the 3rd and 4th generations are truly dependable, and I never thought of it as something that I’m leaving to them, or something that’s being left to me. We all walk side-by-side together, regardless of what generation we’re in. I more so get the impression that each of us is thinking about what we can do as individual members of Sakurazaka46, and how it can help the group as a whole. Personally, I never thought of it as filling the holes left by the graduation of my 1st generation seniors. 

I always believed that “the place you belong is something that you make yourself,” so I get the feeling that it would be presumptuous of me to think of it as leaving the position I built for myself within the group to one of my juniors for them to take. My feelings are more along the lines of “I’ve done everything that I can.” The 4th generation members have only just started their activities, and while they might have their hands full with what lies directly in front of them, I believe that they will slowly build their own place within the group. I look forward to their growth with high hopes.

Q I see, so you think that “the place you belong” is not something that is given but something that one creates for themselves.

Inoue: But, that place has become a place I am too comfortable in… and I thought that it’s about time I venture out. It got to the point that once you take away my title as “part of Sakurazaka46,” I have nothing left… that’s just how big and great the group’s presence is.

Q By the way, before you decided to graduate, did you consult with the other members about it first?

Inoue: I didn’t do anything like, “So I’m thinking of graduating…”; I made up my mind and then started consulting with staff, and it was around that time I told the members that I often go out to eat with. I thought there was no need to hide it, so I told them while we were eating.

Q Names that come to mind are… Takemoto Yui-san and Matsuda Rina-san.

Inoue: I did tell those two, but I also told (Tamura) Hono, whom I often travel with, after we arrived at our destination… but it was already set in stone by then (laughs).

Q Right. It was your own life, so you have to make the decision yourself. Maybe this is strange to ask, but you haven’t had any second thoughts…?

Inoue: By the time I told the staff, my mind was already made up. But, until I decided to graduate, I was a bit uneasy as I wondered what I should do…

Q I imagine that the members must also feel a great sense of loss over Inoue-san’s graduation.

Inoue: But surprisingly, everyone is giving me the salty (cold) treatment (laughs)~. Ah, not really, the 3rd and 4th generation members have mentioned it in their blogs as well. But many of the 2nd generation members, me included, are clumsy and are not good at expressing our true feelings, so our conversations usually end with things like, “I feel sad~” and “Are you really?” But, I was really happy to read Yui-chan’s blog. I was feeling like, “Hey, this is even more tearjerking than mine!” Ah, but Matsuda is probably the one who is feeling the saddest. When writing that blog, she called me to say “I’m crying~!” (laughs). But I was outside at the time, so I casually said, “Sorry, I’m outside right now, I’ll call you back later~”.

Q Takemoto-san and Matsuda-san’s blogs really brought me to tears… I just remember that in an interview around the time of Seki Yumiko’s graduation, Takemoto-san said, “I’m worried about Inoue’s mental state.”

Inoue: That’s right. The me from back then felt quite a sense of loss with Yumiko’s graduation. I had heard about it directly from her, so I knew about it beforehand, but when it was announced in front of the other members, all of the 2nd generation members were crying, and I didn’t want to show my tears… So I locked myself in another room and cried, and once I shed all my tears, I went to Yumiko with a smile… that is what I remembered.

Q So what was the atmosphere like when Inoue-san announced her graduation in front of all the other members?

Inoue: In my case, I didn’t want it to be so solemn, so I just said with a smile, “I will be graduating with this single. The date hasn’t been decided yet, but I will do my best until the end, please continue to take care of me,” but apparently to the members, it came off as very matter-of-fact. And moreover, the 2nd generation members who just found out about my graduation were confused with what just happened, and so they just left without saying a word (laughs). The 3rd generation members like Ishimori (Rika) came to me while crying and said things like, “I hate this~ I’ll miss you~”. The 2nd generation members who knew beforehand stayed behind and offered to go home together with me, but the others who left probably didn’t expect it and couldn’t process things. That night, I received a message from Onuma (Akiho) who said something like, “I feel a deep hole inside my heart.”

Q I imagine that Masumoto Kira, who is also a member of “SakuraMeets,” might also feel lonely about it…

Inoue: On the contrary, Kira-chan is turning “graduation” into a joke and teasing me with it. For example, when I stumble over my words, she would say, “Hey, just go on and graduate right now!” (laughs). But I think she is just turning it into laughter.

Q Ah~ I can imagine that (laughs). A lot has happened in the seven years that you spent with such wonderful friends.

Inoue: First and foremost, I’ve always loved idols, so I am incredibly grateful that I was able to work as one . That said, a lot of things happened during these seven years… Starting with the rare turning point that is a group renaming, then also experiencing the COVID pandemic… If I were to plot my seven years into a line graph, it would truly be a continuous series of peaks and valleys. But even so, the people who supported me were always on my side. They were the reason I could continue to think “I’ll do my best!”, so I am truly grateful for them. I’ve become stronger because of them all.

Q I had the chance to interview you around the time of the 2nd single “BAN,” and I was impressed with what you said of your disappointment at not being chosen to sing the title track of “Nobody’s fault” and the efforts you made because of it.

Inoue: Oh yeah, that did happen~! In my case, I definitely felt something of a swing of both joy and sorrow with every single, but because I had those who were supporting me I never really hit rock bottom. But I think it’s because I’d experienced that frustration, that I acquired a kind of power to show myself, and looking back now, I’ve also come to realize that maybe all of that is just part of who I am as well.

Q At the time, you said that while you have a lot of thoughts racing through your mind, you can come to terms with them over time. I guess that is what society would deem what “becoming an adult” is like…

Inoue: It was during “Nobody’s fault” that the group was getting its fresh start, and as I was selected as a member of the senbatsu for the previous single (which was planned to be Keyakizaka46’s 9th single)... I think it hit me really hard. It might also be because of how young I was, but at the time, I felt like I was somehow inferior. I’m not someone who usually cries in public, but when “Nobody’s fault” formation was announced, Yumiko and I were sobbing in frustration. 

Q Inoue-san and Seki-san became a member of NazeKoi, and as the song, MV, and performance received positive reception, I wonder if it helped to lift your spirits?

Inoue: Thankfully, we had the opportunity to perform the song on music shows, even though it was just a coupling song… Of course, not all of my frustration has gone away, but now I think it was a good experience.

Q And then after that, you were selected to become the BACKS center in the 7th single “Shoninyokkyu,” and made senbatsu for the 8th single “Ikutsu no Koro ni Modoritai no ka?” and 9th single “Jigoujitoku,” but in this period you swapped positions with Takemoto Yui-san, didn’t you?

Inoue: That’s right, I think it just happened by chance… Recently we talked about how despite people calling us “InoChuke,” there haven’t actually been that many times that we’ve performed together (laughs). That is why the line Yui-chan wrote in her blog, “being able to sing next you was a special time I would never trade with anything else” really hit me. Some people may think… that it might have been awkward to have me in senbatsu while Yui-chan moves to BACKS or me moving to BACKS while Yui-chan is in senbatsu, but that wasn’t the case at all. We supported each other the same as always regardless of where we were, and I think that played into why she wrote that blog as well.

Q I think the fact that the BACKS songs that each of you and Takemoto-san center, “Kakushinteki Croissant” and “Abura wo sase!”, have both become important songs that heighten the excitement of your concerts.

Inoue: Right… “Kakushinteki Croissant” was performed for the first time at ZOZO Marine (Stadium) during “3rd Anniv,” and I was super nervous at the time. I was wondering what fans would think of it. Like, how to put it… Being selected to center a BACKS song is not a chance that everyone gets, and if you ask me whether or not I was sincerely happy about it… my feelings about it were a bit complicated. Seeing that, (Saito) Fuyuka-san was worried about me, and it instead ended up being something I felt bad about.

Q In your interview at the time you mentioned it too, that you were too honest in what you said during MC.

Inoue: I think at the time I just let my emotions pour out of me too much. But in the 7th single “BACKS LIVE!!” that was held in Toyosu PIT and Zepp DiverCity, our distance with the Buddies was so close… and I could tell that they were closely listening to what I said during MC, which made me really happy. And that time included, the passion of the fans during “BACKS LIVE!!” has always been amazing… which might be because there are more “veteran” Buddies there, and personally I hope that we can also draw in those who are newly interested in Sakurazaka46.

Q It’d be nice if you could widen the range of fans you attract there, right? Also, BACKS members had a lot of concerts between spring andautumn of 2024, didn’t they?

Inoue: We also had the tour, then performed for music festivals, and also had to do both the rehearsal and the actual performances for “BACKS LIVE!!”, then we also had to work on the production of our next single… But for me, the toughest period was definitely during the 7th single. I was able to join an overseas performance, but even though I was the chairman for the “BACKS LIVE!!”, I was often absent from lessons and rehearsals. It was still the first year since the 3rd generation joined, so there was a greater distance between us than there is now, and I wondered if they might have thought of me as someone “scary.” I was really overwhelmed back then.

Also during the “BACKS LIVE!!” for “Nagaredama,” for some reason my emotions got all mixed up. I didn’t talk about it with anyone, but when I was invited to Yumiko’s place, Matsuda and Takemoto were there too, and the three of them asked me, “What’s going on?” And back then I burst into tears, which is unusual for me. Even though I had been keeping all my emotions bottled up, they still understood me. Talking about it like this brings back a lot of memories…

Q Now I’m a little worried that Takemoto-san and Matsuda-san will be sobbing really hard during Inoue-san’s graduation ceremony, which will be held in “Buddies Kanshasai” in December.

Inoue: But I think the two of them won’t cry in a place that can be seen by the fans. Matsuda is surprisingly “sensitive,” or rather she’s very perceptive of other people’s feelingss. That’s why I’ve always thought she was suited to be captain.

Q Each gen has their own colors, or rather, their own unique qualities, but it feels like Matsuda-san’s presence really is important for the 2nd generation.

Inoue: I think so. But some of us in the 2nd generation often say how great it is to have a gen comprised of these members. We don’t go out to have meals together with everyone like the 3rd generation girls do, and we keep a fair sense of distance from each other, yet we still understand each other. I like that we have aspects like those as well.

Q Inoue-san and Matsuda-san have the same name, and the two of you are called “Futarina,” (T/N: Futari = two people) but do you feel that you two are similar to one another?

Inoue: I wonder… but when I joined the group and met the 1st generation members for the first time, Matsuda and I were the only ones who didn’t cry. I was mostly nervous from having to be the first to introduce myself in alphabetical order, but then Yumiko burst into tears next to me, and then the other girls started to cry… which then stopped at Matsuda. I had the chance to rewatch that video again, and I said, “The two of us looked so calm! Maybe it would’ve been better if we cried too” (laughs). While there are ways in which we’re similar, there are also ways in which we’re complete opposites. But I think somehow we get along well anyway.

She also calls me with “U-tan.” Since we have the same name, Matsuda wanted to avoid calling me by my full name like as in “Inoue Rina-chan~”, so instead she started calling me “U-tan” by taking the “u” from “Inoue,” and in turn I’ve been calling her “Macchan.” So in that regard maybe we are unique in a sense.

Q Right. On that note, I’d like to take this opportunity to ask how you and the other 2nd generation members address each other. Let’s start with Takemoto-san…

Inoue: I always call her with “Yui-chan.” Maybe it’s because she comes off as a little sister type… Ozono (Rei) is “Zono” or “Rei-chan,” and for Onuma it’s always “Numa” (laughs). But please let me emphasize that Numa really is the “best person among good people.” And then for Kousaka, I just call her name as it is with “Marino.” Though Marino calls me by my full name. My genmates mostly call me with “Inoue” or “Inori-chan,” but Kira-chan is the only one who calls me “Inoue-san” (laughs). Ah, but sometimes she also calls me with “Gorori.”

Q May I know what caused you to be called with that nickname?

Inoue: My face got really swollen after getting dental treatment, and at the time someone said that I looked like Gorori, the bear from an old educational TV show called “Tsukutte WakuWaku” (laughs). From then on, people started to call me with “Gorori” or “Goro.” Even Numa calls me that sometimes. 

Also, (Yamasaki) Ten-chan calls me with “Ino.” Zono and (Endo) Hikari-chan also calls me with “Ino,” while (Fujiyoshi) Karin-chan calls me “Inocchi,” but only very rarely. And Morita (Hikaru) calls me with “Inoue,” but I call her with “Runrun.” But I think I’m pretty much the only one who calls her that now.

Q A few of the 3rd generation members call her with “Run-san.” Like Taniguchi Airi-san, for example.

Inoue: That’s right, the fans also call her with “Run-chan.” And then… I just simply call Moriya Rena with “Rena.” And Hono calls me with “Inoue.” That’s everyone in the 2nd generation. There are so many different things they call me, it was funny going over all of them again . But I’ve pretty much never been called by my family name until I joined the group, it’s basically always just been “Rina,” and now I’ve spent 7 years not being called my name. But that’s just because between Uemura (Rina)-san, Matsuda, and myself, there were 3 of us named Rina (laughs).

Q And the 3rd generation members call you with “Inori-san”?

Inoue: That’s right. But I’m happier with “Inori-san,” since it feels more casual than “Inoue-san.” From a senior’s point of view, wouldn’t everyone want to be called by their nickname…?…

Q But looking at behind-the-scenes footage of tours and such, the distance between the 2nd and 3rd generation seems like it’s in a really good spot now, doesn’t it?

Inoue: I think it’s largely thanks to Ten-chan for creating such an atmosphere. Many of us are shy people, and if we didn’t have Ten-chan, I’m sure that the 2nd generation would’ve had a more unapproachable feeling. When I think about it like that, I’m really grateful to her. And Marino is really close to the 3rd generation too. So close she even has sleepovers with them… Conversely, the truth is that Matsuda and I are very shy people. Yui-chan is the more sociable one so to speak ; she acted as the frontline to opening communication between us by starting conversations with everyone she works on shows and other projects together with.

Q Perhaps Takemoto-san and Yamasaki-san are such good mood makers because they are the eldest sisters in their families. On that note… What about Masumoto-san and Onuma-san, who are members of “SakuraMeets”?

Inoue: For Onuma… she has that character, she’s keen on entertaining whoever she is talking with, but she’s not actually the type of person who actively starts conversation. Kira-chan takes an unusual angle to approach people, and while whoever she’s talking with might feel confused about it at first, she’s really good at closing the distance. Anyone could probably tell by their first impression of her that Kira-chan is a really unique person, and in that sense I suppose that you could say she has a high communication skill.

Q Certainly, when I interviewed her for the first time, I got the impression that she has a quick mind and felt she was someone who could think of a response no matter what subject I touched upon. And so what was it that kept driving Inoue Rina, who admits to being a shy person, to continue standing before so many people as an idol for 7 years?

Inoue: Hmm~ Even in high school, I wasn’t the type of person to do things in front of other people, and I didn’t have many friends either… But I loved the group Keyakizaka46, I watched their MVs, and while I couldn’t go to their concerts, I would check out the shows they were appearing on. “Keyaki” was a part of my life in that way. Because I was miraculously able to become a part of the group that I’d always admired, I came to think, “This is not the time for me to be shy, to feel embarrassed is even more embarrassing!” Because I love this group, I wanted to do everything that I could. When I looked at the videos, seeing myself being embarrassed would be even more embarrassing, and wouldn’t be funny at all. And so from then on, I started to take it on with the attitude of “If I’m going to do this, then I’m going to give it my all!”

Q When did you start thinking that way? Ever since the group became Sakurazaka46…?

Inoue: Maybe around the time we started appearing in so-called “outside shows”... Of course I still give my all in “SokoSaku,” but it has such a homey atmosphere, anything that we do is warmly accepted. But when we appear on variety shows, inside jokes and the like aren’t going to work… But if I felt that, there was no point in carrying the name Sakurazaka46 if I wasn’t gonna work hard.

While “SakuraMeets” is also a home ground, the bar is higher when it comes to competing on the same level as comedians. I think that… orthodox idols probably have reservations about things like wearing crew cut wigs, and to be honest we were also worried at first on whether or not we’d be able to make it entertaining, but over the past year or so, my mindset has shifted to, “I’m so lucky to be able to do something so weird like this on TV!” and I started to really look forward to every recording session. Or rather, right now I just want to do as many weird things as I can! (laughs).

Q “Or rather” you say (laughs). And on the other hand, while it may be a bit misleading to call it an idol’s “real job,” isn’t singing also one of Inoue-san’s strengths? You were entrusted with not only “Kakushinteki Croissant,” but also “On my way” which I’ve had the chance to listen to before.

Inoue: Ah, thank you very much. But “On my way” actually involves a lot of dancing and moving around while singing, so it uses a lot of energy and makes me run out of breath. So I remembered how at the beginning, Matsuda and I would practice together while carefully checking where we needed to take breath.

Sakurazaka46 often gets attention for our dance performances, but Matsuda and I have talked about how we want to deliver the song on its own as well. Of course, we are not satisfied with our singing ability. Rather, we think that we are not that good, but that is why we have been working while cherishing our desire to face the song head-on.

Q I think that’s really important.

Inoue: When I go to other music artists concerts as a listener, it really fires me up when I can feel how much emotion they’re putting into their singing. That’s exactly how I want to our songs to come across to viewers… I think I’ve talked about this before, but during the last day of our “7th Single BACKS LIVE!!”, I made several mistakes in my acoustic performance of “On my way,” but on the inside, I also felt like that’s the moment that I was able to put the most feeling into my singing. Of course, it’s also best to just not make mistakes. 

Q Just as Inoue-san mentioned, dance performance is one of Sakurazaka46’s strengths, but I would also like to hear the thoughts towards it that you’ve carried with you over the last 7 years.

Inoue: Right after the 2nd generation members joined, we had a lesson where we were taught the chorus for “Ambivalent (Keyakizaka46’s 7th single)” for about an hour. But at the time, I couldn’t remember it at all. And the members who could dance it were then selected to step into the positions of the graduated 1st generation-san members, and I was so frustrated about it… and I cried while walking home all the way to the train station (laughs). And then after getting home, I practiced and practiced until I was able to dance it, and then I got the chance to appear in a music show at the end of the year. 

At first, it was just Hono, Yui-chan, and Matsuda that were performing on music shows together with the 1st gen; I felt so frustrated watching them on TV in Hyogo, like… “the heck am I doing…?”, and that made me feel like I had to work harder. It’s not something that’s always necessarily going to be rewarded, but it was a good experience for me in the sense that it made me realize that if you don’t work hard, you’re not going to catch anyone’s eye in the first place and nobody will even notice you’re there. 

Q Our experiences are generally what fuel us in life, for sure.? Now, I’d like to ask Inoue-san to name a Sakurazaka46 song that provided you with emotional support during these intense seven years, but would that be too difficult to narrow down?

Inoue: Whenever asked what my favorite song is, I always answered with “Samidare yo”. Even among Sakurazaka46 songs, it has moments where it expresses such a gentle and beautiful melody, and I especially love to see it during performances. It’s a slow-paced song, so the singing and dancing are actually quite difficult, but that is exactly why I get to feel this overwhelming sense of happiness when I immerse myself in it… But whenever I say that “Samidare yo” is my favorite, people often say that it’s surprising.

Q Is that so? But don’t you think that “Samidare yo” is a masterpiece? Though it was released in 2022, when the group was in a transitional period due to the successive graduations of several 1st generation members.

Inoue: That’s right, those were also the days when we weren’t even filling the venues for our concerts… and even us members are aware that some people probably looked at us negatively, but none of us gave up. We all had this strong mentality of “Let’s climb back up from the bottom, everyone!” and thought “Let’s do this!” Of course you always want things to be smooth sailing, but I think it’s because we went through that time that Sakurazaka46 became the group it is today, and why we can approach things with a humble attitude, confront things seriously, and understand that nothing can be taken for granted.. There were a lot of painful feelings involved with everything at the time, but we also had a conversation with each other about how we needed to go through a period of struggle like that.

Q And I think that Captain Matsuda was at the center of it all. She really does have an incredibly important presence and role in the group, doesn’t she?

Inoue: When she spoke in front of everyone and said, “I want to make Sakurazaka46 a group that can make each members’ dream come true,” it made me so happy like, “This person just said something amazing. How does she even think up things like that?” But when Matsuda wants to communicate things like that to the other members, there are times where she’ll ask me beforehand like, “Uutan, I’m thinking of saying something like this, but do you think they’ll understand?” And I was like, “I can’t imagine there is anyone in this group who wouldn’t understand what you’re saying.” And because Matsuda, who’s sensitive to other people’s feelings, gathered her courage to lead everyone like that, we could be where we are today… I’m truly grateful for that.

Q I think that trusting relationship is truly wonderful. On the other hand, what kind of a role did Inoue Rina have in Sakurazaka46…?

Inoue: Eehh, I wonder what… I don’t think I really know what it could be myself, I just have this strong feeling that, thanks to everyone, I was truly able to fully enjoy my days as an idol.. That’s why I’ve carried out my activities driven by the thought of how much I want to work as hard as I possibly can towards the goals of the group… but I have never really thought about what kind of presence I want to be within the group. From the perspective of the juniors, I don’t think that I was someone who acted like you’d expect a senior would. Ah, but recently they’ve been teasing me (laughs). But I just hope that by being someone anyone could casually talk to, my presence could be one that gives members a sense of relief and comfort. At least that is my wish.

Q I am sure that it will be something that everyone will only realize after you are goneーthe true significance of Inoue Rina’s presence…

Inoue: I’m still continuing my activities as part of Sakurazaka46, so it still hasn’t really hit me at all yet that I’ve announced my graduation (laughs). Meanwhile the members are telling me things like, “We are feeling so sad, but why do you look like you are having fun?”, but I’m really just enjoying it like always… Still, I guess it will really hit me when I film my last episode for our show. Though I won’t know for sure if it will until after it happens.

Q I am sure that the fans must be feeling sad about the graduation of Inoue-san, who has that “first love” vibe.

Inoue: But a first love is bound to be something that comes to an end someday, and that’s precisely why it stays with us in our memories. So, as “Inoue Rina the First Love,” I hope that everyone can move on to their next love and continue to support the members who work hard in the group.

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Raw: Kiryu

Translation: tmi

QC; peezy