“I had been frustrated with myself for being convinced of this result.”

Interviewer: The introduction of a Senbatsu system for the 9th single is a first for Keyakizaka46. What were your honest thoughts at the time of the announcement?





Saito: Rather than feelings like shock or surprise, it was more like “Well, the time has finally come.”The group had talked about it, like we wondered who would be selected, and I thought about it myself as well.





Interviewer: So then since quite a while ago, you were all prepared for the possibility of senbatsu?





Saito: Pretty much from the 1st single onward, yes (lol). Like continuously throughout doing group activities, it’s been like “Wonder if the next single will have a senbatsu…” Above all else, I’m just grateful that, amazingly, up until now all of us had been given the opportunity to perform on every song.





Interviewer: However, at the time of the announcement, there were feelings of frustration as well, right?





Saito: That’s right. It wasn’t exactly towards the fact that there was to be senbatsu. “If it’s between these members, I’m probably not getting in, am I?” I had been frustrated with myself for being convinced of this result.





Interviewer: Why were you convinced it would be that way?





Saito: I don’t see myself as someone who’s been able to make an individual contribution to the group. I do love Keyakizaka46 and though I don’t know for sure how I come off, even from the fan’s perspective, I get the impression I’m working hard, so I think if I continue to do my best from here on out, then if possible, I can help the group as a whole.





Interviewer: Do you have any individual work you want to try challenging?





Saito: Now that I’ve been able to have time to turn my attention towards myself, I’ve definitely wanted to try more things. I’ve always liked musicals, so I’m interested in doing theatre. As for expanding my perspective of the world, right now I’m also studying English.





Interviewer: For this interview, I think I’d like to bring out your charms again. It’s often been discussed by other members that you have the image of someone very caring and helpful in looking after others as well as being a good listener.





Saito: Thank you so much! (lol). I do like talking to the other members, so in that vein, I think there’s probably been some advice given as well. However, so far both at and away from home I’ve really only been living a selfish life. So whether or not I’ve come to hold such an image (of being very caring) since entering Keyakizaka46, I’m not so sure.





Interviewer: Have you always liked chatting with people?





Saito: Oh, I love it! Having my friends laugh because of some weird thing I’m doing or talking about has been something I’ve enjoyed since long ago. Even now, I like having the other members laugh when they’re talking with me.





Interviewer: So for example, when there’s a member that has a troubling situation, do you reach out to them?





Saito: It would depend on the time and individual situation, but in times that I think I can help someone with something, I’ll reach out to them.





Interviewer: On the topic of how you are with others, before becoming a member of the group as well, weren’t you looked up to by others, like your juniors at school?





Saito: Well, I was closer with my juniors than I was my seniors (lol). I think my mental age was probably a bit lower than my actual age, so I had many friends that were younger than me.

“Continuing to update my blog was for the rejoice of the fans”

Interviewer: I believe you’re someone who has a huge strong point in building your dancing talent across a variety of genres, including Cheer Dance, Awaodori, Hip-hop, Modern Ballet, and Jazz Dance. If there’s something that started your interest in dance, please tell us about it.





Saito: I’ve liked singing and dancing as long as I can remember, so I went to lessons when I was in my 3rd year of elementary school. At that time, I chose to start with cheer dance, but I thought that while I’m at it, it’d be beneficial to try out a variety of things.





Interviewer: I’ve heard that after cheer dance, you went on to learn Awaodori next.





Saito: That’s right. I was learning it together with a friend (lol). Honestly I have a variety of interests. I’m the kind of person that’s willing to try anything, so there’s a lot of situations where a friend was doing something, and I ended up wanting to do it as well.





Interviewer: As far as that goes, it seems like you’re further able to challenge a variety of things in your circumstance of being part of Keyakizaka46 now.





Saito: It’s so much fun. If I could never grow old, what I’d like most is to continue spending time the way I’m spending it now (lol). Likewise, I love dance and thus the appreciation I have for the time I spend dancing is unlike any other.





Interviewer: Across learning this variety of dance, which genre have you thought is interesting, or has become your forte?





Saito: When Takahiro-sensei designs each choreography, I have many parts that have a flexible ballet-type style. When I asked Takahiro-sensei about it, he told me, “Saito, you’re particularly good at the beautiful aspects of dance, so I want to utilize that to get the most out of you.”At that time, I remembered that in my 3 years of middle school, ballet and contemporary dance were my strong points. I realized that I’m seen and noticed objectively more often than I thought.





Interviewer: In coverage of other members, we often hear stories about how you’ve also helped them with dance. You yourself may be talented as a teacher as well.





Saito: I wonder… but I think when a person becomes able to dance, they enjoy it more, and I myself also enjoy dancing together with them. Besides, I also feel like I don’t want them to hate dancing.





Interviewer: Does it make you happy watching the members improve their dancing?





Saito: Of course! There’s footage sent to us after lives. There are different types of videos, one that’s a close up of your face, one that follows you. I usually end up watching the one that follows everybody’s movements. I’ve been watching it regularly since the early days, so I’m absolutely aware of the changes in everyone’s dancing. “Ah, this movement here is different,” “This dance here has become so good!”I start noticing these things and get really happy about it unintentionally (lol).





Interviewer: In your blog where you write about your daily life and serious stories, you also make time for fans by collecting topics from them and writing about it.





Saito: Around the beginning I started to think about how I don’t want to be forgotten by all the fans. I figured if I send something or other every day, there’ll be at least one person that stops to read it. Likewise, it’s a group with a large number of members, so isn’t it difficult to stand out? But then I noticed that more and more fans saying things like, “I enjoy reading your blog every day!” Seeing that writing blogs is something that makes people spirited was something that made me happy, so even now I’ve continued to write it. I’ve seen people say things like “I can’t go to sleep if I haven’t seen today’s blog!”as well (lol). Though, hearing people say that kind of thing makes me wonder, is updating it often really still meaningful?





Interviewer: It must also be a lot of work taking photos to post on your blog right?





Saito: Yeah, that’s true. Though there are days where there aren’t photos posted as well. Binding myself to something like “I absolutely must post photos” becomes too difficult to do, so I just thought “nah” and decided against it. I update with the mentality that I persistently enjoy it myself as well (lol).





Interviewer: For sure (lol). Well then, lastly please give a message to fans!





Saito:

With the senbatsu announcement, I imagine it’s caused some sad feelings, but know I myself am not taking anything negative from it. Instead, I’m using it as an opportunity to focus on myself, so I hope I can move forward into making my future with all the fans!