



On October 19th, it was announced that NMB48's Yamamoto Sayaka and Watanabe Miyuki will be releasing their first photo books on the same day in November.



Both of their still untitled photo books will be out on November 20th, and the two will have to face off against each other on the Oricon weekly chart until the 25th. The winner of this internal competition is said to get a chance of starring in a CM all by herself, and both girls are confident that they will win.



It's not new for AKB48 and their sub and sister groups to compete against each other by releasing singles and albums on the same day, but it's the first time for them to compete with photo books.



Yamamoto's photo book was handled by the well-known photographer Watanabe Tatsuo. The pictures were taken at her home town Osaka and Okinawa. There are even some shots with her grandfather who just happened to pass by. This photo book shows a natural and bright Yamamoto, who is usually known for her cool image.



She commented, "The day before the shooting, I went to the sauna to reduce some weight and to get a full-body massage. Please pay attention to my shiny and sparkly skin!"



Watanabe's photo book was taken by the cameraman who is known for wearing trunks most of the time - Nozawa Hironobu. They went all over Japan to take the pictures. It's fully loaded with her trademark 'cute sex appeal'. Watanabe also came up with the idea of taking 'dokkiri shots' in situations when she is off-guard. Moreover she loves to take baths, so of course, they didn't forget to take some bathing and 'splish-splash' (a recent buzzword among their members) pictures as well.



She stated, "I like all of the pictures, but I'm especially fond of the scene where I'm diving into the pool with a school uniform and it changes into a swimsuit."



Both of the girls are very popular members of the idol group NMB48, so it will interesting to see who will win this competition. The official winner will be announced on the 29th. Yamamoto and Watanabe will also hold a handshake event on the day of the release.



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Source: Oricon