Interviewer: It’s been a year since you all joined Keyakizaka46. If your impression of any of the other members has changed since then, please tell us how.

Inoue: My basic impression of everyone hasn’t changed, but I thought of everyone as classmates at first. But recently Yumi-chan has become like an older sister. As a member of the group I talk to her as someone from the same generation, but on a more personal level I often go to her for advice and rely on her. She spoils me. (laughs)

Tamura: That’s right. My basic impressions haven’t really changed either. Since we first met Marina-chan has been energetic and mature, Riko-chan has always been amusing, Inoue is good for teasing, in a good way, and I don’t think anyone has really changed.

Matsuda: I mostly agree with Hono-chan. But if I had to say… Maybe Inoue.

Inoue: Eh?! Why?

Matsuda: My first impression of you was that you were an “orthodox, pure idol”, but seeing how you are outside of work I started thinking you’re a funny girl. (laughs) But I think that’s a side you’ve started showing us as we spend more time together, so I think it’s really sweet and it makes me love you even more.

Morita: Inoue has a, how to put it, “idol switch”.

Matsuda: Ah, yeah. She has a switch.

Takemoto: Inoue might be the one who has the biggest gap between how she acts at work and in private.

Yamasaki: Usually when we’re together and chatting Inoue is really funny. But when she goes into idol mode she starts acting really mature. So in a way I think she’s the most serious one of us.

Interviewer: By the way, what are your thoughts, Seki-san?

Seki: Yeah, I’m happy about being asked for advice and being relied on.

Inoue: When I ask Yumi-chan for advice she doesn’t try to give me an answer, it’s more like she just listens to me. Maybe that’s what makes talking to her so comfortable.

Seki: It’s kind of embarrassing being told that to my face. (laughs) For me it’s probably, hmm… Karin, maybe. We’re both shy so we didn’t talk much at first. But when I talked to her she turned out to be really cheerful and now we can talk to each other naturally.

Fujiyoshi: My impression of Hono-chan has changed quite a bit. I thought she was kind of airheaded at first, but now she’s like an older sister I can talk to about anything. For the time being I always consult Hono-chan when I get my hair cut. (laughs)

Matsuda: It’s true, there’s an impression of Karin always asking Hono, “What do you think of this?”

Tamura: But it’s only Karin-chan who relies on me like that. I’ve never been in a position where someone would come to me for advice before, so it makes me want to spoil Karin-chan and I’m always thinking about how cute she is and worrying about her. (laughs)

Interviewer: Takemoto-san, do you have anyone?

Takemoto: Hmm… From my point of view no one has really changed from my first impression of them. I feel like Yumi-chan and Hono-chan have had an “older sister vibe” since the day I met them… Ah! But I used to think Inoue was younger than me. (laughs)

Inoue: I’m not!

Matsuda: We know~. (laughs)

Takemoto: When we first met I thought she was about a year younger than me so I spoke to her really casually. I discovered that she was older on the train ride home when we were taking lessons before being assigned to groups. I was like, “Haa?! I’m so sorry!”, and immediately starting speaking more politely.

Inoue: I thought you were younger~.

Interviewer: How about you, Yamasaki-san?

Yamasaki: Hmm… Karin already said this, but my impression of Hono did change. I thought she was cute and “peppy” at first, but while we were taking lessons before being assigned to groups she taught me a lot of things, like how to ride the bullet train. Come to think of it, she’s like my older sister~.

Tamura: “Come to think of it”? (laughs) In the beginning I used to say Ten-chan seemed mature, but now she’s kind of like everyone’s little sister. She’s so cute and spoiled. She has an image of having it together despite being the youngest member, but there are things about her that are simple, innocent, and appropriate for her age, so in that way my impression of Ten-chan has changed.

Interviewer: I see. And you, Matsudaira-san?

Matsudaira: Let’s see… Even though she’s a middle schooler Ten-chan has it more together than me. I used to think I have to give it my best because I’m the oldest, but I gave up on that in an instant.

Matsuda: So quick. (laughs)

Matsudaira: I really did give up in “a second”.

Yamasaki: Hey, I hear that a lot, so aren’t you the one who’s changed? (laughs)

Matsudaira: Ah, you’re right. But… at any rate, that’s how it is.

Interviewer: Understood. (laughs) By the way, this comes up a lot, but have you held the “2nd generation takoyaki party”?

Tamura: We haven’t done it yet~ (as of the time of this interview). We always say “We’re going to do it this time for sure!” after a concert or big job, but…

Matsuda: We’ll say “Okay, let’s do it tomorrow” then never meet up.

Tamura: We don’t have anyone giving orders.

Interviewer: Well then, make the plans now!

Matsuda: Okay, how’s tomorrow?

Inoue: I might have time tomorrow.

Morita: Yeah, tomorrow should be fine.

Takemoto: You’ll be joining us this time, right Karin?

Interviewer: Hm? What does that mean?

Takemoto: Before, we all brought food and celebrated Matsuda’s birthday, but Karin is the only one who didn’t come. We invited her saying, “We’ve got food and the 8 of us are having fun playing games,” but she didn’t react at all, so I’m hoping she’ll come to the takoyaki party this time.

Fujiyoshi: Well… I mean, don’t you need to get emotionally ready to leave the house?

Matsuda: We all tried convincing her on LINE by saying we had a game she wanted to play, but she just replied with “I’m interested~” and then didn’t show up. (laughs)

Takemoto: She’ll say things like how she’ll come if she musters the courage.

Interviewer: Why not hold it at Fujiyoshi-san’s place?

Fujiyoshi: No way, absolutely not!

Tamura: Because when Inoue slept over before she drooled on the carpet?

Inoue: No, no, that was definitely not drool! I swear it absolutely wasn’t~!! (laughs)

Seki: Inoue comes over to my place a lot, but if I have an errand and leave her alone for 10 minutes she always falls asleep. (laughs) Then she’ll sleep for about two hours, wake up, and be like “Ha, I’m going home” and leave…

Takemoto: Yeah! She sleeps at my place, too. And she gets really flustered when she wakes up for some reason. She’ll say, “Ha, I’m really sorry. So sorry!”, but I have no idea who she’s apologizing to or why. She’s seriously half-asleep. (laughs)

Seki: But I think Hikaru might be worse about being half-asleep than even Inoue. She’ll suddenly stand up then collapse and fall asleep again. She also says cryptic things in her sleep…

Morita: Eh, I don’t remember any of that. (laughs) But apparently when I was back home I’ve popped awake at 2 in the morning, pointed at the curtain, and said to my mom, “Mama, look~.”

Tamura: Stop, that’s scary!

Morita: But my mom just reacted normally and told me, “Whatever, go to sleep!” (laughs) Apparently after that she was wide awake and couldn’t sleep…

Interviewer: You’re getting unexpectedly excited talking about sleep habits, but what about the takoyaki party…?

Inoue: I want to have the party at Riko’s.

Matsudaira: No, no… I can’t fit 8 people in at once. How about renting a power generator and doing it in a park?

Tamura: That’s so classic~.

Matsuda: But if we do it before it gets cold out we might be able to do it under a blue sky.

Interviewer: Okay, let’s continue having you make plans… How about making goals, a kind of pledge for your second year as second generation members?

Seki: It’s my dream to do a concert in Yafuoku Dome (PayPay Dome starting in 2020). It’s my hometown and I’ve gone to see baseball games there a number of times, so I have an attachment to it in that capacity. So I think it’d be wonderful to perform there myself someday.

Tamura: I want more people to know about Keyaki’s songs and performances, so in order to achieve that I want to put on a lot of concerts regardless of the scale. I really want Keyaki’s songs to reach the people of Japan, so I’d be really happy if we could participate in national festivals or events.

Takemoto: I want to perform not just in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, but in venues that are easily accessible to people who want to see Keyaki’s concerts but live in areas that make it difficult to come. If possible I’d like to ignore capacity concerns and do a full tour of the 47 prefectures. I felt it when we performed in Miyagi and Fukuoka; all of our fans in Touhoku and Kyuushuu had tons of passion because it was the one time a year they could see us, so I’d like to increase the number of chances they can see us in person, even if it’s only by one.

Matsuda: I also want to perform in my hometown of Miyazaki someday. That’s one goal… Because of their name “Hinazata de Aimashou” is airing in Miyazki now, so I’m going to make it a goal to have “Keyaki tte, Kakenai?” be watchable in Miyazaki, too. No, not just Miyazaki. I’m going to keep doing my best to have it air on stations all around the country, so please support us!

Morita: I want to hold a concert abroad someday. I’d also like to try making goods for each member.

Tamura: That’s a great idea! I’d love for you to design mine, Hii-chan.

Morita: There are a lot of members who have the 田 character in their name, so I’ve thought about working around things like that and using typeface that each member likes to create easy to understand designs.

Fujiyoshi: After learning how fun outdoor concerts are, thanks to “Keyaki Republic”, I’ve come to love them, so I hope we can do outdoor concerts in a lot of places.

Takemoto: I want to do one on the shores of Lake Biwa!

Inoue: If we’re doing that, I want to perform at Koushien. You don’t hear many people talk about performing at Koushien, and I want us to be a group that does things other people don’t.

Matsudaira: Mine is… If we get to continue playing “Rock in Japan Fes”, it’s my dream for Keyaki to be the closing act someday.

Interviewer: I think that’s a wonderful dream. Okay, Yamasaki-san, please finish this up for us.

Yamasaki: I’d like to do something new that no one has ever done before, as members of Keyakizaka46, all together. First… why don’t we start with takoyaki. (laughs)

Matsuda: Yeah~, sounds good~!

(It seems they held the takoyaki party the day after the interview.)