Letter from Suzumoto Miyu to Hirate Yurina on her birthday

At Keyakizaka handshake events, members with recent birthdays are feted by having their lanes specially decorated, by receiving flowers, and by having another member read a birthday letter to them


It was Suzumoto Miyu who wrote and then read the letter to Hirate Yurina, at Sunday's handshake event in Yokohama. Suzumoto wept as she read.

To Hirate

Congratulations on your 15th birthday. You're still quite young.

You may be the youngest, but the way you support me,
and support all the members is amazing.
Seeing Hirate beside me continuing to grow through our first single,
gave me the courage to work hard myself.
Thank you for noticing how shy I was and being with me.
Now I am able to talk with all the members.

It was fun going to see movies with Hirate,
going to see the Christmas illuminations,
going many places with you.
It would be great to go to more places with you, too.
Though I was in a position where I should have been supporting Hirate,
I regret so much that because of my own worries and cares I wasn't able to.
For continuing to work hard all the time,
for discussing things with me,
for working with all your might to solve problems for me,
I am really, truly grateful to you.

Fom now on, I will listen to your worries, okay?
My life is about four years longer than Hirate's, so I should be able to give you some advice.
I may not be reliable, but I'll listen to everything, okay?
As Keyakizaka's centre, you are under nothing but pressure.
For nevertheless always supporting everyone and leading us forward, thank you.
I will always be Hirate's ally.
I will always love you.

-- from Miyu

All the members surrounded Hirate to congratulate her on her birthday. (Info from 2channel and Twitter, where a somewhat official-looking transcript was posted.)

Koike Minami talks about overcoming her shyness

Here's Mii-chan's blog post from Saturday evening, the night before the handshake event in Yokohama, the last one for Silent Majority:

Hello, everyone,
Good evenin' panda \( ¨̮ )/

Thanks for all you did today.

Tomorrow is the last day of handshake events
For our first single, Silent Majority.

The handshake events started in Kyoto in May
And suddenly, here we are at the last one.

Hair flopping around on my shoulders

Moriya Akane's birthday blog for Hirate Yurina

good morning.

today is
Tecchan's birthday〜〜!!

she's only 15!!
how young she is〜

but despite that

she's so together.
Tecchan's amazing

even when she's tired, Tecchan doesn't say so.
her complaints are fleeting, Tecchan

she's together in so many ways

but from time time she shows
the innocence of a 15-year-old

Uemura Rina and Shida Manaka together

From Rina's blog, early morning June 25:

Good evening ～o( ^_^ )o♡

(....)

Mona the Master Painter
Did you know about this, everyone?

I love her unique drawing sense, and the way she writes. (note: the kanji says "me")
Today, she is holding me and
Sleeping, breathing away (｡v_v｡)♡

Keyakizaka46 handshake event lottery: fans signing up in droves

The results of the second lottery for Keyakizaka46's August-September handshake events have been posted, and at the head of the list is Sugai Yuuka, who has sold out all 19 of her handshake slots.

Imaizumi Yui (19/20) has sold out the same number of slots, but has one extra slot remaining. Hirate Yurina has sold 18 of 20, and three members have sold 17 of 20: Nagahama Neru, Watanabe Risa, and Kobayashi Yui. Watanabe Rika has sold 16 of 20 slots.

Overall, the results are fantastic. To get a chance to attend one of these handshake events, fans have to pre-order (and pay for) the group's second CD through a special site, specifying who hey want to meet. Then there is a lottery, so only some of the people who bought CDs actually get to go. The cash registers are ringing away.

Here is a translation/romanization of the chart going the rounds in Japan (explanation below):

Sugai and Neru: toothbrushing and duck face

Last week, there was a little video from Sony featuring Nagahama Neru and Sugai Yuuka talking about what they're interested in recently.

Neru is spending a lot of time (up to ten minutes!) brushing her teeth, polishing "the rocks." 

Yukkaa said that she is often feeling incompetent recently, and getting down on herself. But she just makes the little hand motion of the Keyakizaka self-intro and says to herself: "No, that's not true...! I've got a million horsepower!" (I've used screencaps, since the video doesn't seem to be available in all countries.)

Yonetani Nanami -- quick mind, honest smile

Yone-san has long been one of my favorite members of Keyakizaka46. Her brilliant smile seems to break out in such an honest way. She seems a genuinely nice person. And her dancing there in the back row pleases me, even if she does show the occasional uncertainty.

Yonemin (middle), along with Moriya Akane (left) and Shida Manaka are featured on the cover of a new magazine, Honcierge. The magazine interviews idols about the manga they like, and gives them a chance to talk about manga with mangaka. The first edition came out Monday:

She says in her blog that when she heard that she was going to be featured on the cover, she wept with joy. Reading that story, I almost did myself.