Story about Kakizaki Memi from Asahi Shinbun Nagano edition

There's column about Memi in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper (Nagano edition).

It mentions the fact that she started wanting to be an idol because she loved Nogizaka46 so much. When she went to a handshake event, she broke down in tears meeting Saitou Asuka. She told the newspaper she wanted to become someone who can have that kind of emotional effect on others.

But she adds that she is bad at expressing emotion, and tends to keep strong feelings to herself. She has sad this in interviews before. However, she wants to gradually mature so that eventually she can become centre.

The column is called "Nagano Idol Vanguard" and emphasizes that she is the only Nagano-area member of Keyakizaka46. It exaggerates how far she is along the path to becoming centre, and gets the number of Hiragana songs on each CD wrong. But it's a pretty nice piece.

There was a friendly exchange between Memi and a guest at the portrait-drawing session on Sunday that mentions the newspaper piece. I believe the guest is called Tomo4Neru on Twitter, and is a frequent guest at Memi's handshake events.


Tomo: Hello!
Memi: Hello!
Tomo: I haven't seen it yet, but it seems there's a piece in Asahi Shinbun. Isn't that great! Have you seen it?
Memi: I haven't seen it, but I've seen the photos! Those old photos are so ugly!
Tomo: No, no, they're not ugly at all! They're definitely cute!
Memi: No way. But I'm truly grateful that Asahi Shinbun has been supporting me since the time of Showroom. (laughs)
Tomo: Speaking of that, do you remember me from that time?
Memi: I do. (laughs)
Tomo: [from this point on, she concentrates her attention fully on her drawing]

Memi: Eh? It doesn't look like you at all! What a terrible likeness! I'm sorry. (laughs)
Tomo: Thank you! It's really skillful.
Memi: No way. Please come again, eh.
Tomo: I have tickets for Kyoto, so I'll be coming! Do your best!

The photos look as if they are from late summer, and don't make her look as good as she does now, but they're not as bad as the photos from around the time of the auditions and when she was accepted. Those photos truly were awful.

The sign reads: "To Nagano Idol Vanguard. Please give me your support. Kakizaki Memi, Hiragana Keyakizaka46."