Keyakizaka -- and especially Hirate -- fascinate the famous

Keyakizaka46 and Hirate Yurina continue to fascinate people in media and entertainment in Japan. These names and comments just showed up on a Keyakizaka news site. Consider this part of my long campaign to convince those few who need convincing that there is something very special about Hirate Yurina. Here are new and old comments from a few famous people, after a photo by one of them, the great photographer, Araki:

• Araki Nobuyoshi (photographer) -- Happening to see Hirate singing and dancing on TV, he expressed a strong desire to photograph her. He carried this wish out by including her as the first non-actress in his magazine series "In Praise of Actresses."
• Oomori Seiko (singer-songwriter) -- "Seeing Hirate-san, various creative ideas spring to mind. She's totally a muse."
• Shinoyama Kishin (writer) --  (Bringing up the name Hirate as the person who left the strongest impression...) "...In any case, her expressiveness is outstanding. When I saw them before their debut, I thought to myself: 'That girl is a centre.'"
• Takahashi Minami (original AKB48 star) -- "Hirate Yurina seems different from any member I've seen before. I compared her to Maeda and Ooshima, but her aura is extremely, shockingly different.
• Takahiro (dancer-choreographer) -- The outstanding thing about her is that when she throws the switch, she becomes different from an ordinary person. She feels no embarrassment. The limiter is off and she becomes a 'person of feeling.' That is why she shakes people's hearts." 
• Toyoshima Keisuke (director, Tokuyama Daigoro, Majisuka Gakuen) -- "To a creator, Hirate is like some untamed wild beast. I want to see her in a film someday."
• Pierre Nakano (Ling Toshite Shigure) -- "She can take on everything about an idol, the yearning... She's an idol in the true sense: a being beyond our reach., Outstanding."
• Michishige Sayumi (Morning Musume early member) -- "Keyakizaka is creating a new form of idol. Their centre, Hirate-chan, is enormously convincing."
• Yuu Miri (Akutagawa-prize winning author) -- Hirate Yurina has the most impact of any girl in the past 30 years. In the spotlight, it's as if her eyes have the power to suck up the darkness. Her absolute starring role would be like the protagonist in Nausicaa.
• Yoshioka Riho (actress Neru liked in the drama Quartet) -- Techi-chan's performances are really mesmerizing. Pain wells up in me so much that I want to be held and comforted.
• Uchimura Teruyoshi (comedian, Utchan Nanchan) -- "This year, I've most gotten into Keyakizaka46. Watching SONGS hit me like a thunderbolt. What is this group? Hirate Yurina is becoming a star."

And more: Suga Shikao, Yoshii Kazuya (The Yellow Monkey), Akashiya Sanma, Hirose Suzu, Maeda Atsuko, Kaji Yuuki, Horie Yui, etc., etc.

sources: one, two, three.