Kakizaki Memi: Story from realsound.jp about her charm, and regretting her absence

Kakizaki Memi: Hinatazaka46's heroine? 

From being double centre with Nagahama Neru
to gaining the title of "First Burikko Queen"

Realsound 6 June 2019


Hinatazaka46 will release its second single, Doremisolasido, on July 17th. Amidst the excitement of the release of the title song, the one worry concerns Kakizaki Memi. Kakizaki was right in the middle of breaking out as a burikko character, but has now been missing for quite a while both from handshake events and from her place as a regular on the NHK ETV high-school course "Society and Information."

When Hinatazaka began, as Hiragana Keyakizaka46, she was double centre with Nagahama Neru, and has seemed like the group's heroine, so for her to be absent leaves a feeling something is missing. Here we will once again introduce Kakizaki's appeal.

Kakizaki is 17 years old and comes from Nagano. When Hiragana Keyaki was formed, she was the youngest member, at 14 years old. When she applied for the auditions, she was in first-year middle school. she had become enamored with Nogizaka46 videos she had seen on YouTube, and yearned to be like them.

Memi (r) comforting a nervous Neru backstage in 2016

Her catch-phrase when she joined was "Hiragana Keyaki's French doll." She liked cute things like lolita fashion and French dolls, and had a strong characterization as a little sister who liked to stick to members physically and not let go.

But on the Keyakizaka show Keyakitte, Kakenai? (TV Tokyo), Nagahama introduced her as "not a flatterer," and explained that she was someone who never lied, but just came straight out with what she felt. At that time, Moriya Akane was feared as "the sergeant," but Kakizaki said she'd like to take her on in arm-wrestling. She had a strong spirit of junior defeating senior.




Visually adorable, she also had a "refuse to lose" side to her character. The members said: "She may be the youngest, but inside she is an adult." She was often selected to be double centre with Nagahama, for instance on Hiragana Keyaki and Dare yori mo Takaku Tobe! And on Eien no Hakusen, she was single centre. She was a friend of Keyakizaka's "unchanging centre" Hirate Yurina, and the same age, as well.

Memi (r) with her friend Hirate Yurina in 2017

Her inner strength comes across in interviews. Looking back over interviews from 2017, when they were asked whether they and their relationship with Keyakizaka had changed over the past year, other members said they hadn't. Kakizaki directly conveyed her feelings: "I think I may have changed a bit. I've come to feel frustration, and a desire to catch up to them." (Quick Japan vol.135) She was thinking of the group. Asked early on if she wanted to join Keyakizaka, she declared: "I want to keep giving my all as part of Hiragana." (BUBKA 2017.09).

Memi with her broken wrist, on stage

With that strong love for the group, at a practice for the last performance in "Hiragana National Tour 2017," she broke her wrist, and was not able to appear in the final show. In her blog, she turned her thoughts in a positive direction with these words: "I promise you all that I will definitely grow stronger and will return to become someone who gives courage to everyone." At the end of that final performance, she made a surprise return to the stage, with her arm in a sling. She took part in a performance of The Song of Double Keyakizaka, with the tears on her face communicating her love for the group and her sense of responsibility.

When the name-change to Hinatazaka46 was announced, and everyone else was celebrating, she alone seemed in a daze, holding back tears. "After three years as a member, that the existence called 'Hiragana Keyaki' was disappearing made me very sad," she said. Considering Kakizaki's accomplishments as part of that group, her feelings can be considered natural.

After the second generation members joined the group, it seemed somehow as if she stepped back into a supporting role. In the group's album Hashiridasu Shunkan, she was moved away from the centre of the line, and her motivation became a concern. At such a time, she was chosen to star in the stage play Magia Record - Mahou Shoujo☆Madoka Magica side-story. A new talent as a stage actress bloomed, and Kakizaki grew enormously. At that time, she said: "I had nothing at all that I really wanted to do, and I was always thinking: 'What might I be able to do?' I thought I would really enjoy acting, and kept thinking it would be good to be able to do all kinds of things" (MARQUEE vol129). I think her view of "what I can do" grew larger.

Memi in Magia Record

And then she awoke to being a burikko character on Hiragana Oshi (TV Tokyo). At first, she could do a "nyan-nyan" cat pose and could wink, but disliked doing burikko so much she cried. However, she ended up becoming the "first-generation burikko queen". And now her rivalry with Miyata Manamo has turned them into a comedy team. To do all that so well feels like her maturing as an idol. The sense of presence she gave with this valuable variety fighting skill gained her a new place to stand.

Back when the group's weekly show began, with so many members actively stepping forward with a smile, she seemed to feel a sense of security in holding herself in the background. While still supporting the group with her balanced performance, she continued to aim at centre, with her combination of dependability and nervousness, and her advance has been dramatic.

I think that the phrase "Hinatazaka's heroine" suits her nicely. After a good rest, I hope she will show us her smiling face again.

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Only the first photo was in the original story. I've added all the rest. 

Memi has been out of sight since sometime in April. She has been excused from handshake events for "health" reasons this spring -- and for all of the 2nd single handshake events through the summer and early fall for "schedule" reasons. In 2018, she posted to her blog and Message regularly, if not frequently. But posts dwindled toward the end of the year: her last blog post was in January of 2019, and her last Message was a photo of the sun in a blue sky over some trees on May 15th.

The most recent pic we have of her is from Takase Mana, posted in Message around May 24. Mana said a few days earlier that Memi was "genki," which could mean either "in good health" or "in good spirits"  -- more likely the former. Her father is reported to have said the same thing, around the end of May. On a recent Showroom broadcast, Mana said she did not have the right to say much about Memi, that that was up to others. In that most recent photo, Memi looks good, if a bit subdued. Since it's from Message, I'm forbidden from posting it.