Hinatazaka46 Triumphant!! Huge CD sales, great concert

Wednesday, March 27 was a great day in the history of Hinatazaka46. Their first single, released that day, had first-day sales of 359,528. That was the best-selling first day for a debuting female group ever.

In addition to that, they turned the Zip Spring Festival's second day into a Hinatazaka festival, with an audience that rocked and with a feeling of unity between fans and members and among the fans. Including fans of other performers.

It was the fulfillment of their dreams. I'm sure they are still feeling shell-shocked by the wonder of it all. It would be surprising if they weren't all grinning ear to ear today. Here's Thursday morning's Zip report:




Comments afterwards were immensely positive. Shizuku of the band Polkadot Stingray said she fell in love with them. She was done in by Memi's burikko line: "I want you to fall in love with me, meow." She described the members, particularly Memi, as "amazingly beautiful".

Nogizaka's Akimoto Manatsu praises the Hiragana Keyaki Christmas lives

In her Monday blog, Akimoto Manatsu of Nogizaka46 says she and Shiraishi Mai went to one of Hiragana Keyaki's Christmas lives at Budoukan and had a wonderful time. Here is an excerpt from her blog:

Hello (｡･ω･｡)

It's gotten quite frigid.
Have you all caught colds yet?

As for me, hay fever aside, I'm in pretty good health (^^)



Recently, I went with Maiyan to watch
Hiragana Christmas 2018 ♪

We really enjoyed it!
We both got into very high spirits ♥

Our mood became "HAPPY"!

Watanabe Miho blog: Performing with Kanji Keyaki, Matsumura Sayuri two-shot, Shida Manaka

Best Hits Song Festival

Watanabe Miho
2018.11.18


Hello, everyone!

I'm Watanabe Miho
Of Hiragana Keyakizaka46, 2nd generation,
18 years old, from Saitama!

Did you see yesterday's Best Hits Song Festival?

Sasaki Kumi-san, Takamoto Ayaka-san, Higashimura Mei-san, and Watanabe Miho -- the four of us -- were given the chance to perform.

We performed the Kanji-sans' Ambivalent with them!

Neru's letter to Marika: I'll support you forever

Neru gave Marika a spray of flowers -- which appears to include baby's breath, Neru's favorite flower -- congratulating her on her graduation, and saying she would "support her forever."

To Marika--

Congratulations on your graduation. I will support you for ever and ever.

-- Neru

SakamichiAKB 2018 -- Members' details (names, ages, groups, prefectures)

SakamichiAKB 2018 -- Members' details

Sugai Yuuka   1995/11/29　Keyaki(01gen) Tokyo age22
--------
Hori Miona　　1996/10/15　Nogi(02gen)　Gifu age21
Okabe Rin　　1996/11/07　AKB Team8(orig) Ibaraki age21
Matsui Jurina　1997/03/08　SKE(1gen)　Aichi age21
--------
Okada Nana　　1997/11/07　AKB(14gen)/STU　Kanagawa age20
Mukaichi Mion　1998/01/29　AKB(15gen)　Saitama age20
Katou Shiho☆　1998/02/02　Hiragana Keyaki(01gen)　Tokyo age20
Miyawaki Sakura　　1998/03/19　HKT(01gen)　Kagoshima age 19
--------
Watanabe Risa　　1998/07/27　Keyaki(01gen)　Ibaraki age19
Saitou Asuka　　1998/08/10　Nogi(01gen)　Tokyo age19
Nagahama Neru　　1998/09/04　Keyaki(1.5gen)　Nagasaki age19
Imaizumi Yui　　1998/09/30　Keyaki(01gen)　Kanagawa age19
--------
Yamashita Mizuki☆　1999/07/26　Nogi(03gen)　Tokyo age18
Ozono Momoko☆　1999/09/13　Nogi(03gen)　Kagoshima age18
Kobayashi Yui☆　1999/10/23　Keyaki(01gen)　Saitama age18
--------
Yoda Yuki☆　2000/11/01　Nogi(03gen)　Fukuoka age17
--------
Kubo Shiori☆2001/07/14　Nogi(03gen)　Miyagi age16
Ogura Yui　　2001/12/26　AKB_8(orig)　Tokyo age16

☆starred members new this year

Nagahama Neru blog: two live events -- Nogizaka the "unrivalled top idols", and Shishamo

Guruguru,  243

Nagahama Neru
2017.11.12


Good evening...

Sunday! Let's go!!!

Recently, I was given the chance to go to
A Nogizaka46 performance at the Tokyo Dome!

Kakizaki Memi blog: Woken by my guardian spirit

Guardian spirit

Kakizaki Memi
2017.05.26


Good evening,
It's Kakizaki Memi.


Today, I woke up ten minutes before I absolutely had to leave home.

I sort of remember
The alarm going off an hour before, and me turning it off...

I went back to sleep ～(*˘ｰωｰ˘*)

But to wake up ten minutes before was a miracle.

Lately, there have lots of things like that.
It seems as if my guardian spirit woke me with ten minutes to spare.

My guardian spirit is very capable  (`･ω･´)✧*｡

Nagahama Neru blog: Marika and Matayoshi

Pear,   176

Nagahama Neru
2017.03.20


Good evening!


At last, the April issue of Shinchou magazine has arrived!!
I'm really enjoying Matayoshi Naoki's story "Theatre."!!!!

I've been burning with anticipation
Ever since I saw the NHK documentary ( ⸝⸝⸝･_･⸝⸝⸝ )



I love his choice of words and his metaphors,
And I've noted down a lot of words as I read.

I'm still only part-way through.
The twenty lines at the bottom of page 16 leave a particularly deep impression.


 Those who are interested, be sure to...!

Average heights of Sakamichi groups: Kanji Keyaki far the tallest

2channel has been talking about how K46 is so tall, compared to Nogi and compared to Hiragana, and someone has posted average heights for Sakamichi groups:

average heights in cm
160.4 欅坂 Kanji
159.2 乃木二期 Nogi 2gen
158.8 乃木三期 Nogi 3gen
158.8 ひらがな Hiragana
157.8 乃木一期 Nogi 1gen

Someone had previously posted that the average height of Japanese women in their 20s is 158.8cm

Here are some (accurate, as opposed to official) heights for K46 members:

Habu 171cm
Risa 理佐168cm
Mona 志田167.5cm
Berika 渡辺165cm
Techi 平手164cm (she said this last summer)
Zuumin 151cm (she said this in a recent interview)

Katoshi かとし159cm
Neru ねる157cm
Memi めみ156cm
Kyonko 京子154cm

Keyakizaka46 members seeing members of AKB, TGS, SuperGirls

In the members' blogs just now there is a run of two-shots of Keyakizaka46 members with members of other idol groups: Oda Nana with Kawamoto Saya of AKB48. Nagasawa Nanako with Shouji Mei of Tokyo Girls' Style. Ishimori Nijika with Watanabe Koume of SUPER☆GiRLS -- and with Ikoma Rina of Nogizaka46.

Oda says she went out to eat recently with Sayaya, and that they are the same age (18), so it's easy to talk:

Oda Nana (r) with Kawamoto Saya of AKB48

Sugai Yuuka blog post on becoming captain

Please treat me well!

Sugai Yuuka
2017.01.23


Good evening ☆

I'm sorry for taking so long
To talk about this in my blog.
I, Sugai Yuuka, have now received appointment
As Keyakizaka46's captain.
And Moriya Akane has been appointed vice-captain.

It was a surprise announcement at the national handshake event the day before yesterday,
And I was very surprised!

As an older member, I am grateful for
The many chances I have gotten up to now:
To lead the shout in the pre-performance circle,
To be a representative to the media,
And to have responsibility for being MC at lives.

When it came to things that required desperate efforts to handle,
Before I joined Keyakizaka I was the type of person who always followed behind others.

I was completely unfamiliar with this kind of thing.

"Is this really okay for someone like me...?"
It's pitiful that it was always at times like these
That such thoughts rushed in on me
And I felt unsure (><)

But I won't be hesitant any more!

Having received the appointment as captain
I will trust in the members
And in my own strength!

Keyakizaka Photos from FNS -- friends and idols

Keyakizaka46 members have produced some great blog posts about the second night of the FNS song festival on Wednesday, but there are so many that I've had trouble deciding what to do with them. Finally, in desperation, here are some photos of Keyaki-chans with friends and idols from the idol world -- with captions bringing in some of what the members said.

The first photo isn't from a blog, but had to be shown: Hirate Yurina with Watanabe Mayu -- Techi and Mayuyu -- in a mixed group of idol all-stars doing AKB's Heavy Rotation:

Sugai Yuuka with Matsuno Rina and Mayama Rika of Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku (Ebichu):

Triumphant FNS: Neru, Akanen, Hirate, Ozeki all shine

It was another step up the hill for Keyakizaka46 Wednesday night at the second night of Fuji TV's FNS Song Festival.

• Hirate sang with the Gospellers
• Akanen won a 50m footrace with other idols
• Neru centred the combined forces of the Hiraganas and Nogizaka46's 3rd gen to begin a great Nogi/Keyaki combined version of Seifuku no Mannequin that was the best idol performance of the evening
• Ozeki's sunny smile won hearts when she was singing with HKT's Miyawaki Sakura 

Neru was the big winner, in my opinion. In beginning Mannequin, she was preceded by two beautiful young members of Nogi 3gen...but when Neru came forward with her unsmiling smile, she brought an aura of peace and power. And she proved by her sharp dancing there that she actually can be a centre. Search stats show she was by far the most searched member of the new groups.

Miyawake Sakura and Yamazaki Rena talk about Keyakizaka46 in their blogs

In her blog for Tuesday, Miyawake Sakura of AKB48 and HKT48 says:

The other day, Keyakizaka46
Performed Otona wa Shinjite Kurenai.
It was totally cool.

Berisa was outstanding.
Techi was terrific.
I loved the line of Berisa, Berika and Neru.
And Suzumoto-chan was really cool.

While we're on the subject
Memi-chan of Hiragana Keyaki
Is so cute.


The performance she's referring to was at the end of KeyaKake on Sunday night, and everything she says is true.

Takase Mana (Hiragana Keyaki) buys Nogizaka/My Melody goods

Sanrio has brought out a line of Nogizaka46 x My Melody goods, through 7/11. Takase says My Melody are her favorite animation characters, and Ikuta Erika is her favorite member of Nogizaka.

Not leaving anything to chance, she ordered what she wanted online: a T-shirt, a keyholder and a little stuffy with a photo of Iku-chan.

She says she will work hard to someday be a person whose goods someone would want.

Aki-P talks about Keyakizaka46

This is from the October issue of Nikkei Entertainment magazine. A couple of points from the article have been mentioned in English, but I don't think the whole thing has been translated. There are more ideas here that I find interesting, and that give us a glimpse of the big boss's thinking.

___________________________________________________

Special Interview -- Akimoto Yasushi

Akimoto Yasushi is the general producer of both the AKB48 groups and the Sakamichi Series groups. He differentiates between them with the keywords "energetic, powerful, tough" for AKB, and "lycéennes" [French for "high school girls"] for Nogizaka46. As for Keyakizaka46, which debuted in April and has had a rocket start, what sort of vision does he have for them?

In over 40 years doing this kind of work, if I start with the idea in my mind "let's go with this kind of theme," things have never gone well. With Nogizaka46, it was only after writing various kinds of music for them that I realized: "Oh, I've been writing as if they were French schoolgirls."

With Keyakizaka46, whether it was while speaking with the girls who had been selected in the auditions or when I was choosing songs for them, I gradually came to realize what I wanted to do. I didn't write Silent Majority thinking of making idols who don't smile.

Average ages of some idol groups

Average ages of some idol groups. I can't vouch for the accuracy of this list, but it seems reasonable, and I find it pretty interesting,  I'll trust the maker's efforts and translate it:

average age     group

27.3     Denpagumi Inc.でんぱ組.inc (6 members)
27.0     Perfume (3 members)
23.3     Berryz Koubou工房 (7 members)
22.0     ℃-ute (5)
21.6     E-girls (19)
21.0     Idoling アイドリング (21)
21.4     Momoiro Clover ももいろクローバーZ (5)
20.5     Death Rabbitsデスラビッツ (4)
20.5     AKB48 (32)
20.1     Nogizaka乃木坂46 (35)
19.0     Babyraids ベイビーレイズ (5)
18.1     Fairies (7)
17.9     Keyakizaka欅坂46 (20)
17.3     Morning Musume '16 モーニング娘。'16 (12)
17.3     Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku 私立恵比寿中学 (8)
17.3     BABYMETAL (3 members)
12.6     Sakura Gakuen さくら学院 (12 members)


Note that Keyakizaka46 is listed as only 21 members, presumably excluding Neru as a member of Hiragana Keyaki.

Commenters were struck by how young the average age of Babymetal is. If you calculated  by month born rather than just year born, it would be a bit higher (17.7). But that's close enough, and gives me confidence in the maker's method.

lyrics translation -- Yuuutsu to Fuusen Gum (Nogizaka 46) "Bubble Gum and Depression"

As requested in a comment on a previous post,  here is a translation of the lyrics to Nogizaka46's Yuuutsu to Fuusen Gum, which is on the Harujion ga Saku Koro standard edition CD. Feel free to use the translation as you wish. No rights claimed.

憂鬱と風船ガム
Yuuutsu to Fuusen Gamu
Bubble Gum and Depression

lyrics by Akimoto Atsushi

(music by Hirotomo, Dr. Lilcom; arrangement by Apazzi)
(sung by: Akimoto Manatsu, Ikoma Rina, Inoue Sayuri, Sakurai Reika, Takayama Kazumi, Hoshino Minami - in Japanese alphabetical order)

1. English translation. 2. Romanized Japanese. 3. Japanese kanji/kana

1. English translation

How much bubble-gum
Will I have to blow
To sigh out this gloom deep in my chest?

Squatting by a trashcan in the schoolyard
Gazing up at the cloudy sky,
I know life is not just good things.
Someday I will look back at "youth".

Stand up from depression!
All you have to do is take a step forward.
Feeling down is inevitable,
Slowly raise yourself and get moving.
You won't be running along with a cool aura,
But you will live on somehow.
Just turn it around and start smiling
And your negativity will be gone.

Takase Mana (Hiragana Keyaki): Nogizaka46's Jingu live gives us a goal to strive for

Manafi was also moved and inspired by the Jingu live. Nogizaka46 is Hiragana Keyaki's "big sister" group, too.  She and Kageyama Yuuka have been called Hiragana's "Eastern and Western Intelligirls." Kage-chan is from Tokyo and Manafi from Osaka. Their blogs reveal their intelligence. Manafi has passed a college-level English exam, and turns 18 today. Kage-chan turns 16 next May.

________________________________________

A Goal

Takase Mana
2016.09.01

Hello (｡･ω･)ﾉ

Yesterday, we got the chance to go to Nogizaka46's Jingu Stadium live on a study trip.

It was the first time I'd gone to see Nogizaka46 as a member of an idol group, Keyakizaka46, and I felt so much.

Just to say I was "moved" doesn't express the reverberations in my heart.
Simply seeing the members shining on stage somehow made my eyes overflow with tears.

Kageyama Yuuka (Hiragana Keyaki): moved and inspired by Nogizaka46's Jingu live

Kanji Keyaki members have mentioned how impressed they were by the Nogizaka live at Jingu Stadium on Tuesday evening. So have several Hiragana Keyaki members. They have obviously been shown the harrowing movie about the Nogizaka-sans that the Keyaki-chans were shown at their training camp almost a year ago: Kanashimi no Wasurekata. Here's a blog post from Kageyama Yuuka, who was moved both by the performance and by Sakurai Reika's return.
______________________

The first fireworks I've seen this year

Kageyama Yuuka
2016.08.31

Stand up from depression!
You have to just step forward.
Feeling down is inevitable,
Slowly raise yourself up and move.
Your cool aura may be gone
But you will live on somehow.
Serious or smiling,
Your negativity will disappear.

I love those lyrics [note: from Nogizaka46's Yuuutsu no Fuusen Gum, on the Harujion no Saku Koro CD].

Hi! It's Kageyama Yuuka (*￣ω￣)ノ

Today, we went on a study trip to see Nogizaka46's Jingu live.

In a word, it was moving.

The performance of all the shining members reverberates in my heart.