Kakizaki Memi doing more gravure

There has been very little gravure of Memi up to now. That seems to be changing, however, now that Hinatazaka has entered the big leagues with their first single. And now that Memi is within 7 months of being 18.

Bis magazine:

As Xiphyas says on Stage48, she looks like a baroque painting...one by François Boucher, it seems to me....

Nagahama Neru blog: Long post about her history with Hiragana/Hinata...and Keyaki.

Hinatazaka,  338

Nagahama Neru
2019.03.26


Good evening!

Today was sunny in Tokyo!
Spring weather!
It was so nice and warm that my feelings even became calmer.


A few days ago,

I happened to come across a place that made me think:
"Hey, haven't I been here before?"

Even in Tokyo,
I've noticed that there are places that give me a nostalgic feeling.
I get a feeling that's somehow a happy sadness.

Life in Tokyo....



Tomorrow,
Hinatazaka46's debut single
Kyun comes out.


For a little while now -- no, for a really long while
I have thought of writing about this.
So when you have the time to read it....



In 2015, as a member of Hiragana Keyaki,
I became an idol.

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".

Kakizaki Memi x Saitou Kyouko SHOWROOM 5 Feb 2019 (English subbed)

I watched this broadcast live and found it so entertaining that I have made a subbed version so others can enjoy it. This is the smart, funny, natural Memi I am a fan of. And Kyouko is great in conversation. Over the hour it was on, the show worked its way up to over 50,000 viewers, delighting both Kyouko and Memi.

Be sure to watch Memi's face: it is often in motion, communicating even when she is not speaking.

I've been a fan of Memi and Kyouko right from the time of their auditions three years ago,. Here are notes about various things they mention:

01:54  “Cute lately” – Kyouko emphasizes that Memi has been “cute lately.” Perhaps she’s thinking of how upset she was around a year ago when Memi invaded her Showroom, romped around and tickled her – after Kyouko had told everyone not to come, that she wanted all the time with her fans. Then, Memi was being “not-cute” (i.e., not behaving nicely).

05:10 Hinanonano – They talk about Kamimura Hinano’s hand gesture for her name, and Memi shows how complex it really is. It’s so cute when their voices bounce back and forth in shrill surprise: Kyouko at the complexity, Memi that Kyouko didn't know.

07:10 how to grow taller – Kyouko explains what she did to try to get to 150cm (she's now 153cm - 5'-1/4"). Memi finds it all hilarious. Perhaps partly because she would like to be taller than her 157cm (5'-2").

Nagahama Neru blog: Keyaki House, plus Neru's words

Keyaki House,  336

Nagahama Neru
2019.03.20


Good evening!

There were handshake events last week in Tokyo
And Saturday in Nagoya.

I was so happy you came to see me.
It was a calm and pleasant time. I was enveloped in kindness.
It was really, really enjoyable...

Thank you very much for coming by.


The 21st at Index Osaka
Will be my final national handshake event.
If you like, I definitely want to meet you.


Since I announced my graduation
I have undeservedly received many kind words that made me happy.
I feel I have been drawn to want to
Do better.

Truly, thank you very much.


There are a lot of things
I want to write about in the blog.

But for now...
I wanted to get these to everyone!

Kakizaki Memi through Sasaki Kumi's eyes

From Kumi's blog:

At the pairs handshake event last week in Nagoya,
I was paired with Memi...

Memi enchants fans without speaking.
I was really interested in how she did it.
But even there right beside her, I didn't get it.

Kakizaki Memi and Matsuda Konoka to be regulars on ETV school show

Huge news for Memi and Kono-chan. They will be regulars on an NHK Education TV show starting Thursday April 18 at 2pm. The show is part of the regular weekday afternoon programming for high schools.

The 20-minutes-every-second-Thursday show will be hosted by top seiyuu Midorikawa Hikaru 緑川光. The show is called Society and Information 社会と情報. It will deal with how computers and smartphones work, and with useful apps. It will also deal with IT and media security and ethics, and there will be episodes introducing databases, etc. (source)

This show will be seen all over Japan. GanaOshi and KeyaKake are seen mainly in the Tokyo area.

So it looks like a pair of Hinata-chans will have a captive audience of high-school students every two weeks, a wonderful way of spreading the group's fame to a younger audience. This kind of show seems to me to be a way for Hinatazaka46 to advance toward being a "national" idol group, accepted as part of the culture.