B = BUBKA, Y = Yuzuha

B: Hongo-san’s gravure was something like a long-awaited wish. We actually made the offer some time ago already.

Y: Oh! Thank you very much!

B: And the words “long-awaited” were never as appropriate as this time.

Y: Haha no way.

B: At the end of the last year, Mizuta Shiori chose top 5 members whose gravure she wanted to see and you were among them. She gave us an amazing comment of recommendation. Have you read it?

Y: I have not.

B: So let us read it for you: “Hongo-san has definitely a cute face and she also has great assets.”

Y: Hahaha

B: “When we do things like live performances and I have the chance to see her clothes from up close, seriously, they just don’t fit in anymore. You feel like the clothes are gonna rip. Really, the t-shirts are crying.”

Y: Haha what is this.

B: “As a member privilege I like to poke her. Yep. " Are you commonly told such things?

Y: Yeah, every time I’m changing close to her she comes to poke me.

B: Well I guess she says such things knowing the feelings of the fans well. I think the hope for Hongo-san’s gravure have been there for some time already.

Y: Yeah fans have been saying that.

B: I’d say there are like 2 types of members, one who actively say they want to do gravure, and one who feel it is embarrassing and don’t really want to do it. I wonder which one was Hongo-san?

Y: When I was in middle school I felt like I didn’t want to do it, I probably wouldn’t do it. But when I entered high school, girls like Jonishi Rei-chan were doing gravure and when I saw it I thought: “I could also do expressions like these” and I started thinking I’d also like to do that.

B: Yeah in these last few years there have been quite a few members who became very popular through gravure. Were you aware of that?

Y: Yeah I was fairly aware.

B: Jonishi Rei-san is also your kohai right?

Y: Yes she is.

B: There have been also other kohais who stood out through gravure, right. By the way, when did you first hear about this shooting?

Y: That was about 4 days ago I think.

B: Wow, this recently? Your first mizugi gravure came at such quick notice?

Y: Yes it did lol

B: How did you feel when you found out?

Y: At that time I’d just entered the bath and thought I’d check my LINE and there came a message from the manager that there’s a BUBKA shoot on April 4.

B: Depending on the person they do things like dieting but when you find out so suddenly you can’t really do anything, right lol.

Y: Yet I feel like everything I could do I really did.

B: In those 4 days?

Y: Yes, like every day before sleeping I’d try doing intense workouts and stuff.

B: What kind of intense workout you did?

Y: Just the things that came out when I searched like “intense workout” on Youtube.

B: So you did quite hard workouts, right lol

Y: Yeah lol I’d always do them after a bath.

B: By the way did you talked about the gravure shoot with anyone?

Y: When I told Kojima Karin-chan that I would be doing gravure she was very happy and told me I should go ask Rei-chan.

B: Did you ask her?

Y: I did not have the chance haha.

B: When you entered as a D2, there was the image of you and Nishinaka Nanami pairing.

Y: YuzuNana

B: Your middle school students pairing felt like it was rushing ahead without stop. But then Nishinaka-san announced graduation. It kind of felt like something had came to an end with that.

Y: That’s right

B: Therefore I wonder in what state of mind Hongo-san has continued to go on.

Y: When Nanami graduated, I promised her I would definitely enter senbatsu so I’ve been striving towards that goal.

B: You haven’t entered senbatsu yet if I’m not mistaken.

Y: That’s right

B: Did it feel like odd watching how in the meantime one after another kohais have been entering senbatsu?

Y: Yes it’s been really frustrating

B: In the past even on Twitter you’d make posts where you expressed your frustration when your number of handshake slots had fallen down.

Y: Yeah

B: Back then you wrote that you would work hard in practicing the guitar and achieve the increase of the number of handshake slots through that, but I cannot help wondering about how that works lol.

Y: Right, haha. I’ve always hated losing and I’m someone who is conscious about other people’s opinions. So when the number of my handshake slots dropped I thought that my fans must have felt sad, hence I came with the idea that if I propagated something like my guitar playing, then even the people who might have known about NMB but not about me personally could discover me like that.

B: And so did the number of your handshake slots increase like that?

Y: Yes it did.

B: The guitar effect haha! I expect that your gravure will become a hot topic after it’s released so there is a possibility that the number of your handshake slots will increase even more, isn’t there.

Y: Yeah I wonder. It could increase right?

B: In profession like ours, from time time we happen to witness a legendary moment and I feel like I did experience that today. In baseball terms, it’s like when Otani Shohei comes on and suddenly throws a 160 km/h fastball. There might just have been another new heroine born in NMB.

Y: I’m happy to hear that. Thank you very much.

B: Especially with NMB, since Shiroma Miru-san is graduating, it feels like there’s an open slot, doesn’t it. Do you feel like you can fill that spot?

Y: Yeah, since many people have been expecting my gravure, I want to work hard to not let them down.

B: You can be looking forward to people’s reaction after the release.

Y: Yeah I’m really looking forward to that haha.

B: There are people who have been waiting for this, but I guess there are also many people who do not know about this yet. And there are probably also people who stopped following when you were still a kid.

Y: Right, there are definitely quite a few people like that.

B: People who stopped following at the time when YuzuNana was still a thing are going to be surprised I guess. “When did that happen?!”

Y: Yeah I can’t wait to see the reaction haha.

Born 2013/01/12 in Osaka. Member of NMB48.

桃栗三年柚六年 — a play on the 桃栗三年柿八年 proverb, which means “planted peach and chestnut seeds take three years (to bear fruit), persimmons take eight” in literal sense and “it often takes time for one’s actions to bear fruit” metaphorically — in this version they changed persimmon for yuzu and 8 years to 6 (her time in the group).

After she joined NMB48 Team N in D2 in 2015, she keeps protecting the group’s tradition with her overflowing Namba Ai.

Namba’s Cannon, with body fresh as a 100% fruit juice, she is going to enliven the gravure scene.

Nickname is “Yuzu”.