I bring you a translation of a series of articles that kinda randomly appeared at the Entame news website. I found it interesting, because it puts Yuzu’s achievements in perspective and also contains some new small pieces of info which fill in some blank spots about her gravure debut and senbatsu debut.

Conquering every magazine’s gravure with her strong impact, NMB48’s Hongō Yuzuha — The true face of a hard worker who was once almost buried for 6 years.

Nowadays, there is an idol who is conquering every gravure magazine — NMB48’s Hongō Yuzuha. Although it has been only one year since her debut, her impact has been astounding. Appearing on covers of not only idol magazines, but also manga magazines or weekly magazines — what kind of an idol she actually is? Writer who has been covering NMB48 since its start presents you a “Hongō Yuzuha primer for new fans”. Interview with Hongō herself follows as well.

In the spring of 2021, a new star has appeared in the gravure world. Hongō Yuzuha.

She is a member of the Ōsaka-based idol group NMB48. Right after her gravure debut, every magazine started to approach her and she has been sweeping magazine covers ever since. She became the Rookie of the Year of the gravure world.

Her adorable expressions tickle your heart and her 157.4 cm make you feel at ease. She cackles often and makes you forget your daily troubles. Sure enough, her proportions are perfect. She has everything a gravure idol needs to have.

She joined NMB in 2015. Full six years before her gravure debut. She was only 12 years old.

At that time, Yamamoto Sayaka with her overwhelming presence was still in the group. So was Watanabe Miyuki. First generation members had been enjoying tremendous popularity and a mere greenhorn had no chance to compete on equal terms with them. Senpais already had their fanbase. And even though a certain type of fans do like new shiny things, it was unlikely to expect a 12 year old girl to happen to have the power to make people notice her.

And like that, in a group that boasted tremendous depth, she disappeared in the large horse herd.

“I want to be noticed.” With that thought in her mind, she fought.

“In a group, it’s all about going higher and higher, else you do not get noticed. And to bring the spotlight on me, I had tried various things.”

She tried to take on writing a novel. Uploaded videos of her guitar playing. However, none of it reached out of her already established fanbase. She failed to find a skill of her own.

She got tired of fighting. She could not get into senbatsu. Let alone that — her kōhais had been entering senbatsu ahead of her. Quitting was something that crossed her mind more than once or twice.

“I always discussed it with my parents. But there was also a time where I didn’t tell parents anything and just on a whim sent a manager a message that I am thinking of graduating.”

The manager stopped her. Looking back at it, they did an MVP level of a job.

“‘It is still too soon for you to graduate. A chance might still come. Let’s fight together for just a bit more,’ my manager told me. And I came to believe these words.”

Last spring, a chance has come. After six years of being an idol.

“I was told by a manager, ‘If you were asked to do gravure, what would you say?’ I answered, ‘Please let me do it.’”

Gravure was possibly the last resort for Hongō. If it didn’t spark any interest, she would have put the microphone down for good.

However, her first gravure in BUBKA left an incredible impact. Everyone was taken aback, that such girl had appeared out of nowhere. The range of her impact was not limited to NMB fans, but reached outside people as well.

Her debut was in an idol magazine, but weekly manga magazines did not just stand in awe. She went on to grace the covers of Young Magazine, Young Champion or Weekly Shōnen Champion several times. This is what it means to be in great demand. Truly a come-from-behind grand slam home run.

“My Twitter followers suddenly blew up. Before I started gravure I had some 25k followers, but at the end of the year I had more than 70k. Now it grew to more than 90k. More people also recognize me when I walk around Ōsaka.”

Like that she gained confidence she had never before been close to attain. At the end of the last year, she said: “They say that self-confidence can change a person, don’t they. I feel like that’s exactly what has happened. I came to be able to proclaim, ‘I want 2022 to be my year.’ I have been told from my genmates as well, ‘You have been smiling more lately, looks like you’re having fun.’”

Inside, she is just a normal kid. Her music taste ranges from Aimyon to Shōwa pop.

“I love Kowarekake no Radio. I am not as well versed in older music as Shibuya Nagisa, but I did learn about it from my mom.”

In her free time, you will find her in the kitchen.

“Lately I don’t really have time to do anything, but I made a tomato pasta the other day.”

Her cats then help her soothe her from all the daily busyness.

“We have two cats and whenever I have time, I play with them. Forcibly grabbing them, hugging them. They hate it and bite me a lot though haha.”

Asking about her current goals, she answers resolutely: “To become the face of the group. Also to release a photobook in my teens! If I manage that, I can pull in even more outside fans. At any rate, I want to increase the number of NMB fans!”

Thankfully I did not quit back then — this thought has to be crossing her mind, as Hongō Yuzuha continues to travel back and forth between Ōsaka and Tōkyō.

Miraculous figure — NMB48’s Hongō Yuzuha talks gravure, “I thought it wasn’t something I would do.”

E = Entame, Y = Yuzuha

E: Your gravure is still doing well.

Y: Thank you!

E: Do you know how many covers have you been on since your debut?

Y: I cannot really keep up and don’t count them, but it’s probably more than 10 haha. [I don’t know when exactly this interview was taken, but as of March it has been 18 magazine covers.]

E: Do you receive thanks from editors? Like, “When you appear, the sales are good!”

Y: When I did my second shoot for FLASH, I was told that the issue I had appeared in was at that time the best selling one in that year haha.

E: Did you always have an interest in gravure?

Y: Not at all. I considered it something that had nothing to do with me and I was even too shy too watch other members’ gravure. But seeing as other members started doing gravure after graduating from high school, I thought I might give it a shot as well, and just at that time a manager asked me how would I feel doing it and I agreed.

E: So the first shoot was probably somewhat embarrassing?

Y: I had no clue what poses I should make. The cameraman would teach me and I could no nothing but absorb these little things one by one into my mind. After the amazing reaction to my first gravure, I was given the chance to appear in many more magazines and so I thought I had to learn more about posing and I started checking other gravure idols’ works.

E: For example?

Y: I am often told I have a tanuki face [a term Japanese usually use to refer to someone with a round face and big, drooping eyes] so I studied by watching Ōhara Yūno’s gravure because she is the same type.

E: Do you have a favourite pose or type of swimsuit?

Y: I love strapless swimsuits! I get excited when I see those. As for posing, I am always thinking how to make my legs appear longer. Standing on tiptoes and stretching my back all the way is apparently good, or so I learned from a shoot I did with Jōnishi Rei.

E: Is there some shoot that was very memorable for you?

Y: We did a shoot in a bathtub full of yuzus. There were so many flowing around, I thought where the heck did they get all those yuzus?! Probably since there is a “Yuzu” in my name, I have already done such concepts several times.

E: Is there some shoot you would like to do?

Y: Wearing swimsuit under a school uniform and jumping into a pool just like that!

E: Have your state of mind changed after starting gravure?

Y: It feels weird going to konbini and seeing magazines with my face on the cover laid there. “Oh, it’s me!” Also more people recognize me nowadays when I walk around Ōsaka. Mostly they say, “I found out about you through gravure!” and some of them also say they have started checking NMB48 thanks to me.

E: Is there something you take special care about before shoots?

Y: I normally love eating, especially meat, so in order to prevent myself from not being able to withstand the temptation, I drink carbonated drinks to fill my stomach.

E: How about exercising or going to beauty salons?

Y: I am not very athletic but I do some workouts. I watch Youtube videos with many views and trust that they are effective. I especially focus on my legs. I don’t really visit beauty salons, though I do massage myself. Mostly my upper arms and legs. Since I started working on my flexibility after a bath, my body has become more flexible.

E: Is there something like an ideal body for you?

Y: I like Jōnishi Rei’s body. She has slender legs and a big chest. She has a womanly figure and when we have a shoot together I always surreptitiously steal some glances at her body so that she wouldn’t notice hehe.

E: How about Hongō-san herself, do you feel some jealousy from other members?

Y: When we are changing clothes, I can feel girls are glancing at me. I already got used to it so I just think, “Ah they are watching me again today,” and go on with my thing haha.

E: Shiroma Miru who graduated last year was famous for her checking the bodies of her kōhais, how was that experience?

Y: We did a gravure together before her graduation and I was being touched constantly. And it wasn’t like just poking with her finger, but more like, “She’s touching there as well?!” But with members I am fine being touched by them so I just let them do it haha.

E: What is your gravure goal?

Y: I want to hijack the covers! [I tried to explain the term close to the end of the last article I translated; basically she wants to be on many magazine covers in a short span of time.] Last summer I witnessed Enako-san doing it and I thought I would like to achieve that as well! Also I want to release a photobook soon!

Complete awakening through gravure debut — First senbatsu and the night dad quietly wept

E: First of all, congratulation on your first senbatsu!

Y: Thank you. I found out through a message sent to the NMB group LINE. I was happy, but above all relieved.

E: Were you not confident that this time it’s finally gonna happen?

Y: Well, in NMB you can never be sure about anything haha. I thought it wouldn’t have been outrageous if I didn’t make it too. Thinking that I would get in and then not actually getting in would be the most frustrating pattern, so I decided to not be too cocky. Entering senbatsu with such state of mind, it allowed me to feel happy when it happened.

E: How was the reaction of the fans?

Y: I had been told that I would definitely get in this time, so everyone was happy. On Twitter and Instagram too many people congratulated me. They were probably even happier about it than I was haha.

E: And your family?

Y: I read that LINE message at home so I immediately told them. We usually don’t talk about work so they just congratulated me. Nevertheless since after all this was my first senbatsu, we went to eat out and my grandma made a cake for me.

E: Did you care about your position in senbatsu?

Y: I absolutely did. But I understand that you wouldn’t be placed in the front out of nowhere, so even though for now my position is in the back, I would like to progress to the front gradually.

E: How was your first senbatsu MV recording?

Y: I learned a lot from other members that day. What is there to do after your make-up is done, I wondered, but we just went to practice the dance. I also went to ask the dance teacher about things I wasn’t sure about. It all made me realize once again the importance of not wasting anyone’s time. When the MV was all done and I saw myself there — that was when I finally realized I am a senbatsu member.

E: Did your family watch the MV?

Y: They were watching it right besides me haha. It was a bit awkward, but even then my dad still wouldn’t tell me what his thoughts were! But last autumn, when I appeared on a music show for the first time, my dad watched the recording with me. He quietly let out a few tears at that time.

E: As a senbatsu member, you got to appear in another music show.

Y: That recording took the whole day. The staff had put a lot of thought into the production and the location [I suppose they are talking about the Utacon performance]. It would be nice if I got more chances to appear on music shows in the future and I want to get to the level of performance which would live up to the name “senbatsu”.

E: Jōnishi Rei and Umeyama Cocona are the centres.

Y: I think it’s a good choice. Both are rather the cute types so I thought the song would be in that style, but it turned out to be the almost exact opposite. It shows a new NMB48, I feel.

E: NMB is now in the middle of NAMBATTLE2. The biggest difference with last year is that this time there is also the individual battle.

Y: Fans are choosing the senbatsu of 27th single so I am feeling very uneasy. Nevertheless I aim for a consecutive senbatsu appearance.

E: Preliminary results came out soon after the single release.

Y: I had not expected to rank in senbatsu so I was caught off guard. I watched the announcement stream at home lying down, and when I was called in 14th place, I rose up in shock haha.

E: Only 14 members will make it into senbatsu right. How about the midterm results?

Y: I ranked 16th. It was very frustrating. And if there was a word even stronger than frustrating, it would be exactly that feeling. I expressed that feeling to my fans as well.

E: How do you plan to spend your days waiting for the final results?

Y: When I see the number of votes Kojima Karin got, I feel very dejected, however I do not want to give up. It’s a battle of how much you can appeal to the fans, so I want to do livestreams and express my feelings through that.

E: Your goal is to enter senbatsu?

Y: Senbatsu is the absolute minimum, but my goal is higher, the 1st place.

E: NMB shuffled their teams this January. How is the new team?

Y: I was sent to team M this time, so I have been in all N, M and BII teams already. I had not foreseen Hara Karen would become the captain, I think it will be a team like never before. Right after the shuffle we made a LINE group and Karen was listening to our thoughts and opinions while expressing her own ideas. I think she’s gonna grow with the captain role.

E: What is Hongō-san’s role?

Y: I am not someone who would be able to readily put their opinions out there, but I want to be a support for Karen and the vice-captain Abe Wakana. It’s been 7 years since I entered the group so I want to show my senpai side.