2016/03/29

[atTowerRecords'13Mar.20]

This video is a copy of [ http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xyc4rd ] with English subtitles. The source is a streaming program "Idol 36-bou" broadcast on 2013 Mar. 20th by Tower Records. Miss Suzuka NAKAMOTO did this interview 11 days before she graduated from Sakura Gakuin.

The words enclosed with parentheses "(xxx)" are what I've inserted as supplement. The words enclosed with parentheses & asterisk "(* xxx)" are supplement that I'm not so sure of. Long complex sentences (> 2 lines) may be difficult to read because its phrases are displayed in the order of corresponding Japanese phrases.


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[i] About This Interview

About this program "Idol 36-bou", Mr. MINEWAKI, Sakura Gakuin & its graduation system, see notes [i], [ii], [iii] of [ at TowerRecords '15 Mar. 5th ] (but the format of "Idol 36-bou" was slightly different between in 2013 & in 2015). Miss Suzuka was born in 1997 Dec. About her biography, see [ Biography ].

Because Miss Suzuka was the only one graduating member then (Miss SUGIMOTO's graduation was announced after this), she appears alone in this program. This interview was broadcast about 11:20-11:55 of 2013 Mar. 20th (Spring Equinox Holiday) on Internet live streaming. Before this interview appeared Mr. Kôtarô TSUJI, the chief editor of an idol magazine "Big One Girls" (BOG), for 50 minutes. He told several topics about her which he had collected, and two hosts refer to some of them in this interview.

Notes

  1. Mr. NAMBA seems to have said "yoyaku wa mô" (= the reservation, already), but I don't know how to interpret this.
  2. She entered junior high school in 2010 Apr. Sakura Gakuin was created in 2010 Apr. and its debut was 2010 Aug. 7th at Tokyo Idol Festival (TIF).
  3. "Nene-don" refers to Miss Nene SUGISAKI (in eighth grade then). This "-don" comes from a Japanese honorific title "dono". Which suffix (-tan, -rin, -don, etc.) is used for a nickname is based mainly on the ease of pronunciation and on matching of the tone to person's characteristics.
  4. The surprise party for Miss Suzuka is included in the DVD of "ku" edition of Sakura Gakuin's school year 2012 album "My Generation" released on 2013 Mar. 13th. The members sing a song "With Suu san who are in cheese color" whose melody is borrowed from Sakura Gakuin's "Mashumaro Iro no Kimi to" (= with you who are in marshmallow color) which is her favorite, and the sung lyrics contains topics of and messages to her. Then, every member reads her message to Miss Suzuka and they gift an album that contains their messages and photos with her.
  5. "Gôkyû, mên!" (= crying bitterly, men!) is the words of Utamaru from a Japanese hip-hop group Rhymester. He has a radio program which contains a part to introduce movies. It seems that he rarely shouts this phrase (only after introducing a very very impressive scene).
  6. Singer-songwriter YUI was born in 1987 Mar. and made a major debut in 2005 Feb. She sang with her guitar sitting cross-legged on the street & on stage. Her masterpieces are "feel my soul" (major debut), "Good-bye days", "CHE.R.RY", etc.
  7. I think "know" is probably a misstated "remember", but there is a possibility that she really has never heard the melody because she only finds the favorite lyrics in a songbook (without musical scores) and never listens to the song.
  8. To "promotional photos" I translated "aa sha" (= aachisuto shasin; artist photos), which the management office, etc. offers to the mass media to use for introducing the artists. The artist photos seem to be updated when their new single/album is released.
  9. "My Graduation Toss" is a rock tune (not Metal) written by the brilliant green (Tommy heavenly6). In the CD cover photo, etc., the members hold a guitar, a drum, etc. made of cardboard. In the MV, there are the scenes where Miss Suzuka sings with a standing mic. and the eighth grade members play the drums, the bass, the guitar, and the keyboards, but actually all members sing (there is also a very rare edition of "My Graduation Toss" which is Miss Suzuka's solo).
  10. Her papa seems to have been the bassist of a certain rock'n'roll band which released a mini album from an indie label in 1990. Some BABYMETAL's fans got this information with a clue of a famous singer's words saying Miss Suzuka is his friend's daughter. Rumor say her oldest sister is/was a member of a music club of a local college and she sings/sang with her guitar.
  11. "Negi" seems to be translated to "welsh onion", "green onion", "leek", etc. Actually it refers to Allium fistulosum. Mr. TSUJI told that she grew welsh onions in her room and her second sister Hime-tan (Miss Himeka) complained that their smell was unbearable.
  12. Actor's School Hiroshima (ASH) is an after-school school that teaches singing, dancing, etc. to the kids who want to be professional singers, etc. Its graduates are Perfume, Nakamoto sisters, Riho SAYASHI (ex Morning Musume.), Mariri SUGIMOTO (ex Sakura Gakuin), etc. It has no relation with Okinawa Actors School.
  13. A discount chain store Don Quijote offers one-yen coins to the shoppers who dislike their purses full of small changes (or it may be just for reduction of transaction time at cash registers). Donation boxes into which shoppers put received one-yen coins are more popular at convenience stores, etc. One-yen coins were not popular because most prices were rounded for some decades before 1989 when a consumption tax was introduced in Japan.
  14. In many (Japanese) idol groups, many lines of a song are sung only by one (or few) member(s). Some members sing many lines, others sing less lines, and this assignment (= 歌割り; uta-wari) is based on members' abilities & characteristics, the characteristics of the song, etc.
  15. The Japanese school year begins in April and ends in March, so in January, February, & March, the Japanese often make a mistake to say "this year" which actually should be "this school year".
  16. Though she says "After TIF was over...", what other members said resembles what she was told for the first time at the surprise party (in 2013 Feb). I don't know whether it is simply because she remembered/said incorrectly or the situation was complicated & difficult to explain.
  17. Karen Girl's was formed in 2008 to sing the opening theme of an anime "Zettai Karen Children". The members did voice acting (for one minute or so, as girl idols caught in a traffic jam) in that anime.
  18. She performed in a musical "Bôkensha-tachi" (a.k.a. The Adventure of Ganba) in 2009 Mar. & in 2010 Jun. It was performed several times in each period. She acted Shioji (a somewhat important character if I remember correctly).
  19. "Perfect combustion" is the translation of "完全燃焼" (kanzen nenshô) by Miss Yui MIZUNO. It is a scientific word "complete combustion", but in this context, it means to do something thoroughly so as not to regret like "I wish I had done so-and-so then".
        The thoroughness is extreme. For example, many ace pitchers of Japanese high school baseball teams pitched three whole games (quarter, semi, & final) in "Kôshien" tournament on three successive days. This overwork has broken many pitchers' elbows, shoulders, & careers, so the situation has been recently somewhat improved. Even now, however, not a few pitchers say "Let me pitch! I will burn out myself in Kôshien." and not a few people praise it.
  20. In Japan, "live house" refers to cafes, bars, or restaurants which offer live music (or concert venues with drink counters).
        Since the graduation show tends to be sentimental, Sakura Gakuin holds a concert few days before the graduation show every year to enjoy cheerfully Sakura Gakuin's performance. At the end of this concert, however, the graduates tell their courses after their graduation, and the audience may possibly be shocked at them.

  The transcription (.srt file) is below.