SKE48 4th Anniversary Special - Our Jurina - Nakanishi Yuka x Oya Masana interview from Bubka, October 2012.Team S’ “mother” and “big brother” lay bare their affection! - Our Jurina -
I/First encounter with Jurina
Q - The theme of this interview is 「Our Jurina」, also I have decided to call for you two who inside SKE48 are among the members who are the closest to her and probably understand her the most. I thought you could certainly tell us about her true personality and how she grew up during those 4 years you spent together in SKE48.
First, can you describe the initial impression she made on you when you met?
Nakanishi - I didn’t take part in the auditions so my timing was a bit different from everyone else. How was it for you Masana?
Oya - We were in different groups for the auditions, but I think we were put together for the first time when all the successful candidates were gathered for group pictures right after the announcement of the final results. But I was standing on the front row so I only paid attention to the girls on the same line as me. I only properly met with Jurina the next day.
Q - Did something happen that day?
Oya - Jurina and myself were invited to appear in 「AKB 0ji59fun!」, we were to meet on the shinkansen platform. I had been told I was going with a girl who was still in elementary, so I had imagined a very short and cute little girl.
Q - Reality was quite different from what you had pictured (laugh).
Oya - Indeed (laugh). She was around the same height as me. And from the second I put my eyes on her I thought her aura was incredible. Jurina was standing with her mother on the platform and even from the distance I knew it had to be her. And there for the first time we greeted each other 「Oya Masana」,「Matsui Jurina」and we boarded the shinkansen.
Q - It must have been difficult for a 3rd year of high school to talk with a girl in elementary.
Oya - Not at all. We drank orange juice together…
Nakanishi - How come you remember even those little details (laugh)?
Oya - Jurina talked a lot, from all sorts of topics during our travel like「I was in the track and field club」, as if this 11 year old Jurina was throwing off her reserve toward the 3rd year of high school student I was. She even warned me when we arrived at the studio 「In the world of showbusiness, you have to properly say “Good morning” to people you meet!」 (laugh).
Q - As expected of her (laugh). What about Nakanishi-san?
Nakanishi - When Masana and Jurina came to Tokyo for「AKB 0ji59fun!」, they came to see Team B stage. I was performing then as a back dancer. We talked a bit together then for the first time. Masana looked very immature and Jurina too seemed a bit childish so I thought both were in first year of middle school (laugh). When they told me their ages「What?! You’re so many years apart?!」.
Q - It somehow sounds like your encounters were pre-destined. It was probably around that time, if my intels are correct, before your debut during one of the lessons, that Makino Anna-sensei said 「Those here who can say without a doubt they gave their 120%, raise your hand.」. And then you witnessed Jurina, the only one in the entire group, firmly raising her hand. What did you feel at this instant?
Oya - I think we all felt, somewhere in our hearts, that we had danced with 120% of our capacities. But somehow we didn’t dare answer because you see, it’s delicate in this kind of atmosphere. Only Jurina, without a second of hesitation, raised her hand firmly. I thought she was impressive, not only did she hved self-confidence, but her guts were at a whole different level than ours.
Q - It must have stunned everyone. In between those intensive lessons, SKE48 made its debut during AKB48’s Hibiya concert. After which Jurina was immediately picked to be AKB48’s center for 「Oogoe Diamond」.
Oya - I was worried. She had to feel lonely, being only in elementary school and yet sent by herself in Tokyo. When she was in Tokyo with her manager, I called them and asked to talk directly to Jurina. I asked her 「Are you doing fine?」, she replied 「I’m alright!」. But when I was going to wait for her at the station when she was coming home, the moment she exited the shinkansen she would send herself at me and hug me tight. I realized that after all, she must have felt lonely.
Nakanishi - At first especially, she gave the feeling she had decided not to show any weakness. I was worried for her too, but at the same time we were in a situation where we didn’t know how far SKE could go or how long it would last, so to have a girl among us so highly estimated by Akimoto sensei made me happy. But I hadn’t expected her to suddenly become center, even less to see her stand alone on the CD jacket. Everyone was talking about how amazing that was. And no one ever once said she was jealous of her. Jurina herself never complained to have been put in that position.
Q - You never questioned the fact that Jurina was center? (tln : alt -> You never had a problem with the fact that Jurina was center?)
Nakanishi - I think the moment we saw her stand alone on 「Oogoe」’s jacket, we all became aware that it couldn’t be differently. (tln : alt -> it became an evidence for all of us)
Oya - Calmly considering the years separating us, maybe I always stand my ground which was to watch over her.
II/ True colors of 15yo Jurina
Q - From the 1st day up to now, Jurina has never built a deceiving character. She is a strong and cheerful person who doesn’t like to show her weakness. But it seems to have been perceived by some people as signs of「impertinence」. Also we, the redaction of this magazine, have tried to clear this misunderstanding for a long time now.
Nakanishi - Truth is she is a big wheedling child (laugh). She very often comes to me all nyan~ nyan~. And some days, for no particular reasons, she arrives 「I made cookies!」.
Oya - She often bring sweets doesn’t she. And she even writes everyone’s names on them.
Q - Would you say she acts with you as she would with a big sister?
Nakanishi - I would rather say I’m like an older brother (laugh). (tln : onii-chan in the text)
It was especially true when we debuted, back then she totally saw me like a boy.
Q - If Nakanishi-san is like a big brother to Jurina, what kind of figure is Oya-san?
Oya - … I’m told I’m like a mother.
Nakanishi - Because you always clearly tell her to stop doing something if she shouldn’t. As if you were teaching manners to a child (laugh). When she has to do something she tells her「I hope you properly did it」with a concerned tone. I think that’s why Jurina trusts and relies on Masana.
Q - I can perfectly picture that! I suppose you’re often paired with Jurina when you’re lodging outside, how is she then? In my mind she is one to exclaim「I’m so tired~」and collapse on her bed *paf*.
Nakanishi - That’s exactly how it is (laugh). She is always like that.
Q - Does it go「Get up, you need need to take a shower before going to bed!」?
Oya - Indeed (laugh).
Nakanishi - You know, Jurina is really bad at waking up.
Q - Does she become moody?
Nakanishi - Rather, she tells you 「Got it…」and goes back to sleep.
Oya - Once, Jurina and Yukko (Kinoshita Yukiko) were sharing the same room. In the middle of the night I received a phone call from Yukko, I guess she had gone straight to bed without even taking her make-up off 「Jurina-san won’t wake-up! We have to get up early tomorrow morning, what should I do?!」. I told her to bring her phone close to Jurina’s ear so she could hear my voice「Jurina wake up, it’s Masana! Wake up now!」, when I heard on the other side 「Shut it! Loli●on!」
Nakanishi - That’s a great anecdote (laugh).
Q - I’ll conceal one letter just in case (laugh).
Oya - She was still half-asleep. I kept telling her「Get up already! You shouldn’t sleep with your make-up!」to which she finally replied 「I get it.」and it seems with that she woke up.
Nakanishi - When she is with Masana, Jurina’s face turns completely into a child’s one.
Oya - But lately she has grown up a lot. It even sounds like lately she is able to wake up by herself.
Nakanishi - Even this long pillow she was always carrying with her, lately she doesn’t take it along at all. But she won’t stop so soon to sleep with someone. Everytime I wake up, she is there sound asleep with her stomach uncovered. I tell her 「Your belly will grow cold」and cover her up again (laugh).
Oya - She is really cute, isn’t she? Like she was in the old days.
Nakanishi - And yet, she has grown and is turning into an adult.
Q - She is still only 15 after all. Listening to your stories, I somehow felt reassured.
III/ Changes brought by the concurrent position
Q - It was announced during the concert at Saitama Super Arena last March that Jurina would hold a concurrent position in Team K. We could see clearly from our seats in the audience the flow of tears on Oya-san’s face the moment the announcement was made.
Oya - I had never imagined, not even once, of the possibility that Jurina could leave SKE. When she was going through hard times I had been at her side, when I was going through hard times she had been with me and gave me strength, so when I thought she would be quitting SKE I was submerged by all those emotions「 I refuse! Don’t go! Don’t leave us! 」.
Nakanishi - Personally, all the memories I had made with Jurina up to that day flashed in my mind, then I wondered what was going to happen to SKE after this. I also seriously wondered what I should do. It was the same feeling as if she had suddenly announced her graduation. Turned out later that it was actually a concurrent position and not a transfer, which calmed me down a bit.
Oya - Same for me.
Q - Since the concurrent position became effective, did Jurina change?
Oya - She tells us about the good aspects of AKB 「Wouldn’t it be best if SKE did things more this way too?」, and about what she learns there.
Nakanishi - I went to see K stage and I think it’s an excellent thing for Jurina to experience dancing in a position other than center, she was bursting with life. No matter where she is, Jurina is Jurina. I was worried she might not feel at ease and experience some painful moments. But it wasn’t the case at all, I saw the same figure I had always seen before. And so, rather than thinking Jurina was going through hardships because of the concurrent position, I now believe she has won a second place where she can be at peace.
One place where she is pampered and one where she can return. (tln : “return” as in “returning home”, though it carries the meaning of “home”, it’s only implied)
She was probably burdened with too much until now, but compared with before her load seems somehow easier to carry.
Oya - That’s what it seems indeed. I once asked her 「Isn’t it hard for you?」and she told me 「Not at all」. And everyone in AKB is treating her with care. So when she said 「Not at all」I’m the one who suddenly felt lonely (laugh).
Q - As if your daughter had left the nest?
Oya - I received a phone call when she was in Okinawa during K-san’s tour. She told me「Right now you know, I’m in Okinawa. Tomorrow I’m going to eat a ton of delicious food!」.
Nakanishi - She knew Masana would definitely react when she told her she was going to eat a lot of delicious things . You must have been「Sounds great, tons of delicious food~」.
Oya - Not at all!!
Q - Lately it has become well known that Masana-san has a fierce appetite (laugh).
Nakanishi - She is building up an「I love eating!」character (laugh).
Oya - That’s not the same! It’s not as if I ate like an ogre! The day after she came back from Okinawa, Jurina came to find me「I made chijimi! It’s a secret!」. She must have been tired and yet she made them herself. It really touched me.
Nakanishi - Meaning she had been lured by food again.
Oya - I’m telling you you’re wrong!!
Nakanishi - And thus, at all times, Jurina always gives her best. No matter how tired she is, even to the utmost limit, I’ve never seen her cut corners. I went to see K-san’s stage and stayed the night with Jurina, when the tour was right around the corner. There were some K stage songs I could perform but Jurina didn’t know any of them at all, and so we practiced together. She remembered everything in 2 or 3 days. She trained while properly preserving her sleeping time, I thought that was impressive. I thought I also wanted to see the result on stage.
Mastering a choreography in 2 or 3 days in totally ok, but at the time she remembered a total of 5 or 6 dances in 2 or 3 days.
Oya - She is the best right, when it comes to remembering things.
Nishishi - She has an incredible memory.
Oya - Since she always goes all out, there are times where she runs out of steam. And when Jurina goes flat like this, (Matsui) Rena comes, quietly, quietly, and suddenly PAN! she snaps. (tln : “snap” as in “suddenly wakes up to take over”)
IV/ Jurina and Rena
Q - Jurina and Rena, from your point of view what sort of relation exists between them?
Oya - We had this same conversation not long ago between members and we agreed that really Jurina and Rena are complete opposites.
Nakanishi - It’s very strange. They’re different from A to Z, but when they line up for example, they are the same height. I seriously think fate has done a splendid work with them.
Oya - Because they are polar opposites, you’d think there are part of them which wouldn’t match with the other, but that’s not the case even for the slightest thing, they really fit each other.
Q - But being “polar opposites”, shouldn’t they repel one another?
Nakanishi - All the contrary, they are a perfect match. Rena for example, she will always be on the defensive but on some rare occasions she would let her guard down… That’s irresistible!
Q - I think I know what you mean (laugh).
Nakanishi - At the very end of our last song 「Kiss Datte Hidarikiki」, the last move is done by Jurina and Rena who pretend to kiss. When they practiced, Jurina was like “let’s do it seriously / for real”, while for Rena it was “No way. No way”. But during the actual performance she did it seriously, as if she was giving in a bit… Ain’t that good?!
Q - How come Nakanishi-san is so excited suddenly (laugh) ?
Oya - But when Jurina is down, Rena works even harder. It’s amazing somehow.
Nakanishi - It’s as if Jurina was the husband and Rena the housewife. On some aspects, they are like those very old and typical married couples. Even though the two concerned would definitely not agree with that analysis.
Q - It’s wonderful. Listening to you I’ve come to love Jurina, SKE48 and you two even more (laugh). To close the interview, if you have something in mind you’d like say to Jurina, please go ahead.
Oya - Jurina and Rena are compared a lot, and sometimes it bothers Jurina. She would say「Rena-chan manages to do that but I can’t」.
But, Jurina, you shouldn’t worry about it, you should go forward being yourself, not comparing yourself with Rena or trying to imitate her, I want you to learn more about yourself. I’m sure you possess at least as many resources as Rena, find them, find those things that distinguish you from Rena and cultivate them. I know you’ll make them grow.
I simply want to say, you don’t need to worry.
Q - I think everyone who reads those words will sympathise with your declaration. What about Nakanishi-san? It could also be about something you wish she would stop (laugh).
Nakanishi - To be bad at waking up then (immediate reply). It’s cute on some aspects, but she really won’t wake up! On a scale from 0 to 8 to rate the capacity to wake up, where 8 is the top mark, I wish she could reach at least 2. This is a Nakanishi’s plea.
Q - As I thought, it was the correct choice to have this discussion with you two. Thank you very much!
Sourced from Sakae&Frog (with magazine scans) @
http://sakaeandfrog.tumblr.com/post/30755040221/ske48-4th-anniversary-special-our-jurina