Surpassing our 1st-3rd gen senpai is difficult. But, I feel like I was able to tear down some “walls” this year.
It’s your first time in the “Kami 7”, congratulations.
Thank you very much! I ranked even higher than I imagined so I was shocked.
How were you feeling in the days leading up to the general election?
Last year, I was worried if I’d be able to make it into senbatsu, but this year, I didn’t care about my ranking as much and was feeling more comfortable. Although I was thinking “I hope I can rank higher than last year”, I didn’t feel too pressured and I was able to stay relaxed.
And your result was the impressive 7th place. You held back the 1st gen members Kojima Haruna-san and Takahashi Minami-san; how are you reacting to this ranking?
Well, it’s something that I still can’t believe. For 9th place and for 8th place, when I heard “Team A”, I thought “It’s me!”, but my name wasn’t called and I kept thinking “Why!?” in shock. Our senpai in 1st-3rd gen are as expected, very strong, but despite us kouhai being told that we haven’t grown enough, I was able to come this far as a 9th gen; I feel like I was able to tear down a “wall” and it makes me very happy. I feel like I can pat myself on the back a little now (laughs).
Looking at the Kami 7 members, I realized that “the generation exchange” was becoming a reality.
I wonder how it is. When I calmly thought about it, I’m often given a center position in Team A so I did feel like if I didn’t rank highly, I didn’t have a right to that position. But still, I’m no match for my senpai when it comes to visibility or popularity. So that’s why, even now, I don’t at all feel like “I beat my senpai!”. More than that, I feel shocked that I was beat by my kouhai…
Which kouhai is that?
6th place’s Sayanee is my kouhai. I think there was about a 300 vote difference between the 2 of us? I was honestly shocked. Being beat by my senpai or by same-gen members is fine, but I of course wanted to win against my kouhai. Because of my pride (laughs). If I’m in the general election again next year, I want to win against all my kouhai.
But Shimazaki-san’s increase in votes was amazing. You had more than 10,000 votes more than last year. What do you think, looking back at this past year?
I had more work for women’s magazines, and I was able to collaborate with the card game “Aikatsu!” which is really popular among girls in elementary and junior high school, so I have more women and children coming to my handshake events. I wonder if I had more of their votes. It makes me happy to have people of all age groups supporting me.
Except, at those handshake events, you were still considered “salty” again this past year (laughs).
I wanted to try harder, but it was impossible (laughs). After last year’s general election, I thought to myself “The handshake events are an important part of the AKB48 group so since I’m one of the members, I need to work hard” “I’ll become more likable”!
But, I got too tired after all (laughs). And I feel like, if you’re going to try hard at the handshake events, you have to surpass Kashiwagi-san or Milky or Suda-chan. But those girls are amazingly strong-willed and I could never compete with them. So in that case, instead of forcing myself to try hard, I’d rather everyone come to like my plain, true self.
So instead of being buried, you think it’s better to stand out, even if it’s not for something positive.
No, for an idol, I think it’s better to be an individual who can please everyone with positive attributes. But since there are this many members, it’d be boring if everyone was the same and I think it’s not okay to just be normal. I may never be someone who’s liked by everyone, but I want people who are like me to empathize with me. I think that even at a company, there are people who can’t always bring tea to their superiors with a smile. I think it’d be great if people like that could empathize with me and come to like me.
But honestly, aren’t there lots of times when it’s easier just to keep smiling? Was this last year where you decided to always be your true self ever sad?
There were a lot of times that I was beat up over it, but now, I don’t care as much whether or not I’m liked. Because, there will always be someone who understands me. With this year’s general election, I’m really so proud of my fans. I’m grateful that they’d even support someone as moody as me and I want to be able to give back even more to them. The truth is, if my rank dropped from last year at this year’s general election, I was going to start seriously thinking about my graduation.
You were!?
But now, I want to continue on in this group, and experience more dramas and jobs; as a senpai, I feel like I want to be able to convey something to my kouhai. Because I was brought up in AKB48, even if I were to graduate, I’d still want lots of kouhai to come after me. Especially the members after 9th gen, they have a difficult time making it into senbatsu and are always relying on their senpai; I want to continue to support them. And I think it’d be great if someday, 1st-16th place could all be AKB48 members. ….But, even if I say something like this, I could end up staying in AKB48 for a couple more decades (laughs).
Shimazaki-san, what is it that you want to convey to your juniors?
To not make flirtation their selling point, I guess (laughs). Charm is important and something that I long for. But, there are some members who just aren’t good at being charming. So when I see them being misunderstood because of it, it makes me want to cheer for them. And if it’s a member that I see working hard with my own eyes, I want to make sure everyone knows that “it’s just a misunderstanding”. Members who lack charm work harder in order to increase their appeal so it makes me want to back them up.
[/b]I see. I think that because it’s Shimazaki-san, you particularly have the means of backing them up. Incidentally, this past year, I’m sure you’ve had a lot of opportunities to work with Watanabe Mayu-san as “MayuParu”, but have you spoken any words of congratulations to Watanabe-san for winning first place?[/b]
I messaged her that night, once the election was over. What I told her is a secret though (laughs). I was really happy and I wanted to let her know “With this, we can be relieved about the future of AKB48”. I’m the same age as Mayu-san, but I guess since she’s my senpai, there’s still a huge part of me that relies on her. Being next to Mayu-san this past year, whose comments and smile are always so perfect, I was able to act very freely. I just said whatever I wanted and then Mayu-san would wrap it all up for me.
It sounds like a comedian duo’s relationship.
It’s really like that! I already went ahead and thought of us as a duo. With irresponsible me around, Mayu-san stands out even more, and maybe my individuality becomes more prominent. Right now, I’m experiencing the happiness that comes with being by Mayu-san’s side.
Well then, please tell us your goals for this next year.
In this past year, I was able to make it into senbatsu, but I was always wondering what the fans thought of me. There were times when I felt uncomfortable and gloomy because I’d be standing in front even though my rank was lower……But, since I received the wonderful position of 7th place this year, I’m feeling very grateful. Many of my fans say that they want to see me act more, so I’ll work hard this next year so that I can appear in more dramas and movies! Thank you so much for liking someone like me.
Shimazaki Haruka
Nickname: Paruru
Birthday: March 30, 1994
Birthplace: Saitama Prefecture
Belongs to: AKB48 Team A
AKB48 9th gen
Her activities for this past year: She appeared in 11 commercials. Her photobook “Paruru, Komaru.” was 1st in the Oricon Yearly Ranking for Solo Photobooks.
It’s your first time in the “Kami 7”, congratulations.
Thank you very much! I ranked even higher than I imagined so I was shocked.
How were you feeling in the days leading up to the general election?
Last year, I was worried if I’d be able to make it into senbatsu, but this year, I didn’t care about my ranking as much and was feeling more comfortable. Although I was thinking “I hope I can rank higher than last year”, I didn’t feel too pressured and I was able to stay relaxed.
And your result was the impressive 7th place. You held back the 1st gen members Kojima Haruna-san and Takahashi Minami-san; how are you reacting to this ranking?
Well, it’s something that I still can’t believe. For 9th place and for 8th place, when I heard “Team A”, I thought “It’s me!”, but my name wasn’t called and I kept thinking “Why!?” in shock. Our senpai in 1st-3rd gen are as expected, very strong, but despite us kouhai being told that we haven’t grown enough, I was able to come this far as a 9th gen; I feel like I was able to tear down a “wall” and it makes me very happy. I feel like I can pat myself on the back a little now (laughs).
Looking at the Kami 7 members, I realized that “the generation exchange” was becoming a reality.
I wonder how it is. When I calmly thought about it, I’m often given a center position in Team A so I did feel like if I didn’t rank highly, I didn’t have a right to that position. But still, I’m no match for my senpai when it comes to visibility or popularity. So that’s why, even now, I don’t at all feel like “I beat my senpai!”. More than that, I feel shocked that I was beat by my kouhai…
Which kouhai is that?
6th place’s Sayanee is my kouhai. I think there was about a 300 vote difference between the 2 of us? I was honestly shocked. Being beat by my senpai or by same-gen members is fine, but I of course wanted to win against my kouhai. Because of my pride (laughs). If I’m in the general election again next year, I want to win against all my kouhai.
But Shimazaki-san’s increase in votes was amazing. You had more than 10,000 votes more than last year. What do you think, looking back at this past year?
I had more work for women’s magazines, and I was able to collaborate with the card game “Aikatsu!” which is really popular among girls in elementary and junior high school, so I have more women and children coming to my handshake events. I wonder if I had more of their votes. It makes me happy to have people of all age groups supporting me.
Except, at those handshake events, you were still considered “salty” again this past year (laughs).
I wanted to try harder, but it was impossible (laughs). After last year’s general election, I thought to myself “The handshake events are an important part of the AKB48 group so since I’m one of the members, I need to work hard” “I’ll become more likable”!
But, I got too tired after all (laughs). And I feel like, if you’re going to try hard at the handshake events, you have to surpass Kashiwagi-san or Milky or Suda-chan. But those girls are amazingly strong-willed and I could never compete with them. So in that case, instead of forcing myself to try hard, I’d rather everyone come to like my plain, true self.
So instead of being buried, you think it’s better to stand out, even if it’s not for something positive.
No, for an idol, I think it’s better to be an individual who can please everyone with positive attributes. But since there are this many members, it’d be boring if everyone was the same and I think it’s not okay to just be normal. I may never be someone who’s liked by everyone, but I want people who are like me to empathize with me. I think that even at a company, there are people who can’t always bring tea to their superiors with a smile. I think it’d be great if people like that could empathize with me and come to like me.
But honestly, aren’t there lots of times when it’s easier just to keep smiling? Was this last year where you decided to always be your true self ever sad?
There were a lot of times that I was beat up over it, but now, I don’t care as much whether or not I’m liked. Because, there will always be someone who understands me. With this year’s general election, I’m really so proud of my fans. I’m grateful that they’d even support someone as moody as me and I want to be able to give back even more to them. The truth is, if my rank dropped from last year at this year’s general election, I was going to start seriously thinking about my graduation.
You were!?
But now, I want to continue on in this group, and experience more dramas and jobs; as a senpai, I feel like I want to be able to convey something to my kouhai. Because I was brought up in AKB48, even if I were to graduate, I’d still want lots of kouhai to come after me. Especially the members after 9th gen, they have a difficult time making it into senbatsu and are always relying on their senpai; I want to continue to support them. And I think it’d be great if someday, 1st-16th place could all be AKB48 members. ….But, even if I say something like this, I could end up staying in AKB48 for a couple more decades (laughs).
Shimazaki-san, what is it that you want to convey to your juniors?
To not make flirtation their selling point, I guess (laughs). Charm is important and something that I long for. But, there are some members who just aren’t good at being charming. So when I see them being misunderstood because of it, it makes me want to cheer for them. And if it’s a member that I see working hard with my own eyes, I want to make sure everyone knows that “it’s just a misunderstanding”. Members who lack charm work harder in order to increase their appeal so it makes me want to back them up.
[/b]I see. I think that because it’s Shimazaki-san, you particularly have the means of backing them up. Incidentally, this past year, I’m sure you’ve had a lot of opportunities to work with Watanabe Mayu-san as “MayuParu”, but have you spoken any words of congratulations to Watanabe-san for winning first place?[/b]
I messaged her that night, once the election was over. What I told her is a secret though (laughs). I was really happy and I wanted to let her know “With this, we can be relieved about the future of AKB48”. I’m the same age as Mayu-san, but I guess since she’s my senpai, there’s still a huge part of me that relies on her. Being next to Mayu-san this past year, whose comments and smile are always so perfect, I was able to act very freely. I just said whatever I wanted and then Mayu-san would wrap it all up for me.
It sounds like a comedian duo’s relationship.
It’s really like that! I already went ahead and thought of us as a duo. With irresponsible me around, Mayu-san stands out even more, and maybe my individuality becomes more prominent. Right now, I’m experiencing the happiness that comes with being by Mayu-san’s side.
Well then, please tell us your goals for this next year.
In this past year, I was able to make it into senbatsu, but I was always wondering what the fans thought of me. There were times when I felt uncomfortable and gloomy because I’d be standing in front even though my rank was lower……But, since I received the wonderful position of 7th place this year, I’m feeling very grateful. Many of my fans say that they want to see me act more, so I’ll work hard this next year so that I can appear in more dramas and movies! Thank you so much for liking someone like me.
Shimazaki Haruka
Nickname: Paruru
Birthday: March 30, 1994
Birthplace: Saitama Prefecture
Belongs to: AKB48 Team A
AKB48 9th gen
Her activities for this past year: She appeared in 11 commercials. Her photobook “Paruru, Komaru.” was 1st in the Oricon Yearly Ranking for Solo Photobooks.