AKB48 Kashiwagi Yuki, Takajo Aki, and just-graduated Kuramochi Asuka, will end their subunit activities in French Kiss after 5 years.
In commemoration, they will release a first and last album on 14th October. They will also hold a live show on 5th November at Saitama Super Arena, where 10,000 fans are expected to attend.
The three decided to disband since they’re individually busy.
Purchase their last album here:
“YamaP no Kiss Eigo” -a TV show which aims to improve Japanese people’s English in a fun manner, pranked AKB48 Minegishi Minami and Kashiwagi Yuki in last week’s episode, bringing their English skills to light. In the show, a foreigner speaking English would call up the girls, pretending to have found their manager’s/friend’s phone. See how each of them reacted below.
Minegishi and her love for the word “slave”
Minegishi Minami appears to be quite flustered at first but quickly understood that her manager had lost his/her phone. When the foreigner was asking about the owner of the phone however, Minegishi shocked everyone by saying it belongs to her “slave”. She triple confirmed this statement, drawing laughter from everyone. The conversation reached a roadblock when they were discussing to meet. Minegishi could not understand the question “What are you wearing?” and had to request for “Kids’ English”. When describing her job as an AKB48 member, Minegishi also described it as a “slave”.
Minegishi later confessed that she thought “slave” was a word meant for someone respectable, and that she had learnt it from Akimoto Yasushi’s lyrics.
Kashiwagi and her gross misinterpretation of the word “this”
Minegishi Minami was asked to nominate another member to prank. The MC requested specifically for Kashiwagi Yuki(due to her scandal), noting that it is a special moment since both Johnny’s and AKB48 members are in the same room when they are making the call to her.
Kashiwagi did not get the foreigner’s words initially and thought “this” was “busu”(japanese word for someone ugly). Their conversation was so focused on the word “this” that Yukirin thought she had found 1 ugly person. She forgot about this word later and miraculously understood that Minegishi had lost her phone. Their conversation progressed well with Yukirin replying mostly in Japanese, prompting the MC to describe her as a obaasan(probably cos only youngsters would reply in English).
When the prank was explained to Kashiwagi, the MC asked her if she was feeling irritated since she kept mentioning “busu”. Perhaps this was a subtle hint at her scandal but Yukirin deflected it by saying she’ll continue shopping.
A scene of AKB48 Kashiwagi Yuki shedding tears during a Team B theater performance on the 22nd June 2015 has gotten mixed reactions from the fans. This happens after photos of her with NEWS Tegoshi Yuya was published in Bunshun recently.
In the performance she’s seen hiding her face and seemingly weeping whilst in the middle of a song. The YouTube video has garnered over 400,000 views with most logging snide comments.
Some unconvinced fans posted “can’t see her tears” and “isn’t that fake”.
On the hand, some fans were shocked to see this side of Kashiwagi, as she is not the type to show her emotions in public.
Perhaps this is due to the song “Shonichi” being performed at that time, which is a meaningful song especially for the 3rd generation and original members of Team B.
Speculations that 12th July is X-Day for clarifications
Idol magazine writer predicts that AKB48 Kashiwagi Yuki’s camp might continue to remain quiet about her scandal, or respond to it, and if there’s a X-Day to it, that would be around 12th July 2015.
“Kashiwagi Yuki was appointed tourism ambasssador for her birthplace Kagoshima back in 12th July 2012. Her appointment attracted alot of media reports at that time. Since her contract is for a period of 3 years, she cannot do anything that is akin to betraying her hometown in the meantime.”
Being a CM character is an important job in itself, but Kashiwagi is someone who is known to have a great love for her hometown, so there are expectations from the Kagoshima community, and the ‘debt’ of receiving a considerable amount of taxes. If it ends up that the image of the tourism ambassador is tarnished, it might also affect the prospects of her juniors.
“In the 48Group, if there is another member from Kagoshima to bring up, that would be HKT48 Miyawaki Sakura. She was appointed as a center alongside Watanabe Mayu in single “Kibouteki Refrain” and ranked 7th in this year’s Sousenkyo so her chances of being appointed the next Kagoshima ambassador is high. However, if Kashiwagi’s scandal gets big, there will be no chances for 48Group members to be appointed.”
AKB48 not appearing for Music Station 2hr SP on 26th June 2015
Speculations are that this is a move to avoid drawing more attention to the scandal since NEWS Tegoshi Yuya will be attending.Furthermore, members like Takahashi Minami, Kojima Haruna, Kawaei Rina and Shimazaki Haruka were recently slotted for a theater performance that night, making fans wonder why their schedules were cleared suddenly.
A reporter thinks this could be due to member Matsui Sakiko’s graduation performance, but it could also be linked to the scandal. Especially when Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, who was caught on a late night date with Tegoshi Yuya last year, will also be attending with her boyfriend, vocalist of Sekai no Owari, this could very well turn out to be a “love square” broadcast.
NEWS and AKB48 are also scheduled to appear on TV Tokyo’s Music Festival on the 24th June 2015. However, AKB48’s parts will be recorded whilst NEWS will appear live, so there is no chance for both groups to meet.
48 Group members Kashiwagi Yuki and Sashihara Rino appeared for a Baitoru press event today. Reporters were initially allowed to a on-the-spot interview with the members but the format was suddenly changed to one where only the commercial director was allowed to post questions. The event ended without any followup to the scandal.
Usually, for commercial press events, even though organizers would request for reporters to ask more questions related to the event, reporters have freedom to ask a variety of questions. For this event, reporters were informed that only the commercial director will be allowed to question so queries from reporters were not acknowledged. The organizer also mentioned that if any reporters try to pose questions outside the scope of this event, they could be stopped.
“I want to work hard for 1 year”
When asked if she about next year’s Sousenkyo, Kashiwagi Yuki said with a smile “I want to work hard for 1 year.However, i have seen how thick Sasshi’s wall is.”
Sashihara Rino also expressed interested in aiming for a 3rd win. “I want to get a straight win but what happens next year is a question mark.”
Talk starts 11:10~
On a 17th June radio show “Appare yattema~su”, they were talking about the Sousenkyo rankings and when they were reaching the Top 5 members, comedian Kendo Kobayashi asked “How far can we go with the AKB talk today?” Takamina seemed to have an idea of what was to come on, got flustered and said “…wait a minute KenKoba san, that’s abit..”
Kendo Kobayashi continued by saying there’s a letter from listeners, prompting Takamina to panic and ask “Eh!? Is that mail alright? Did you guys really check it?” As if enjoying her reaction, Kendo Kobayashi spent extra time reading out the letter, which in the end had nothing to do with Kashiwagi Yuki.
Finally, when asked what she was getting flustered for, Takamina answered “Eh? I thought it was THAT.” She heaved a sigh of relief.
Comedian act London Boots Tamura Atsushi revealed his wish for AKB48’s Kashiwagi Yuki to appear on their radio show next week, following reports of her alleged relationship with NEWS Tegoshi Yuya.
When a listener sent in a question asking him which female talent he’d like to invite on the show, Atsushi said “AKB is good. Kashiwagi will do. There’s lots of things i want to ask.”
His partner Tamura Ryo then commented “You can’t!” to which Atsushi asked “Why can’t I! Are you a speech dictator?”
With regards to the scandal, Atsushi said “I have nothing to do with his, so i’m going to ask alot. Please book Kashiwagi san! Kashiwagi san if you hear this please come next week!”
Kashiwagi has resumed posting work-related updates on Twitter but maintains her silence on the scandal.
On the 13th June 2015, Akimoto Yasushi appeared on a radio show and talked about AKB48 Kashiwagi Yuki’s scandal with NEWS Tegoshi Yuya.
The MC first showed some care by commenting “It has been tough for you.”
Akimoto then opens up,”Yes, various things have happened. What should be done about it…everytime it happens, the members of AKB are of course living things, so somehow when I create a format for everyone to follow, not all can accept it. You can’t predict it can you?”
When asked what will happen to Kashiwagi, Akimoto said “What will happen? I also don’t know. I am asking the same to my staff.”
With several scandals having happened to the other members so far, Akimoto san has always managed to twist the situation around and turned it into a plus. “It was interesting,but the days when i can do this and that is over. Up till now, there has been smart(or stylish?) ways to extend the careers of underground idols when negative things occur. But increasingly, whatever you do it doesn’t seem that way anymore. It’s difficult to make it interesting now,” he said.
On the string of scandals that have occurred – “It is tough but when people get together and work towards the same goal, different things will happen. Some(fans) will cheer you on whilst some will fault you, “said Akimoto, indicating that he has no choice but to let fans decide how they want to receive the scandal.
Edited the last sentence becos apparently some are taking the word “judgement” too literally.
In the radio show, Akimoto san also talked a little about Sashihara and Shimazaki Haruka. I could not catch everything but he said Sashihara’s successful stint in HKT may or may not be a good thing. Several years ago, he thought Shimazaki Haruka was promising but one day a magazine described Paruru as “salty” on their cover and he learnt from the theater managers that she had no enthusiasm so she went through a pitiful period.
I’m in shock today.
According to Bunshun, photos were taken late 2013 to early 2014 when they went snowboarding with friends.
They stayed at a luxury inn Hakone. “The place is in a luxury hotel in Hakone, a place visited by celebrities. Actually the 2 are still friendly and talk over LINE.” acquaintance of Kashiwagi.
No reply from agencies.
Another article says that the 1st photo was taken in Hakone while the 2nd was taken at Naeba ski resort in Niigata.
Cyzo reports that an update from the AKB48 official blog today refers to Kashiwagi Yuki’s upcoming participation for a Miyagi handshake event (14 June) as a “typo error”. She will not be participating afterall.
Internet buzz site Girls Channel discusses the beginnings of this relationship. Back in 2013, a local television in Hokkaido reported on Tegoshi Yuya dating top idol K. This news was something that could not be mentioned in Tokyo.
Netizens spotted the similarities of the silhouette and Yukirin and started heated discussions. However, the TV show made an apology on their homepage 2 days later,denying any connection between their news and the silhouette.
Yahoo has picked up on this, but it seems like TV/other news sites are still keeping mum about it. It didn’t take them long to report on Kisumai Fujigaya’s relationship though.
Final Edit – Final votes reported for all except Jurina. (Don’t read if you think it’s gonna be spoilers.)
I thought i’d give the international fans a deeper understanding on how the Chinese campaigns work, since last year it was widely reported that the Chinese fans had a hand in pushing Watanabe Mayu to the throne. This suggests that the elections are no longer a domestic affair, but how much support will the Chinese fans give this time?
Below is a list of Group48 members who have got significant campaigning going on in the Baidu Tieba threads(fyi that is where the activities are concentrated). I have ranked them based on how much funds their fans have contributed so far. *Note that these funds is not all-inclusive since there may be other campaigns who don’t report their earnings, and there will be fans who choose to vote directly instead of participating in crowd-funding. Fan clubs will announce the number of votes they’ve contributed before final results.
7. Yamamoto Sayaka
Amassed funds: 125,000RMB
Reported Votes: 2500 4647
Sayanee entered Kami7 last year and is now the handshake queen of 48G. However, her explosion of popularity in Japan is in stark contrast to the growth in her chinese fanbase. Much like the fans from her hometown of Osaka, her chinese fans seem apathetic and not at all interested in pushing her to the top.
6. Takahashi Minami
Amassed funds: 228,817 283,476 RMB
Reported Votes: 4576 5957
Takamina wants to aim for No.1 this year before she resigns in December. Her fans are reportedly quite happy now that they have amassed funds equivalent to last year, but they are equally aware that this amount will at best keep her in 9th place, not any higher. Lets just say that the Japanese fans will have much work to do if they want Takamina to see her wish being granted.
5. Shimazaki Haruka
Amassed funds: 462,601 RMB
Reported Votes: 9252 12,675
Paruru’s fans are the most creative when it comes to running campaigns. One of them is so fun that i’d find it hard not to participate. Basically they’ve created this imaginary restaurant called “Paruru Cafe” and the menu only has 2 items – the Salty combo or Sweet combo. The Salty combo consists of Shio Ramen,French Onion Soup, Croissant, Salty Popcorn and Salt Soda Drink while the Sweet combo consists of Borscht,Sukiyaki,Melon Buns,Almond Sweets and Juice. Each combo costs 111 RMB, and whilst you don’t really get to eat anything, you can see eventually which combo is more popular amongst fans – guesses anyone?
4. Miyawaki Sakura
Amassed funds: 400,000 RMB
Reported Votes: 8000 12,591
I previously posted that Sakura had only 10,000RMB worth of amassed funds. It turns out that she had more than that. The entire Sakura camp(including Japanese fans) are working hard to land her at Kami5 this year. It is said that her vote count will reach 80,000.
3. Sashihara Rino
Amassed funds: 661,345 674,898 RMB
Reported Votes: 13,226 14,046
Sashihara has the smallest fanbase amongst all the other Kami level members in 48 Group. According to her site, the 35,000 number of followers is only about 1/7 of Takamina’s followers. However, it seems like they are the ones proving that action(and perhaps wealth) is what matters, since they’ve easily surpassed Takamina’s funds more than 3 times.
Sashihara has promised to do a swimsuit concert this year if she wins the elections.
2. Matsui Jurina
Amassed funds: 760,000 RMB
Vote Equivalent: 15,200 (*No final report.)
Much of the lobbying this year is centered around talk of Jurina turning 18, how they don’t want to make her cry, and how after this year she’ll have no more excuse to use her age as the reason for aiming No.1. There is not much fanfare about her campaigns, simply pleas asking fans to help fulfill the target.
Meanwhile, Jurina herself has promised to take on the “punishment” of riding on what may be the world’s scariest roller coaster – ACROBAT, if she does not take the crown this year.
1. Kashiwagi Yuki
Amassed funds: 1,200,000 RMB
Reported Votes: 24,000 38,000
If we were to talk about the fanbase who will go all out for their idol this year, it would probably be Yukirin’s. Ahead of the sousenkyo preliminary results announcement, her chinese fanbase have already surpassed last year’s standards and are even making Mayu fans panic.
According to Yukirin’s interview in the Sousenkyo Guidebook, it was mentioned that she has never specifically asked for a position as she wanted to “leave an exit route for herself”, in case she fell. Now that she’s one of the older members and probably wouldn’t have much chances to participate in Sousenkyo anymore, she wants to “push herself to the edge” and aim for the top. Yukirin has promised to challenge an event worthy of Sashihara’s swimsuit concert if she wins the elections.
0. Watanabe Mayu
Amassed funds: ~930,000 RMB in May 2015
Vote Equivalent:18,600 (*No final report.) 34,000 (Updated as of June 2016)
I didn’t give Watanabe Mayu a ranking because her campaign results is quite a mystery! What i listed here is the funds accumulated in May 2015. How much they’ve accumulated in the dark is unknown.
If you ask me how Mayuyu’s campaign is faring so far, i’d say that the enthusiasm is still there, judging by the variety of campaigns which started in the New Year. My favorite campaign is one where fans donate private items(cosmetics,anime collectibles etc) to those who participated in the crowdfunding.
However, there are lots of complaints about sabotaging going on, or journalists harassing the big voters, fans withdrawing their votes etc. Their team has decided to keep the results private this year.
AKB48 Kashiwagi Yuki(23), who was revealed to be in the 2nd position in the preliminary results of the AKB48 General Elections 2015 has promised something for the fans if she does manage to win it.
“I find it hard to tell people to vote for me because it’s the last time. I don’t know if it’ll be the last time, but i’m most serious this time,” she said.
When asked to bet on something like HKT48 Sashihara Rino, who has promised to hold a swimsuit concert if she wins, Kashiwagi showed some precaution and said “I know Tokyo Sports’ battles with Kojima san! Sasshi’s swimsuit concert has really got me. I’ll think of something that is worthy of Sasshi’s challenge. I will announce it when i win!”
Somewhat worried, she ended with “I think what i said here will grow into something big…”
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