Source Q From here on I would like to ask regarding your activities in Sakurazaka46. It has been three years since Matsuda-san was selected to be the captain in November 2022, but how do you look back to your days as a captain until now? Matsuda: When I first succeeded it from the first captain, Sugai Yuuka-san, I felt afraid to be compared because Sugai-san was so great; there was a huge pressure to “properly do it”. I often cried from pressure before and after a concert, where I am frequently entrusted to lead the MC sessions. There were times when I was unable to properly convey what I needed to as a captain through MC, and it made me feel down. Because of that I didn’t have the confidence to say “I’m the captain”, and my first year was truly filled with many worries. But as I had more opportunities to speak publicly and gained experience, I started to slowly have confidence from my second year. Q These days you are used to leading MC session even during concert, but I see that you ...
RAW + PICTURES Before she entered Sakurazaka46, Takemoto-san was a 2nd year high school student who enrolled in a preparatory school and studied hard for her university exams. ”I stayed in school after-class to study. But at the time, I was mostly following what my parents said and aiming for university. Many students around me have already decided which university they want to go to from the 1st year. But I was studying without having a clear dream or goal, and that really made me feel frantic. Every day I would pore over the thick book of the list of universities to find out which to apply to. As I continue to unable to decide, I thought “This is the only thing that I like right now” and applied for Sakurazaka46 (Then Keyakizaka46) audition, that I was a big fan of”. Just about the same time as she passed the audition, she also decided to go to university. ”My parents have been supporting me greatly in my studies such as sending me to cram school since elementary school and taki...