Maimi hosts “Hello! Station #140”

Maimi returns to host the 140th installment of the YouTube program “Hello! Station”. In addition to her hosting duties, Maimi appears alongside the other ℃-ute members at the 8:52 mark for a performance “Arigatou ~Mugen no Yell~” and comments recorded at the opening day of their autumn tour.

Tips for commenting on ℃-ute’s blog

℃-ute has finally started an Ameba blog, which means that fans outside of Japan finally have an opportunity to comment on ℃-ute’s updates. Unlike GREE, which required a Japanese cell phone to sign up for, anyone with an e-mail address is able to register with Ameba. There still exists a major hurdle for fans who don’t speak Japanese to overcome, though. Every comment posted on the ℃-ute blog, or any other Hello! Project idol blog for that matter, needs to be approved before it’s published, and comments in English or with a large amount of English are almost guaranteed not to be approved. That leaves fans who don’t speak Japanese with only two options: not comment, which is unacceptable after having waited 5 years for this opportunity, or use translation software such as Google Translate, which is notorious for its unreliable and incomprehensible translations. However, I hope that with this guide I can help everyone get some extra mileage out of Google Translate and craft a great comment for ℃-ute’s blog.

Tip #1: Be simple

The simpler your English, the more likely Google Translate is going to be able to churn out a translation that makes sense to a Japanese person. Avoid using slang, idioms, and compound sentences. Think about how you might talk to a child or someone just learning English. For example:

“My name is Jared. I live in America. I love Maimi-chan. I want to see ℃-ute’s concert.”

A sentence like that is very hard for Google Translate to mess up, and the translation it gives is very easy for Japanese people to understand.

“私の名前はジャレッドです。私はアメリカに住んでいます。私は舞美ちゃんが大好きです。私は℃-uteのコンサートを見たい。”

Of course, if you don’t speak Japanese, you won’t know if the translation it gave you is good or not. In that case, you can…

Tip #2: Check your translation

All you need to do is copy the Japanese text it gave you, and plug it back into Google Translate and see what it says in English. When I try that with the above example, the translation I get is:

“My name is Jared. I live in the United States. I love Maimi-chan. I want to see a concert of ℃ -ute.”

It gets a little clumsy at the end, but it’s perfectly understandable. If what you get is complete gibberish, though…

Tip #3: Be flexible

One of the amazing things about our language is that there’s a million different ways to say the same thing. If the translation you get is bad, try tweaking your wording or think of a completely different way to say what you want to say.

Let’s say that you want to express your excitement for seeing ℃-ute’s latest music video. A phrase like “I can’t wait to see ℃-ute’s new video.” is the first thing that pops into my mind. However, Google Translate gives me this:

“私は℃-uteの新しいビデオを見るために待つことができない。”

What that says is that I literally am unable to wait for ℃-ute’s new music video, and therefore won’t be seeing it.

Another way to phrase it is “I’m looking forward to seeing ℃-ute’s new music video”. That gives us:

“私は℃-uteの新しいミュージックビデオを見て楽しみにしています。”

While it’s still rough, that translation is much better, and the message is sure to get across to the girls. Another way to word it would be “I want to see ℃-ute’s new music video.” Use your creativity and don’t get frustrated if takes you awhile to find the best way to word something.

Now that you have your comment and are ready to post…

Tip #4: Put a little English on it

While I said earlier that Ameba won’t approve posts written entirely or mostly in English, they will approve posts with a little bit of simple English in them. When I comment on the Hello! members’ blogs, I like to bookend my comments with phrases like “Good morning!” and “See you later!”. Things like “I love you” and “Thank you” and other simple English phrases that even most non-English speakers know should be acceptable, and will add a fun little extra to your comment. If you’ve added some and your comment isn’t approved, just remove the English and post again, and make a note for next time you comment.

Now that we’ve been empowered, let’s make the most of it and show our girls the passion of the fans overseas! Hopefully these tips will be helpful, and if you want some more help with comments, 910 Percent has posted a guide as well, which includes some great Japanese sentences you can use in your comments (particularly number 11…). Happy commenting!

Maimi Sightings for August 7th: Airi, “Nippon Dandy”

Fellow ℃-ute member Suzuki Airi shared these 2-shots with Maimi in her update today on the official ℃-ute blog (1 & 2). The two of them also appeared on the TV show “Nippon Dandy” together today, and the show’s official Facebook page uploaded this pic of them with the show’s cast (3).

Check out blog!project for full translations of the other ℃-ute and Hello! Project members’ blog updates.

Maimi Sightings for August 6th: Nacky, Airi

Maimi’s fellow ℃-ute members shared some 2-shots with her in their updates, starting with this one Nakajima Saki posted in her update on the official ℃-ute blog the other day (1), and then this one Suzuki Airi posted in her update yesterday (2).

Check out blog!project for full translations of the other ℃-ute and Hello! Project members’ blog updates.

Maimi Sightings for August 3rd: Nacky, “UTB”

Fellow ℃-ute member Nakajima Saki shared this 2-shot with Maimi in her update on the official ℃-ute blog (1). The “UTB” magazine Twitter account tweeted this “refreshing shot” of Maimi while promoting the issue ℃-ute appears in (2).

Check out blog!project for full translations of the other ℃-ute and Hello! Project members’ blog updates.

Maimi Sightings for August 2nd

▪Maimi’s fellow ℃-ute members Nakajima Saki, Okai Chisato, and Suzuki Airi uploaded these group shots from the Otodama concert in their updates yesterday on the official ℃-ute blog.

▪The official ℃-ute Facebook page shared another group shot from the Otodama concert, as well as a solo shot of Maimi from the group’s shoot for an upcoming issue of “UTB”.

Check out blog!project for full translations of the other ℃-ute and Hello! Project members’ blog updates.

Maimi Sightings for July 31st: Mai, Airi, Haruna

(1 & 2) ℃-ute members Hagiwara Mai and Suzuki Airi both uploaded pictures from the ℃-ute girls’ night out in their updates on the official ℃-ute blog today (Mai’s update, Airi’s update). (3) Morning Musume’s Iikubo Haruna shared this backstage 2-shot with Maimi in her update on the MM 10th generation blog, and wrote:

℃-ute’s Yajima Maimi-san.

There are sunglasses that are decorations on our outfits,

but we played around putting them on.

Yajima-san… I went to see the play “Taklamakan”…

I really fell in love with her…

The more I look at her, the more beautiful she seems!!

She’s a really warm and tender beauty!!

I hope we can become closer during the Hello! concerts.

Check out blog!project for full translations of the other ℃-ute and Hello! Project members’ blog updates.

Maimi Sightings for July 30th: Aika, “UTB”

Hello! Project soloist Mitsui Aika shared 2-shots with all of the ℃-ute members on her official blog, including this lovely one with Maimi.

℃-ute staffs’ Twitter account tweeted this picture of Maimi from today’s photoshoot for the magazine “UTB”.

Check out blog!project for full translations of the other ℃-ute and Hello! Project members’ blog updates.

Maimi Sightings for July 29th: Captain

Berryz Koubou’s captain, Shimizu Saki, shared this 2-shot with “Mii-tan” in an update on her official blog today.

Check out blog!project for full translations of the other ℃-ute and Hello! Project members’ blog updates.

Maimi Sightings for July 23rd: Nacky, Airi

(1) Fellow ℃-ute member Nakajima “Nacky” Saki uploaded this 3-shot of her, Maimi, and Suzuki Airi in her update yesterday on the official ℃-ute blog. (2) Airi then shared a picture of her and Maimi and a cafe au lait whose straw fell into the cup in her update today on the official ℃-ute blog.

Check out blog!project for full translations of the other ℃-ute and Hello! Project members’ blog updates.

Maimi Sightings for July 20th: Mitsui, Captain

▪Hello! Project soloist Mitsui Aika posted some 2-shots with her and the other H!P members in an update on her official blog yesterday, including this one with Maimi.

▪Berryz Koubou’s “captain” Shimizu Saki shared this 2-shot with “Mii-tan” in an update on her official blog. Captain also wrote Maimi gave her a letter the other day, and thanked her for it.

Check out blog!project for full translations of the other ℃-ute and Hello! Project members’ blog updates.

Maimi Sightings for July 17th: Airi, “Onitama”, “Haro!Sute”

▪Suzuki Airi shared this large 2-shot with Maimi in her update on the official ℃-ute blog.

▪The NACK5 “Onitama” blog uploaded a shot of Yajisuzu along with the radio program’s hosts.

▪The latest edition of the YouTube program “Hello! Station” has been uploaded to the channel of the same name, and features footage of Maimi and the girls in France at around the 21 minute mark.

Check out blog!project for full translations of the other ℃-ute and Hello! Project members’ blog updates.

June 21st~23rd updates

For a variety of reasons, I’ve again fallen behind on translations of Maimi’s blog. With a trip to France for ℃-ute’s first overseas event drawing nearer, I don’t see myself having the time to catch up on the missed translations and still do her current ones. So I’ve made the decision to summarize the entries I’ve missed and hopefully get back on track starting with her update on the 24th. I apologize to those who were waiting for those translations, and I’ll do my best to not end up in this situation again. That said, here’s a summary of Maimi’s updates from June 20th to June 23rd:

▪Maimi began the 21st with an update wishing fellow ℃-ute member Okai Chisato a happy 19th birthday. Maimi speculated that Chisato’s personality makes it easy for fans to talk to her at handshake events, went on about how Chisato cares for her younger siblings, and wrote about how Chisato helps push her and the other ℃-ute members to do better. Maimi’s update can be seen here.

▪Maimi then returned for another update to tell everyone that the music videos for “Kanashiki Amefuri” and “Adam to Eve no Dilemma” had been uploaded to the official ℃-ute channel. This update can be read here.

▪On the 22nd, Maimi wrote that she had met one of her close friends the day before to record a birthday video for another one of their friends. Maimi was surprised when her friend came to pick her up in a car, and listened to stories about how her friend went back to their alma mater to teach 2nd graders in preparation for becoming a nurse. Maimi then reminded everyone to check out the new videos on ℃-ute’s YouTube channel and shared a 2-shot of her resting her head on Airi’s lap from during a break in the music video filming. Maimi’s full entry can be found here.

▪In her update on the 23rd, Maimi recapped yesterday’s “Kanashiki Amefuri”/”Adam to Eve no Dilemma” mini-concert and handshake event in Osaka, thanking the variety of people who showed up for participating. After the event was over, the entire group hopped on the bullet train and headed for Fukuoka for today’s performances of their current tour. It was Maimi’s first time going to Fukuoka via the bullet train, so she was unaware of the time it took and kept waking up early during her nap. Once there, Maimi filled up while chatting with the other members, and vowed to do her best with the power she gained from all the food. Her update can be seen here.

Maimi Sightings for June 12th: Marika, Mellowquad

Maimi’s “Sakura no Hanataba” co-star Fukunaga Marika went to the Tokyo closing day of “Taklamakan” and included her impressions along with this 2-shot in an update on her official blog. Check out 910 Percent for a full translation of her update.

The Satoyama Movement Twitter tweeted a series of pictures from a “Mellowquad” (Maimi’s SatoUmi Movement group) music video filming which took place today.

Maimi Sightings for May 20th: Nacky, “Taklimakan”

▪Fellow ℃-ute member Nakajima Saki shared this 2-shot with Maimi in an update on the official blog.

▪”Taklimakan” producer/playwright Hata Takehiko tweeted this shot of Maimi at practice for the play.

Check out blog!project for full translations of the other ℃-ute and Hello! Project members’ blog updates.