MaimiLog Facebook page

Thank you for your continued support of Maimi and MaimiLog! Recently I’ve created a MaimiLog Facebook page where the updates here will automatically be posted, so please “like” the page in order to have the latest updates and Maimi news show up right on your Facebook timeline. Thanks again for your support, and I hope to see you there!

MaimiLog site update 7/6/2015

Thank you to everyone for your continued support of Maimi! Updates to MaimiLog have slowed again as I continue to get settled in Japan. I am currently waiting for internet to be set up in my apartment, and will resume updating as soon as I can.

MaimiLog status update 5/13/2015

Regular readers of this site have probably noticed that the updates have slowed to a halt recently. I haven’t lost my passion for Maimi or translating, but rather have found myself strapped for time as I transition to working in Japan. I’m currently in intensive training which requires I spend my time after work preparing for the next day, so I’ve been struggling to put aside time to translate. I won’t be training forever though, so I hope to get back to a daily schedule before too long. I’ll try to catch up as much as I can this weekend, but I might have to jump ahead to her current updates depending on how long that takes. At any rate, thank you for continuing to support Maimi and I hope you’ll continue to visit here to read about her!

MaimiLog site status

Thanks for always supporting Maimi and reading this blog! First, I want to apologize for the delay in translations from time to time. My free time is nothing compared to what it was when I started this blog, and I’m terrible at time management. That said, as many of you are aware, Morning Musume。’14 will be performing in New York this weekend. I will be attending, but unlike during other trips, I will not be bringing my laptop with me this time. That means unfortunately I won’t be posting any new translations between when I leave tonight and when I return home Tuesday morning. I apologize to everyone who looks forward to these updates, and believe me when I say that it’s something I look forward to doing for you guys too. In the meantime, please make sure to check out 910 Percent, a ℃-ute fansite run by a Japanese fan who is always incredibly on the ball. Those of you who will be attending MM ’14’s performance in NY as well, let’s do our best to make it a huge success so that Hello! Project will the value of overseas events and the passion of overseas fans and bring more acts over, particularly ℃-ute!

MaimiLog status update

First of all, thanks for being readers of MaimiLog, and most importantly, thanks for supporting Maimi! Beginning tomorrow, February 5th, I will be travelling to Japan to spend about a month cheering for Maimi like we can only do in Japan! As such, translations will likely become more sporadic, but I will do my best to translate when I have time and to make sure I get every translation. In addition, I’ll try to update on the happenings while I’m there. Please be patient and stay tuned!

Best of luck at Nippon Budoukan, ℃-ute!

It’s already September 9th in Japan, which means it’s the first of two days of ℃-ute’s performances at Nippon Budoukan. Anyone who follows Maimi’s blog updates knows how much these performances mean to her and the other members, but unfortunately, most of us overseas fans can’t go and spend this auspicious day with the girls and our fellow fans across the ocean. That doesn’t have to stop us from sending our best wishes to ℃-ute though. So I’d like to wish Maimi and the other members a safe and successful Budoukan performance on behalf of myself and all the readers of MaimiLog!

MaimiLog status update 7/8/2013

I just wanted to post and let everyone know that I haven’t forgotten about this site and there are some updates coming soon. I’ve been in Europe for the past week (for ℃-ute’s event naturally), so I wasn’t able to get caught up on translations. Maimi’s updates are a top priority for me and I’ll work as hard as possible to get them out to you guys as fast as I can. The next translation I’ll post will be her first update back from Paris, and then I’ll go back and get the two I missed while travelling. Thanks guys, and let’s continue to give Maimi all of our love!

April Fools!

While it’s no joke that I’m a big fan of Morning Musume’s Iikubo Haruna, MaimiLog’s switch to the Haruna fansite “Iikublog” was. For those who might’ve missed out on it, and because I don’t want all that time I spent on Haruna’s posts to go to waste, I archived everything related to the April Fools gag here. Thanks to everyone for your comments on Twitter and Facebook, and for being such good sports!

Site update 2/26/2013

If you check this site regularly, you might’ve noticed that the usual quickness of the updates on this site has fallen behind. Due to a variety of circumstances, I’ve been finding myself less and less able to devote the necessary amount of time to Maimi’s typically challenging updates. This isn’t me saying that I’m no longer going to translate Maimi’s entries, but rather just a heads-up on why it’s been awhile and might be awhile longer before everything gets up to speed. In the meantime, I will continue to update with news about Maimi so that those who come here for their information aren’t left in the dark. I hope that you’ll continue to stick with Maimi and MaimiLog while I get everything sorted out. Thanks.

-B.G.

July poll results

A scorchingly hot July has come and gone, and so it’s time to tally the votes on another Maimi poll. Thinking back to Maimi’s duet with Abe Natsumi, July’s poll asked “Which former H!P member would you like to see Maimi sing a duet with?”. The clear winner in first place with 20 votes is Hello! Project’s amazing former soloist and Maimi’s own idol Matsuura Aya. Coming in second with 12 votes is former Melon Kinenbi member Shibata Ayumi, who is currently enjoying a solo career outside of H!P. Just one vote behind in third place is Morning Musume O.G. Iida Kaori. And rounding out the list in fourth place with 2 votes is former Country Musume member Satoda Mai.

Last month a brand new unit consiting of Maimi, Berryz Koubou’s Tokunaga Chinami and Kumai Yurina, fellow ℃-ute member Nakajima Saki, and Morning Musume’s Iikubo Haruna was announced. This new unit, “DIY♡”, is tied into the Hello! Project program “Hello! SATOYAMA Life”, and has already debuted a new song at the Hello! Project summer concert series. This is far from the first time that Maimi has been involved in a special unit outside of ℃-ute, though.

Well before ℃-ute showed up, Maimi was in the special unit “ZYX” with Yaguchi Mari, Shimizu Saki, Tsugunaga Momoko, Murakami Megumi, and Umeda Erika. The unit released two singles, “Iku ZYX! Fly High” and “Shiroi TOKYO”, before it’s first incarnation disbanded, and is a unit Maimi has stated a desire to revisit to on several occassions.

Sometime after that, Maimi (as Yajimy) teamed up with Umeda Erika (Umely) and Kumai Yurina (Lily) to form a rival unit to Buono!, named “Bello!“. This unit only appeared in the “Buono! Days 2” DVD magazine, but they performed one song, “Café Bello!”, and hold a special place in your friendly neighborhood MaimiLog admin’s heart.

Perhaps one of Maimi’s best-known and best-loved units is the powerhouse “High-King“, the unit featuring Takahashi Ai, Tanaka Reina, Maimi, Shimizu Saki, and Maeda Yuuka. The unit was formed to provide a theme song for Morning Musume’s stage play “Cinderella”, titled “C\C (Cinderella\Complex)”, but also released several more songs on various Hello! Project compilations albums, and were a mainstay at Hello! Project’s shuffle unit concerts up until Takahashi Ai’s graduation.

One of the most recent and short-lived of Maimi’s special units is “B℃ST” (Berryz Koubou & ℃-ute Special Team). This unit came together for a one-time-only performance at the “LIVE NEXT!! Featuring Hello! Project” event, and consisted of Maimi, Nakajima Saki, Shimizu Saki, Tokunaga Chinami, and Kumai Yurina. Of the special units listed in this article, this is the only one whose members are all still part of Hello! Project!

What’s with the history lesson, you might be asking? Well, in the wake of DIY♡’s formation, August’s poll wants to know “Which of Maimi’s side groups would you like to see revived?” Given the holes left in many of the groups due to graduation, use your imagination to fill them in, and then decide which one you’d like see rise again. And of course, after you do that, make sure to cast your vote!

June poll results

How did the voting play out in June’s poll, which asked everyone to pick their favorite pairing between Maimi and the various Berryz Koubou members? If you couldn’t tell from the large image right above this, coming in first place as no surprise to anyone is the pairing of Maimi with her best friend Tokunaga Chinami, which captured 29 votes. Coming in a close second is the pairing of ℃-ute’s leader with Berryz’s captain, Shimizu Saki, with 23 votes. Third place with 14 votes is the pairing of Maimi with the lovely Natsuyaki Miyabi. Right behind with 13 votes in 4th place is 2/3rds of the “Shakey’s” trio, Maimi and Tsugunaga Momoko. In 5th place with 10 votes is Maimi and Berryz’s youngest member, Sugaya Risako. The pairing of Maimi and her fellow Bello! member Kumai Yurina is in 6th place with 4 votes. Finally, the pairing of Maimi and Sudou Maasa finishes the ranking with 2 votes and 7th place. Thankfully, with all the recent Berikyuu activities, there’s been no shortage of Maimi interacting with all the various members of Berryz Koubou!

July’s poll has a similar theme, in that it’s pairing Maimi with another girl, but also has it’s own twist. Thinking back to Maimi’s duet with Abe Natsumi, “16sai no Koi Nante”, I started to think about which other of Maimi’s senior Hello! Project members I’d like to see her duet with. Coming to mind first was Morning Musume first generation member Iida Kaori. Then Melon Kinenbi’s Shibata Ayumi, who was the lead singer on the song which Maimi covered, “Kousui”. I also considered the Country Musume member who Maimi often speaks fondly of in her blog updates, Satoda Mai. And finally, of course, Maimi’s personal idol, the soloist Matsuura Aya. All four are women with impressive resumes, so if you’re not sure who to choose, or you’re a newer fan and are not familiar with them, do yourself a favor and try looking up some of their songs. And when you’re finished, be sure to come back here and cast your vote!

May poll results

The poll for the month of May asked everyone to pick their favorite of Maimi’s “Kimi wa Jitensha Watashi wa Densha de Kitaku” solo versions, and in the end the poll was just a formality, as the amazing “Yajima Maimi Short Movie “Totsuzen” Dance Ver.” was the runaway winner with 27 votes. Second with 3 votes was the “Solo Ver. A“, third place with 2 votes was the “Train Lip Ver.“, and in last place with 1 vote was the “Solo Ver. B“. Though each version is different and everyone has a preference, the thing that makes them each so great stays the same: Maimi!

June sees the return of Berryz Koubou to the United States of America for the second year in a row, and while a visit by Maimi and ℃-ute would be even sweeter, I’m still excited to go and meet the members of Berryz. Since I’ve got Berryz on the mind, I decided to pay homage to the original MaimiLog poll and ask everyone to vote on their favorite pairings. Maimi and the members of Berryz joined Hello! Project at the same time in 2002, so they have all forged tight bonds and interacted extensively in the 10 years since then. And because there’s so many members, you can make 3 choices in this month’s poll. So think about which Berryz members you most love seeing Maimi with, and cast your votes!

April poll results

We’re already 6 days into May, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to go over April’s poll results! Inspired by the solo versions of the April release “Kimi wa Jitensha Watashi wa Densha de Kitaku”, April’s poll asked “Which ℃-ute single would you want to hear a Maimi solo of?”. Capturing first place with 32 votes and over 50% of all votes counted is “Sekai Ichi HAPPY na Onna no Ko”. In second place with 16 votes is the song famous for Maimi’s monologue, “Tokaikko Junjou”. “FOREVER LOVE” comes in third place with 10 votes, and in last place is “LA LA LA Shiawase no Uta” with 3 votes.

Speaking of “Kimi wa Jitensha Watashi wa Densha de Kitaku”, April saw 30 versions of the music video uploaded daily to the ℃-ute channel on YouTube. Of those 30, 4 were Maimi solo versions: “Yajima Maimi Solo A Ver.”, “Yajima Maimi Solo B Ver.”, “Yajima Maimi Train Lip Ver.”, and “Yajima Maimi Short Move ‘Totsuzen’ Dance Ver.”. And now, I want everyone to pick which one they like the best. Surely we’ve all seen each video countless times already, but do yourself a favor and watch them all again, and then come back here and cast your vote!

March poll results

March has ended and the minefield known as April Fools’ Day has begun, but let’s take a break from all the trickery and take a look back at the results for March’s poll, which asked everyone to pick their favorite of Maimi’s 3 beloved pet dogs. In the end, it wasn’t even close as Maimi’s Jack Russell terrier “Rookie” got 47 votes for 74% of the overall vote count to capture first place. In second place with 10 votes is Maimi’s toy poodle “Aroma”, and in third place with 6 votes is Aroma’s mom “Cologne”. No matter which dog you voted for, I think we can all agree that they live an enviable life being cared for and loved by Maimi!

Releasing later this month is ℃-ute’s next single “Kimi wa Jitensha Watashi wa Densha de Kitaku”. In an unprecedented move, each member of ℃-ute has recorded a solo version of the single which will be available on their respective limited edition of the single. Us lucky Maimi fans get our first (and second, and third, and…) listen of Maimi’s solo version today via the “Yajima Maimi Solo Ver.B” version of the music video uploaded to the official ℃-ute YouTube channel (watch it here!). Tying into that, this month’s poll asks which other ℃-ute single would you want to hear a Maimi solo of. The choices are Tokaikko Junjou, LA LA LA Shiawase no Uta, FOREVER LOVE, and Sekai Ichi HAPPY na Onna no Ko. Pick the one you like the best, and then go back to enjoying Maimi’s “Kimi wa Jitensha Watashi wa Densha de Kitaku” solo!

February poll results

With all the festivities of Maimi’s birth month behind us, it’s time to check in on the results for February’s poll, which asked “How old was Maimi when you learned of her?” The majority of those who voted have been in it for the long haul, as the number one result with 35 votes was 16-years-old or younger. In second place was 17-years-old with 12 votes, followed by 18-years-old in third place with 9 votes, and 19-years-old in fourth place with 3 votes. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a veteran fan or a newcomer, though, as long as you cheer for Maimi as best you can! Let’s do our part to make sure Maimi continues to make more fans at 20-years-old too!

March’s poll takes a look at Maimi’s beloved pet dogs, Rookie, Cologne, and Aroma. Maimi has written in depth about the three and even showcased them on H!P’s weekly program “HaroPuro TIME”, so most fans probably have at least a passing familiarity with them, and maybe even a favorite! For those that are undecided, try putting any of their names in the search box here on MaimiLog and read up, then make sure to cast your vote!