Barks article on Maimi trending

As Maimi mentioned in her latest blog update, she was trending in Twitter in Japan prior to ℃-ute’s performance at Nippon Budoukan. The website Barks published an article covering the phenomenon, which reads as follows:

Around 5PM on September 10th, “Maimi-chan” entered the Japan Twitter trends alongside topics like “Apple Watch”, etc. “Maimi-chan” is ℃-ute’s leader Yajima Maimi, and is rumored to be “the strongest rain girl in Hello! Project”.

On September 10th, authorized by the Japan Anniversary Council as “℃-ute Day”, ℃-ute will perform at Nippon Budoukan. Even though the weather was clear in the morning, rain clouds covered the sky in Tokyo as the performance drew near, and heavy rain and flood warnings have been issued for 23 districts in Tokyo, which is why she’s trending. Actually, one by one people are tweeting about Yajima Maimi, saying things like “Maimi-chan’s seriousness is scary”, “Maimi-chan is too fired up”, “Maimi-chan’s legendary rain girl status is going strong today too”, etc. etc.

＜℃-ute(910) Day Special Concert 2014 Thank you Berikyuu! in Nippon Budoukan> will start at 6:30PM. We hope that the fans participating in the concert be careful heading to Nippon Budoukan.

“I My Me” navigator message for 1/10

Here’s the translation for Maimi’s navigator message for the week of January 10th, 2014 from the “℃-ute Yajima Maimi no I My Me Maimi~” website:

It’s almost Coming of Age Day!!
From ℃-ute, Nakajima Saki-chan will be a new adult!!
Well, she is born early in the year like me, so she’ll still be a minor when she attends the coming of age ceremony!!

Not just Nacky, but Suzuki Airi-chan and Okai Chisato-chan will also turn 20 this year,
and one after another the ℃-ute members are turning 20-years-old.
℃-ute’s average age will become 20!! It feels strange!
…Or perhaps I should say, it makes me really feel that time passes fast…

No matter where I went,
people were surprised and said “How small~!” and “How young~!!”…
Now I’m in the position of saying those things (lol)

But, but, having the amount of friends in the group entering their 20s makes me happy personally (lol)

I don’t know if Hagiwara Mai-chan, the only remaining teenager, feels a little sad,
or if she thinks “Hehe♪ Only Mai’s young!!”,
but I want the adult ℃-ute to improve in 2014,
and since Mai-chan will be turning 18,
I want ℃-ute to have a countdown concert some day too!

Maimi’s “Glass to Mizu” handshake event

JiJi Press has uploaded an article and video (above) covering the release commemoration handshake event held yesterday in Shinjuku for Maimi’s latest solo photobook “Glass to Mizu”.
In the PR segment, Maimi began by explaining that the photobook is a collection of photos of her from 3 years earlier, when her hair was still short and she looked a little more childlike, and that she had no idea at the time that those pictures would become a photobook 3 years later. In addition, Maimi introduced a picture of her and Aroma, who makes her photobook debut in “Glass to Mizu”, as one of her favorites. Maimi was worried about how Aroma would behave at the photoshoot since she’s a mischevious dog, but that she was so quiet and well-behaved at the photoshoot that Maimi was worried something was wrong with her.
Moving on to the topic of ℃-ute, Maimi talks about how fast the time has gone by since they joined Hello! Project 11 years ago. Finally, in their 12th year, they reached their goal of performing at Nippon Budoukan, which Maimi credits to the support of the fans. Currently ℃-ute is on the “NaruChika” tour with S/mileage performing in places Maimi hasn’t been before, and she relishes in the chance to try those places’ delicious local specialties. She also enjoys performing with the younger S/mileage members and so close to the crowd which is filled with a mix of both groups’ fans.
Maimi was asked about something she’s into lately, and to no surprise to anyone who regularly reads her blog updates, she responded with “blood orange juice” and talked about the variety of blood orange-flavored goods she’s come across lately. She was then asked about any recent incidents, and she told the story of how when she was leaving the hotel in Nagoya to go to Osaka the other day, she realized that she left her wallet at the hotel. It was too late for her to go back to the hotel since she was about to board the bullet train to Osaka, so she had to borrow money off of Nacky (fellow ℃-ute member Nakajima Saki) the entire day. Maimi assured everyone that she paid her back the day of the event though, and said that she wants to be a more level-headed leader from now on.

Maimi’s GekiHaro comments

It was announced last week on the Hello! Project website that the long-running “GekiHaro” series of plays would be coming to an end. As she’s often mentioned before, Maimi’s first experience with plays was in the second GekiHaro, “Neru-ko wa ℃-ute“, and she offered her comments on the end of GekiHaro on the H!P website, translated below.

This is ℃-ute’s Yajima Maimi.
Following “Warera Janne ~Otome Seisen Kageki~”, the play starring Berryz Koubou and S/mileage, it’s been decided that GekiHaro will end.
Through GekiHaro 6 years earlier, us in ℃-ute experienced “plays” for the first time, the joy of acting, the magnificence of everyone coming together to create a play, the joy of receiving applause from the audience after we delivered our performance… I learned countless things different from our concerts.
I think I was able to grow in a lot of ways because of GekiHaro.
We did the plays nearly every year, so it makes me feel incredibly sad,
but I want to make the best use of everything I’ve learned and everything I’ve felt up to now in my future activities.
Everyone who has supported GekiHaro… Thank you so very much.

“I My Me” navigator message for July 19th

The navigator message on the “I My Me” website has been updated with Maimi’s voice blog from the July 19th broadcast. In it, Maimi talks about ℃-ute’s recent trip to Paris, and what the experience of meeting overseas fans made her think. Click the link below to read the full translation.

“I My Me” navigator message for June 28th

Maimi has updated the navigator message on the “I My Me” website with a message of particular interest to readers of MaimiLog, especially those who participated in the Maimi Yajima 20th Birthday Project. In her message, Maimi looks ahead to her trip to France, and mentions an album filled with messages from overseas fans which she received. There’s no way to be certain without asking Maimi herself, but there’s a strong possibility that it’s the album with the messages all of us wrote for her! At any rate, to see what Maimi thought of the messages, hit the jump to see the full translation.

Maimi, Haruna to appear on “Tenkatouitsu”

Maimi will join Morning Musume’s Iikubo Haruna on the NHK Sougou live program “Souhoukou Quiz Tenkatouitsu” (“Interactive Quiz; Unification of the Whole Country”), which will broadcast on June 8th at 12:10AM. The theme of this episode of the quiz program will be “pets”, and the cast page at the “Tenkatouitsu” website has a short Q&A with all of the participants about their pets. I’ve translated the answers for the Iikubo/Yajima team, which you can see by hitting the jump below.

“I My Me” navigator message for May 17th

Maimi updated the navigator message on the website for her radio program “I My Me Maimi~”, and gave more details on the book of correspondence her mother and nursery school teacher kept, which she had originally mentioned in this update. The message can be seen in the original Japanese here, and an English translation can be found by clicking below.

“I My Me” navigator message for May 10th

In Maimi’s navigator message on the “I My Me” radio program website for this week, Maimi recaps the story of Aroma’s recent escape and the ensuing chase, which she originally wrote about in this blog update. Maimi’s message can be seen on the “I My Me” website by clicking on the second tab.

“Hatachi” event reports

To commemorate the release of Maimi’s latest photobook “Hatachi” on November 27th, handshake events were held over three days in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. Members of the press were on hand for the event at Bunkyodo Shoten’s Shibuya store on the 28th, and published various articles containing details and images from the event.

Cinema Today noted that around 800 (!) people went to the handshake event in spite of the threat of rain. On the subject of Maimi’s reputation as a rain girl, Maimi said that the photoshoot was blessed with fine weather, but that it had started raining when she got on the bus after souvenir shopping.

Girls News reported that the photoshoot was held in Ishikawa prefecture, which reminded Maimi of another place she loves, Kyoto. There was also a theme that Maimi acted out, which was a girl who had returned to her hometown after being in the big city, and who those looking at the photobook would want to protect. Her favorite pictures were the ones taken indoors in an old lady’s home, and when asked why, Maimi replied that she loved the atmosphere of the rooms and how the sunlight filtered by the trees led to some beautiful photographs.

Maimi was asked who she wanted to see this photobook, and she responded that she’d like those who have her first photobook made when she was 15 to see it and her growth since then, and for those who don’t know her yet to see this moment of the 20-year-old Maimi’s life.

As this was Maimi’s first photobook since turning 20, she was asked what has changed about her since reaching the milestone. Maimi didn’t think anything about herself changed, but she feels out of place during self-introductions since the other ℃-ute members are still in their teens. Maimi was also asked about her experiences with alcohol since becoming 20, but Maimi responded that she doesn’t drink alcohol, as she still prefers the taste of juice. However, she said that she’d like to try wine sometime, Tokyo Sports wrote.

The website Scramble Egg asked Maimi what her secrets were to achieving her famous abs. Maimi responded that she’s just naturally muscular, and that when she was younger she swam, played baseball and softball, and did weight training like her brothers. Now she doesn’t do anything in particular, but still gets muscles easily.

Since Maimi’s expressions in the photobook stood out so much, she was also asked what kind of expression she makes the most on her own. Maimi’s told she’s always smiling, and she’ll notice herself smiling while she’s eating by herself, she laughed.

Finally, when asked about her goals for next year, Maimi said that this year was one full of challenges, so she’d like to relate those challenges to what she does next year and face even more.

Maimi’s birthday message to Nacky

I prefer to post the translations for Maimi’s entries on the same date she posted them (meaning, even if I finish the translation for her 2/5 update while it’s still 2/4 here, I’ll wait until midnight EST on 2/5 to post it), but I figured there’d be a lot of people interested in her birthday message for Nacky, so rather than wait 13 hours, I want to go ahead and post that part of her update now. Be sure to check back later for the full translation. Happy birthday, Nacky!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Nacky

It’s become 12:00AM
Though, it’s a little after

The 17-year-old Nacky who I just had an event with
has become 18

Congratulations
Nacky has a lot of things that I don’t,

so I always think “Amazing~“.
I really have to be more level-headed too

For always supporting me, and always helping me, thank you so much.

When I see Nacky working hard, I strongly feel “I gotta work hard too“.

Yaji really loves and respects Nacky, who gives everything she has no matter what she does.

She gives me lo~ts of motivation

There are too many things that I love about her, so I can’t write about them all

Though the persistent Nacky is the type who lets her worries pile up, all of the members are her allies

So from here on too, let’s go and overcome the painful and frustrating things together, ok

…and then, let’s also share our joy and happiness

I pray from my heart that turning 18-years-old will be wonderful for you

Really, happy birthday
Thanks for being born

Hello! iPhone Project 2011/12 special edition

The website MacPeople has uploaded the December edition of their series Hello! iPhone Project, where Hello! Project members discuss the various apps they play. This month featured Berryz Koubou’s Tokunaga Chinami (iPhone 4), Sugaya Risako (iPhone 4), and of course, Maimi (iPod Touch). Here’s a translation of the article:

Sudoku
Yajima: The staff has the same app, so we battle to see who can clear it first. It’s not just a time-killer, but it’s also fun using my head!

Moguratataki by Hangame
Sugaya: It’s a game I found when I felt like whacking moles. It’s a stress reducer!

Hekoichatta!
Tokunaga: This is super funny, and when you tap on the button the strange old man on the screen farts
Sugaya: What the heck? That’s hilarious!
Tokunaga: When I did it in the train, I could see the people next to me making weird faces

iKanji Drill
Yajima: Since you can study kanji with this, I recommend it
Sugaya: How amazing~
Yajima: But I really can’t read kanji. There are times where I’ve gotten all the questions wrong (lol)

Stop It! Free
Tokunaga: It’s part of a series of soothing apps that relieve my stress, like birds chirping and the sound of water dropping
Yajima: On the contrary, this app only stresses me out… Stopping it on exactly 5 seconds like in “Stop It! Free”, I think “Ah~, I’m almost there” and I get irritated

Tzura Catch
Tokunaga: I like pointless games. For example, “Tzura Catch”
Yajima: Enough already. I can guess what it’s like just from the name
Tokunaga: You move an old man left and right and time it so that wig lands correctly. It’s really difficult, so I still haven’t gotten too into it

Kenuki no Tatsujin
Sugaya: Ah, I have this one!
Tokunaga: The trick is to slowly pull it out with your thumb. Cause if you pull it out quickly, the hair breaks
Sugaya: Pulling it out after pushing for a long time is also good. This is fun

Osawari Tantei Nameko Saibai Kit
Sugaya: “Nameko Saibi Kit” is popular, and I’m completely addicted to it. Fellow member Miyabi-chan (Natsuyaki) taught me about it
Tokunaga: I play it too! During their free time, Risako and Momo (Tsugunaga Momoko) would say “Ah, my nameko rotted”, so I thought “What the heck are these guys talking about?” When I tried it out, I became totally addicted (lol)

Zombie Booth
Tokunaga: Do you know about “Zombie Booth”, the app that turns a picture of your face into a zombie?
Sugaya: That’s scary~. The teeth and what-not are extremely real
Tokunaga: I have two sisters, and I made those two’s faces into zombies and showed it to them. Then, my mama said “Don’t show them that!”, and got really mad at me. I never thought I’d get in trouble for an iPhone app (lol)

The three girls also commented on their two upcoming releases: “Amazuppai Haru ni Sakurasaku” by Berikyuu and “Busu ni Naranai Tetsugaku” by Mobekimasu.

Amazuppai Haru ni Sakurasaku
Tokunaga: It’s the ending theme for the Berikyuu movie “Ousama Game”, which releases on 12/17. It’s a graduation song, so it reminded me of when I was a middle school student (lol). By the way, the outfits are hakama!
Yajima: It’s a graduation song, but since it’s being released in November…
Sugaya: It’s the feeling of anticipation!

Busu ni Naranai Tetsugaku
Tokunaga: There’s a lot of people, huh
Yajima: I wouldn’t notice if someone was missing (lol)
Sugaya: In regards to the song, the singing assignment is really complex, so remembering it was really difficult
Tokunaga: There’s also 3 patterns for the dance
Yajima: The PV filming was amazing
Sugaya: It was really hurried (lol)
Yajima: There’s a scene where everyone moves as they please, and I want people to pay close attention to that
Tokunaga: Though everyone was scattered, it was actually funny!

“Imagine classic” listing added to e-LineUP

The listing for Maimi’s 6th solo DVD, and the 3rd and final part of her series of 3-month consecutive solo DVD releases, “Imagine classic”, was added to the e-LineUP! website. According to the listing, the DVD is about 50 minutes long, and the description reads:

This work, the final of the 3-month consecutive releases, is like a dream for Yajima Maimi fans. Wearing different outfits and having different hair and make-up, various Yajima Maimis create various groups and dance.

And then, for the sake of this work new arrangements of songs and dances were made, and the music videos by the wonderful group “Yajima Maimi” are a must see! Of course, each character’s image scene, making-of, etc. were recorded!!

This work is the only place you can see these dances, outfits, and songs, so please look forward to various Yajima Maimis abundant with individuality!

The pre-order period for “Imagine classic” will run from 6:00PM JST on 9/20 until 11:59PM JST on 10/9, and the DVD will ship sometime in mid-November. The DVD costs 2,980 yen (around 39 USD at the time of writing), and while e-LineUP! doesn’t ship outside of Japan, they recommend the international forwarding service Tenso.com for international customers who would like to order the DVD.

For those who might’ve missed it, here’s the digest for “Imagine classic”, which features 5 Maimis (all given names by Maimi in this blog update) dancing to Taiyo to Ciscomoon’s “Uchuu de La Ta Ta”:

℃-ute news for 9/18: “Sekai Ichi” comment video

■ JIJIPRESS has become the latest to upload a video of the ℃-ute members commenting on their latest single “Sekai Ichi HAPPY na Onna no Ko”. The girls go over the usual promotion, and then each share something happy. Maimi says that on that day, she had eaten a tomato that she had raised herself, and when prompted by Mai, demonstrates her face when biting into it. The full video can be seen here.

Berikyuu news for 9/16: “Amazuppai Haru” preview, “Sengoku Jieitai” article

■ A new trailer for the upcoming thriller starring Berryz Koubou and ℃-ute, “Ousama Game” was uploaded to the Cinema Today YouTube channel. From around 0:13 to 0:35, a preview of the Berryz Koubou x ℃-ute single “Amazuppai Haru no Sakurasaku” can be heard.

■ Mantan Web has uploaded an article on the Berryz Koubou and ℃-ute collaboration play “Sengoku Jieitai”, which began today. In the article, Maimi commented:

In the beginning, my arms would hang down from just holding the rifle, but my arm strength has increased, and I’m working hard so that I can hold it with good posture.

The article includes 20 images from the press conference, and can be seen here.