I came about a Japanese article (see bottom of page) 2 days ago about Team A's Nakaya Sayaka (Nakayan). It was a touching article about how Nakayan felt lonely because her mom could not come and watch her performances in AKB48. And I won't spoil you the rest. It's a very nice read.
AKBINGO once had a segment titled "Hokkori Hanashi" (Touching Story) back in 2010, which featured Oshima Yuko, Miyazawa Sae and Kuramochi Asuka. If you are a fan of those, you will surely enjoy these.
It turns out that this is actually a whole series of interviews by Shukan Asahi, and this is already the 34th interview. I wonder why I haven't seen this pop up anywhere? We might be translating more in the future.
Enjoy!
I want to repay the kindness of my mother who raised me singlehandedly
Translated by Kieyuku and Mammothb
I joined AKB48 at 15, and am 20 this year.
I yearned to be a seiyuu since kindergarten so I went to the seiyuu development school during high school. Due to certain reasons, I had to quit and give up.
I started to hate going to school, stayed home watching anime and made cosplay costumes.
While I was a hikkikomori at home, I saw an article on AKB48, saying it aims to be the place where various girls can achieve their dream, words by Akimoto Yasushi. I thought to aim to become a seiyuu once again.
Thankfully, I did Moshidora this year. Little by little, I'm heading towards realising my dream.
Though singing and dancing with friends(fellow AKB48 members) is tough, I like it.
Of course, the theatre performances and every concert I have participated in have created important memories to me that are unable to be broken, but my mother was not present in those memories.
Up til now, my mother has not even once come to see my performances. Be it the Akihabara Theater, Yokohama Arena, or Seibu Dome, she never came. She said "Because I dislike loud noise." It was the first time I felt lonely, but I thought if that was really why (she didn't want to come). I thought if she was not happy about my dreams or being in AKB48.
However, a few days ago, when the television was showing Moshidora, my mother who was standing in the kitchen aimlessly, asked "This time, you are going somewhere for Moshidora right?" I thought, was she talking about the handshake event? But that may be the first time my mother talked about my job.
The shocked me wondered how my mother knew about it. And after asking, my mother said "I saw it on the net."
You would think, that's kind of normal isn't it?
However, my mother is a person that finally learnt how to use a mobile phone only recently. And yet, how she was able to search for such information on the computer?
At that time, my mother started to feel pain whenever she bends down to pick things. Come to think of it, she had mentioned before that walking up and down the stairs is difficult for her. Somehow, my mother looked smaller in size than before.
Being the youngest among 3 siblings, it's quite a normal sight after reaching 20, I guess.
The reason for quitting the seiyuu school was due to family problems. My mother told me "I'm sorry, but I can't let you go anymore."
At that time, realising that the one-way door of the path to my dream was closed, I became depressed. But all I can remember of that day is the pained look in my mother's eyes. Having to tell her daughter that she can't support her dream due to financial problems, it must have been tough.
The mother that singlehandedly brought me up, it must have been a lot of hard work.
In the future, I want to become a pro seiyuu. My mother will not need to work anymore and just rest at home.
If I look from behind the small figure of my mother who is rubbing her knee, I get a sudden sour feeling in my nose.
"Mother, if I hold my own concert, at that time, you must definitely come watch!"
From my heart it seems to murmur. I kept tears from falling as I turned my face toward the television outside, and the animation of the character I play in Moshidora, Hojo Ayano, became blurry.
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