Q1: Tell us where your name came from!
Since it's cool when written in cursive style. That's it (lol). The 遥 kanji was chosen for stroke count and affinity with our family name.
Q2: Which senpai do you aim to be like?
Yoshizawa Hitomi-san and Tanaka Reina-san. Tanaka-san didn't roll along with the changes in eras even while in Morning Musume, and so I admire that she persisted in her own color and strong sense of self at her core. I also have a boyish personality and candidness that's not really related to being an idol, and looking at Yoshizawa-san makes me feel like it's okay to be more of a cool idol instead. I saw her cool beauty side. Yoshizawa-san is the senpai who gave me the inspiration to be in Morning Musume.
Q3: Who would you want to be if you were born
differently?
Former ℃-ute member Okai Chisato-san. Though I love and admire her, she's a really strong mood-maker. She can make people laugh, and the gap when she's on stage is amazing. I want to try being her.
Q4: What do you think you are #1 at in Hello Pro?
I think I'm the member who basks the most in the cheering of high-pitched voices!
Q5: Tell us something awesome about Hello Pro!
Its flashiness that although there are so many of us, each has her own personality. We don't become hidden.
Q6: If you could form a special unit in Hello Pro,
who would it be with?
Myself, Haga Akane-chan, and Sasaki Rikako-chan. I want to gather the members who like Kudo and do Morning Musume's "Mr. Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~". If there happen to be members who say they like me that I don't know about, I'd pull all of those girls in as well to do Kudo Haruka with people who love Kudo. I'd play the male role, and would want everyone to be going kya~kya~ at me (lol).
Q7: Tell us your favorite Morning Musume song!
There's a coupling song called "Love Innovation", and it's super cute. I mean, it's like the height of kawaii. Though I love it and want to sing it, it's one of my biggest sorrows that it rarely comes up in a setlist. Let's sing it one more time before I graduate!
Q8: What's your favorite song in all of Hello Pro?
A Juice=Juice song called "Ai Ai Gasa". It's seriously cute, and a seriously great song. I like Juice=Juice songs personally an awful lot, to where I'll even buy their albums. Out of those, Uemura Akari-chan's voice especially in "Ai Ai Gasa" has a romantic feel to it, and sensuality, so it's great.
Q9: What's the difference between the current and
former Hello Pro?
In the old Hello Pro everyone was so incredibly mature. So there were lots of sexy songs, and they had a spicy image. In the recent Hello Pro it's more a youthful generation, or rather overall there's a sense of us being very young, so it's an incredibly chit-chatty and lively atmosphere. I think there's a kind of appeal that like tickles a sense of maternity.
Q10: Aside from yourself, who would be your #1 member
for someone to watch in order to come to like Hello
Pro?
Angerme's Kamikokuryou Moe-chan. She's cute, and has so much blossom about her. She can convey emotion so well with her eyes that you'll be charmed in just a glance. Moreover, the power she emits with her singing and expressions isn't proportionate to the size of her body. It's so fascinating you're like, "That kind of power's coming from such a small body as that!?"
Q11: What about you do you want people to pay the
most attention to?
Our desperation. Though it's not like we'll be told we've got a command of skills and are good at anything, we generally work hard and do our best! I want you to see that awareness and full effort from us.
Q12: What's some work you'd like to try in the
future?
If there's a third part of "Hanazakari no Kimitachi e ~Ikemen ♂ Paradise~", I'd want to try acting the lead role of Ashiya Mizuki! Since I've always done male roles in Morning Musume stage plays and such, I've often had a boyish image where female fans have been all "kyaa~" for me. I'd like to put my experience from Morning Musume to good use. Though it's an impossible dream.
Q13: What do you want people to pay the most
attention to in Morning Musume?
In the current Morning Musume there are a lot of young members. Though it's a group with a 20-year history, there's a greatness that only we now can produce, and I want girls of our age too to watch and admire our youthful power. Of course older people will be watching too, and I want you to support us like your own children are working hard and doing their best, since we're working awfully hard too!
Q14: What will you be doing 20 years from now?
I want to be an actress who's playing mama roles and such. I wanna do work at a status of like Yoshida Yo-san or Koike Eiko-san!
Q15: Since it's the 20th anniversary, please tell us
a special secret!
When I was in 5th grade I was in the Kanto Swimming Tournament, and received a medal from Kitajima Kosuke-san who was there as a special guest.
Q16: What's something you'd like to become able to do
by next year when the 20th anniversary is over?
Since I'll be graduating high school too, I want to get my driver's license. I also want to ride a motor scooter! Aren't they so cute?
Q17: What would you do if you weren't an idol?
A swimmer. Since I've always been doing it, I would have wanted to be in the Olympics if I wasn't an idol. I would also be the perfect age to participate in the Tokyo Olympics.
Q18: What are you most into now?
I'm into the game "Kingdom Hearts". I found the DS software I bought 2~3 years ago, and am playing with the DS I've been wearing out as well as the cell phone app game.
Q19: Who are you close with in Hello Pro?
Juice=Juice's Takagi Sayuki-chan. Though we haven't hung out in a while, when we were doing Hello Pro Egg activities before debut, she was affectionate to me like a big sister. At the summer Hello! Project concert she called me to the Juice=Juice dressing room to play the Jin-Roh game together.
Q20: What is an idol to you?
Life. Even more because I joined Morning Musume, and I found my next goal of wanting to become an actress, I think I've gotta work hard as an actress from now on for the sake of Morning Musume too. In other words, taking responsibility for its reputation.