Q1: Tell us where your name came from!
The stroke count. Dad and mom gave it to me, and I hear there were lots of cute people named "Miki" who my parents knew. So first they decided on the sound of "Miki" and chose the stroke count so I'd have all great fortune. My grandpa is an expert on stroke count, and heard it was for all great fortune!
Q2: Which senpai do you aim to be like?
In performance, Sayashi Riho-san. Since she's so cool whenever I see her, I admire her performance so incredibly much to where I even still now consult live videos from when Sayashi-san was here. Also, Tsuji Nozomi-san. I came to like Morning Musume through Tsuji-san. I really loved MiniMoni, and liked Tsuji-san when she was sweet and cute as well as like her an awful lot as cute as she is now, so she's the type of woman I aim to be like. I keep studying Tsuji-san for tips on how to be feminine.
Q3: Who would you want to be if you were born differently?
That would have to be Tsuji Nozomi-san. She joined Morning Musume at the time of "Ren'ai Revolution 21" and has appeared a lot on TV and such, right. I want to try living that age again! Though I had been born, since I was only 1 or 2 years old, I'd like to try going to that era. I would also want to be in MiniMoni.
Q4: What do you think you are #1 at in Hello Pro?
One thing would definitely be English. Since I lived in America for 8 years, I think it's right on the mark. And in order to globalize, I want to work hard at being our global representative! One more thing would be my continuity. Posting blogs every day as well as writing whenever I'm able on the Hello! Project mobile site "Hello! Pro Mobile". I'm also definitely working hardest at the mail magazine. I have confidence of doing pretty well at releasing the things I need to through small posts.
Q5: Tell us something awesome about Hello Pro!
The change. Just looking at Morning Musume there are lots of additions and graduations, but in all of Hello! Project as well there are Hello Pro Kenshuusei joining, and new songs always coming out, so much change that it becomes dizzying. Whenever you look there's always something new and progressing. I think that's something really interesting.
Q6: If you could form a special unit in Hello Pro, who would it be with?
The one I want to sing together with is Morning Musume's Sato Masaki-san. Since around when we joined I've been told we have similar voices, and our heights are totally consistent. Our left-handedness, stature, and leg length as well. And so, I want to wear the same outfits and sing a song together. Since we play piano and like music, and have more things in common than the other members, I'd like to try to do something together with her.
Q7: Tell us your favorite Morning Musume song!
"Egao no Kimi wa Taiyou sa". It's the song which was my opportunity to audition for Morning Musume. The lyric "Do the things you want which you can only do now" really gave me a push. Up until that point Morning Musume was just a group I loved, but listening to this phrase made me think "They're saying it to me now too!" I applied thinking "This is something I can only do now!" and so I'm glad this song existed.
Q8: What's your favorite song in all of Hello Pro?
I like Morning Musume's "Koko ni Iruzee!" I loved it an awful lot when I was little, and although I was living in America I would always be endlessly listening to "Koko ni Iruzee!" enthusiastically at the house. Like when I was 3 or 4. Since that video's still around, I wonder if it'll sometime be released to the world (lol). Since Morning Musume was popular when I was in America and when I got back here, I was like "I want the DVD!" So I know Morning Musume from that era well. Since it's fun to sing "Koko ni Iruzee!" and I could sing it when I was little too, it gave me life.
Q9: What's the difference between the current and former Hello Pro?
The current Hello Pro is cool, right. Though in the past Hello Pro it had a feel of getting together and having fun and dancing, recently there are dances you can't imitate and difficult rhythms, so demands more skill. The outfits are more cool style as well, so I think that is definitely different. Though the dances are tough to follow with that degree of difficulty, there's also fun in that it makes it feel worth doing.
Q10: Aside from yourself, who would be your #1 member for someone to watch in order to come to like Hello Pro?
Angerme's Kamikokuryo Moe-chan. She auditioned for Morning Musume along with me, and her singing voice and facial positioning are incredibly pretty. Though she's cute in pictures too, since her eyes shine when you actually meet her, you get charmed by those pupils. Since her voice is also incredibly clear, I want you to see her in concert! Since she's also the same year in school as me, we have a relative consciousness. Though we're incredibly close, she's the member I also see as my biggest rival.
Q11: What about you do you want people to pay the most attention to?
Singing. I think I love music enough that I'd be in the top of Hello! Project there. Though you wouldn't really be able to tell being around me, I like it so much that I just can't deal if I'm not listening through earphones constantly while traveling. Since I'm also full of feelings of wanting to become a good singer, I want to grow more from now on. I want you to see that growth.
Q12: What's some work you'd like to try in the future?
I want to do narration. I think my voice is different, or rather unique. Since I've been told often since I was little that my voice has its own personality, I want to make use of that voice. I want to convey this voice in a broad swath of genres. Probably not voice acting as much as narration.
Q13: What do you want people to pay the most attention to in Morning Musume?
Since there are so many members, I want you to see the indivduality of each one. You can see each of our characters getting deeper recently. Especially from my 12th gen mates on down! Since when one expresses her individuality everyone starts doing it, I think that's something interesting to see now.
Q14: What will you be doing 20 years from now?
I'll probably be in America. I wanna be in America in my old age~. Since my home area of Alabama was really just rural like "fields!" I wanna live a quiet life there. But since I want to do all the things I want while I'm still young, I want to keep moving as much as possible while I'm still able. I want to devote all my time to Morning Musume. But 37 (20 years from now) would probably be a bit early for me to go to America. Since one of my goals is to live for the present, I don't actually think much about the future (lol) I'm living for the now!
Q15: Since it's the 20th anniversary, please tell us a special secret!
Though it's going back to the individuality talk from before (Q13), I want to keep bringing out my own individuality. Though until now I've been told I'm timid or clumsy, I want to say that's really not the case! Since there are things within myself I've been holding back, I want to unsparingly bring out the American in me! I want to start being bolder and bolder.
Q16: What's something you'd like to become able to do by next year when the 20th anniversary is over?
Stop losing things at least a little less. I'm a relative perfectionist, and am incredibly strict with time like definitely not oversleeping or anything, but losing things is the one thing I do before realizing it...... I forgot my wallet at my house lately, right. I lost my insurance card, and had to get it reissued and such...... I'll really be careful! This is the one thing I want to fix.
Q17: What would you do if you weren't an idol?
Since I was still little when I returned to Japan, and came back along with my parents, I probably would have studied over in America. But I've been able to come to America once with Morning Musume. Since that was my biggest dream, I'm glad I am where I am now. I think I'm strongest where I am now. I totally can't imagine what I would have been doing outside of Morning Musume.
Q18: What are you most into now?
Watching past Morning Musume live videos. Since it's the 20th anniversary I'm watching them conscious of that, but I feel like my senpai really were great. So cool. What I'm watching most is the first tour after I joined. The tour was titled GRADATION, and I think "I'm so small! Young!"
Q19: Who are you close with in Hello Pro?
Angerme's Kamikokuryo Moe-chan. We often go to dinner together, and so talk a lot. Usually I'm the one to invite her. But since we can have even deep discussions, there are things I can talk about with her that I can't even with Morning Musume members. There are also lots of times when we learn about what it's like in other groups, and how individual they are, which makes us think we have to keep working hard too!
Q20: What is an idol to you?
Life. Since I think I'll be doing it to my 20s, it'll have been my entire life for my teens and 20s. It's to the extent that in my own personal life and things I'm into, there's nothing but Morning Musume. I won't cheat on it at all. Since I love idols, I do watch other idols, but I'm not interested in anything other than idols or rather don't have any other hobbies (lol). Music and idol is everything to me right now.