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Kakizaki Memi (Memitan) / 1st Generation

Discussion in 'Hinatazaka46 Graduated Members' started by ForrestFuller, May 11, 2016.

  1. Five By Five

    Five By Five Upcoming Girls

    Joined:
    Aug 27, 2019
    Location:
    Slovakia
    Oshimen:
    Koike Minami
    Thank you for all the info.
    I look forward to it.
    Thanks for sharing, I didn't know Memi was in this show...
     
  2. Jumps_Zilla

    Jumps_Zilla Upcoming Girls

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2019
    Oshimen:
    <3 Nishino Nanase <3
    Was watching the MV for Kyun earlier and realize that I kinda miss Memi in the group. She had a certain aura I guess which draws you to her in some way. It's different from my Hinatazaka46 oshi but Memi certainly had that aura about her. Hoping she's doing well in what she is doing now.

    Cheers!
     
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  3. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    They repackaged the Memi video extra from the Kyun release and posted it online as part of "Hiragana Keyaki Story - Toward Hinatazaka46." This gave me a chance to appreciate the little video yet again, so much so that I have subbed it and put it on Google Drive here.

    It made me realize how badly Memi felt when she was dropped to the second line for the group's third song, Bokutachi wa Tsukiatteiru. She knew she wasn't as talented a singer and dancer as others, and she really was just glad to be in the group at all, but she still felt devastated. And in describing coming back from the hospital to tell the others her wrist was broken, she almost breaks down recounting how she decided she had to hide how awful she felt, so as not to affect their performance. She says that even at school, teachers told her she was someone who never was able to break out of character. I agree, but see it a different way: she was more direct, real and natural than others, not faking it or performing. I think that was part of the special aura she had that @Jumps_Zilla refers to. She says near the end of the video that she feels she can break out of character now, which must be something necessary for an idol. But I think her strength was that she was unlike an idol. And I think that contributed to her having to leave. It was heart-breaking to see her say at the end that she had had a number of reverses/failures and that meant she could deal with failure and would not lose again.
     
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  4. Dill

    Dill Next Girls

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2017
    Oshimen:
    Techi
    I was playing UniAir and I wonderend if there's the chance Mirei and Memi performed live at least once their song. Do you guys know?
    Great song, btw, so it would be amazing have it on the game too and see them sing it.
     
  5. yase

    yase Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    May 28, 2018
    Location:
    Florida, USA
    Oshimen:
    Kakizaki Memi
    I'm still full ult Memi, still best girl
     
  6. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    If you mean Sanrinsha ni Noritai, all I've seen is this studio live short version from Hiragana Oshi ep26, 7 October 2018


    if the video does not show watch the video here
     
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  7. Dill

    Dill Next Girls

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2017
    Oshimen:
    Techi
    Yes I mean that song! I still love it, even though I can't remember the title lol.
    Sadly, UniAir doesn't seems to have studio songs on, just stage live. Thank you for the video though, I'll watch it as soon as I can :cute:
     
  8. miwa

    miwa Upcoming Girls

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2019
    Oshimen:
    Sasaki Mirei
    They performed it live at the Hashiridasu Shunkan tour but for some reason UniAir hasn't put it in the game yet. I'm hoping it will be in the game soon, there are a couple of others songs missing, like Ima ni miteiro.
     
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  9. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    With Neru returning to show business as a regular on a weekly TV show, and managed by Seed & Flower (see here), there is speculation about Memi coming back. Not likely, if a stalker was indeed the reason she left (I think it was the reason she left entertainment, but not the only reason she left Hinatazaka). So I doubt she will come back any time soon. But Memi stayed overnight with Neru not long before she stopped appearing, and spent more time with her in that period, too. So there is at least some chance that whatever Neru does, Memi may do, too.
     
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  10. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    Kage-chan has mentioned Memi in her blog. Speaking about when she heard about the name-change, Kage writes:

    Also, I myself thought of Memi!
    Memi, who loved Keyaki and Hiragana more than anyone.
    And it wasn't just attachment, it was love.
    I wondered what Memi thought, hearing the news.
    I really want to see her.


    また、私個人的には芽実を思い出しました!
    誰よりも欅を、けやきを愛していた芽実。
    それは執着ではなく愛着で。
    芽実はこのニュースをきいて、どう思うのかなってふと気になりました。
    会いたいな。

    Here are some photos of them together, beginning with a gif of when they were chosen as members: when Kage reached to comfort Memi, Memi was just confused:

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Kage-chan writes that although she herself was happy at becoming a third Sakamichi group, she had confused and contradictory feelings, and was sad she was absent when the change was made, but Sugai turned her around to be positive and forward-looking.
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2020
  11. Dill

    Dill Next Girls

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2017
    Oshimen:
    Techi

    My poor Memi... I can't even imagine how she took the news.
    Keyaki got new gens members who were real and serious fans of the group, members who were saved from years of bullying by Keyaki songs, and yet, Memi was one of us, perhaps the one who loved Keyaki the most.
    I hope she's well and Kage would met her soon :(
     
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  12. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    Yes. We saw how she seemed to take it when it was announced (starting around 29:30 in this video).

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    She herself wrote about her dismay in her Message the next day. I wrote about that in my blog at the time, recognizing her feelings, but optimistic about the change. And she recovered enough to seem happy and positive in the next Showroom, introducing Kyun:

    [​IMG]

    But it seems to me that she was unable to maintain her intention to be positive, and by April, she had disappeared, suddenly and unexpectedly not participating in their first appearance on Music Station. She wrote later that her mind and body had fallen out of balance. I think it may have seemed to her that all her hard work really had been dumped overboard and the group was moving in a direction away from her. And then there's the matter of the stalker(s). And also, from various hints, I think she may have felt that the added work for the new group made it impossible for her to live the life she wanted, with time for school and artwork and games and reading, etc.
     
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2020
  13. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    It has now been over a year since Memi graduated, on 11 August 2019. Here are a couple of Japanese collations of scenes from her three years with Hiragana/Hinatazaka. First, a collection of highlights. Second, a collection of weeping scenes, beginning with her last audition Showroom, when she thought this was the end of her ambitions, not the beginning. She keeps saying she's not crying, as the tears fill her eyes:


    if the video does not show watch the video here


    if the video does not show watch the video here

    The last thing we heard about Memi was when her father posted a newspaper interview he had done in which he mentioned she was "entering the art world." That first video collection ends with her graduation event on Hinatazaka de Aimashou. She says there that she will be working hard hard at something different now (art, I presume) and wishes everyone the best as they work toward their dreams.

    I'd been following her father's own art career through his Facebook and Twitter, but he stopped posting in April, and has only started up again today, 13 August, with two tweets about his dance collaborator, Su-En.
     
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2020
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  14. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    I'm still following Memi's father's Facebook, but he has restrained himself from making any mention of her. She turns 19 next Wednesday, and I plan to say something about her then. But for now I would like to introduce you to what I think are exciting works by her father, Kakizaki Junichi, which he has posted over the past few months.

    No, these are not directly related to Memi. But whenever I see this man's work, I wonder what it must have been like for her to grow up with someone like this as a father.

    First are two pieces in the series "Ghost of a Child," numbers 3 and 4 (click to enlarge):

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    The works were made in 2010 in Norway, using polyethylene film and satin ribbons draped over plants. They were exhibited this year at a show in Fukushima, the site of the nuclear accident several years ago. Kakizaki says he made similar pieces in Japan in 2006, using a child's plastic raincoat. But then he heard that in old Europe, red raincoats symbolized the ghosts of children. Whenever he is in a beautiful natural scene or a historical place, he says, he feels the breath of life of the people that lived there in the past. So he re-made versions of the original work in Europe.

    Two other works, I feel I should put in spoilers. One features a naked man dancing, and the title and gesture of the other may offend some:

    First is a short film made in Paris last spring, in the Bois de Vincennes, with the amazing dancing of Nobuyoshi Asai and nature-art by Kakizaki Junichi:



    Next is "Grasped Penis and Testicle. Die. All Right" from 2007.
    Human body: SU-EN, Photo: Joji Okamoto, Artwork: Junichi Kakizaki. SU-EN is Kakizaki-sensei's dance collaborator, and Okamoto his photo collaborator:

    [​IMG]

    The hand is the only bit of human body shown. All the rest is vegetation, made into art by Kakizaki.

    Can you imagine growing up with stuff like this around the house?
     
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  15. SunlitZelkova

    SunlitZelkova Member

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2016
    Location:
    Portland, Oregon, USA
    Oshimen:
    Higashimura Mei
    He seems to be a good father, I would like to think he was careful to separate his more adult-only oriented work from his family.

    Anyways, I would like to share something I realized awhile ago. Memi's case confirms how spot on the fortune teller Hamaguchi Yoshiyuki's predictions can be. He predicted that something would occur that would cause problems for her that she would need to over come around May. He suggested that a new rival may appear during her life. During the episode of Hiragana Oshi in which the readings took place, many thought it would be a burikko rivalry between Miyata and Memi.

    Instead, it seems the "new rival" was the option of a different path in her life. Graduation from Hinatazaka, the image of which she reportedly sort of did not feel comfortable with, was a new rival against the option of staying and continuing work as an idol. Depending on whether or not the stalking incident was the "nail in the coffin" for her decision or not, he may have indirectly predicted it (in the sense that he predicted "something" that would change her life would happen around that time).

    It is possible the decision for the name change was made in 2019 and the fortune teller was told by management about it (he also predicted one of the group's dreams would come true around March) but the girls appear to not have known until the first single announcement event, based on Memi's reaction (although, given the girls once faked their reaction after having known about the 2nd generation auditions in advance of the "surprise" announcement, I suppose she could have replicated her initial feelings). In any case, no one knew what Memi's feelings for Hinata would turn out to be in the long term, which is why I think this serves as proof of at least one of his fortune readings being accurate.

    During the Keyakitte Kakenai new year's special in 2020, he predicted that they would become stagnant (one of the tarot cards was the chariot. He stated "the chariot would not move"). Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many things were cancelled, so even if management had wanted them to do more activities than they did in reality, they could not have. He may have indirectly predicted the pandemic, in the sense that he predicted "something" would prevent them from doing activities. Keyaki also did just "barely survive" as a group in a certain sense, as Keyaki has ceased to exist and its only legacy are the members in the new group themselves. Based on how Hinata members speak about their Hiragana era, plus the strong connection in the public mind between Keyaki and Techi, they may distance themselves from that history (in public at least). They may still perform some Keyaki songs, but they will probably be referred to as Sakurazaka songs in the same way that DareTobe is referred to as a Hinatazaka song. None of this necessarily affects the actual activities and well being of the members themselves, but the entity known as "Keyaki" has seemed to "suffer" the fate he predicted.

    I hope she is doing ok. Shida is apparently being targeted by fans despite having graduated; Memi's fans would not have any potential "grudge" like Mona's fans might but there could still be incidents. Depending on how severe the incident last year was there could be trauma. I hope she can be successful and find happiness.
     
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  16. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    Happy 19th birthday, Memi-san! I hope your life in the art world is going well. I expect it will go well. I've always felt that the little bits of art she showed during her time with Hiragana were good. And I thought her best moments were both natural to her and "artistic" in some way: such as Memi-cho, ghost burikko, her PV with Techi, and her on-stage starring role in Magia Record. And even the moment in the "bum-sumo" with Manano where she turned and looked at her in disgust.

    I've always felt she was someone who quietly looked at things, got the feel of them and reacted naturally from the heart, more than someone who sent things out as a performer. Here are pics of a few pieces of her "art": -- click all photos to enlarge --

    Her dark photo of her father's piece "Mountain of Sorrow":
    [​IMG]

    The pin she made for Neru:
    [​IMG]

    The earrings she made...and wore (April 2019):
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    The wire flowers she made while staying with Neru:
    [​IMG]


    Brooch she made. "Anemone":
    [​IMG]

    Meow:
    [​IMG]

    Cat she drew on a cup in a coffee-shop:
    [​IMG]

    "Good night":
    [​IMG]

    "Meow":
    [​IMG]


    Cartoon of a fellow cast member (I think) in Zambi:
    [​IMG]

    Sketch of a fan from a gifting event. The guy, "Shuutta," often posted about her handshake events, and made it sound as if they got along well (he was in university in Hokkaido, but came to all her events for a couple of years). In the end, he or a follower of his was rumored to be her stalker:
    [​IMG]


    Photos she took at a funeral her father sent her to when he was too sick to attend. Watching from a distance, or from behind a screen. Her style:
    [​IMG]
    (click to enlarge)

    [​IMG]

    A climactic moment in "Ghost burikko," when she rejects the monster's appearance in the story. Other Hinatazaka members were blown away by her originality:
    [​IMG]


    Some photos that seem to me to show her as she is/was:

    She loved (loves?) Neru:
    [​IMG]

    Sad, lying in bed beside Neru, late winter 2019 (from Neru's Keyaki Message or blog):
    [​IMG]

    Nearly adult Memi, spring 2019, depressed and maybe a bit angry with her fans and/or her stalker:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Madonna Memi:
    [​IMG]

    Memi being styled:
    [​IMG]

    Memi when she heard the name-change announced, February 2019:
    [​IMG]

    Young Memi in the woods, gathering mountain vegetables in the spring of 2017:
    [​IMG]

    Memi in the snow, photos by her elder sister, January 2019:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Christmas live, 2018:
    [​IMG]

    At Seoul airport:
    [​IMG]

    As Tamaki Iroha (in Magia Record):
    [​IMG]

    I've always thought that she was a more serious character than she seemed, or that people thought. She said in February 2019, it seemed regretfully, that her initial "young" image was too strong, and stayed in people's minds for a long time. What I hope is that as an artist, in whatever medium she chooses, she will let her own natural feelings and perceptions emerge.

    Happy Birthday, Memi.
     
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2020
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  17. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    Memi's father, Kakizaki Junichi 柿崎順一, has posted about spending Christmas and New Year's at home...without his daughters, who were prevented by COVID precautions from coming. He also says that he has spent every Christmas and New Year's for the past few years in hospital, and now goes back to his hospital bed, where no-one can visit. He really seems to be extremely ill, perhaps with some form of heart disease. It didn't stop him going to Paris last year, but perhaps that was unwise. He included photos with his post that demonstrate the fact that he is an artist:

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    He also included a photo of himself with a friend (a Mr. Hayami 速水), possibly taken some time ago:

    [​IMG]

    And he included a photo of what appears to be a panda snowglobe. I wondered if, just possibly, it was made by Memi. I Googled images of panda snowglobes (in Japanese and in English) and saw very few with red mouths, and none with that rosebud mouth or cute sidelong glance/stare.

    [​IMG]

    Here's the text of Kakizaki-sensei's Facebook post, posted in both Japanese and English, as he always does:
    ここ数年、クリスマスと正月そして誕生日を病院のベッドの上で過ごしてきました。しかし、昨年の暮れとこの正月は、誕生日明けの5日迄は無理を言って家で過ごさせてもらうことができました。生憎、新型コロナウイルスの影響で娘達は帰省してくることができず、家族が全員揃うことは叶いませんでしたが、数年ぶりに家庭での年末年始を過ごすことができました。普段はなかなか気付くことはありませんでしたが、家庭で時を過ごせることはこの上無く幸せなことです。現在は再び、誰も見舞いに来ることさえできない病院のベッドの上です。
    Over the last few years, I've spent Christmas, New Year and Birthdays on hospital beds. However, at the end of last year and this New Year, I was able to spend my time at home until January 5th, when my birthday was over. Unfortunately, my daughters couldn't come home because of the COVID-19, and I couldn't get the whole family together, but I was able to spend the year-end and New Year holidays at home for the first time in a few years. I didn't usually notice it, but being at home is the happiest thing to do. Now it's on the hospital bed again. No one can even come here to visit.
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2021
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  18. SunlitZelkova

    SunlitZelkova Member

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2016
    Location:
    Portland, Oregon, USA
    Oshimen:
    Higashimura Mei
    I hope he gets better. My dad is around the same age and I can't imagine what it would be like having him in a similar condition. I hope Memi and her sister are ok as well.
     
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  19. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    At least he's posting a bit more, so maybe he's feeling okay. No posts for a month or more, then three in the past two weeks, including one today showing the most recent work of designer Yoshida Yuni 吉田 ユニ. Art and his daughters seem to be Kakizaki-sensei's life.

    If Memi and her sister are in Tokyo, as one guesses, I hope they are okay, too, since Tokyo seems to be having more trouble from COVID than other parts of Japan (though still much less than most Western countries). I think Kakizaki-sensei is at home (in the hospital) in Nagano.
     
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  20. Helt

    Helt Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2020
    hey yall i think there is some news to our favorite graduated members. i just stumbled upon this post about an av debut on the av industry for 10 mil yen (i think). it is said that a graduated national idol will be debuting. by looking at the mosaic at the left it is hinatazaka46. so i think itll be either iguchi or memi. another possibility is that they just took some random idol group's photos idk.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
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