Tsubasa Masuwaka, 40, took the world by storm as a very popular 150-centimeter tall model at a time when there was an air of “models being tall. While comparing herself to other tall models around her, she analyzed the reasons why she was sought after as a petite model and paved her own path. We interviewed Ms. Masuwaka about her flexible way of thinking, which has turned her complex into a weapon. (Continued from Part 1 of 2) [Photo] Tsubasa Masuwaka is so beautiful…here is a profile of Tsubasa Masuwaka * * * — Do you have a complex? Ever since I was born, I have never felt complex about anything. The first time I had a complex was when I debuted as a reader model. I am only 150 centimeters tall, which is what is called “short stature. I never felt bad about it, but back in the Heisei era, there was an unwritten rule that models had to be at least 160 centimeters tall, and there was no way I could be a model if I was 150 centimeters. It was during this time that I had a snapshot taken in Shibuya, which led me to appear in a magazine as a reader model. I felt happy, but at the same time, when I looked at other models, none of them were as small as I was. I gradually began to feel embarrassed about being small. Even now, when I walk down the runway at fashion shows, I am usually the smallest among the performers. Sometimes I am even smaller than my children. –I guess being a model made me compare myself with others. Height is something you can’t change no matter what you do. I try not to think of it as a complex, but I feel I have no choice but to compare myself with others. The short stature complex was a catalyst for me to change my life, and it was also the part I was most concerned about. –I have single-handedly ushered in a time when petite people could not be models. At what point after you started working, did you become able to make your short stature an attractive feature of your work? I was worried everyday about being too short, but still the editorial department would invite me for photo shoots. I couldn’t figure out what was attractive about my short stature as a model, and I started thinking, “Why not?” I started to think about it. What I did then was to write down the reasons why I thought tall people were cool. I wrote down in my notebook all the things that tall people are good at, such as “can wear a salopette” or “looks good in a trench coat. Once I had all those things, I would then think of clothes that tall people would be envious of. It might be girly clothes or doll-like clothes. Or maybe the overalls are cute on a shorter person. Just as I envied tall people, I thought of fashions that tall people would envy, while deciding which genre I would pursue as a model.
