Interview with Yuki Usami
On December 8, 2005, AKB48 made its debut in front of an audience of only seven people. 40-year-old Yuki Usami, a first-term student, was 21 at the time. She was the oldest member of the group at the time. Despite the enthusiasm of the audience, which increased day by day, she began to wonder, “What am I doing this for? The group was soon to perform on the music program “Music Station” (MUSIC STATION). As the group rose to become a national idol group, including an appearance on the music program “Music Station (M-Station),” Usami made a decision. (Part 4 of 5) [Photos] “Tiny but nice body”…Ms. Usami during her AKB48 days, her professional “graduation album”, and precious shots of her coming-of-age ceremony ***
On December 8, 2005, we debuted as AKB48. Actually, the opening date of the theater was supposed to be my birthday (December 6), but it was delayed by two days. I remember I was kind of down because of that (laughs). On the day of my debut performance, the audience was really small. It is well known that the number of fans on the first day was “seven,” but at the beginning there were really only about that many, and there were hardly any people involved. The theater was located in Don Quijote in Akihabara, Tokyo. When I heard backstage that the managers were handing out flyers in front of Akihabara station, I thought, “Oh, they are really serious about this. The number of fans coming to the theater gradually increased, and so did the number of personal letters. I could see firsthand that the enthusiasm of the fans was gradually increasing. We did not yet have a general election system, but we were very close to the fans, so I could naturally feel that kind of enthusiasm in the environment. I had only been with the company for four months when I debuted at the theater, but about a month after my debut, the theater was packed every day, and we began to perform twice a day. However, we had not yet decided how to cheer for the audience, and not all fans had penlights, so every time I stood at a performance I thought, “This is where it all starts. However, despite the enthusiasm of the audience, I honestly wondered, “Am I allowed to show up as an idol?” “I’m 21 years old and I’m dancing in a uniform, but is this really what I should be doing? I began to wonder if it was really okay for me to be out there as an idol. The center position was naturally taken by the junior high school students, and I, as the oldest, was always at the end of the line. I entered the dance just before the age limit, so I was the oldest from the moment I entered until I graduated. I knew in my head that I would never be the center, but when I actually stood on stage, I had mixed feelings.