Summary of Hashimoto Nanami & Wakatsuki Yumi's interview with Naoki Prize winner, Asai Ryo

See this young man beside Nanamin & Wakasama? This impressive young fellow, Asai Ryo (朝井リョウ), is the youngest post-WWII winner of the prestigious Naoki Prize! Not only so, but he's also an Ikuchan oshi!

This is a footage from the Asahi Shinbun.

He was interviewed not too long ago by Nanamin & Wakasama for the Asahi Shinbun (which is currently in a partnership with Ngzk). I'm bringing this up again because he was just featured in the latest episode of Jounetsu - Tairiku (情熱大陸) for 2013.07.14, with Nanamin & Wakasama also having made an appearance in the episode! You can watch the full episode here on fc2.

While both the interview & the program were to talk about Asai himself, there were also some discussions about the Ngzk members! Here in the spoiler is a simple excerpt on Asai, which I personally found to be interesting lol. If you are only interested in the Ngzk goodies, skip the spoiler & read below!

Excerpt on Asai:

At the age of 19, Asai won his first award, the Subaru Prize for Literature (小説すばる新人賞, an award for new author), with his work Kirishima, Bukatsu yamerutte yo (桐島、部活やめるってよ). This book eventually achieved sale of some 550k, & even got a movie adaption! While he was attending university, he continues to write, & in 2012 won the prestigious Naoki Prize with his work "何者".

Asai is a graduate of Waseda. Despite being a very successful writer already, Asai opt to not be a full-time writer, & instead works as a normal salary man after graduating. Having first published at the age of 19, Asai was very surprised to be called "sensei" by a much older manager lol. He say he don't care much for fashion, & that what he wears are all cheap stuffs, with his watch for example being worth only ¥1,000. Despite having already made a fortune, he currently resides in a very small place, claiming that moving is his greatest weakness lol.

Personal thought: Asai have a cool character, not a character one would associate with a writer I suppose lol. I like the fact that he live modestly, & is not full of himself considering his success & wealth. Would be rly cool if he can write a book based of our Nogi-members no? XD

While Asai is an impressive young writer, listening to him speaking one can guess he's an idol fan lol. In addition to being an Ikuchan oshi, Asai know Nanamin is from Hokkaido! A rather talkative individual, Asai even asked Nanamin & Wakasama questions, reversing their roles lol.

Asai asked Wakasama & Nanamin about their feeling when they were announced to have been accepted into Ngzk. Wakasama replied that she felt very happy, & not a bit of uneasiness. For Nanamin, it was the opposite. She was unnerved, & not in a bit happy.

Nanamin said that she actually never thought of being an idol before, & only applied for fun when she & her friend saw the recruitment ad online. When she passed the first round, she also jokingly told her parents that she passed. Her parents didn't expect her to ultimately be accepted either, so they told her to try it out as a life experience. & before she knows it, Nanamin is a Ngzk member. XD

Some thoughts (not translations): considering this, it seems the original top trio of Maiyan, Nanamin, & Sayurin all didn't originally planned on a career as an idol. Maiyan only auditioned on the urging of her instructors (from what I know she attended music school). Sayurin's goal was to be a childcare worker (保育士, here's an image to give you an idea), & only auditioned as an alternative. Considering Sayurin's goal, I find the fairy tale she told on that class-instructing episode of NogiDoko very befitting of her lol. Its interesting to note that these three are arguably the most successful of all Ngzk members despite a lack of former entertainment field experience or aspirations.