NEGI are sprouting all over the globe! MMN interviews Negicco

08.June.2016 | FEATURES / MUSIC

Negicco are a Niigita-based idol group consisting of members Nao☆, Megu and Kaede. It has been 13 years since they made their debut. They have gained many fans not only locally within Niigita, but all over Japan and around the world too. Their live shows are known for being packed with fans holding Negi Lights (green and white glowsticks resembling a spring onion). The girls finished up their 2nd nationwide tour around Japan in Spring of this year and will be going on to perform a one-man live at the NHK Hall this July. Just what are the girls thinking in the run up to their performance on such a huge stage?

――You have just finished your second Japan nationwide tour 「“The MusicBand of Negicco”supported by サトウ食品」. How did you find it?
Kaede: A lot of things happened during the tour. For this tour we toured around Japan together with the band members. It’s not just the 3 of us; there are a lot of people helping us out, and I learnt a lot as a result. One nice thing that I rember is how I was able to become closer with those people when we set out to do the tour because of that.
Nao☆: When we toured by ourselves we would always change the set-list, but on this band tour there was no need to. I wondered if we went with the same structure each time whether the fans would become bored or lose interest. But when I looked at their faces from the stage, the fans had fun because we were having fun. That’s the number 1 thing I discovered on this tour.
Megu: We had an actual band playing with us, so there were some no-go’s during rehearsals. But we have complete trust in the band members, so I felt that the groove went well with everyone as we all put everything together.

――You are very popular in Japan, but do you have any visions to take your work overseas?
Kaede: I’d love to go overseas!
Megu: We have performed in Korea in the past, and one of our music videos was also shot in Finland.

――What country would you like to try playing in next?
Megu: Paris?
Kaede: Somewhere like Taiwan!
Nao☆: We have Taiwanese fans saying “Come to Taiwan”, so I’d definitely love to go. I’d also like to go to France like Megu, and Russia.
Megu: I didn’t say Russia (laughs). But I want to go!
Nao☆: Ahaha! (laughs)
Megu: There are Negicco fans in Paris who have even come all the way from France to see us live in Japan. And when I read messages from them on Twitter where they have worked hard to write in Japanese things like “I’m cheering for you”, it really makes me want to go and meet them.

――It seems there are a lot of Negicco fans overseas too!
Nao☆: There have been lots recently!
Megu: It makes me happy.
Kaede: But we don’t have many opportunities to go and perform overseas, so I think there are still a lot of people that don’t know about Negicco. But we now live in a convenient society with things like YouTube where you can watch us, so it would make us happy if people can listen to our music and maybe even come to Japan.

――Negicco are sight-seeing ambassadors of Niigata. What would you highlight about Niigata for the people overseas?
Kaede & Megu: Ooo!!
Nao☆: First of all, the food is delicious! It’s also next to the Sea of Japan. If you go to Niigata, you won’t be able to leave. It’s like a black hole.
Kaede: You’ll get sucked in. If you visit just once, you won’t want to go back.
Megu: You might first of all think “Niigata, huh? There’s a lot of snow. I don’t want to go.” But if you actually go there, the food is tasty, the people are nice… There’s a lot of people that ended up settling there (laughs).

――Your 3rd album “Tea for Three” has just been released. What kind of image did you go for with the album? The CD jacket is really gorgeous, isn’t it!
Nao☆: We have changed a lot from the past, and that is what is shown on the CD jacket. There are a lot of people whose image of us hasn’t changed since when we were singing “Negi~Negi~” at the time of our debut, so we wanted to convey the Negicco of today who are entering their 14th year as a group.
Megu: We didn’t make anything or dress up. We wanted to show our everyday selves. We are showing a more natural Negicco.

――What are your recent objectives?
Megu: We’ll be performing a one-man live at NHK Hall on July 30th. It will be the biggest stage we have ever performed on, so it would be great if people could go and see us!
Nao☆: There are family seats available too, so you can be at ease if you come and see us. I think having prepared seats like that is very Negicco-like. It’s a space you can only get if you come and see Negicco, so I want everyone to be able to experience us live.

――What are your thoughts in the run up to your performance at NHK Hall?
Nao☆: A year after we made our debut we were able to stand on stage at NHK Hall for a TV program, and I remember thinking “Wow! It’s so big”. But I never thought the day would come where we would be performing a one-man. I think there is a lot of meaning for us in being able to return to NHK Hall and filling the room with Negi Lights, and there is also huge meaning for us in so many people seeing us perform there. It’s a place that holds a special meaning to us, so I really want people to be there.

――What are your plans for after NHK Hall?
Nao☆: Dudun!
Megu: Budokan!
(A huge round of applause commences)
Nao☆: Ever since the day that Perfume stood on stage at the Budokan after aiming for it for so long, we have always wanted to stand on that stage too. We want our performance at NHK Hall which we have emotional ties with to tie together with our aiming for the Budokan. Once we make that day together with our fans, we will have made one amazing stage.

Their earnest advance towards their dreams, their uniquely warm characters’ and the smiles of those girls who you can only be charmed by, the things you can say about them are innumerable. As the 3 of them travel from Niigata to Japan, from Japan to the world, do not take your eyes off Negicco for even a moment.

Photography: Yuta Mukaiyama / Interviewer: Sahori Momo (SHUTTER)

 

Negicco Official Website http://negicco.net
Twitter:
Kaede https://twitter.com/kaede_ngc
Nao☆ https://twitter.com/nao_ngc
Megu https://twitter.com/megu_negicco

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    FRUITS ZIPPER, a new idol group from ASOBISYSTEM’s KAWAII LAB project, has a simple concept: “From Harajuku to the World.”   This summer, the group’s track Watashino Ichiban Kawaiitokoro took off on TikTok with the music video racking up over 500 million plays, propelling the girls into the idol spotlight. Along with regular monthly performances, tickets for the girl’s first solo concert in September and their second solo concert in November were sold out immediately. FRUITS ZIPPER is scheduled to go on tour in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka in February 2023, and even the fashion industry has become obsessed, with the group serving as the seasonal ambassadors for Samantha Vega starting in August 2022.   Only six months after its debut, the members of FRUITS ZIPPER are already taking their first steps outside of Harajuku. Their first overseas trip was to Thailand, called the land of smiles.    FRUITS ZIPPER performed as one of more than 50 artists representing Thailand and Japan at the THAI-JAPAN ICONIC MUSIC FEST 2022 from October 21 to October 23. The music festival was held to commemorate the 135th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Thailand and Japan.   Four different stages were set up during the event, and FRUITS ZIPPER managed to attract fans not only from Japan, but from Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Myanmar, the Philippines, and other Asian countries. Many guests even knew the choreography to a number of FRUITS ZIPPER songs, including, of course, Watashino Ichiban Kawaiitokoro. The audience was thrilled when the members addressed them in Thai, and a collaboration interview video shot with local idols was also taken. It’s now available on FRUITS ZIPPER’s TikTok channel, so check it out!   We sat down with the seven members of FRUITS ZIPPER to hear about their best memories from Thailand!    

    -How did you feel about your first overseas trip to Thailand?

      Noel Hayase“It was our first time performing in Thailand. Not many people knew who we were and we were far away from home, but people welcomed us with open arms. So many people came to watch us, and I was happy to see the audience dancing along to the songs!”   Yui Sakurai“When I became an idol two years ago, Thai fans really supported me. Back then, I told them I’d love to come to see them, but I never got the chance. I’m happy that I was about to finally achieve that goal, or my dream, I guess, of going to Thailand to meet all of those fans. There were so many more people waiting for me than I could have imagined, and even though we couldn’t communicate very well with the language barrier, we could easily communicate through music. I was so happy.”   Karen Matsumoto“So many non-Japanese fans came out to support us! Even though they didn’t speak Japanese, they did their best to tell us they were rooting for us, and that they loved us. I was so happy, I can’t wait to go back!”   Mana Manaka“This was my first visit to Thailand, and part of me felt a little uneasy since everything felt so different when compared to live shows in Japan. I was allowed to take pictures and to really use my voice, and the stage configuration was really confusing. But everyone in Thailand was super welcoming and kind, and I was so happy to see them trying to learn Japanese. They’d listen to me talk and nod, looking me in the eyes, even if they didn’t understand what I was saying. It was a wonderful trip that reminded me how excited I am to travel abroad. I hope I can see everyone in Thailand again, thank you so much!”   Luna Nakagawa“Even though I’ve been an idol for a while, this was my first trip overseas. Going to Thailand had always been a dream of mine, but at the same time, I was nervous. I didn’t know what kind of fans I’d find there, or if there would be any fans at all. But the Thai people were so unbelievably kind. During our performance, a girl held up a board that said ‘Lunapi’ and waved a purple penlight. She shouted that she was looking so forward to meeting me, and it made me so happy.We started to share information with the Thai people after our performance was decided, but it seemed that they had known about us before that. I felt that so many people had been excited about coming to see us, and now I just want to go to Thailand again to see everyone a second time. Kob kun kaa!   Amane Tsukiashi“This was the first time I had visited Thailand, and I thought it was so beautiful. Seeing ICONSIAM was unbelievable–the biggest building I’d ever seen! I was so happy to see the fans, and so many told me that they had been waiting to meet us. Thank you so much.”   Suzuka Chinzei“Before going to Thailand, I wondered how many local people knew about FRUITS ZIPPER and how many would actually come to see us. When we actually took the stage on the first day, there were so many Thai people, and Japanese people too! Since I was able to use my voice to the fullest in Thailand, I was thrilled when the audience could sing along with the ‘Ne, ne, ne’ part in Watashino Ichiban Kawaiitokoro! This live show was so unique to Thailand, and it felt so much freer than live shows are in Japan right now with all the restrictions. Since there was a language barrier, I wanted to put all of my feelings and emotions into my performance. I felt like I could communicate with the audience with my eyes, and those three days of performances were so unforgettable. We’ll be back and we’ll be even stronger, so wait for us until then! Kob kun kaa!   FRUITS ZIPPER is on course to become a smash hit not only in Japan, but around the world.