In this interview, Homare talks about her life as a junior high school student before and after joining Morning Musume as a member, the changes she has adapted to, and the impact which the corona pandemic has affected her school life. Homare also talks about what she wants to do after she becomes a senior high school student in April 2021.
── Okamura-san, when you compare yourself to students in the same grade as you, do you find yourself looking more mature than them?
Homare: That’s not the case at all. I don’t know if this only happens in my junior high school, but since I was a first year junior high student, there were many trendy kids around me who seemed to be careful and picky about what they wear. At that time, when I went to play with my good friend who is in the same class as me for the first time in awhile, she put on glitter eyeshadow and mascara and also applied lipstick. I was the only one who was impatient and had no makeup on.
── Is your school strict?
Homare: It’s not that strict. But, you’ll get warned by the class council members if the buttons of your uniform are left unbuttoned, or if you wear your uniform in a sloppy way. Although the length of our skirts also have to be below our knees, but since I’m still growing, my skirt is always above my knees no matter how much I try to lengthen my skirt (lol).
── Throughout your 3 years of junior high school, approximately how much have you grown?
Homare: I think it’s probably about 6cm. As I don’t really like to drink milk, I did not drink milk even once throughout my 3 years of junior high school, so I found it really weird and wondered how I was able to still grow despite that (lol). The length of my sleeves have also gotten shorter now, and although it’s a little embarrassing, but since it’s almost time for the graduation ceremony, I’m thinking of just putting up with it (lol).
── How did you spend your junior high school days before joining Morning Musume?
Homare: During my first year, I really enjoyed every single day. I had many friends who were lively and sociable, and the four of us (including me) would play together after school. We’d go to one of our houses, chat while eating snacks, and played games.
── Did you spend your time like a normal junior high school student?
Homare: That’s right. Also, bubble tea has been trending, and when a bubble tea shop opened in my hometown, everyone was like “Let’s go! Let’s go!”. We’d normally drink bubble tea, take purikura, play crane games in the arcade centres…. Just like a junior high student who loves things to be cute (lol). But, I think I didn’t really play much with a large number of people. Personally, I don’t really like odd numbers.
── Why is that so?
Homare: I think girls would understand this but, if you had 3 friends, it would become 2 against 1. As I really hate this a lot, so whenever I go to an amusement park, it would always be 2 or 4 people.
── How are your studies?
Homare: I was always struggling (lol). During the second semester of my first year at junior high, I got a really bad score for my math test, and my mother was really really angry. At that time, my mother told me “If you can’t get higher than the average score in your next test, I will confiscate your smartphone”. I thought I was really doomed, so I asked my mother to “let me go to cram school!”. At cram school, I asked the teachers many questions and learnt a lot and was able to get a good score during the math test in the 3rd semester!
── Were you able to get a score that was higher than the average score?
Homare: Yes. I think it really helped and when I heard that my smartphone may get confiscated away from me (lol).
── Has your junior high school life changed ever since you’ve joined Morning Musume?
Homare: It changed as soon as I joined. During my school breaks, I would always be thinking about dance related things, and I was always just immersed in my own world. At any rate, I was just really desperate every day, to the extent that I don’t really have any memory of what my friends and I had talked about.
── It must have been really difficult having to switch from a life as a normal junior high school student to a life as an idol.
Homare: But, ever since I’ve joined Morning Musume, my classmates would often tell me things like “I saw you on TV” and “that’s amazing!”. It made me really happy that everyone is supporting my activities. I gave one of my close friends some of my goods, and she was really happy to receive it. When I went to that friend’s room, I saw that some of my photos and stuff were being pasted on the wall, and that made me kind of embarrassed (lol).
── I’m sure that a lot of things have changed due to the corona pandemic. Are there any changes to your school life?
Homare: Not only do the teachers have to also wear masks, but in order to prevent the spreading of the virus, transparent vinyl sheets are placed around the teacher’s desk as well as the students’ desks. For lunch, the side dishes and a piece of bread are placed into a bag and are distributed out one by one. Seeing such a scene and how the classroom is like made it less tasty than usual. Also, as my class had to keep the windows and doors open the whole day, we had to keep the humidifier on all the time…
── In winter, the students who sit at near the corridor must feel really cold.
Homare: That’s me, I’m one of those who sit near the corridor. I’ve been taking classes while enduring the cold. It is also really a pity that the school events such as the sport festivals and school trips that I’ve been really looking forward to were all cancelled, but I’m glad that I was able to attend school well. But I got sick on the day of the week which had 7 hours of lessons (lol).
── Is there anything that you’re looking forward to once you become a senior high school student?
Homare: I’m sure I’ll be able to afford more time as compared to when I’m a junior high school student, so I’d like to practice dancing and singing much more, and find new hobbies. As I have a collection, I want to take my time to enjoy and look at accessories and stationaries.
── Are you also interested in the latest JK trends amongst junior and senior high school students?
Homare: If anything, I’m also the kind that is behind the latest trends (lol). But, there’s a place in Shin Okubo which serves plates of snacks and food just like in Korean mukbang videos, so I’d like to go and eat there with everyone someday.
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