Yajima Maimi: Enjoy with all your might!

■ Profile

Born February 7, 1992 in Saitama Prefecture. In 2002, she was selected from approximately 30,000 applicants to be part of Hello! Project Kids. On June 11, 2005, she formed the idol group ℃-ute, which disbanded on June 12, 2017.
Since the group's disbandment, she has been active as an actress. Her main appearances include the TV dramas "Lupin's Daughter" and "Kasouken no Onna Season 20," and the film "Hatsukoi." Her stage appearances include "At the End of the Silver Screen," "Hula Girl - Dance for Smile -," and "Reading Drama Love Letters."

Yajima Maimi was the former leader of the idol group ℃-ute. After storming through life as a member of ℃-ute, she decided to disband the group and dive into the new world of solo work. Her determination to move from the group to individuality and her hard-working days... We interviewed her about her thoughts on her work.

■The reason he decided to pursue a career in showbiz was because of "Tensai Terebi Kun"

As a child, I was busy taking lots of lessons, such as piano, calligraphy, English conversation, and softball. I had a strong desire to do what my older brother was doing, so for a while I even joined a little league baseball team.

My chance to enter the entertainment industry came when I was in the fifth grade of elementary school. At the time, I heard that NHK was looking for new members for their show "Tensai Terebi Kun," so I decided to apply. It wasn't so much that I was interested in the entertainment industry, but rather that I saw kids my age having fun on "Tensai Terebi Kun," and I had a strong feeling that "I want to do that too." Also, both my parents were working, so I also felt like "I want to work with them."

However, he was unable to apply for the crucial "Tensai Terebi Kun" audition, perhaps because he had misjudged the deadline... So instead he took the "Hello! Project Kids Audition" which was being held at the time, passed, and embarked on a career in showbiz.

■ The presence of friends who passed the auditions helped support me through my busy days

After passing the audition, I commuted from my hometown of Saitama to Tokyo every day after school to take lessons. The agency's policy was to "complete compulsory education properly," so the rule was to go to work after school. Even after ℃-ute debuted in the entertainment industry in 2007, I continued to attend all school events and balance my studies and work.

However, since I started working, my days have been busy and I have had much less time to hang out with my friends. I could only hang out with my friends occasionally on my days off, and I sometimes felt envious, thinking, "Everyone else is enjoying their club activities and such."

However, I was only able to be supported by my friends who had passed the auditions. There were 15 members in total who passed with me, all of whom were the same age and had been working hard under similar circumstances and conditions. I did feel like I wanted to hang out with my friends more, but thanks to my friends, I was able to work hard without feeling like I wanted to quit or that it was too hard. Rather than that, I was just desperately trying to complete the tasks that were given to me every day.

■I even thought about quitting my job as leader. But...

During my time in ℃-ute, I often worried about my teammates, wondering, "How can I bring everyone together as the leader?" There were times when I wanted to quit being the leader. But the people around me would give me advice, saying, "It's okay to do things your own way," and my friends, who I've known like childhood friends since I was six, also helped me out. I think it was because of my friends that I was able to keep going and not give up.

I started my entertainment career out of curiosity, but when I worked hard at something I wasn't good at and was praised for it, it made me think, "I want to achieve even bigger goals next time." It's fun to achieve new goals one after another. I was also happy when the number of people supporting me increased. For example, I didn't receive any fan mail at first, but as I continued to hold events and live shows, the number of fan mail gradually increased. Every time I felt that kind of change, I started to think, "I want to be supported by more people."

■ Our policy is "Let's just try our best!"

Now, as I work in acting, I sometimes change the way I act by looking at the acting of my co-stars. In the play "At the End of the Silver Screen" where I played the lead role, the worldview and expression were difficult, and there were times when I didn't even know what I was saying (laughs).

But rather than just not understanding, I tried my best despite not understanding, and somehow my own answer came to me. Even with the same lines, the performance is completely different depending on whether I give it my all or not, and even if I gave it my all and my method was wrong, no one would laugh at me.

I'm sure I'll continue to receive various jobs, such as acting and modeling, and I want to face each one with all my might. I also want to be someone that people need and think, "I want this girl to play this role," or that "the production will be better because of this person!"

■ Many things turn out to be no big deal when you actually try them.

When you're a student, you're young and have the most energy and power, so I think you should try your best at what you want to do. Even if it doesn't work out, you can learn something from your failure, so it's important to just do your best.

I understand the desire to have a secure future, and I know it can be scary to change your environment, but in many cases, you'll find that after trying it, you'll be able to talk about it with ease, thinking, "After I tried it, it wasn't a big deal after all." There will also come a time when you'll realize that your worries were insignificant, so I hope you'll relax and try all sorts of new things.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on March 17, 2021 by Satoru Sudo, second-year student at Rikkyo University