(TRANSLATION) "That's because I love singing and dancing that I can do my best" (Suzuki Airi Interview for Mynavi 24/08/18)

I have confidence about my physical strenght! And I'm a positive person, that's why I can move forward

Q. Please tell us more background about your job.
During my second year of primary school, I passed the "Hello! Project Kids Audition", and was active in Hello! Project in a group called "℃-ute" until last year's June 12th. We disbanded last year and I made my solo debut on June this year. It's my 16th year in the show business.

Q. 16 years is a pretty long career, please tell us more about the difficult and challenging things you've experienced.
As I'm a human being there are of course times where I feel depressed or I compare myself to others, but the best thing about this job is that I can do my best because I love singing and dancing. If it was a job where I would constantly be told what to do, I believe I wouldn't want to do it and would've quit right away, but as it's something I truly want to do, even during hard times I positively think "There's still room for personal growth" and I believe that's why I can move forward .
More than the difficulties about this job, I think physical strenght is a necessity. I have a lot of it! If there's a thing I can brag about, it's that in 15 years, I never skipped any concert!
I think it's because to me, lives are a one-time experience where I can meet fans, I want them to enjoy it fully every single time. It's also maybe related to the fact I can anywhere I want too (laughs)

I'm into cooking! My mother's teaching me her secret recipes

Q. What did you study at school? 
I studied cognitive sciences at the factuly of Environment and Information Studies. As I enrolled at college having a vision of my future after my graduation, I wanted to study something related to music. Because I have live experiences overseas, I realized that songs that hype fans are pretty different in Japan than overseas, but it surprised me that "kawaii" was a concept known not only in Japan, but worldwide. I felt like I wanted to focus on sound recognition during my studies.
It was during the research for my graduation thesis that I learnt the most. "How much people can become excited by the variation of music tenpo" and such. I was able to study what kind of feelings you can feel during a live, and I feel like it was a very good university life where I was able to study things that talk to me.

Q. Is there anything you're into lately?
A while ago, there was a cafe to promote the release of my album, "#DMAF Café" where fans were able to eat my mother's secret recipes. From that time, I'm into cooking and asked my mom to teach me her most famous recipes.
In fact, there are many models from "Ray" that can cook. Nana KATÔ told me about her favorite apps for cooking and that's when it clicked. I'm 24 years old, and I thought I should start thinking about this kind of stuff. My mom's pretty good at making vinegared and simmered dishes, so I'll ask her to teach me.

Enjoy having the privilege of wearing a uniform at school!

Q. Please tell us more about your preferences for fashion.
I wear things I found cute, I have no preference about the styles and such. Usually, my style changes a lot every year, so I put aside things I wore last year, but there are many things I didn't wear this year too. But since last year, I started to figure out a bit what I liked, and decided that I should buy beautiful leather items. By doing that, I would probably use them next year and maybe find more about my preferences... I also love vintage earrings so I buy many.

Q. Please tell us about your future goals.
I've been in show business since a while now, and I realized that the moment I feel the happiest is when I see a big smile on the face of the people who watch over me. As I believe my positivity is my biggest charm point, I want to always have activities that makes me smile, and that can make people smile.

Q. Could you please give us a message for high-schoolers following us?
My high school years were the funniest ones!
Please enjoy your precious uniform life. It's good to wear it on weekends too (laughs) I really regret not going out with my uniform more often. You may think it's boring to always wear the same clothes every day, but it's a fashion you can only wear during your high school years so I want you all to take care of it.

Which image will show us this always cheerful and positive Airi during TOKYO GIRLS COLLECTION? There is no doubt she will deliver a very energetic performance on the runway! 

https://mikata.shingaku.mynavi.jp/article/45915/