On the bayfm radio program “Tonight, Under Sakura’s Tree” (every Wednesday from 24:00 to 24:30) broadcast on Wednesday, October 28, 2020.
Sakura Miyawaki: Following the release of their first Japanese album “Twelve” last week, today (October 29, 2021) is IZ*ONE’s birthday.
We’re still recording on October 18th, as we did last week, so I’ll talk about the day next time. It’s the second anniversary. It’s so fast, so fast.
When I think back to two years ago, I really thought it was a long time.
But isn’t it long?
I mean, it’s normal, I don’t hate it or anything. It’s just a long time.
But when two years have passed, I think it’s gone by so quickly.
But I do think it’s gone by so quickly. I know it’s been a while, but when I look back on what we’ve done, it’s been like, “Huh, hasn’t it been about five years already?” I think it’s been a really productive two years.
I think I’ve changed a lot between who I am now and who I was two years ago.
My way of thinking has changed, and in a good way, some parts haven’t changed, but yeah, I’ve changed.
I’m 22 now, right? Ah, I was 20 then. Wow, but I think it’s been an amazing, amazing experience.
I’m quite old in IZ*ONE, but I went overseas at 20 and started from scratch in a place that wasn’t where I grew up. It was really tough at first. Because I didn’t understand the language.
Just because of that, you don’t understand everything.
But little by little I started to understand the language, little by little I gained confidence when performing, little by little I got along with the other members, and little by little I was able to do more and more, and I think being able to experience that process again at 20 years old was a really big thing in my life.
Up until now, when I was asked questions like “Who would you like to be if you were to be reborn?”, there were so many people that I thought were great, so I would never mention those people’s names or say that it was me, but now, if I were to be reborn again, I would want to be Miyawaki Sakura.
I used to think that I shouldn’t think that way.
That if you accept yourself, you lose. I thought that the moment I accepted myself, my growth would stop, so I was so humble that it wasn’t necessary, and that was also a bad thing.
I was too humble. There were times when being humble made me reserved.
But now, of course, I still keep being humble, and I still remember my original intentions, but I’ve realized that accepting yourself is also important in life, and I really realized that after becoming IZ*ONE, and many of the members are also very good at accepting themselves.
I’ve learned a lot from seeing them like that, so I think I’ve become a lot more positive in a good way, and I’ve grown emotionally over the past two years.