Cette interview est disponible en français en première page !
Wi-Fi-5 is a band of Japanese idols composed of five members: Takano Nagisa, Sae, Shiratori Raimu – from Japan – Tomiko Claire – from the United States – and Simon – from China. The five girls debuted back in 2017 on the J-Pop stage and started to make themselves known after they won the final part of the famous Japanese audition Miss iD. The name of this audition comes from the fact that the girls are coming to show their own IDentity and they also want to become IDols.
The band released its first single untitled “Hajimari No Courage” in November 2017, which was used as the theme song for the second season of the anime serie “Youkai Apartment no Yuuga na Nichijou”. Their second single is named “Nya-o!” et is none other than the ending song of the second season of the anime “Chi’s Sweet Home” that you probably already know. This cute cat quickly became famous in Japan and then internationally
Passionate about music, Wi-Fi-5’s members want to meet their international fans ! If you want to know more about them, this interview is for you!
Hello, thank you very much for this interview. Could you start by introducing yourselves to our readers?
Tomiko Claire: Hi, my name is Claire, I am American.
Simon: Nice to meet you, I am Simon.
Shiratori Raimu: I am Shiratori Raimu, I am 13 years old.
Takano Nagisa: My name is Takano Nagisa and I am 16 years old.
You formed the group thanks to the contest miss iD, being finalists in 2016 and 2017, what did this contest bring you?
Takano Nagisa: I consider miss iD to be the starting point of our group and our complicity. The fact of being finalists was what gave us the strength to become the group we are today. That’s the impression I have.
Shiratori Raimu: Actually, I was selected as finalist but I didn’t receive any title in this contest. So I found something lacking in me, and it didn’t give me any strength.
Simon: It has been a year since I arrived in Japan and I went to this contest six months after. It was the beginning of my story in Japan. I came to Japan, all alone and I was selected as personal price by the judges. It really brought me something, I felt good.
Tomiko Claire: Yes, I didn’t expect at all to pass the first step on miss iD, in particular due to the fact that I am American and I don’t speak Japanese. I was really surprised and grateful to be chosen in the contest. I wasn’t expecting it. I acquired a lot of confidence and I thought I could live my dream in Japan.
Could you explain the choice of the name of the group “Wi-Fi-5”?
Tomiko Claire: The name of the group is WI-FI-5 because wi-fi is a network that connect a huge number of people throughout the world in every corner of it, it can cross borders and break down frontiers. And we hope to do the same thing as each members of the group is from a different place. On the other hand, we would like to meet people from all around the world without any borders.
You debuted in October 2017, how did you react when you learn that you would be producing on stage for foreign fans, here at the Japan Expo?
Takano Nagisa: Honestly, we were surprised. At the end of last year, we went to China and then London. Now we are at the Japan Expo. Each time we leave for another place, we wonder if we can do it.
Simon: Before this interview, we did a fan sign. As soon as we arrived, there was a huge line while we weren’t expecting that much. We regret we couldn’t talk to them, because of the language barrier. The public is very welcoming and it gave us the desire to exchange with them. We can talk a little bit of English, an even fewer bit of French and we wanted to communicate.
Not every members are from Japan, are you going to put forward the international side in the future?
Takano Nagisa: Yes, of course, we would like to show that more. As the United-States are divided in states, Japan is divided in prefecture, such as Osaka, Nagano or Nagoya. It is our goal. We want to unite the whole world.
Simon: We want to start to build our career in Japan, then we will concentrate on the world.
I
s there a place in the world you would like to produce in?
Tomiko Claire: I would like to see Kona in China.
Takano Nagisa: Me, I would like to go to the hometowns of each members.
Shiratori Raimu: I’d like to visit Okinawa.
Simon: For me, I’d like to visit Shanghai. It is a very animated place.
Tomiko Claire: I would like to go to America and we could go to San Francisco and like that everyone could go to my place. I think it would be amusing.
Do you have a last message for the French public?
Shiratori Raimu: French people are very nice and welcoming. They enjoy listening to music. We fell in love with French people.
Takano Nagisa: We will keep pushing forward so we can come back.
Tomiko Claire: France is an amazing country, with amazing people. We are honored to be able to produce on stage here and everyone has been so nice with us. We are happy to have been able to come here.
Simon: French people are really nice. I will keep on working and studying the language. When we come back I will thanks the French public.
Stay tuned for our next live-reports and our pictures of the 19th edition of Japan Expo, and don’t forget to read our other interviews done during the festival! Were you lucky enough to meet these adorable idols during the festival?
We would like to thank Wi-Fi-5 for their time
and the festival Japan Expo for this great meeting!
