[Interview] 10th anniversary since their formation! Idol group Wasuta, the idol group idols look up to, has the ambition to "become professionals at expressing cuteness!"

2015年3月29日に結成されたアイドルグループ「わーすた」が10周年記念シングル『わーるどすたんだーど』を2月26日にリリース！更に3月28日には10周年記念写真集『KAWAII WORLD』（小学館）を発売！結成記念日となる3月29日にはLINE CUBE SHIBUYAにて10周年記念ライブを開催する。

This time, the interviews were split into two groups: Matsuda Misato and Mishina Ruka, and Hirokawa Nanase and Kodama Ririka! In addition to talking about singles, photobooks, and live shows, they were also asked 2 questions with the number "10" in them to commemorate their 10th anniversary. (January 10th, in Osaka City)

From left: Misato Matsuda, Ruka Mishina, Nanase Hirokawa, and Ririka Kodama

●What would Misato Matsuda and Ruka Mishina like to tell their 10 year old selves?

--These two are in the first half! It was winter break until recently, so please introduce yourself and tell us your names and how you spent your winter break.

Mishina: My name is Mishina Ruka. I was playing "The Legend of Zelda" during winter break (laughs).

--You were totally absorbed in gaming. By the way, did you make the "dentist appointment" that you mentioned as your New Year's resolution on the ABC Radio podcast program "Wasuta's Nyandaful Radio!"?

Mishina: Not yet (laughs)

Ruka Mishina

-- I thought that might be the case (laughs). And...

Matsuda: I'm Misato Matsuda. I went back to my hometown of Hiroshima to play with my dog ​​and go bowling with friends!

-What was your bowling score?

Matsuda: My score was over 100! I was also happy because I got a strike. It's a good start to 2025 (laughs).

Matsuda Misato

--March 3th marks the 29th anniversary of Wasuta's formation. How do you feel now?

Mishina: Looking back on the past 10 years, it feels like 10 years have already passed. I often hear from fans who were in elementary or middle school when I debuted that they can now come to my shows by themselves, or that they've become idols, and it makes me realize how long I've been an idol for.

Matsuda: I feel happy to be able to spend time together with the fans who have supported us for a long time. Recently, when we've performed together with various idols at joint live shows, they often tell me, "I love Wasuta!" and it makes me happy.

--So you've become an idol that idols look up to. Now, since you're celebrating your 10th anniversary, I'd like you to answer questions with the number "10" in them. The two of you in the first half will answer five questions. (Questions will be chosen by drawing lots.)

Mishina: What do you have more than 10 types of, or are you collecting? For me it's manga. I collect paper books, so my bookshelf is full of manga. I especially love "Furiren: The Funeral Parlor," and it's still interesting no matter how many times I read it. I also recommend "The Summer When Light Died," which will be made into an anime this summer!

Matsuda: I play PC games. Looking at my purchase history, I realize that I've bought a lot of different games, and I think I'll keep buying more in the future (laughs). I like games where you shoot guns, but recently I've also been into party games that I can enjoy with friends, and fighting games.

-- Ruka-chan is into manga, and Misato-chan is into PC games. Let's move on to the next question.

Matsuda: <If you could talk to yourself from 10 years ago (advice etc.)> I would say "Thank you! It's fun!" (laughs). I impulsively thought "I want to be an idol!" and now I've become an idol and been able to continue for 10 years, so I want to convey my gratitude to myself back then and say "Thank you!"

Mishina: For me it's "Be cute while you're still cute" (laughs). At the time I wanted to look mature, so I was trying to act older than I was, but now I think that while I still think I'm cute, I should hold on to my cuteness. I'll grow up on my own anyway (laughs).

-- I guess there is a time when all middle and high school girls think, "I want to look more mature." Let's move on to the next question.

Mishina: If you were to hold a national tour in 10 cities, what three cities would you like to go to besides Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Sendai, and Sapporo? (No overseas) I've never been to any part of Hokkaido other than Sapporo, and Shikoku, so I'm thinking Kagawa. I've also never been to Ishikawa and Niigata, so I'd like to go there.

Matsuda: I want to go to my hometown, Fukuyama City (Hiroshima Prefecture) someday. I also want to go to Okinawa and Aomori. I went to Aomori for an event during a tour last year, and the atmosphere was just my type, so I want to go again.

-- It would be great if this could come true. Let's move on to the next question.

Matsuda: If you could freely spend 10 yen at a home electronics store, what would you buy?

-- Misato started looking it up on her phone (laughs).

Matsuda: If I were to buy a new computer, I was thinking about building one myself, and I'm seriously considering it. But for now, the PC case I'm using is jet black, so I'd like to buy a white one.

Mishina: I like bread for breakfast, so I want a toaster that can toast bread nicely. I also want a small refrigerator that I can put in my room.

-- It looks like Misato-chan would buy it with her own money (laughs). Now, here's the last question for both of you.

Mishina: If you were to eat the same dinner menu for 10 days straight, what would you like to eat? I don't have any particular preferences for what I eat, so I can eat just plain rice. I like to sprinkle some yukari on plain rice (laughs). I chose something I could eat every day, rather than something I would get tired of.

Matsuda: For me, it's Onomichi ramen. I love noodles so much that I could eat them at every meal. But that doesn't mean I eat them every day, so if I have the chance, I'd like to eat Onomichi ramen!

Matsuda Misato

Ruka Mishina

●Nanae Hirokawa & Ririka Kodama introduce themselves in 10 letters!

--The second half will be with these two! It was winter break until recently, so please introduce yourself and tell us your names and how you spent your winter break.

Hirokawa: My name is Nanase Hirokawa. During winter break, I went to visit a shrine for the first time in the year. Also, I went to a buffet for the first time in a while, and I was disappointed that I couldn't eat as much as I had hoped. I had intended to eat more, but (laughs)

--But it seems the fortune you drew at your first visit to the shrine was "very good fortune."

Hirokawa: That's right! What was written there was really good too, but...

Nanase Hirokawa

--The Daikichi effect didn't work at the buffet (laughs). And...

Kodama: I'm Kodama Ririka. I went back to Hokkaido during winter break and enjoyed the local cuisine.

-For example, what did you eat?

Kodama: I've tried soup curry, ramen, and Genghis Khan!

Kodama Ririka

--March 3th marks the 29th anniversary of Wasuta's formation. How do you feel now?

Hirokawa: We've been running through this past year with the feeling that it's our 1th anniversary year, so I think we've had a lot of time to think about it. Recently, we've had a lot of new fans, so I think it's amazing that we've been able to continue working with a fresh feeling.

Kodama: Looking back on the past 10 years, it feels both long and like it went by in the blink of an eye, but I also feel that there are many things we were able to do because we became Wasuta. Even after our 10th anniversary, I want to continue taking on new challenges.

--From here on, since we're approaching our 10th anniversary, I'd like to ask you to answer questions that have "10" in them. The two of you in the second half, please answer the remaining five questions.

Hirokawa: <I found a box of 10 ○○ as a gift for a live performance and my excitement skyrocketed! What happened?>. I'm currently in Osaka, so the first thing that came to mind was the mitarashi dango from "Kiyasu Souhonpo". I used to eat it a lot when I lived in Osaka, and even after moving to Fukuoka, my dad would buy it for me as a souvenir when he went to Osaka on a business trip, so I really love it!

Kodama: For me, it's Manuka honey. On the day of a live performance, I get nervous and can't eat solid foods, so I usually take home gifts I've been given and eat them later, but Manuka honey isn't solid and it's good for your throat, so I thought I could eat it right away. I'd be really happy if there was Manuka honey in a small jar.

-- Mitarashi dango and Manuka honey. Thank you to everyone involved (laughs). Let's move on to the next question.

Kodama: ＜Please tell us about yourself in 10 words!＞

--Please write it in your sketchbook and present it!

Kodama: I'm a "slow-paced worrier!"

--Is "a worrier at his own pace!" your selling point? (laughs)

Kodama: Ah! It wasn't a self-promotional thing (laughs). But people often tell me that I'm "a laid-back person"... I don't really think of it that way (laughs). I'm aware that I'm a worrier, and I'm the type of person who wants to get things ready as soon as possible, so I chose this!

Kodama Ririka's 10-word self-appeal is "A worrier at her own pace!"

Hirokawa: Mine is "Deliver happiness with infectious laughter." I forced myself to make it 10 letters (laughs). Fans often tell me things like, "Nacchan's laughter really is infectious," and if my laughter can deliver happiness, I'd like to use that as a way to promote myself.

Nanase Hirokawa's 10-word self-appeal is "Send happiness with laughter that will make you laugh"

--We will also be publishing photos of your handwritten sketchbooks, so please enjoy! Let's move on to the next question.

Kodama: If you have a 10-minute break between lessons, what do you do? I eat chocolate or something sweet to get some sugar and drink a lot of water.

Hirokawa: I often look at clothes on Instagram. Fans also tag me in their posts on X, so I check those out.

--Everyone has their own way of spending time. Let's move on to the next question.

Hirokawa: <Tomorrow is a holiday, so I'll sleep 10 hours! What time will you go to bed and wake up? How will you spend the rest of the day?>. I want to go to bed at midnight and wake up at 0. Once it's past noon, I feel hopeless because I think there's only a little time left. After I wake up, I've recently realized that I like cleaning, so I can spend the whole day cleaning (laughs). I also like decluttering. I feel good about putting things in a garbage bag.

Kodama: I also find it difficult to go to bed earlier than midnight, so ideally I'd like to go to bed at midnight and wake up at 0. After that, I've recently become obsessed with spas and rock saunas, so I'd like to go somewhere like that and refresh myself.

-- I'm surprised that Nacchan spends the whole day cleaning (laughs). Now, for the last question.

Hirokawa: <Please rate your satisfaction with your activities up to now on a scale of 10 (in increments of 0.1)>. I'd give myself 8.5! I've been to many overseas locations and have worked on a variety of projects related to anime, games, and sports, so I'm pretty satisfied in those areas, but there are still many things I haven't achieved yet, like "I want to perform a live concert at this venue!", so I'd say I'd give myself about 8.5.

Kodama: I give it a score of 9.8! I said this at the beginning, but there are so many experiences we've had because of Wasuta, and we're able to spend each day feeling fun and happy. But as Nanase said, there are venues where we'd like to perform live, and there are still many places both in Japan and overseas that we haven't been to, so I thought we shouldn't be satisfied and lowered the score a little.

●Revealing the behind-the-scenes stories of the 10th anniversary single and photo book! Also sharing their enthusiasm for the 10th anniversary live show!

*From here on we will be combining the interviews we conducted with the two groups separately!

--Your 2th single "World Standard" will be released on February 26th! What do you recommend about this song?

Mishina: We, the members, wanted a song that would symbolize Wasuta, and so the song "World Standard" was born to commemorate our 10th anniversary. It's a song that is extremely "cute", just like us, so I hope it will become Wasuta's signature song.

Matsuda: We've always kept the concept the same, so we have cat ears and a choreography that involves making meowing movements with our hands, but we want to become professionals at expressing "cuteness." This song is catchy, and the cute choreography is easy to follow on TikTok, so that's what makes it so great.

--What are the highlights of the "World Standard" music video?

Mishina: I think the music video for "World Standard" is the epitome of cuteness.

Matsuda: It's got the cuteness that you expect from Wasuta, of course, but the scenes celebrating the 10th anniversary with the birthday cake, popping crackers, and holding gift boxes are all really cute and have a celebratory feel to them.

--Do you have any behind-the-scenes stories from filming the music video for "World Standard"?

Hirokawa: When I'm shooting a music video, I always struggle with dance scenes. In our previous work, "Natsu Koi Dilemma," there was a scene where we danced on the beach, but our shoes kept sinking into the sand, and we couldn't see the beach markings (markers for where to stand) that we'd set up with shells, so it was really difficult. This time, it was indoors, so I thought it would be okay, but then we had to scatter a lot of confetti, which was really slippery. I really felt that dance scenes have to be filmed with some kind of difficulty (laughs).

--The 3th anniversary photobook "KAWAII WORLD" will be released on March 28th! Please tell us the highlights of the photobook and any episodes or behind-the-scenes stories from the shoot.

Mishina: We shot in Vietnam, and it was our first time "overseas without performing live," so everyone was relaxed and just in the mood for a fun trip (laughs). There were some mishaps, too. We shot at a theme park-like place on top of a mountain, and it was so high up that we had to take a 30-minute ropeway ride to get there, so Nanase, who has a fear of heights, started crying (laughs), and as we were going through the mountains on the ropeway, the fog got so thick that we couldn't see anything outside, and Misato, who was scared, started crying too (laughs).

Matsuda: I'm also afraid of heights, so I was already scared, but then the fog made me even more scared and I started crying (laughs). I think the highlight of this photobook is the expressions and atmosphere of the members that you can't see at a live concert. It was so much fun, and I thought I should reject some of the photos because I thought they were laughing too much, but I decided to accept them (laughs).

Mishina: If it was a solo photobook, I wouldn't include it (laughs).

Matsuda: Yes! Since it's a group photobook, I thought it might be okay (laughs).

Photo by Masato Yokoyama

--On March 3th, the 29th anniversary of your formation, you will hold a 10th anniversary live concert at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA. Please tell us your enthusiasm!

Mishina: I don't think there are many idol groups that can celebrate their 10th anniversary, so I want to express my gratitude to them. It's a special day for us, but I also hope it will be a special day for the people who come to see our live performance!

Kodama: We treasure our anniversary concerts every year, but this year is especially important as it marks our 10th anniversary, so we want to deliver 10 years' worth of "fun!" and "happiness!" We've been giving our opinions on the stage set for months, and we've been working with the staff to create the finer details, so we hope you'll enjoy the atmosphere!

Matsuda: I want to do a live performance that shows we've been active as Wasuta for 10 years. Up until now, there have been live performances where we've been the ones being pushed forward by our fans, so for our 10th anniversary live performance, I want to do my best to lead our fans and make it a fun experience!

Hirokawa: We held our 2020th anniversary concert in 5 at the same venue, but due to the COVID-5 pandemic, it was held without an audience, so this will be our revenge after 5 years. In that sense, I think it will be a very special concert. We want to show a Wasuta concert that will captivate everyone, both the fans who shared the same disappointment as us 5 years ago and those who have come to love us over the past XNUMX years!

[Interview, text and photos by Potter Hirai]

◆ Wasuta Official Site

Wasuta Official Website (wa-suta.world)

◆Product details for the single "World Standard" to be released on February 2th

World Standard - DISCOGRAPHY | Wasuta Official Website (wa-suta.world)

◆ February 2th release single "World Standard" release event

2/26 Release New Single "World Standard" Release Commemorative Event Schedule (as of 1/18) - NEWS | Wasuta Official Website (wa-suta.world)

◆"World Standard" MV

View on youtube

◆Information on Wasuta's 3th Anniversary Photo Book "KAWAII WORLD" to be released on March 28th

Wasuta 10th Anniversary Photo Collection KAWAII WORLD | Books | Shogakukan (shogakukan.co.jp)

◆ Information on Wasuta 10th Anniversary LIVE "The World Standard ~We'll be loved for the 10th anniversary too!~"

Announcement of the general release of tickets for Wasuta 10th Anniversary LIVE "The World Standard ~We'll be loved for the 10th anniversary too!~" - NEWS | Wasuta Official Website (wa-suta.world)

Wasuta 10th Anniversary Photo Collection KAWAII WORLD

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