Ai Kago Interview, Part 4

Aibon was pleasantly surprised when she was presented with a scrapbook made by her fans for her recent 20th birthday

I wonder how many people are actually reading the stuff I’ve been putting up about this Aibon exclusive interview with OhmyNews. Is it even remotely interesting to you guys? I know I’m totally late on today’s episode…hope I didn’t make too many of you Aibon wotas antsy!:)

But I do wonder if it’s worth it for me to keep going.

Anyway here comes what’s juicy from Part 4 of Masaru Nashimoto’s interview with former Hello!Project super idol Ai Kago:

Original video here

When asked about the nature of her relationship with the seemingly sleazy restaurant entrepreneur Yasuyuki Ishimoto, Aibon replied, “I’m very close to him. He’s been helping me out so much. I’d like him to continue to look out for me and be the one I can talk about my problems with. He is like my one man supporter club!”

She added that she hasn’t given much thought about their future (meaning marriage), since she’s the type of person who tends to focus on the present.

The 4th generation Morning Musume said that some of the things she’s learned this past year include being thankful and learning to have confidence to tackle something. She felt that coming from an idol background she was used to being sheltered and lacked the ability to realize something. But now she wants to challenge different things to see herself grow. In other words, just do it! Aibon concluded that the best way to become stronger is to just believe in herself.

Aibon also touched on some of the problems she encountered since joining showbiz (this alone sheds a lot of light on why she did what she did). She explained that when she first joined the popular j-pop all girl group Morning Musume people often commented that she looked older than her age. As years went by it should’ve been natural for Aibon to “grow up”, but instead she became more childish. And it didn’t help that her work surroundings reinforced such image. Even though she was getting older, the majority of her fan’s demographic remained young so she was required to put on the “Kago-chan” act. The grown ups around her all asked that she maintain such kiddish image for the viewers.

As Aibon was constantly pressured to play up that “Kago-chan” act, her work related stress most likely began to accumulate. Now looking back Aibon thinks she didn’t realize at the time that wasn’t the proper way to carry on. And here’s something heavy…she said if she had continued doing what she did, she would’ve turned out really jacked!

“Kago-chan” couldn’t handle constantly having to be a kid in front of the camera, so she acted like a juvenile

To all the fans who have followed and supported her, knowing that she betrayed them twice Aibon once again expressed deep remorse.

The 20 year old Miss Ai Kago revealed that her mother understands her the most and she appreciates her a lot. When Aibon first got sent back to Nara for “home detention” in 2006 then when she was let go by her management Up Front Agency last year, her mother was the most furious at her but also gave her the most encouragement.

By the way Aibon commented that she hadn’t told her mother about this exclusive interview she’s doing and she would probably be surprised when she hears about it.

Stay tuned…I might just bust out Part 5 later today!