Ai Kago Interview, Part 5

Today’s portion was rather short and here’s what the former idol and Hello!Project artist Ai Kago shared in the interview with Ura Channel and OhmyNews:

Click here for original video

Veteran Japanese entertainment reporter Masaru Nashimoto asked about her plans for the future. she replied that she doesn’t know exactly what’ll happen but because she has experienced a lot by being in Japanese showbiz since she was 12 years old (which she’s quite proud of), she feels that with her ability to convey different emotions she’d like to give acting a try.

Aibon has been doing some writing on a daily basis. Someday she hopes to get a book published and would be happy if in some way her book can be of help to someone.

She also revealed that she has kept in touch with some Morning Musume and Hello!Project members and they provided her with encouragement. She was touched when some of them asked her, “Hey Aibon how are you doing?” since only her ex fellow members call her by that nickname (calm down you fanboys…I’m sure she meant in her “real” life). To Aibon the Hello!Project girls are her source of inner peace.

When she received text messages from them she felt she wanted to rejoin the group. But she knew it wasn’t possible, so she decided to work hard on her own.

When Masaru brought up Aibon’s former partner in crime Nozomi Tsuji, she responded that she was really surprised to hear about her sudden pregnancy and marriage and she’s seen Taiyo Sugiura’s (Nozomi’s hubby) blog before. But from the sound of her voice I suspect Nozomi isn’t one of the people she is in constant contact with. She was also surprised to hear about the “Mikitty incident” (please check out my blog on 1/9 and 2/15) but believes Miss Miki Fujimoto will make a strong comeback since that is in line with Miki’s personality.

Finally the conversation moved onto Maki Goto, who’s currently on a secret mission in LA. Aibon said she was in touch with her until right before she departed for the States. She explained that she has always liked Maki and feels they share many similarities. She thinks Maki is a strong person so she will surely succeed, and hence she must strive for success herself too.

Both Aibon and GoMaki choose LA as their preferred destination to get away

Ai Kago Interview 4/8 Bonus

(Please click on the bold wording below, it’ll take you directly to OhMyNews’ Part 2 of Ai’s interview. I’ve given up trying to link to GayTube since they’ve been taking down her interview clips left and right and blocked the only video I could find of today’s portion! And yes, I tried going to Daily Motion and MetaCafe but couldn’t find anything…sorry.)

Here’s some more interesting info from the second part of Ai Kago aka Aibon’s interview today:

- Tears came down nonstop from Aibon’s eyes and she cried uncontrollably when she found out she was being expelled.

- She doesn’t really remember much about that time but does recall that even Naoki Yamazaki, the head honcho at Up Front Agency cried, which she had never seen before.

- Everything hit her when her contract was terminated as she asked herself “What the hell did I do?!” and realized that she had done something really stupid.

- Ai also doesn’t remember much about slicing her own wrist. She only recalls feeling like she was no longer needed right before and going into shock afterward thinking, “What have I done?!”

- Leading up to her first underage smoking scandal back in 2006, Aibon was associating herself with many smokers. Her mother also used to smoke until she had Aibon’s youngest brother. Aibon admitted she didn’t have a strong negative feeling toward smoking and was used to being around it.

- The former Hello!Project star turned to cigarettes because of her desire to be a grown up and she felt smoking relaxed her. The sight of herself smoking used to make her happy, but now she knows that was immature of her.

- Aibon commented when she was sent back to her hometown of Nara as punishment and for self reflection following the revelation of her underage smoking, her youngest brother wondered why she suddenly came home but was too young to understand anything. Her younger sister on the other hand knew about the situation and it was awkward for Aibon to face her family.

Ai Kago with Nozomi Tsuji (R) promoting Cirque du Soleil’s latest traveling performance “Alegria 2″ during happier times

Okay, let’s give this a try and see how long before it gets taken down:

Part 2 portion of Ai Kago’s interview

Ai Kago Suicide Attempt

The interview conducted by veteran Japanese entertainment beat reporter Masaru Nashimoto with former Japanese super idol Ai Kago revealed some shocking information. Some of the contents from the interview was also aired on TV Asahi’s morning program “Super Morning”.

Masaru Nashimoto got Ai Kago to spill the beans

First regarding her second underage smoking scandal last year, “Aibon”, as all of her fans call her by said, “I was an immature teen who didn’t think things through and couldn’t manage oneself. I finally realized how much responsibilities I had after my contract with Up Front Agency was terminated. I’d really like to apologize.”

According to Ai, Yasuyuki Ishimoto who accompanied her on that fateful trip to Kusatsu told her sternly not to smoke, but all the trouble she had on her mind at the time and her immaturity got the best of her.

A young and carefree Ai Kago, around 2005

But Aibon really dropped a bombshell when she brought up her attempted suicide! She told OhMyNews that “I felt like I had too many problems I couldn’t handle and on several occasions I thought about cutting my wrist.”

Former Hello!Project superstar Ai Kago entered Japanese Showbiz at the age of 12

Speaking about that dark period, Aibon described how she made a deep incision on her left wrist with a pair of scissors because she felt cornered and no longer had a future. Since it wasn’t possible for her to seek medical attention at the hospital she could only have her wound wrapped up with bandages. Upon reflection, Aibon understood she caused many people a lot of trouble and vowed to never do such foolish thing again.

Aibon (L) as a member of the popular duo unit “W”, with Nozomi Tsuji (R) – who has also since dropped out of showbiz in disgrace last year due to her unexpected pregnancy

When turned to the topic of her beau Yasuyuki Ishimoto, Aibon replied, “During that time I was going crazy. I had no money, no jobs to look forward to and neither places I could go to nor a place to go back to. But Yasuyuki was there to lend me support. He’s been close to me and giving me lots of help since the beginning. I still consider him as a person I can really talk to about my problems and depend on to watch over me.” So it does seem like their relationship is going rather well. But when asked about the possibility of marriage Aibon said she hasn’t given that a thought yet.

A more mature Ai Kago brings back a squeaky clean and respectful look

During the exclusive interview Ms. Ai Kago further added, “After I was let go by my agency I felt like a criminal just merely by staying in Japan. So from May of last year Yasuyuki and I went to LA and stayed there for about 3 months. I decided to become an actress so I began taking English lessons, voice training lessons as well as dance lessons. I’d like to give back to my fans by making it as an actress.”

As a bonus, the famous Japanese journalist Masaru Nashimoto also revealed to Japanese evening paper “Yukan Fuji” that actually Aibon had been talking to him to seek advice since about half a year ago. He added that she celebrated her 20th birthday (in Japan you become an adult when you turn 20) this past February with about 10 people and blew out the candles with Yasuyuki Ishimoto. She’s intent on making a comeback as an actress and thought it’s a good opportunity to let everyone know about her story and how remorseful she is.