Friday - Riho Sayashi: During my absence, I always had the feeling I may retire

 

Sayashi Riho talks about her return to the entertainment world and what her goals are

The former ace of Morning Musume, who thought about retiring, when she went to New York by herself to study, after graduating from the group

鞘師里保が語る芸 能界復帰、新しい私が目指すもの

グル=プ卒業後は活動休止して単身ニューヨーク留学へ時は引退も考えた元モーニング娘」のエース

Interviewed by Friday magazine.  Published November 18, 2020

During my absence, I always had the feeling I may retire

Riho Sayashi (22), who once led Morning Musume as the group’s absolute ace, looks back on her 5-year absence.

She made her debut as a 9^th generation member of Morning Musume in 2011 and quickly became the face of the national idol group with her top quality dancing skills.

She was highly praised by entertainers such as Matsuko Deluxe (48) and Rino Sashihara (27) for her performances.

In 2014, when Sayumi Michishige (31), who was the leader, regrettably graduated from the group, she was expected to become more active as a center, but suddenly and unexpectedly, the next year, she announced her graduation as well. She disappeared from the stage. She recalls her feelings at that time:

“When I was 17, I began thinking about my future. But I didn’t have time to think about it calmly while working. I had a tendency, once my mind was made up, to tell myself “This is the right thing to do”, and to become rigid in my thinking. I wanted to get rid of that once I graduated from Morning Musume, so I decided to study abroad in New York.”

After graduating, she moved to the United States to study language. Until then, she had always been a member of a group, but living alone in New York, that changed.

“Before I did this, I may have felt uneasy about living by myself. But when I did it, I realized that all I had to do was act! And I was relieved. I decided I was going to live there without relying on agents as much as possible. I searched for a place to stay, and rented it, and I also looked at various sites for tickets. Sometimes I ate out alone, and of course, I cooked by myself. There are many Asian supermarkets in New York, so I never had any problems eating. I looked for a dance studio, and began lessons. In Japan, I always felt I was in the spotlight as a person, but overseas I didn't feel that way at all and I was able to live my life comfortably.

When I was in Morning Musume, we did a lot of group activities, and relationships among the members were what was most important. But when I was studying abroad, it was up to me to decide where to go and who to get involved with. I had never thought and acted on my own and made decisions by myself before, so it was really refreshing.”

Thoughts of returning to work while studying abroad

While she enjoyed her time studying abroad, she was always considering returning to work.

“Studying in New York was also about confirming whether I wanted to continue my performance arts activities. So when I went to the United States, I wasn’t thinking about returning. I told my fans I wanted to see them again, but the possibility that I wouldn’t be able to make it happen, always existed in my mind.”

What drove her to make a fresh start were her feelings about performing, which she loved more than anything else.

“It wasn’t so much that I wanted to return to the entertainment industry. It was more so my desire to perform in some way. I had someone who told me, “Would you like to work with me?” By living in New York, I had been able to reset my mind and prepare myself to work hard again. I think it was a very important time for me to prepare myself to do my best again.”

With that, she returned to Japan and resumed her performance arts activities. Until now, she was mainly active as an idol, singing and dancing, but from September to October of this year, she starred in a music recitation drama, “Kuro Sekai – Black World: A journal of Lily’s memories, alternatively, an Observation of her Endless Chrysalis”, which was a new challenge.

“The director, Kenichi Suemitsu told me “I think you have gained a lot of experience in the 5 years you have been absent from the theater, so I want you to use that as much as possible. I tried to do that. The rehearsal period was short because of the coronavirus measures. The script was quite large, and we had to keep a social distance while acting, so I was a bit nervous before the show started. But now I feel that I poured all my soul into it.”

Furthermore, she has a leading role in the drama “I had a dream of that girl” (TV Tokyo), which has been on air since October. She will appear in the episode that will air on November 27. It is based on short stories by Ryota Yamasato (43), of the comedy duo Nankai Candies, and in addition to Taiga Nakano (27), features actresses such as Ayami Nakajo (23) and Elaiza Ikeda (24), who play the weekly heroine.

“I don’t have a great amount of experience in drama, and learning to do it was a challenge for me. The day before filming I was so nervous I couldn't sleep at all because I was thinking about so many things (laughs). I gradually got used to it on the second, and third day of filming.”

A 22 year old envisions the future

She says of her future ambitions:

“When I was in Morning Musume, my priority was improving my singing and dancing, but now I've learned to focus more on how to express my emotions. There's so much to learn in acting, and I feel that acting, singing and dancing are all different things, but they're all the same performance. I do a lot of acting work now, but I also want to sing and dance. I want to be on the stage.