TOKYO (TR) – Mizuki Kirihara, a 23-year-old member of the fast-rising idol group Candy Tune, has traded her frilly stage costumes for a bikini, declaring to weekly tabloid Friday (Oct. 16) that shedding her uniform for a recent gravure photoshoot was a “liberating” experience.
Making her debut appearance in the tabloid, Kirihara revealed she wants fans to focus on the physique she is usually forced to keep under wraps.
“I’d be incredibly happy if people looked at my waist and bodyline, which are hidden by my idol costumes,” Kirihara said. “I do photoshoots in my ‘fixed idol figure’ a lot recently. Gravure has different outfits and makeup, and I get the sensation of liberating myself.”
Fitness regime
Her sculpted figure is the result of a grueling daily fitness regimen — a habit drilled into her during childhood. Raised by a sports-obsessed father, Kirihara was forced into soccer, boxing, and weightlifting from an early age.
It was also her father who inadvertently introduced her to the gravure industry. As an elementary school student searching the house for a book, she stumbled upon her father’s stash of boys’ manga magazines left on the stairs. She was instantly captivated by the bikini-clad models on the covers.
The revealing photoshoot comes on the heels of a massive breakout year. Candy Tune’s track “Baibai Fight!” went violently viral, dominating TikTok’s popular song rankings at the number-one spot for 10 consecutive weeks. The sudden fame catapulted the group to the stage of the prestigious NHK “Kohaku Uta Gassen” on New Year’s Eve.
“Strategy meetings”
However, the viral hit was the result of calculated hustle. Kirihara admitted the group held daily “number one strategy meetings,” obsessively analyzing social media algorithms and coordinating daily posts to force their breakout.
“It wasn’t always smooth sailing up until then,” she confessed. “So I was just relieved.”
Despite her skyrocketing fame and a punishing schedule that affords her only one completely free day per month, the 23-year-old prefers a life of isolation. She told the magazine she favors spending her time alone rather than going out with other TV personalities.
“Strategy meetings”
When not performing on the group’s current 23-stop nationwide tour, Kirihara spends her time alone in her kitchen making homemade stew to “empty her head,” or binge-watching streaming programs featuring society’s rougher elements.
She noted a recent obsession with the Netflix series “Love Joto,” a romance reality show centered entirely on yankii (Japanese delinquents).
“People appear on it who are a type I have never met before,” Kirihara said of the delinquents. “Many of them have ways of thinking that I don’t possess and take unexpected actions. You can’t predict how it will unfold, so I enjoyed watching it.”