They are not wrong. I don’t eat lunch. Not because I am starving myself for vanity, but because when I eat, the blood rushes to my stomach, and my hands get warm, and the calluses soften. If my hands are soft, I cannot feel the strings. If I cannot feel the strings, I am nobody.
Hello, everyone! I'm Ichika Matsumoto, a member of the popular Japanese idol group AKB48. As one of the youngest members, I've had the opportunity to experience the world of entertainment from a unique perspective. In this blog, I'll be sharing my thoughts, feelings, and experiences as a member of AKB48. ichika matsumoto pov
I lower my violin.
I am seventeen, and I have never held a boy’s hand. Last week, a boy from the literature club, Tanaka, tried to talk to me in the library. He had kind eyes and a paperback copy of Soseki. He asked if I ever got lonely, practicing alone in the soundproof room until midnight. They are not wrong
I stand in the green room. The other musicians are stretching, humming, pacing. I stand perfectly still. I am a statue. I lift my violin—a 1920 Enrico Rocca, a gift from a grandmother who believed in me before she died—and I tuck it under my jaw. The wood is cold. It smells of old varnish and rosin dust. It smells like my childhood. If my hands are soft, I cannot feel the strings