It&#8217;s only been a year since she entered the entertainment industry. What kind of girl is Mei Ishihama, who just became a regular member of the idol group Niji no Conquistador (commonly known as &#8220;Niji Con&#8221;)? She was featured for the first time in the August 18-25 issue of FRIDAY, and we asked her to tell us about her life before becoming an idol and the ideal idol she envisions for herself now.
<h2> I was an &#8220;ordinary girl&#8221; who put all her energy into her idol activities.</h2>
 Until last year, I was an ordinary girl who longed to be an idol. Since I was in junior high school, I had always loved Nagahama Neru (former Keyakizaka46/Keyakizaka46), and when I became a high school student, I devoted all my free time to &#8220;guessing life&#8221; by working part-time to go to live shows, handshake events, and to buy goods (laughs). (Laughs.) I had a strong desire to &#8220;love idols&#8221; as much as I wanted to be an idol.

<figure id="attachment_324952" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-324952" style="width: 2581px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5b6b94c2"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/08/d2b5ca33bd970f64a6301fa75ae2eb22.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-324952" class="wp-caption-text"> Mei Ishihama / 21 years old, from Ibaraki Prefecture. She is currently a student of Niji no Conquistador.</figcaption></figure>
 Mei&#8217;s desire to become an idol became clear to her when she was in her second year of junior high school. It was a comment from her homeroom teacher that made her realize her desire to become an idol.
 During a career interview, the teacher suddenly asked me, &#8220;Aren&#8217;t you going to become an idol? I was asked, &#8220;Are you going to become an idol? The teacher knew that I liked idols, but I had never said that I wanted to be one, nor had I thought about it clearly. It was only then that my feelings became clear to me and I realized that there was a path for me.
<figure id="attachment_324628" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-324628" style="width: 2581px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5a79c4e8"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/07/1ac46fddebf26ac5da3b93f09fadcb02.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-324628" class="wp-caption-text"> I can&#8217;t take my eyes off her! I was drawn to her big, clear eyes.</figcaption></figure>
 Ishihama quietly began to embrace her dream of becoming an idol, but from that day on, what she worked hard on was not singing, dancing, or self-polishing &#8230;&#8230;, but &#8220;something&#8221; that symbolizes the current era.
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 She said, &#8220;I started to spend my time conscious of &#8216;not making a black history&#8217; (laugh). I told myself, &#8220;I am a person who will become an idol! I told myself, &#8216;I&#8217;m going to be an idol!&#8217; I tried not to put funny faces on SNS or post anything that would be embarrassing when I looked back on it. I never practiced singing or dancing, but I was very professional in that area (laughs). (Laughs.) I think I was trying too hard in the wrong areas, but now that I have made my debut, I don&#8217;t have to worry about reliving my embarrassing history because of what I did back then.
<h2> A small &#8220;misunderstanding&#8221; led to the beginning of her life as an idol</h2>
 Although she had a strong sense of purpose, thinking &#8220;for when I become famous someday,&#8221; she was continually unsuccessful in her audition attempts. One day, however, a small miracle of &#8220;misunderstanding&#8221; turned out to be a major turning point in her life.
 She says, &#8220;I went to so many auditions, but I failed at every single one. Toward the end, for better or worse, I became accustomed to auditioning. I have a bitter memory of raising my hand in the middle of many people and showing off my skill of &#8216;whitening my lips,&#8217; and the audience was shocked. &#8230;&#8230;
 I was in such a hurry to send in my resume when I found out about the audition for NijiCon. I was in such a hurry that I realized later that the deadline for applications had already passed. &#8230;&#8230; (laughs).
<figure id="attachment_324625" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-324625" style="width: 2581px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="dceac34a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/07/dfefbabd8f40bae58745b3e345b99ab4.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-324625" class="wp-caption-text"> My nickname is MEME!</figcaption></figure>
 Audition entries had closed a year earlier. However, the staff at the office felt that there was &#8220;something&#8221; about Ishihama, and in an unusual move, decided to interview her and accepted her. A small misunderstanding opened the door to his life as a Nijikon pre-college student. In July of this year, he was promoted to a regular student.
 Thanks to a series of miracles and various people, I was able to come this far, and I have finally reached the starting point. I sometimes get depressed because I can&#8217;t perform well and there are still many things I need to work on, but I will use my positive personality as a weapon to overcome these difficulties. The other members always help me a lot, so I want to get stronger and be able to help and support those around me.
 Ishihama describes his strong point as &#8220;being positive. On the other hand, she also told us about a somewhat unexpected problem.
 I have always been the only one who is extremely cheerful in a quiet family (laugh). Ever since I was a child, I often thought, &#8216;I&#8217;m going to liven up the house! I often thought, &#8216;I&#8217;m going to liven up the house,&#8217; and that may have influenced my personality. Also, I think I was influenced by &#8220;Dragon Ball,&#8221; which I love. It&#8217;s good that you are energetic &#8230;&#8230;, but I would like to see a more mature and mysterious side to you. Please look forward to the future (laughs).&#8221;

<figure id="attachment_324630" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-324630" style="width: 2581px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5b6b94c2"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/07/d2b5ca33bd970f64a6301fa75ae2eb22.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-324630" class="wp-caption-text"> SNS followers are rapidly increasing&#8230;! She is sure to be the number one idol to watch this summer!</figcaption></figure>
<h2> We want to be an idol that makes people feel happy and &#8220;glad to have liked them&#8221;!</h2>
 Now that she is in the position of &#8220;being pushed,&#8221; she has a clear vision of the &#8220;ultimate idol&#8221; that she is aiming for.
 I want to be an idol who makes people feel happy when they are pushing for someone, and also when they are done pushing for someone.
 I was really happy when I was a fan of (Nagahama) Neru when she was an idol. Just remembering the time I spent watching her live performances, traveling long distances to go to handshake events, working hard at part-time jobs to buy goods, standing in long lines, and other seemingly arduous tasks, makes me feel warm and fuzzy. I still love and support Neru-san, but when I think back to those days, I feel as if I could have pushed her more &#8230;&#8230;! I almost feel like I&#8217;m not pushing hard enough (laughs).
 I want to become an idol that my fans feel the same way about. I want to be able to do my best at something, to make their lives shine, and to be a catalyst for an irreplaceable time in their lives. To achieve this, I will do my best as a member of Niji-kon. I would be very happy if you could watch us on stage and support us!
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 Profile 
Mei Ishihama, age 21. 
Born in Ibaraki Prefecture. In 2010, she began her career as a preliminary student of the idol group Niji no Conquistador. Despite having no experience as an idol, she established her popularity in just one year and was promoted to a regular member in July of this year. For the latest information, please visit Dear Stage&#8217;s website, her Twitter and Instagram (both @ishihama_mei).
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 Click here to see Mei Ishihama&#8217;s photogravure and 12-minute movie on FRIDAY.
<a href="https://friday.gold/gravure/article/168246"> https://friday.gold/gravure/article/168246</a>
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 Akihito Saijo

 It has only been a year since she entered the entertainment world. What kind of girl is Mei Ishihama, who just became a regular member of the idol group Niji no Conquistador (a.k.a. Niji Con)? She will make her first gravure appearance in the August 18-25 issue of FRIDAY!

Neru Nagahama’s otaku self became an idol! Nijikon’s Mei Ishihama aims to be the “ultimate idol

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