<figure id="attachment_347690" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-347690" style="width: 4032px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="214fc045"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/d31ad64e999d81d3df253f3a0c33ec50.jpeg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-347690" class="wp-caption-text">Mai Sasaki made her debut in September with &#8220;Yakusoku Misaki. She is such a talented talent that she was called the &#8220;strongest junior high school student&#8221; on the popular TV program &#8220;The Karaoke Battle.</figcaption></figure>
 Entertainment desk reporter Norifumi Arakida&#8217;s &#8220;irresistible&#8221; stories from the world of show business.
 The strongest junior high school student that everyone fears.
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 Mai Sasaki was given such a catchphrase on the popular TV program &#8220;THE Karaoke Battle&#8221; (TV Tokyo), in which professional and amateur singers alike gather to show off their singing skills. On September 20, she made her long-awaited major label debut with &#8220;Yakusoku Misaki.
 Although Ms. Sasaki reigned as the &#8220;U-18 Four Heavenly Kings&#8221; on the show and has been recognized for both her popularity and ability, it was not an easy task for her to make her debut. &#8230;&#8230;
 I first appeared on &#8220;Karaoke Battle&#8221; when I was in the sixth grade, but it was not until I was in the first year of junior high school that the show actually aired. Actually, I moved to a new house at that time, so I had no friends at all.
 I didn&#8217;t know anyone, but I came to a school completely away from home, and suddenly I was famous.
 Sasaki says she was very confused by the change of environment. Not only that, but she was also trapped in the &#8220;singing&#8221; she loved. &#8230;&#8230;
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 As the show went on, more and more children of my generation and younger than me were getting higher and higher scores,&#8221; she said. I was under pressure from school life, but the pressure to sing was even greater.
 Influenced by her mother, she had grown to love enka (traditional Japanese ballads) and other songs from an early age, and even won her first competition on the same program in 2002. Even so, she was mentally driven, and the only &#8220;relaxation&#8221; she found was &#8220;eating.
 He recalls, &#8220;At that time, I would eat three bowls of rice, a bag of ramen noodles, and snacks like potato chips, and I would gobble them down. I would eat them while my mother was taking a bath so that she wouldn&#8217;t find them (laughs).
 Also, when my grandma would pick me up after school, the two of us would go to a family restaurant or a conveyor belt sushi place. And we eat (laughs). Of course, after we got home, we would eat, and then I would say, &#8220;I&#8217;m going to walk the dog,&#8221; and then I would eat two more ice creams or something like that. So I was eating five meals a day plus snacks.
 Sasaki&#8217;s stress caused her to eat constantly. Naturally, her weight continued to increase in proportion.
 However, a turning point came suddenly in his third year of junior high school. It was the worst situation &#8230;&#8230;.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The event that dropped him to &quot;rock bottom&quot; was ......"></div>
<figure id="attachment_347693" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-347693" style="width: 3081px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="b0e3197a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/6aa47ff1db952e081f29e2f6582f73b2.jpeg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-347693" class="wp-caption-text">He also revealed some &#8220;painful memories&#8221; from his past. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
 I went to see a movie with a friend. I went to see a movie with a friend of mine, and while my friend was taking pictures of the poster, I ended up taking a picture with someone else who wanted to take a picture of the same poster.
 Then he pointed at me and said, &#8220;How do you say that? I said, &#8220;Se-no,&#8221; and he said something like, &#8220;You call me fat. &#8230;&#8230;
 She was suddenly bombarded with slurs about her &#8220;appearance&#8221; from a &#8220;total stranger. It was a slur on her &#8220;appearance,&#8221; hurled at her out of the blue by a complete stranger.
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 At that time, rather than being shocked myself, I felt sorry for my friend. I felt like it was my fault that they said those things.
 After that, I couldn&#8217;t watch the movie at all. I couldn&#8217;t stop crying from the trailer on. &#8230;&#8230;
 After that incident, Sasaki decided to go on a diet. Once she started losing weight, her singing changed as well.
 People who listened to my songs told me that I sounded much better when I lost weight,&#8221; she said. I hadn&#8217;t recorded for &#8220;Karaoke Battle&#8221; in a while, so it was my first competition in a long time. I had lost a lot of weight at that time, maybe 20 kilograms.
 At that time, people were talking about it. People said, &#8220;You&#8217;ve gone on some kind of diet,&#8221; or &#8220;You&#8217;re not ready for this. I got a score of 100. That gave me confidence, and I thought, &#8220;Well, I&#8217;m going to be more beautiful. I decided to go to &#8230;&#8230; and try to be more beautiful and sing better. I wanted to look back at the people who judged me based on my appearance.
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 Compared to when she was at her heaviest, Sasaki has lost a total of 45 kilograms. Perhaps it is because of this that her singing voice has become even more polished than it was when she was scoring 100 points in &#8220;Karaoke☆Battle&#8221;.
 Despite the innocent smile she shows in her debut song &#8220;Yakusoku Misaki,&#8221; her singing voice is filled with joy, sadness, frustration, and much more. That is why Ms. Sasaki&#8217;s songs have moved people&#8217;s hearts and helped her capture her debut.
 I am really looking forward to seeing how far her songs will grow in the future.
<figure id="attachment_347695" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-347695" style="width: 5472px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1ba9940a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/f620456388ec096f55bec9dc53541529.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-347695" class="wp-caption-text"> Ms. Sasaki held her debut event on September 20 at &#8220;FIRST STAGE&#8221; on the 2nd floor of Tokyu Kabukicho Tower in Tokyo.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_347696" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-347696" style="width: 3648px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6a7e02ad"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/ed74794bc57a985110f92bef6d80921f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-347696" class="wp-caption-text"> Senior singer Yuki Seguchi (right), who came to the venue to congratulate her, and Hayato Tani (left), who emceed the event.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_347697" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-347697" style="width: 5472px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9e6166be"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/3f9715a836daa94694b7ab31e1a81f64.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-347697" class="wp-caption-text"> Perhaps because of the location of the Tokyu Kabukicho Tower, foreigners also stopped to listen to her songs. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_347698" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-347698" style="width: 1440px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a07be8a5"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/5993abbea42ffbbd3403a5f5ab7c3db6.jpeg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-347698" class="wp-caption-text"> She was called the &#8220;strongest junior high school student&#8221; on &#8220;Karaoke☆Battle&#8221; after scoring 100 points in a row.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_347699" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-347699" style="width: 816px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3f19878b"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/43aee4426331b495175b526d29fd40ec.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-347699" class="wp-caption-text"> Ms. Sasaki when she was &#8220;chubby.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_347700" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-347700" style="width: 798px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="aa7a2e82"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/48acf49f50cbd0efe635dc1f3f74f2fd.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-347700" class="wp-caption-text"> The stress of changing schools and singing combined, and eating became a way for her to relax. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_347703" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-347703" style="width: 1313px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="8cae9ceb"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/12/45ed27de5d57f44325cfad14e4b15d78.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-347703" class="wp-caption-text"> Her debut song &#8220;Yakusoku Misaki&#8221; (Cape Yakusoku)</figcaption></figure>

 Born in Saitama Prefecture in 1975. Worked for an evening newspaper and a women's weekly before assuming her current position. Also appears on TV and radio.

 Norifumi Arakida (FRIDAY Digital Entertainment Desk)

 Mai Sasaki was called the "strongest junior high school student" for scoring 100 points repeatedly on the popular TV program "Karaoke Battle. She was even called the "Four Heavenly Kings," but she overcame many difficulties on her way to her debut. ......

 The "irresistible" stories of entertainment industry by Norifumi Arakida, the entertainment desk

Mai Sasaki, the &#8220;Four Heavenly Kings&#8221; of &#8220;Karaoke Battle,&#8221; made her major debut after losing &#8220;45 kg&#8221; and being slandered as fat

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