Viral Beauty Chuchu Haruchou Makes FRIDAY Debut Remember the Two Kanji Child
Photo model Harucho makes her first gravure appearance in FRIDAY. We interviewed her about her mysterious true face and her striking name.
“I came to check if you’re really not AI!” (laughs)
Photo model Chuchu Haruchou, known for her innocent, baby-faced look and marshmallow body, has been causing a stir on social media with her gravure shots. Her posts, which often garner nearly 10,000 “likes,” and her charming smile have earned her 74,000 followers, all of whom she cheers up. Despite this, her age and background remain shrouded in mystery, and her striking looks have even led to whispers of her possibly being AI.
“The AI theory is something fans often mention. Some people even come to my events saying, ‘I came to check if you’re really not AI!’ (laughs).”
The events refer to the fan meetings Chuchu regularly hosts. These gatherings, often held in Tokyo, attract fans from all over the country.
“I hold a photo shoot event once a week as a chance to meet my fans. I also upload gravure photos to X every day as part of my usual activities, and I sell products related to those photos, like signed Cheki or CD-Rs containing image data, through my online store.”
“Everyone travels from far away to come see me, and they’re all so kind. I end up getting healed every time. Some people have photography as a hobby, and others come and say, ‘I don’t have a camera, but I just wanted to meet you.’ In my photo shoots, smartphone photography is okay, and it’s more about interaction than actual shooting, so I’d be happy if many more people could casually come and visit in the future.”
Her rare stage name “Chuchu,” which is difficult to read at first glance, is one she came up with herself, and she explains it’s a name using kanji characters that don’t directly correspond to the reading.
“I just wanted a cute and easy-to-remember name. At first, I was thinking of a name in hiragana because I wanted it to sound soft, and I considered using ‘chuchu’ in hiragana. But then, I realized it would be difficult to search for X, so I decided against that. Instead, I thought, ‘Why not use kanji?’ and came up with the name ‘Chuchu’ by combining my favorite motif, a butterfly (chōchō), and the kanji for spring (haru). I wanted the name to be memorable, so I thought with this name, people might remember me as that girl with the two difficult kanji characters.”
