Yina Enohara: “Before my debut, I was a backpacker in Tokyo” [This Week’s Cover Girl’s Heart

Unexpected career path” before being scouted

–The location shooting was done on Miyakojima Island. I understand that this was your first time on Miyako Island.

The scenery was beautiful and the local meat (Tarama beef) was delicious. The most impressive part was shooting on the beach. The sand was amazingly smooth, and even if it got on my clothes, it came right off as soon as I brushed it off.

–Which outfit was your favorite?

I wore something similar when I made my gravure debut in February, so I felt nostalgic about it. It’s been less than a year since then, and I’m deeply moved when I think about it at …….”

–Did you always have an interest in the entertainment industry?

I don’t remember it at all, but my mother told me that I used to watch singing shows on TV and sing with a toy microphone. She used to point at the TV and ask, ‘How do I get in here?’ She would ask, ‘How do I get in here? So I think she was vaguely interested in it. By the way, my mother wanted to be an idol, and she is the most supportive of me.

–So you have been aiming for the entertainment industry since you were a little girl?

Actually, not really. I was just going to dance lessons and enjoying my student life in general. It wasn’t until the COVID-19 crisis that I was finally able to face my heart. Before my debut, I was backpacking and sharing a room with foreign backpackers in Tokyo, but due to the spread of the new coronavirus, everyone was ″hoping to go back to their own countries but couldn’t″ for about a year. I could go home anytime I wanted, and I could do anything I wanted, but I thought, ‘What in the world am I doing?

–So you were backpacking in Tokyo (laughs). Did you ever travel abroad?

The first time I went abroad by myself was to Korea when I was 20 years old. Naturally, I was frustrated because I didn’t understand the language at all. After that, I went back to Korea and lived in a share house for a month, and with a translation app in my hand, I talked with the locals. The staff at the share house told me that my current Korean was very rude (laughs). (Laughs) Thanks to my efforts, I am now able to converse with Koreans to the point where I have no trouble hanging out with them for a day. Using this successful experience, I went to many countries with only one backpack. I would have dinner with local people and talk with them using a translation app. Once we became friends, when they came to Japan, we would have dinner together over here and go to …….

–What was your most memorable experience in Korea?

Of course I had a great time in Korea, but the most memorable time was last year in Los Angeles. I stayed at a hotel near Skid Row, which is famous for being a high crime area. It was safe inside the hotel, but once I stepped outside, I was surprised to see the streets full of street people and drug addicts. Once, while I was observing a soup kitchen, I heard a gunshot from just beyond the fence!　I heard the sound of gunshots from right behind the wall. …… I can still hear the sound clearly. It was such a shocking experience that it blew away all my memories of Korea.