Born from the Late-Night Show “Wonderful”… Three Former 4th-Generation “One Gal” Members Share the Untold Story of Their Auditions and Turbulent Debut

“One Gal was our youth!” [Magazine Roundtable]

They burst onto the scene from the late-night series “Wonderful,” which aired at 11:55 p.m., and took the world by storm.
Three members of the 4th generation share all their memories of this unique girl group!

A quarter-century ago—back when television was still the king of entertainment—there was a unique girl group that burst onto the scene from a late-night show and took the world by storm.Since the members were assistants on “Wonderful” (TBS network, aired every Monday through Thursday from 11:55 p.m. to 12:50 a.m. from ’97 to ’02), they were called the Wonderful Girls—commonly known as “One-Gals.”

Their term lasted one year. Among the One Gals—who produced stars like Sachiko Kokubu (49) and Yumiko Shaku (48)—three members from the fourth generation, known for being the most passionate and dynamic, appeared in *FRIDAY* to look back on those days.

“Do you only wear leopard print?”

Hitomi Ishikawa: The reason I became a One Gal was… because my agency told me, “Go to the audition” (laughs). Back then, the agency was absolute. If they said, “Go,” I had no choice but to go. It was like, “This show?” “Yes!” “Next, this one?” “Yes!” I had almost no say in the matter. That was just the way things were back then.

Megumi Chuma: The “One Gal” auditions had all kinds of things, like swimsuit rounds, right?

Tomoka Matsuri: Yeah, there was a swimsuit round. Didn’t the auditions go up to about the third round?

Chuma: Huh?! For me, there were about eight rounds.

Matsuri: Really!?

Ishikawa: So you passed eight rounds?

Chuma: Yeah… I was almost cut at the last minute, but I managed to make it in at the very, very end.

Matsuri: Eight rounds is amazing.

Nakama: There were quite a few swimsuit rounds… How many times did you guys have to do that?

Matsuzato: For the swimsuit round… just once.

Nakama: Just once?

Matsuzato: Weren’t there three rounds of judging in total? First was the application, then the swimsuit round, and finally, they told us, “Imagine you’re a reporter—now report on whatever you like.” We had to improvise. That’s where I got selected.

Ishikawa: Everyone’s experience was different, wasn’t it?

Nakama: Hitomi-chan, how many times?

Ishikawa: Just once.

Nakama & Matsuzato: Huh?!

Nakama: I had to go through it eight times, though…

Ishikawa: There’s no way it was eight—absolutely not (laughs).

Nakama: I think there were about four swimsuit rounds. But I only had one swimsuit. Since I’m from Kansai, it was leopard print. Then, during the fourth swimsuit round, they asked me, “Do you only ever wear leopard-print swimsuits?”

Matsuzato: Hahaha!

Nakama: A lot of the girls who came to the audition were gravure models, and they all had tons of swimsuits. For me, *Wonderful* was pretty much my first job in show business.

Ishikawa: If you’d just asked, I would’ve lent you one. I was on a show called—you guessed it—“BiKiNi” (on TV Tokyo), so I had tons of swimsuits (laughs).

Matsuzato: I’d been watching *Wonderful* since high school, but I never imagined I’d end up on it myself. The agency I joined after being scouted told me, “Just go try out for this audition for now”—and that was *Wonderful*.

I was like, “Huh?!” and then during the audition, I had to change into a swimsuit, so I thought, “Am I going to be okay?” Plus, I couldn’t make it on the day of the third round, so I asked to reschedule—and when I did, I was the only one there among 12 or 13 staff members.

Nakama: Wow…

Matsuzato: The producer kept saying, “You’ve got great legs! It’s because of your legs!” I was so worried, thinking, “This is scary… what if I actually pass?” (laughs).

Ishikawa: Ahaha!

Matsuzato: Of course, nothing happened, but I was really nervous at first. Then, I was sent to Okinawa right away.

Nakama: That was for the promotional photos, right?

Matsuzato: They gave everyone catchphrases—like “Panther Girl” for Hitomi-chan. Everyone around me was a stranger, and I remember thinking, “So these are the One Gals.” And then… they made us sing right away, didn’t they?

Nakama: I… didn’t do that.

Matsuzato: No, you definitely did—we released CDs produced by Tsunku♂ (57), after all. Recording started before we debuted as the 4th generation members and before we started appearing on TV shows, right?

Nakama: Our first single was “Heroine! – We’re Not Just Some Run-of-the-Mill Group–,” and our second was “Hanabuki BANG BANG BANG,” right?

Matsuzato: I remember thinking, “Wow, things are moving along so smoothly.” We even toured the provinces for autograph sessions. Becoming One Gal really changed our lives, didn’t it?

These three debuted as members of the 4th generation of One Gal and raced straight into their singing careers. In Part 2, we’ll look back on their incredibly busy days filled with live broadcasts and location shoots, as well as the bonds with their friends that continue even after graduation.

Click here for Part 2

From the October 16, 2026 issue of *FRIDAY*