One of the most fascinating things about following Japanese pop idols in 2024 is how much more variety and range we have been seeing with the kinds of music and concepts coming out right now. From your classic groups to your completely wild and out-of-the-left-field groups, the world is truly your oyster when it comes to today.
A group that spun out of the legendary Sakura Gakuin, @onefive is one of those groups pushing the boundaries of what exactly is an “idol” in today’s sound. Please find our interview below!
Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us! Please introduce yourselves to our readers.
@onefive is a group formed using the concept ‘Japanese Classy Crush’! All four of us are the same age, and when we started we were all 15. We are KANO, SOYO, GUMI, and MOMO.
Many of those who are interested might know this already, but all four of you were once part of Sakura Gakuin as well. How has that experience shaped your experiences now? What do you feel like you bring most from that period into your new group?
GUMI: I have to say that the very best thing about joining Sakura Gakuin was being able to meet the three fellow members who form @onefive with me. The fact that we’ve managed to get this far together means so much to me.
KANO: I really learned how to dance through Sakura Gakuin, and find that it was there that I truly got to experience the joy of being able to perform and dance on stage.
MOMO: I was part of a subunit called trico dolls, where the main concept was that we were all part of an ‘arts performance after school club.’ It was there that I learned to present things to both my fellow members and staff, and it was as a member of trico dolls that I realized that I had to speak up if I really wanted to achieve my dreams both there and long term. Even now I’m grateful that I’ve developed this habit of being able to speak out immediately if I want to achieve something.
SOYO: For me, it’s that ability to work together as a team. I found it difficult to do so before joining Sakura Gakuin, and it was only as a part of that group that I found how meaningful and fun it could be to work together as a team. Even now, I’ve taken what I’ve learned to say my opinions and achieve our goals together as this group called ‘@onefive’.
The four of you have been through so much together. What are some of your favorite memories with the other members, particularly in the last year?
GUMI: I love being able to eat with the other members after an event or festival performance. Being able to eat local delicacies together is something I look forward to! For me, the motsunabe and hitsumabushi were super tasty.
KANO: I’ve learned so much after jumping into a new world since graduating high school in this past year, and have gone through so much with @onefive. From doing our first release event to communicating with both @fifth and new fans, I’m filled with nothing but a sense of gratitude towards our fans who have been with us this entire journey.
MOMO: We had this one training camp just for the four of us. From buying the train tickets to the training menu, we were able to decide everything on our own, so it felt like a fun short vacation. We were able to discuss both the good and the bad on that particular trip and it brought us even closer together.
SOYO: I have to agree with the training camp! The fact that nothing was held back in our conversations helped us grow to become who we are today. Were it not for that moment, I don’t think we would be the group we are now.
All four of you were also part of the live adaptation of the popular series If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die. What was each member’s favorite experience working on that series?
GUMI: Being able to perform as a character so different from myself allowed me to practice expressing myself more in different ways.
KANO: Just being able to act with so many new people rejuvenated my enthusiasm for acting.
MOMO: The scene where we do a handshake event in the drama was the first time I had ever gone face to face directly with fans, so that truly motivated me to try harder and express my gratitude towards in fans in real life even more.
SOYO: We play this idol group called ChamJam in the series, and because they were so different from how we are in our everyday lives we were able to learn new ways to express ourselves by taking part. It’s something that I’ve wanted to incorporate into our performances as @onefive, so please come watch us perform!
One of the most unique things about @onefive is how you have chosen to describe your concept. Would you mind explaining to us in your own words what this means?
MOMO: The word ‘crush’ in our concept symbolizes our desire to destroy those things that hold us back – whether it’s the images or stereotypes that are projected onto us, or those inefficiencies that are simply brushed away as ‘how things have always been done’. We want to incorporate our whole selves into everything we make, which includes our being both Japanese girls as well as a specifically Japanese girl group – hence why we call ourselves ‘Japanese Classy Crush’.
On that note, would you mind talking a bit about your lead track, OZGi?
SOYO: This title track encapsulates our concept into a single song. Combining specifically Japanese sounds and mannerisms as well as terms, we wanted to create a song that was uniquely us as @onefive. There’s one point in the song where we even incorporate Japanese greetings into the dance itself (called Ojigi). It’s a bit crazy, and we hope everyone tries to copy it!
GUMI: Aspects of Japanese culture such as Japanese calligraphy or ikebana are also incorporated into the song, which is what we’d love to promote and highlight abroad! Just like how ramen isn’t called ‘Japanese noodles’ but rather specifically called ramen, this song shows how we’d like to promote the culture of Japanese greetings to the world, and hopefully, someday that won’t simply be called bowing but rather OZGi.
How was the process of working on your major debut album different from your previous release, 1518?
GUMI: There was this sense that this album felt much more uniquely ‘us’ than our previous release with a stronger intentionality when it came to the messages we would like to convey with our songs.
KANO: While every song on the previous release was very precious, for this album, as I got older, I was able to think more deeply about each song.
SOYO: For this particular work, it was the ordering of the songs that stood out to me. From how the love songs are scattered in between tracks about completely different things, Classy Crush is a work I feel is enjoyable to listen from start to finish.
MOMO: there were so many great people working with us, both for the last release and especially in the creation of this one. My love for the songs only deepened over time, so please listen to our latest release!
And speaking of the full album, which songs were your favorite?
GUMI: For me, it was Like A. Not only did I enjoy the chorus and my solo parts in the song, but I also liked how the song managed to work cute elements into both the sound and the lyrics.
KANO: Chance. The opening instrumentals stand out to me, and just hearing that beginning fills me with joy. One part in the lyrics that I truly love is when we go, “We’re going to go to a place where we can see you from everywhere”. The lyrics fill me with the motivation to become even larger as a group and to stand on a larger stage.
MOMO: Mr. Gorgeous! That feeling of wanting to be influenced by the person you like is deeply relatable to everyone, and I feel like it’s one of @onefive‘s cutest songs. I put in a lot of that excitement and fluffiness you feel when you’re in love into my performance. I highly recommend this song as a backing track for when you’re picking out clothes or going shopping!
SOYO: Kono mamajya Kowaresou. For the first time, I was able to express more negative emotions in my music. We had to debut during the pandemic, and we weren’t able to meet fans. That feeling of complete helplessness is something I vividly remember. It is those emotions that we’ve packed into this particular track, so each word and each performance is something I hope people will pay attention to closely.
I also wanted to discuss some of your previous releases and your thoughts on performing them! Please walk us through how you felt about some of these other songs.
SOYO: For F.A.F.O., it was a song composed by ☆Taku Takahashi of the legendary group m-flo. As a result, it has a bit of a nostalgic m-flo-like sound to it. The track has quite a bit of emotion baked into the lyrics, so we were careful to highlight those feelings in how we performed the song. Plus, there were times when our suggestions on word choices for lyrics were worked in, so we feel like it is an extremely relatable track!
GUMI: This was the first time we were given a sexy and mature song concept, so it was refreshing to perform. While it was challenging as a result, we were able to show a very different side to @onefive than before.
KANO: As our major debut song, there’s a sense of immaturity to our performance that I enjoy. Because it marked the beginning of our journey as artists on a major record label and allowed us to meet so many new people it’s a song filled with many memories.
MOMO: This track has a cool vibe to it that makes it stand out from many of our other releases. I struggled a bit because it was so different, and had to re-record my lines and redo shots during the filming quite a bit. Through that increased direction and practice, I was able to find my unique way of expressing this sense of ‘cool’, and as a group, we were able to learn a lot from our teachers through this song.
KANO: This song has a section where we were allowed to improvise on our choreography, so I struggled quite a bit with this track. Up until then, we were instructed on every aspect of our choreography, so it challenged me to grow more as a performer.
And how would you like to grow from now until your next release?
GUMI: I want to be able to level up our performances so that we can bring more energy and joy to @fifth! We would love to be able to prepare even more things as a group that our fans can look forward to.
KANO: We want to combine our strengths to showcase those things only we as @onefive can do! I want to level up our performance so that everyone who sees us thinks, So cool! I want to become like @onefive! I would love to support them!
MOMO: I would love to continue in that feeling of thankfulness towards the love and affection that @fifth shows us. We want to polish ourselves even more so that we can continue to bring excitement and joy to everyone who watches us.
SOYO: We would love to be able to perform overseas someday, and be able to perform with and learn from various artists around the world.
Finally, a message for all your fans in the West!
GUMI: The fact that we can receive so much love and affection through comments and fan letters from around the world despite never having performed overseas gives us a lot of happiness and strength. We would love to be able to show you our talents and our performances in person, and hope to be able to become the sort of group that could hold a solo live in the U.S.! Thank you so much for supporting us!
SOYO: As Japanese artists, I hope we can continue to spread an appreciation of and love for Japanese culture throughout the world as conveyed in our lead track, OZGi. There are so many aspects of ourselves that we’ve conveyed in our latest album, so please check it out!
KANO: We want to continue being the sort of group that has fans all around the world and not just in Japan! We’ll continue to work hard to be able to meet all our fans overseas in person someday, so please wait for us!
MOMO: Your love and affection always reach us, even from outside of Japan. We are so happy every time we look at our uploads or social media posts and see people commenting in all sorts of languages. We want to work hard so we can continue to meet even more people, so please know that even if we are physically apart our hearts are one! We look forward to the day when we can meet all of you in person!
Thank you so much to @onefive for speaking to us, and be sure to check out their latest album release, Classy Crush, either on Spotify below or through the links!
