Misono talks about bullying in interview with Fujin Koron

When it comes to entertainers, singer misono is one of the more interesting personalities.  The media loves to report on her, primarily because you never know what’s going to happen to her or what she’s going to say.  It’s unpredictable.

From the vocalist of day after tomorrow to having a solo career, misono was able to separate herself from her sister, Koda Kumi’s shadow and have a career for herself and now the next stage in her life, other than singing is being a YouTuber and TV talent.

She is often barraged with slander/hate comments from people who feel sorry for her husband, drummer Nosuke or feel that she makes too much noise, media still report about her, what she is commenting about and in a weird sense, she has become somewhat of an influencer.

But how is it that she gets so much hate comments, that she manages to stay strong from it.

In an interview Nakamura-san of “Fujin Koron”, misono said its from her upbringing.

She lived near Fushimi Inari in Kyoto, her father was a dump truck driver and her mom worked in beauty-related work.  Her grandmother did poetry, while her grandfather was a Shakuhachi teacher. While the family was not rich, she and her sister Kumi learned Japanese dance, tea ceremony, sword dance, piano, calligraphy, English.  So, she didn’t grow up as an angry child.

While her sister was popular and, she was bullied.  She wanted to be a singer but was always called Ku-chan’s younger sister.

No one talked to her at school but she had one person who would talk to her when she was alone.  She never talked about it when she went home, because she didn’t want her parents to be sad.

Misono said that she couldn’t study at all, because she wasn’t good at it.  She dreamed she would be homeless, because she felt it would be impossible for herself to get a job because she wasn’t social.  She ignored school because it was away for her to avoid being bullied and avoid making friends.

When she was in junior high school, the songs by Amuro Namie, MAX and SPEED became so popular that she wanted so sing and perhaps from singing, she could make friends and have her own circle of friends.

Misono even auditioned at the Okinawa Actor’s School during her second year of junior high school without telling her parents.  She received a special award at Nippon Budokan for the final examination.  Her family was surprised and her parents supported that she was willing to go to Okinawa immediately after graduating from junior high school.  Everyone was aiming for their dreams, so there was no bullying.

While taking lessons in Okinawa, she started thinking that maybe she can be #1 in Tokyo, so she passed the audition at AVex in Tokyo.  Her sister had already passed the Avex auditions and had taken lessons.  In fact, she didn’t tell her sister and at the final examination, she was asked “are you Koda’s sister?”.  My sister contacted her and asked, Why did you audition for Avex? I wish you talked to me”.

There is a misunderstanding that her sister Kumi led to misono’s career but misono makes it clear that she didn’t make it because of Kumi’s influence.

Misono said that the departments in Avex are very different and if she was using her sister’s power, she would have appeared on more music programs.

In fact, Avex wanted to promote them as separate artists, not as sisters.

When asked if she gets along with her older sister Kumi, misono said, “When we were living at my parents house, we quarreled every time we passed each other (laughing), but after I entered the entertainment world, she really wanted me to debut”.

Misono said that many people compare them but she doesn’t see her sister as a rival.  In fact, she doesn’t even have this competitive feeling of wanting to win.

Misono debuted at the age of 17 with day after tomorrow in 2002 for Avex.  People wanted to see Hamasaki Ayumi and Amuro and for misono, her music wasn’t selling for three years.  But when her CM song was used fora video game, it ranked #2 on the Oricon Single Charts ranking with a few hundred thousand copies sold, but during a time when Avex would sell a million to two million copies for a single.

Koda Kumi took four years to become a major success.

Despite a lot of tie-ups with video games and anime, her singles didn’t do well.  She blamed herself.  At the time, she said she was overweight and the visuals were not good and didn’t want to be shown on camera.

In 2006, misono made her solo debut and a few years later, when she was told that if she doesn’t sell 10,000 copies, she will no longer be able to release any CD singles in the future.  Unfortunately, she didn’t achieve her goal.

From the age of 17 when she debuted to the present at 35, misono said she is most happier now and wouldn’t want to go back to the past.  The happiness is now the people around her and she is blessed with the connections she has made with people. Being bullied gave her a chance to audition and because day after tomorrow and her solo career didn’t sell well, it gave her the chance to pursue television..

Now she is receiving a lot of hate comments as a YouTuber and online.  But why can she stand it?  Misono said,  “I have been ignored my life through elementary and junior high, so I know how hard it is.  Even if bad words are written about me, it’s better than being forgotten and no one talking to you.

After being diagnosed with Meniere’s Disease, people who also had the disease thanked her.  Misono said that while looking after her husband, she also became sick and was hospitalized and was told, “Don’t say you’re hospitalized, think about your husband’s feelings”.  But at the same time, she received a lot of messages from people who were caring for their family members. But she became sympathetic to those who were in pain.

When asked if there had been any changes, misono said, she said that she thought that she would like to see Nosuke being promoted, passing the baton to him and while she stayed behind the scenes.  But things didn’t go that way. Her father passed away on Nosuke’s birthday.  Nosuke’s testicular cancer was discovered shortly after she left her management.

But due to the novel coronavirus, both she and her husband have been staying at home.  And she feels that she now wants to help people fulfill their dreams.  There are many children who are funny but can’t get on TV or get promoted, so she wants to create opportunities for children.  Misono said that it’s because of the people around her, she was able to survive from the ages of 17 to 35 and now it’s time for her to give back.

You can read more of the interview here.