Former AKB48/NMB48 member Ichikawa Miori talked about pursuing one’s dreams and to not give up

Ichikawa Miori is the Goodwill Ambassadsor of Kuki City in Saitama and held a talk event about not giving up on your dreams and what you can do to achieve your dream.

Ichikawa was a member of AKB48 and NMB48.  She was scouted by an entertainment agency when she was in fifth grade.

But Ichikawa said that while it was a beginning of her dream to become an actress, after auditioning for more than 100 times in one year and not getting any positive results, she was fired by the entertainment agency.

Hearing her mother cry in her bedroom made her realize that her dream was actually her family’s dream.

So, she had a new dream and that was to sing and then she passed the audition for AKB48.  She went out for the audition as it was her last chance.  She was confident and continued to practice hard in singing and her feelings was to never give up and that led to results.

After joining AKB48 in 2010, and being known as “Fresh Lemon”, she still felt a gap and so she transferred to NMB48 in 2013 and took advantage of the opportunity as she had nothing to lose, but she had to be brave.  She also decided to go with a short hairstyle and achieved her dreams of becoming part of a single CD, participating in Kouhaku Uta Gassen.

Ichikawa said it was no mistake that her dream came true.  The support of family, friends and the fans were the driving force.

Ichikawa said its important to have dreams and if you continue to pursue it without giving up, your efforts will be rewarded someday.  But also for people to cherish the feeling of trying.

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