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From KSTYLE [Star Column] (KARA)①

2023-09-17 19:20:59

From KSTYLE [Star Column] (KARA)①

KSTYLE【スターコラム】より（ＫＡＲＡ）①

KARA Hara's tears and the story KARA left behind - Vol.3

KARA celebrates 6 years since his debut. He has been actively engaged in activities between Korea and Japan. In particular, her performance at Tokyo Dome in January was a great success, proving her popularity. We asked Hara to tell us the story behind KARA's activities in Japan. ``NAVER Star Column'' KARA's final volume Vol. 3 is about their activities in Japan and the stories left behind by the members. /Editor

Hara Said “That day when I took my first step in Japan”
When I decided to start working in Japan, I was most worried about the language. Will I be able to do it well? All the members studied Japanese hard, but when they actually went there, it was different from what they had expected.

First of all, I couldn't hear anything. Because of the nuances unique to Japanese, it was difficult to catch on even though I was studying. However, as I continued my activities, time solved that problem. I have gained experience and know-how, and now I can naturally understand how things flow.

At first, I could not function at all without an interpreter. In the early days of my debut, I did a lot of activities, especially on variety shows, and even though I couldn't even hear myself well, I tried to do my best, so I worked really hard on my reactions.

If you do so, your physical strength will be consumed twice. Even if I wanted to talk about something, I didn't know the words and couldn't form sentences properly. How can I make that person understand what I want to say? That was the most difficult thing.

Normally for variety shows, you get the script on the day of the show, but we got it the day before or two days in advance. I wrote down the answers to my questions in Korean, translated them, and then tried my best to memorize them. I studied while doing so.

★ Out of the five members, Hara felt like she was the slowest in Japanese. This kind of effort was going on behind the scenes. It seems like their Japanese is no problem at all now. I don't mind the strange expressions; on the contrary, it makes me feel that the effort continues. The more they integrate into Japan, the more opportunities for their successors to become available. They have a huge role to play.

Hara's tears, and...
I couldn't speak Japanese, so I was frustrated and cried a lot. Just doing activities was too frustrating...When I was doing activities in Japan, I stayed for about two weeks, but when I finished my schedule and went back to the hotel to rest by myself, I felt empty.

"What did I do today?" he asked. I feel like I did my best, but I don't remember anything about it. Before I knew it, it felt like the whole day had passed. All I thought was, ``I have to wake up again tomorrow morning, get ready, and go out... Time is passing again. I want to go back to Korea as soon as possible.''

Looking back now, I think it was because I had that time that I was able to respond boldly. Now is the time to enjoy it.

Even when I appeared on the show, my head was full of thinking about what I was going to say, and I would mutter to myself so I wouldn't forget, and I would only say what I was told to say, but now I understand all the nuances. I can write about two sentences, so I have the ability to respond. Variety is also easier to do than before. Above all, I started to really laugh.

★　The more work I do in Japan, the more variety work I do. This will also lead to improving your Japanese studies. The better they can use Japanese, the more likeable they will be. This will also lead to richer exchanges between Japan and Korea. I'm sure there are many people other than fans who are looking forward to KARA's success.

Impressive Tokyo Dome performance
I was grateful when I started seeing results in Japan. Since KARA was not very active in Korea, there was a possibility that KARA's place would become narrower, but their activities in Japan were successful, and the market for K-POP culture expanded, and KARA also expanded in Korea. I think I can now maintain it. I think we should be extremely grateful to be able to work overseas.