A launch event for Morning Musume '24 member Yamazaki Aki's first photobook in about three years, "Mei19" (Odyssey Publishing), was held on September 20th at Shosen Book Tower (Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo). The photobook was shot in Okinawa and features Yamazaki showing off her sparkling smile, casual glasses and cute cafe costume on the uninhabited island of Nagannu.
Yamazaki is 19 years old and was born on June 28th, 2005 in Hokkaido. Her hobby is collecting "panda" goods, and the photobook includes photos of her in outfits with "panda" designs.
Yamazaki commented on the photobook, "My favorite page is the one where I'm wearing panda clothes. It's a close-up shot, but you can see that I've become a panda, and I thought the lighting was nice and cute." She also said that she showed the photobook to the members of Morning Musume '24, saying, "Okamura Homare (a fellow member) told me, 'You've grown up!'"
Compared to her last photobook, she said, "I feel like I'm able to make more mature expressions!" She added, "Until now, I was good at smiling (laughs), so I couldn't quickly adapt to more serious shots, but this one is full of photos, so I hope you'll pay attention to them." She also gave the photobook a score of "about 200 points!"
When asked, "If you were to shoot your next photobook, what would it be?" she said, "I'd like to shoot it in my hometown of Hokkaido. I'd like to make snowmen, have snowball fights and ski. I'm good with the cold, so maybe I could wear a swimsuit in the snow (laughs). I'd like to try that."
The photobook is B5 size and 112 pages. It costs 3,500 yen.
