Even today's hottest stars and artists have had moments of "firsts" - their first appearance, first event, first live performance, etc. "My Firsts" is a program where they look back on those thrilling moments that only come from inexperience. This time, Airu Kubozuka , who played one of the students, Jigen Kenta, in the TBS Sunday Theatre drama " Mikami Sensei ," talked about his first photobook, " Airu Kubozuka 1st Photobook Lila" (Shogakukan, A4 size, 128 pages, 3,850 yen), which was released in March.
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I feel like Airu Kubozuka 1st Photo Book Lila was not a passing point, but a turning point.
I started working in the entertainment industry full-time in my second year of high school, and this will be my fourth year. I have mainly worked as a model and an actor. I haven't really separated my ways of expression, but as a model, I have been photographed embodying the image of products and branded clothes, and as an actor, I have been expressing myself, using my own body and mind to play fictional characters that exist in a script.
This is my first photobook, and it includes many memorable moments from when I turned 20 to when I was 21. During that time, there was something I felt for the first time that I want to share with you today.
When I was approached about doing the photo book, I thought it would be an opportunity for me to beautifully express what I had experienced and learned up to that point as a model, but as the shoot progressed I realized there was more to it than that.
In the photo book, I visited the place where I was born and raised, my high school, and took pictures of the time I spent with my friends and family. And above all, it also includes photos of the stage where I was photographed during a moment when I was on the edge of a cliff (playing someone else), and photos of that time.
Looking back, I've only been active as an actor and model for a few years now. I think the experience I had during this shoot was a turning point for me. The photos show my past, present, and future selves all mixed together, and they are all vivid and capture moments that are true to me.
The title "Lila" is the name of my beloved dog who I grew up with from when I was in the last year of kindergarten until I graduated from junior high school. She was my family and my best friend at the time. In my complicated family environment, she was the only one who understood my feelings and was there for me. Now, as the title of the photo book, I am convinced that she has been watching over me, both in the past and in the present.
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Airu Kubozuka Born October 3, 2003, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. He began his acting career in 2021. In 2024, he made his debut as an actor in the film "Happiness" (directed by Shinohara Tetsuo). In the same year, he appeared in the film "We Don't Know Love" (directed by Sakai Mai) and the stage play "My Hole, His Hole. W". He will appear in the TBS drama "Mikami Sensei" (Sunday Theater, 9:00 pm) in January 2025 as Jigen Kenta.
