31-year-old singer Aina the End appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on March 25th. She talked about her memories of her first solo appearance on NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen at the end of last year, as well as the origin of her name.
She had previously appeared on Kohaku Uta Gassen in 2021 when she was in the band BiSH. "I was so nervous back then that I messed up the lyrics to a song I'd sung about 100 times. This time, as I'm appearing as a solo artist for the first time, I was determined not to make any mistakes, and I feel like I was able to use my nervousness to my advantage," she said. She shared the stage with her dancer sister, and her parents were in the audience, saying, "All four of us were at NHK Hall." "My parents enjoyed my performance very much, but they looked especially happy when Seiko Matsuda appeared, and I felt like I was able to do something to make them proud," she recalled.
The reason she chose the name "Aina the End" dates back to when she moved to Tokyo from Osaka at the age of 18 to pursue a singing career. She worked part-time jobs and performed street live shows every day, but "it didn't work out." Having gone through various hardships, she wanted to leave her past self behind and work hard in group activities as a new person, so she chose the name with the feeling of "ending (her real name) Aina and starting anew."
She revealed that she decided to become a singer when she was in her third year of high school. She went to karaoke with her dance partner and was singing when her partner said things like, "Aina, I think singing suits you better than dancing," and "This is the first time I've ever respected you." She was surprised, thinking, "We've been dancing together for so long, and this is the first time you've ever respected me?" But she reconsidered, thinking that it was her best friend who said it, and started singing at the age of 17.
His current source of comfort is his pet dog. It even has a last name, Oba Yozo. He likes Osamu Dazai's "No Longer Human" and named his dog after the main character. "Oba Yozo (in the novel) likes women. I thought it would be interesting if the dog was a womanizer. I thought it would be cute if the dog went to the park to try and get attention from a cute female toy poodle, so I named him that," he says. When he sometimes cries because he can't write lyrics, Oba Yozo will climb onto his lap and stare at him for a long time.
