Negicco are a Niigita-based idol group consisting of members Nao☆, Megu and Kaede. It has been 13 years since they made their debut. They have gained many fans not only locally within Niigita, but all over Japan and around the world too. Their live shows are known for being packed with fans holding Negi Lights (green and white glowsticks resembling a spring onion). The girls finished up their 2nd nationwide tour around Japan in Spring of this year and will be going on to perform a one-man live at the NHK Hall this July. Just what are the girls thinking in the run up to their performance on such a huge stage?

――You have just finished your second Japan nationwide tour 「“The MusicBand of Negicco”supported by サトウ食品」. How did you find it?
Kaede: A lot of things happened during the tour. For this tour we toured around Japan together with the band members. It’s not just the 3 of us; there are a lot of people helping us out, and I learnt a lot as a result. One nice thing that I rember is how I was able to become closer with those people when we set out to do the tour because of that.
Nao☆: When we toured by ourselves we would always change the set-list, but on this band tour there was no need to. I wondered if we went with the same structure each time whether the fans would become bored or lose interest. But when I looked at their faces from the stage, the fans had fun because we were having fun. That’s the number 1 thing I discovered on this tour.
Megu: We had an actual band playing with us, so there were some no-go’s during rehearsals. But we have complete trust in the band members, so I felt that the groove went well with everyone as we all put everything together.

――You are very popular in Japan, but do you have any visions to take your work overseas?
Kaede: I’d love to go overseas!
Megu: We have performed in Korea in the past, and one of our music videos was also shot in Finland.

――What country would you like to try playing in next?
Megu: Paris?
Kaede: Somewhere like Taiwan!
Nao☆: We have Taiwanese fans saying “Come to Taiwan”, so I’d definitely love to go. I’d also like to go to France like Megu, and Russia.
Megu: I didn’t say Russia (laughs). But I want to go!
Nao☆: Ahaha! (laughs)
Megu: There are Negicco fans in Paris who have even come all the way from France to see us live in Japan. And when I read messages from them on Twitter where they have worked hard to write in Japanese things like “I’m cheering for you”, it really makes me want to go and meet them.

――It seems there are a lot of Negicco fans overseas too!
Nao☆: There have been lots recently!
Megu: It makes me happy.
Kaede: But we don’t have many opportunities to go and perform overseas, so I think there are still a lot of people that don’t know about Negicco. But we now live in a convenient society with things like YouTube where you can watch us, so it would make us happy if people can listen to our music and maybe even come to Japan.

――Negicco are sight-seeing ambassadors of Niigata. What would you highlight about Niigata for the people overseas?
Kaede & Megu: Ooo!!
Nao☆: First of all, the food is delicious! It’s also next to the Sea of Japan. If you go to Niigata, you won’t be able to leave. It’s like a black hole.
Kaede: You’ll get sucked in. If you visit just once, you won’t want to go back.
Megu: You might first of all think “Niigata, huh? There’s a lot of snow. I don’t want to go.” But if you actually go there, the food is tasty, the people are nice… There’s a lot of people that ended up settling there (laughs).

――Your 3rd album “Tea for Three” has just been released. What kind of image did you go for with the album? The CD jacket is really gorgeous, isn’t it!
Nao☆: We have changed a lot from the past, and that is what is shown on the CD jacket. There are a lot of people whose image of us hasn’t changed since when we were singing “Negi～Negi～” at the time of our debut, so we wanted to convey the Negicco of today who are entering their 14th year as a group.
Megu: We didn’t make anything or dress up. We wanted to show our everyday selves. We are showing a more natural Negicco.

――What are your recent objectives?
Megu: We’ll be performing a one-man live at NHK Hall on July 30th. It will be the biggest stage we have ever performed on, so it would be great if people could go and see us!
Nao☆: There are family seats available too, so you can be at ease if you come and see us. I think having prepared seats like that is very Negicco-like. It’s a space you can only get if you come and see Negicco, so I want everyone to be able to experience us live.

――What are your thoughts in the run up to your performance at NHK Hall?
Nao☆: A year after we made our debut we were able to stand on stage at NHK Hall for a TV program, and I remember thinking “Wow! It’s so big”. But I never thought the day would come where we would be performing a one-man. I think there is a lot of meaning for us in being able to return to NHK Hall and filling the room with Negi Lights, and there is also huge meaning for us in so many people seeing us perform there. It’s a place that holds a special meaning to us, so I really want people to be there.

――What are your plans for after NHK Hall?
Nao☆: Dudun!
Megu: Budokan!
(A huge round of applause commences)
Nao☆: Ever since the day that Perfume stood on stage at the Budokan after aiming for it for so long, we have always wanted to stand on that stage too. We want our performance at NHK Hall which we have emotional ties with to tie together with our aiming for the Budokan. Once we make that day together with our fans, we will have made one amazing stage.

Their earnest advance towards their dreams, their uniquely warm characters’ and the smiles of those girls who you can only be charmed by, the things you can say about them are innumerable. As the 3 of them travel from Niigata to Japan, from Japan to the world, do not take your eyes off Negicco for even a moment.

Negicco Official Website http://negicco.net
Twitter:
Kaede https://twitter.com/kaede_ngc
Nao☆ https://twitter.com/nao_ngc
Megu https://twitter.com/megu_negicco