A Career Change at 17 転 歳 職 の 久 住 Koharu Kusumi ⼩ 春 The first essay of nonfiction Koharu Kusumi has wrien! A nature-raised village girl becomes an idol at age and at age now takes a new path. The mental state of Koharu Kusumi arriving at a career change at age , pursued since early life. Her road to health, her road to agriculture, her Morning Musume｡ period experiences—she talks about everything here now!! “The complete audition conditions” “Kirari Tsukishima-chan,thank you” “You could pay for bamboo shoots!” “Modeling aspirations” An intense open-air classroom “I’m quiing Morning Musume ｡!” “Like I’m gonna die in a place like this!” “Could I really turn being “An interest in agriculture” an otaku into a career?” “It’s an important thing for the sake of being healthy” “Koharu talks about hygiene” １７ A 歳 Career の Change 転 at 職 久 Koharu 住 小 Kusumi 春 an unofficial translation with notes by KirarinISnow photographs koharu kusumi d i e t n o t e \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ A Career Change at Foreword Koharu’s Hometown :Life in Washima Village: ⟦The birth of Koharu Kusumi (ages –)⟧ .................... Stories from age that I have no recollection of ............ This is what a village nursery school is () ............. Lile Koharu’s reality! :A day in the life of Koharu: ........ Koharu’s nature becomes clear :Age : ................ ⟦Four seasons in a retro village⟧ ......................... Winters with tremendous snowfall .................... For the Kusumis, the year starts with “New Year’s Eve”—“The New Year’s performances are on December , aren’t they?” .. A gap between Tokyo and the village—“You could pay money for bamboo shoots!” .......................... The snake incident—“Go throw it out quick! By my sister” ..... The Ameyoko of the Washima area .................... Barefoot exercise :A day of the barefoot life for everyone: .... Chemicals come falling from the sky ................... Washima festivals—“At Yoyogi Gymnasium, there’s a festival ev- ery day, isn’t there?” ........................ A real sports day for everyone from kids to the elderly! ....... ⟦! An on-the-scene relay broadcast of a one-day visit home! Typical, isn’t it? ()⟧ ................................ “Is Koharu’s hometown so unusual?” ................... Rural Elementary School Life ⟦A thoroughly diligent student (lower elementary grades)⟧ ........ Entering elementary school :My backpack suddenly got deco- rated by Sis!: ............................ A determined, thoroughly diligent elementary school student ... Abacus Calculation I & Mental Arithmetic I .............. School events with too much nature ................... \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ Encounters with umeboshi ......................... ⟦Modeling aspirations (middle elementary grades)⟧ ............. A day in the life of vacation-day Koharu ................. The Strongest! God! The Master, let me call you! :Relative Miku- chan: ................................. Modeling aspirations ............................ Diet notebook ................................. ⟦Yearning for the city (upper elementary grades)⟧ .............. An intense open-air classroom—“Like I’m gonna die in a place like this!” .................................. Yearning for the city—“Miyabi Natsuyaki-chan!” ........... Koharu’s first experiences ......................... The Audition Résumé mailing ................................ The day before the audition ........................ The day of the audition (the second · third rounds) .......... The fourth round ............................... The final audition ............................... Sudden TV cameras ............................. A family meeting ............................... The day we proceeded to Tokyo ...................... My Morning Musume｡ Period ⟦Life in Tokyo for the first time⟧ ......................... The beginning of Tokyo life ......................... Every day, painful and pressured ..................... It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! Help! ...................... ⟦Thanks, Kirari Tsukishima-chan⟧ ........................ My sister, coming to Tokyo ......................... Thanks, Kirari Tsukishima-chan—“I’ve goen so much from you” . Recollections looking back on the MoMusu｡ Koharu Kusumi .... ⟦I’m a health otaku!⟧ ................................ Unusual health ................................ My throat. My voice . won’t come out .............. I collapsed at last ( winter)—“If we go with surgery, will it leave a scar?” ................................ A hospital otaku ............................... Even with supplements, hopeless extreme anemia ........... Relying on neither supplements nor medicine ............. \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ A Career Change at ⟦Worried days as an idol⟧ ............................. Life in Tokyo more difficult than I thought ............... As Morning Musume｡, as Kirari Tsukishima, and then as Koharu Kusumi ................................ Group and solo coexistence ........................ My body in bad shape ............................ I’m quiing Morning Musume｡! ..................... The model barrier .............................. ⟦Being able to turn into health otaku Koharu⟧ ................ Could I turn being a health otaku into a career? ............ Cooking, it’s fun! ............................... My first time at a natural food restaurant ................ I tried participating in a raw food seminar! ............... A circle extending out from seminars ................... ⟦A career change at ⟧ .............................. Toward a new road :A message for everybody: ........... Koharu Talks About Food and Health ⟦Until finally arriving at raw food⟧ ....................... Huge excitement! Huge excitement! Huge excitement! So awe- some! :A new chance: ...................... The difference among additive-free · pesticide-free · organic .... What macrobiotic means :I tried macrobiotics: ........... What raw food is :Enzyme nutrition: ................. Dramatically changed aer encountering raw food .......... Raw food I found in Hawaii ........................ Acquiring Seedmeister & raw food certifications ............ An interest in agriculture .......................... ⟦It’s an important thing for the sake of being healthy⟧ ........... Just by being food-conscious, the body changes! ............ Care of the mind ............................... Move the body ................................ Koharu’s health theory ........................... ⟦Koharu’s recommendations⟧ ........................... The Koharu-style umeboshi pickling method .............. Koharu’s recommended restaurants ................... Koharu’s recommended natural food stores .............. Koharu’s bookshelf .............................. Aerword \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ · \ · [ Foreword is is Koharu Kusumi. It’s a sudden opening, but I’ll just launch right away into explaining this book (). People dreaming of becoming models! People dreaming of becoming idols! People with an interest in the world of television! People interested in what it’s like in the country! People who want to improve their physical constitution! People with an interest in health! People who have things they want to do but just can’t take the first step forward! People who want to know about the life of Koharu Kusumi from birth to the present! ese kinds of readers should read this book . I think! When I started writing this book, I was years old, but now, having finished writing it, I’ve turned . Because of that, the parts I wrote when I was came out of the -year-old Koharu, and the parts I wrote aer becoming are a product of the -year-old Koharu, so each piece of writing reflects the feelings I had at that point in time. My reason for just leaving everything unchanged is that I wanted to deliver it through the words of the real Koharu. e stories from when I was lile I wrote based on what I heard from my family, and I wrote while consulting with people at the office as well. I think there are some parts that are hard to read, but I thought, wouldn’t writing in Koharu’s own words best convey what I wanted to say?—so from the sentence writing style to the composition, to the paragraphs, to the arrangement of the table of contents, to the choice of words, everything was my own decision, and up through the last paragraph, was completed with my participation in the revision process. Since everything from the start to the end is wrien in Koharu’s own words, in- cluding some idiosyncratic Koharuisms that you won’t see in any regular book, I think everyone might find some parts a pain to read. I’d be happy if you think to yourself, “is is definitely Koharu’s book!” and have fun reading it. is is nonfiction of course (). F While writing this foreword, I was thinking . for a foreword, how much should I write, I wonder? Whenever I start to write something, I seem to keep going on forever, so I’ll go ahead and stop around here . (). at said, this is a book Koharu Kusumi wrote! So please knock on this door and look. Of course, this is designated an unrestricted-entry-and-exit zone. Please