Dream Tea Entertainment's four-member girl group Girl's Day have been impressing fans around Asia since their debut in 2010. In July, Sojin, Minah, Yura and Hyeri released their second studio album, "Love," in Korea and then in September, followed up with their first Japanese language album, "Girl's Day 2015 Autumn Party." As part of their continuing promotions abroad, the group sat down with KpopStarz Japan for a bit of "girl talk." This interview took place on Sept. 29, one day before Girl's Day dropped the Japanese version of their single "Darling."
KpopStarz: Congrats on your debut in Japan!
Girl's Day: Thank you very much!
KpopStarz: Please tell me how you feel right now.
Hyeri: It feels really amazing.
Minah: It’s our first album in Japan so I’m just praying that everyone here likes it. We tried our best for this moment so I would be very happy if everyone shows their support for us.
Sojin: I am really excited. I will be happy if everyone likes our work.
KpopStarz: You’ve stayed in Japan for a month to promote your album. Has anything interesting happened during that time?
Minah: We were doing the same sort of routine twice a day for 12 days. I was very anxious about this matter since our fans would repeatedly come to see us perform. I was worried whether they would get bored at seeing the same stage layout and performance. I would get quite concerned every time I had to go up on stage but our fans were supportive and seemed to enjoy themselves, so we were fired up and gave it our best.
Yura: There is one story that I can share. That time when Hyeri couldn’t come, we had to perform with just the three of us. We decided to perform Hyeri’s part as well and we fretted if we could pull it off or not. It was pretty tough and we messed up her part.
Hyerii: (Laughs)
Yura: We got it right the second time we came on stage but I really feel bad for having messed up the first time we tried.
KpopStarz: From here on is [Girl’s Talk]. You have been dancing with high heels for quite some time, how do you take care of your feet?
Yura: It’s really hard~. Look! (She takes off her shoe). Whenever we get a short break I change into my slippers.
Minah: Specially on days when you’re extremely exhausted, I’d soak my feet in hot water for about 5 minutes.
Sojin: After soaking in hot water, I let my feet soak in cold water for a while. It relieves my tiredness.
Hyeri: I get so sore, a massage is a must.
KpopStarz: Everyone’s hair is so silky and beautiful. How do you take care of it?
Yura: It may look nice because my stylist sets it with a hair dryer but usually my hair doesn’t look good at all. At home I make sure to apply essence and treatments regularly. At work we always have our hair styled and set with a dryer, so I do haircare everyday to prevent damage.
Hyeri: How about getting short hair like mine?
Yura: I have absolutely no plans of cutting my hair!
Minah: I just stay at home on my days off so sometimes I don’t shampoo. If I use too much heat drying my hair after washing, it gets damaged.
Sojin: I had it dyed blond one time. It was really tough on my hair. The staff always takes good care of us.
KpopStarz: Tells us about your nails, too. Do you do your own nail care? Or do you go to salons?
Everyone: Salon!
Yura: I have nail-art painted on my toenails.
Minah: I like gel nail polishes.
KpopStarz: Do you like square or round nails?
Yura: I like the round ones more.
Minah: I prefer square, but I like the corners a little round.
KpopStarz: What type of nail fashion you would like to do this autumn?
Sojin: I like autumn so I like burgundy. I had them coated with gel once but the first layer was good and I liked it.
Hyeri: I haven’t had it done recently but I love gradients, so I think I’d like that.
KpopStarz: What color would you like?
Hyeri: I’d like to go to a nail salon now (laughs). I always get lost as to which color to choose. I wonder if red is any good.
KpopStarz: When you feel down, how do you cheer yourself up?
Yura: Due to the nature of this job we have to smile all the time. I’ve never felt down while I’m on stage and working, so I can’t think of a way to I elevate myself. But if in case I do become sad it goes away when I get into “work mode” and climb up to the stage.
Minah: When work’s done, I go out to eat something. I feel better (laughs).
KpopStarz: Tell me one of your strong and weak points.
Sojin: The good point about me is that I am quite cheerful. My weak point is that when I watch myself on TV, I feel like I’m a bit too loud (laughs).
Minah: My good point is that I smile a lot. My weak point is that I am a coward.
Hyeri: For me, I think it’s my face (laughs).
KpopStarz: Your face, right? (Writes it down in her memo.)
Yura: She seriously wrote it down (laughs).
Hyeri: It’s ok. As for my weakness, it’s men.
(Everyone laughs)
Hyeri: (Whispers) Keep this a secret but I have an adam's apple. Here! (Shows her throat.)
KpopStarz: (laughing)
Hyeri: Are we interesting?
Minah: Hyeri’s problem is that she’s quite the fussy one (laughs).
Hyeri: I was about to say something but you said something weird so I forgot.
Yura: The thing I am good at is staying slim. Only my face gets plump! (aughs)
Hyeri: Ah, I remember my weak point. It’s being forgetful.
Yura: Mine is that I sleep a lot.
KpopStarz: In Japan we have a saying, “sleeping helps a child grow up to be healthy and energetic."
Yura: Since I slept a lot I grew up quite a bit (laughs).
Minah: It’s true! (laughs).
Yura: I feel like I am growing up quite fast.
KpopStarz: When your perform, what motto or words do you believe in?
Sojin: I want my song to move everyone whether it is a lively or a sad piece.
Hyeri: “This too shall pass.”
Minah: That is more related to life, I think.
Hyeri: This is also one of my bad traits. I sort of end up saying things I don’t really understand (laughs).
Yura: You just weren’t listening to the question properly (laughs).
Hyeri: As a singer my belief is that I want to relay the energy I have within me to everyone.
Yura: I would like everyone to become happy when they see me.
Minah: I sing as if I am talking about myself to everyone.
KpopStarz: Lastly, please relay a message to your fans.
Sojin: “Darling” is a very upbeat and lively song. It’s the perfect song to portray the liveliness of our band, Girl’s Day, along with our dance and the stage we perform on.
Hyeri: Our debut song is finally going to be sold here in Japan. Thanks to all the fans who have waited all this time. We would like to do the best we can and make good songs for you all. Please support Girl’s Day from now on as well.
Minah: I would like to make a lot of people listen to our songs. Please show your love and support for us, Girl’s Day. Thank you very much.
For more photos from the exclusive Girl's Day interview with KpopStarz Japan, click HERE.
Interview: Kiyori Matsumoto | Photo: Ryosuke Oshiki | Translation: Akane Tanaka)
