The following interview is from the January 2002 issue of "Nikkei Entertainment."

Zone:
The Truth Behind the Best-Selling New Female Idol Group
New-Faces who got their big break singing a drama theme song. We've uncovered the riddle-laden truth behind this four-girl group of middle and high school students, who still live in Sapporo and attend an entertainment school.

      Of the new groups to debut in 2001, the one deserving the most attention is the four-girl group Zone, whose average age is 14.5 years old. Their 3rd single, "Secret Base ~Kimi ga Kureta mono~" was the theme song for the daytime drama "Kid's Wars 3," broadcast during the summer, and broke through the charts with sales over 600,000 discs. Even four months after its release, it is a long seller still ranking in the upper levels of the ratings charts.
      There are many mysteries surrounding Zone. Even now, they live in Sapporo, attending middle or high school during the day, while learning singing and dancing at a local entertainment school, "Runtime" at night. In addition, though they performed "Secret Base" as a band, they are dancing without their instruments for their latest release, "Sekai no Hon no Katasumi kara." Why? To discover the reason for this, we went to their neighborhood of Sapporo.

--How did you wind all up enrolling at "Runtime?"
Mizuho: I've always been one who enjoys standing out, so I just wanted people to watch me. So, in the fifth grade, I came here.
Takayo: I'm just the opposite (of Mizuho). When I was small, I was really shy. Because they figured that I could fix that part of my personality by expressing myself through song and dance, my parents half-forced me to join when I was in the sixth grade (laughs).
Maiko: In grade school, there was this dance club. In the fourth grade, I joined because I thought it would be kinda fun. Because of that, I came to love dance. But, I wasn't satisfied with just the club. Then, I heard about this studio, and enrolled.
Miyu: I've loved singing songs since I was small. But, if I just sing at home, then only my family would hear me, right? That wasn't enough for me, and I thought I wanted to seriously sing. That was in the third grade.
Mizuho: Everyone joined at about the same time, all in grade school.

--When was Zone formed?
Mizuho: Four years ago, right after we joined.

--So you four were chosen?
Mizuho: At first, there was 8 of us. We switched to this style in 1998.
Takayo: Until we debuted, they had us go up on stage at regional festivals and events. We'd also go around to Retirement Homes, and kind of do volunteer work. We were all over Hokkaido.
Mizuho: When there were events that we had to be up by 5 in the morning for, we would take our sleeping bags here (Runtime) and sleep over.

--You spent an unusually long time in laboring obscurity.
Takayo: When we think about it now, there was a lot of sweat and tears.

--Did you have any songs you regularly performed?
Takayo: We had some original songs. We'd spend about thirty minutes on stage, singing and dancing to 4-5 songs
Mizuho: Practice was every single day after school.

--It's like having club activities every day from when you were in grade school.
Mizuho: We'd come here straight after school. That was early when we were in grade school, but once we got into middle and high school, we'd start at maybe 6pm. We'd get together as soon as we could, practice, go home and go to sleep.
Takayo: Then, we'd go back to school.
Mizuho: We'd repeat that for five days, and on Saturday and Sunday, we'd go to Tokyo for work.

--You don't live in Tokyo?
Takayo: Of course, we wanted to at first.
Mizuho: But that quickly fell through. (laughs) When we started going to Tokyo every week, we were surprised to find how dirty the air was.
Takayo: We'd be relieved once we got back to Hokkaido, feel more relaxed. In the end, we want to live here as long as we can, while working in Tokyo.

--By the way, is "Zone" a band? Or a dance unit?
Takayo: In our case, we want to always have a completely different way of presenting ourselves and performing. The people watching would probably enjoy that more, and we also feel like we want to surprise people every time. We don't want to pigeon-hole ourselves as a band, or as a dance unit, or anything else.

--Can you play your instruments perfectly?
Mizuho: Compared to before, we've gotten better. (laughs)
Takayo: "Secret Base" was a true band style, so when we practiced in earnest, it got easier. Even when we talk to each other, it's like "Mizuho, you're lagging behind there." It's like we're finally feel authentic. (laughs).

Maiko (bass), b 1986.7.24 | Takayo (guitar), b 1985.6.13
Miyu (guitar), b 1988.5.20 | Mizuho (drums), b 1986.12.12
Runtime: An entertainment school in Sapporo with approximately 300 students. They teach singing, dancing, and acting. Not a school focused solely on the debut of its students, but chiefly aims to develop a child's talents.

Afterward: How Zone got their break
      Zone was able to make their debut because the entertainment school they were attending, Runtime, has deep ties with the Sony Music department for uncovering new talent. Thus, the four of them have a higher chance of being spotted by a record company than the average child.
      The clincher for their debut was in June of 2000, on the stage of the "Sapporo Lilac Festival." Passerbys were drawn by Zone's performances, and just stopped to watch. When the current Zone producer, Sony Record's Mr. Ominami Tadayuki, saw this, he felt "This might sell."
      To start, Zone was assembled as a dance unit. But, there was an oversaturation of dance units. So Mr. Ominami thought, "What if they performed with instruments?" The hint was the KomeKome Klub. When he saw a live video of them dancing while playing their instruments, he thought "This is it!"
      He projected that their break would come with their third single. That was because their winter debut song was used as a commercial song for Efti Shiseido, and during summer vacation, it was decided that they would get a theme song tie-up for a TBS daytime drama. As a result, the 3rd single, "Secret Base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~" became a long seller. Their instrument performance ability also improved with this song.