Translation of Fujii's comments:

"Regarding Matsuno, regarding Ebichu"
http://lineblog.me/ebichu/archives/13116131.html

Thank you always supporting Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku. As the announcement on the homepage stated, Matsuno Rina fell into eternal sleep on February 8. It's such an unfortunate event.

I will be praying for her happiness in the next world from the bottom of my heart.

I will write here in my own words.

The members and the staff around us are all feeling sad, but most sad of all are her parents. I want to do things that her parents would be okay with.

That's why I want to keep managing Ebichu, the 7 members, even more so than I did before.

The other day the members and I went to Matsuno's residence. Her mother, Furimizo, Sumiuchi and all of us talked about Matsuno the whole time. I realized just how funny the Ebichu members are. They said Matsuno was always making up her own strange songs (lol), and that she was always hopelessly trying to take pictures of her dog Jasmine, and such. Matsuno said that Jasmine's favorite toy was a stuffed rabbit, but that toy was decidedly unpopular with Jasmine (lol)

Her mother listened and laughed at stories about Matsuno that she had never heard before

I don't know anyone who seemed to enjoy working as much as Matsuno did. She was always smiling. She sometimes would zone out and communicate with outer space (lol) I'm sure there were times when she got worn out being so busy, but I never saw any negativity from her.

Her father also said that Matsuno changed a lot from joining Ebichu. She was by no means skilled, but she became able to do more things, he said, and he thanked us for letting her have so many good experiences.

By the time this gets posted, I think a few more things in the future will have come out. Our appearances in the Taiwan event in February, the fan club event, and the March ume-matsuri event have been suspended. I think we will continue to have more suspensions, more postponements in the immediate future. At the same time, we will continue broadcasts and magazine appearances as usual, with no interruptions. We will announce things on the homepage as they come in so please wait for that information.

Additionally, as a matter of fact, forthcoming photoshoots and recordings will be as 7 members.

I think that when that time comes we will change the homepage, as well.

I'm keeping an eye on all the opinions and such from fans. Letting them take a break and such. I understand, of course. But the 7 members of Ebichu have to keep moving forward now. We plan on having them do their regular programs and blogs and SNS a little at a time. Starting with the staff. The members' blog will be uploaded after this.

Additionally, we are considering to what extent we will keep Matsuno's blog and instagram and such public, as they are now. We will be thinking about this as we discuss ideas with her parents.

From now on she will be loved. We will go on as proof that she was in Ebichu. We will move forward.

I want to show Matsuno an even bigger stage. I want to show Matsuno's parents.

I will get her to watch over us as far as that goes.

I hope that you will continue your unending support of Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku.

Stardust Promotion

Section 3 Manager
Fujii

Thanks for the translation, Lurkette.

I'm keeping an eye on all the opinions and such from fans. Letting them take a break and such. I understand, of course. But the 7 members of Ebichu have to keep moving forward now. We plan on having them do their regular programs and blogs and SNS a little at a time. Starting with the staff. The members' blog will be uploaded after this.

What is this? Fujii you little shit...
I think the female staffs who were with them most of the time understand them more than their manager.

I really really don't mind if the girls took a short hiatus from any activity. They need a lot of time to re-organise, reflect, re-discover, review and ready themselves for whatever the future holds for them.
I mean these girls, including Kaho and Riko to a certain extent, spent half of their lifetime in showbiz.

SSFV said:

I really really don't mind if the girls took a short hiatus from any activity. They need a lot of time to re-organise, reflect, re-discover, review and ready themselves for whatever the future holds for them.
I mean these girls, including Kaho and Riko to a certain extent, spent half of their lifetime in showbiz.

I don't think Fujii is doing anything without their consent - especially Kaho and Riko. It's understandably hard for all of them and definitely hardest for the actual members but I don't think Fujii is too evil for thinking ahead. I think he just wanted people to know what to expect going foward. And at least then he doesn't have to come back 2 weeks from now and say "okay so here's the deal".

SSFV said:

To me, it sounded like Fujii was saying," OK enough mourning. We have a schedule to follow". I bet it was the girls' first time a close friend had passed. Give them more time man!

It's not like it's unusual to get back to work after someone dies. Everyone does it that way. Would you ask your boss for several months off, if your friend passed away? Or if you're in school, would you take the semester off?

Would sitting around at home all day even help, if you did that?

I think it is not an easy decision, when a close relative died I went back to work before the days of leave were exhausted because I did not want to be at home thinking. However if the deceased was a close co-worker, I do not know if I would feel like going back to work so soon...

SSFV said:

Without Rinanan, the girls have to re-organise their songs, choreography and programmes unless someone from Sakura Ebisu suddenly join to fill up the gap.

There's a scenario for that already. Same thing happened when Hinata (or other members) were sick. Same thing happened to Syachi when Yuzupon had to pause. There's an "understudy" for all members within the group

I've said my piece and still stand by my opinions of the girls taking a long break away from each other. Still don't trust the guy though. I'm sorry if I came out as aggressive and offended some people here. I guess I was annoyed by his statement.

Everyone grieves differently. It's likely that some of the members would like to get back to work as soon as it's socially acceptable. It's also likely that some of the members will find it very difficult to cope with the loss; I wouldn't be entirely surprised if someone ends up leaving the group as a result, but that would be understandable considering the circumstances. Fujii has to balance the needs of each member while handling his own grief and doing what he thinks is best for the group and the fans as a whole. I'm certain he doesn't want to push the members to do what they aren't comfortable doing, but he also recognizes that getting back to a sense of normalcy, even if it reminds them of who they've lost, can often help with the grieving process. If anything, I'd imagine that staying away from the group would be worse for the girls in the long run. The members are the only other people who can truly sympathize and provide support and comfort when they need it, and they can help prevent the sense of isolation that can often occur in the grieving process. Staying away from activities for long periods of time also historically leads to idols quitting, and while I think all of us would understand the decision in this case, I don't think that's the kind of note that anyone would like them to end on.

In any case, once they do resume activities I imagine it will be a very slow start, small events, radio shows, etc., just to get them back in the swing of things before doing any extended tours or televised performances or anything like that. Stardust has a pretty good track record of treating the girls better than most idol agencies, so I trust them to handle this with care.

[Stage Drama] 3rd Theater Shrimp "She is not post office"

canceled

March 29
Kashiwagi Hinata [Event] Solo Concert

postponed

However it seems that the spring tour will be carry out

春ツアー2017は実施させていただきます。