Hirate Yurina (Techi) / Keyakizaka46 1st Generation

Obviously nothing beats the original but I really like Keyaki's cover of Synchronicity. And Techi did a great job. Loved the solo dance with the penlight and her expressions were on point. From what I've heard she performed well during these last three days. But one thing that's worrying me is that it seems she hasn't recovered yet from her injuries (there are reports of her gripping her pelvis or hips when lights were down). She can rest now until Budokan but I'm worried that her injuries will get worse as time goes by.

 

If Techi is not fully recovered from her injuries it will be Takahiro-sensei's judge if they are going to perform Fukyouwaon or not at Budokan. It's Keyaki's most intense choreography which has to be delivered 150%.

Takahiro-sensei cares most about members' health than the songs.

 

keyboard warriors do not have power on idols who invest all their youth to pursue their dreams.

 

She's in a wheelchair in this photo from Satoshi's blog. This is making me so sad, she's only 17 years old. I don't know much about the details of her injuries but it must be pretty serious if she still isn't feeling well when it's been four months since her diagnosis was announced (although she was probably suffering from that same injury even before December, I think it started when she fell from the stage during their tour). Hopefully she gets better for Budokan (and I'll gladly give up my dream of her performing Fukyouwaon again for her health) but at this point maybe it would be better if she'd miss out on the next few releases.

 

It's pretty sad

 

This photo made me so sad, I hope Techi is and will be ok.

 

It's unbelievable, they don't know how to heal injuries right there or what ?
It's impossible to be in wheelchair ~6 months after an injury unless you're suffering from a rare disease or serious neurological issues.

Come on it's not serious they had plenty of time to take care of her properly...

 

I looked up her condition (the one in her hips) when it was announced and from I gathered, it seems that the condition is pretty chronic. Its not a rare disease, and its manageable, but it never really goes away and you can only deal with it in one of two ways
1) By managing it. But "managing" it includes not putting any unnecessary stress or tension on the joints which is obviously impossible if she continues dancing.
2) Surgery. However the surgery requires fusing the bones in the hips together which would make it impossible to dance anymore.
When they announced what the conditions were I actually was expecting her to announce graduation shortly after.

I don't have a link because I google it a long time ago and didn't save it and I can't remember the name of the condition and I'd have to dig through the thread to find it.

 

She needed rest since after 5th single. That was when she injuried herself and make her do 6th, 7th and 8th single instead of recovery is mismanagement.

I think Techi wanted other members to take care of the songs while she recovers, but no, management always wanted her and put more stress on her. What stopped them to give other members the chance? Techi's health was more important than the songs. Why didn't Aki-P defended her if it was his favourite idol since Acchan. He should have thought about her health.

 

I googled and what she has is sacroiliac joint dysfunction. Based on this: https://www.spine-health.com/condit...reatment-options-sacroiliac-joint-dysfunction there are ways to treat it that don't have to be surgical, like braces, injections or exercises. I haven't seen anything about it being chronic but it's not a good sign that she still isn't feeling well after so many months. Perhaps we've jumped the gun and it's just a preventative thing since she was active for three days. People who attended the concert didn't mention much about her condition, only some people who had close seats noticed that she's gripping her hips when the lights were down.

If this persists I can see her graduating but the problem is that her graduating this year would be way too soon after Neru. The thing is that Keyaki is known for their hardcore choreography (people were saying that Kuroi Hitsuji choreo was easier than usual) which doesn't help with her condition. I hope she rests for Budokan but even if she doesn't (frankly after seeing her in that wheelchair it wouldn't surprise me if we get an announcement of her not participating in the concerts, and I'm also surprised management allowed Shiichan to upload that photo) at least now management knows how to handle a concert without her. As for Aki-P he might like her as an idol but that doesn't mean he cares for her as a person.

Edit: Checked Shiichan's blog again and, yep, the photo is gone. Management probably didn't want people to know about her condition (although I thought management checked their blogs before posting them?).

 

I have a similar issue with my lower back and hips. When the pain flairs up, it stops you in your tracks. Pain medication and anti-inflammatory help a bit, but are not a cure. I have a feeling when there are pictures of Techi and everyone one says she looks depressed or down that she probably took some medication recently. Some of them can make you zone out a bit. Seeing her in the wheelchair makes me think management is being proactive hopefully. Keeping her from standing up or walking around the whole weekend would help keep the pressure off her lower back and hips so that she could perform. Mine flairs up once a week or every other week. I see a chiropractor to get readjusted some times, but it isn't a cure. Mine is possibly hereditary as my father had the same thing, but had the surgery to fuse the bones. He can still move around, but isn't active like he used to be.

Just hoping that it's management being proactive with care and treatment. Seeing this picture makes me believe that Techi wants to do everything she can to be a part of Keyaki-chan, play her part for as long as possible and is taking every precaution.

 

That photo of the group around Techi in a wheelchair is devastating, especially since there are so many reports of her looking well. I did see one person report her rubbing her hip after a dance. I know it's mainly a safety measure, but still.

I was feeling very optimistic that the worst was over and she would return to a sensibly reduced version of normal. Now I'm not so sure. She will definitely be doing another film this year, after the results last year. I hope they find the right balance between film work and Keyaki work. A balance that will enable her to continue in Keyaki.

The last time I saw her in a wheelchair was in the TV show of their 2016 Xmas lives, when they had to wheel her in a great rush across the building from the dressing room to the elevator to the place she was going to do Parco from the crowd. She was perfectly well then, as far as we know, just having her breath saved. Not the case now, it appears.

@miwa -- I've always thought the blogs were checked by lower-level managers or website people, not the upper levels of management. Mistakes happen.

However, I do want to say that the fuzzy little clip I found on Twitter of part of Synchronicity is fantastic. Especially from Techi, but also from the group...including the 2gens.

Oh, yes, there's more: apparently way back in February, Techi was asked on School of Lock what she said in that unheard whisper in Kuroi Hitsuji. She said that she really, truly did not remember. She enjoyed the speculations from fans, which she was given to read. She felt their support. And she said she actually would prefer it if people just went with what they themselves felt when they saw/heard it, and was okay with the truth never being known (even to her, lol). As a visual artist friend of mine says, refusing to explain his work: "Just what you see."

Her saying she didn't remember reminded me of what she has said several times: that when she goes on stage, she performs, and afterwards she doesn't remember the details of what she did.

 

That picture of Techi on the wheelchair.. quite heartbreaking. Mind you, at first, I didn't realize it was a wheelchair and thought it was awfully unfair for all the other girls to kneel-down/stand lol. But I love how even in that photo, Techi looks like she's being supported by her sisters flanked on both sides :') She really is the spoiled baby of the group.

@ukifune, I agree with you that Techi needs to find a balance between film work and group work, with hopefully plenty of rest in between. Though Techi-graduation rumors always seem to be rampant, I want to think optimistically about Techi's future in Keyaki. The fact that she renewed her contract with School of Locks and her statement in her post-injury ROJ interview about wanting to 'give back' to the group makes me think that she herself found a new resolve and is determined to stay in the group as long as her health permits.

Also, interesting observation about the whole trance-like state she goes into. That actually worries me a little bit - I feel like the more she loses herself in the songs/performance (esp, the darker ones), the greater the risk of her getting injured or being unable to pull herself out of that state. I hope she continues to be able to smoothly switch on and off between performance Techi and regular Techi, haha.

 

If I was on Shiichan and mngm's shoes and saw the baby/center of my group enduring an serious injury, I would never let a picture in which she is sitting on a wheelchair floating on internet. I think this is still in their control, she is not totally good but its also not too bad.

And talking about her attitude on stage, she also said that if she was not on her 100% condition, she didnt want to be on stage. This kind of perfectionist mindset usually lead to her mood going down on stage once she knows that she doesnt have her 100% form. We can easily see those kind of situation during Ambivalent perfs while she was injuried. But those 3 days, even though she was not totally healthy, her emotion was still good. I can feel a changing in her mindset. Honestly, I am worried about her mental more than physical problem (both are important but in my opinion, mental problems is harder to solve than physical) so seeing her like that really make me less worried.

About mngm, I still think they care about Techi, even most in Keyaki. I feel Konno sincere caring to Techi while reading his Nikkei interview so ...

 

I don't really get why Shiichan uploaded that photo but she probably didn't think much of it of Techi being in a wheelchair (maybe she's used to it? idk) but the damage is done. When you're young like Techi you don't take your health seriously, so, like @kanjo said, it's up to the adults around her to rein her in. The only thing I wish we knew is how long this has been going on. She's been wearing those wrist patches since Ambivalent promos. I know there was that one outdoor performance where she was crying on stage and people thought it was because Yone told her before that performance about her graduation, but now I think it might have been because she was in pain. For her health the best way to see how she's feeling is if she appears on School of Locks, she clearly likes that job and last year she couldn't do it in October (?) which tells me she was too ill to do it back then. If this really isn't chronic and a cure can be found with rest (since we don't know the details it's all speculation) if it was up to me, I'd make her sit the next couple of releases out.

As for her film career, honestly I don't even know if she'll do something this year. It took her a bit of convincing to do Hibiki and she clearly treasures that experience but it doesn't seem to me like she's thought much about shooting again.

 

As a football fan techi remind me of Michael Owen being overplay by club and country at such young age...when get injury and don't get a properly enough time to heal from injury.when the injuries start to piled up and taken big toll for his body and just had a little time to play football in highest level...almost 2 years we still talk/dealing with techi injuries problem it was something not good when someone can be considered as in injury prone.when someone had this kind of problem of injury even with little slight wrong moves can led to other injury especially with keyaki type of dance the injury were more easy to get...techi will not have longevity as an idol if the management still try to push her over the limit...the techi fans should give her room to be an idol that she want not what we want and not given her the burden with such high level expectation from her...as Pechan and uemura fan i really don't have any high expectation from them so when they doing something new/different it give such a great joy for me....

also want to ask to techi fans what actually that they want from techi
a)let her rest but still center all keyaki single for the group (leaves all the hard work (promotion etc) to other member)
b)just want her to become center don't care about her injuries and who care about other members opinion
c)rest(hiatus) for one year but last year she almost semi hiatus don't really do anything for the group

Michael Owen = he "hated" playing football late in his career because injuries had left him "petrified".

Sorry for this post and Ole's at the Wheel

 

Well, personally, I don't want her to be the center anymore. Not just for her own sake, but for the group's sake (and I think Kuroi Hitsuji will be her last center, although I can see her getting a graduation single in the future even though that's not the norm with Keyaki). I don't think she'll get back to the way she performed before (Keyaki Republic 2017 was probably her peak), whether that's for mental or physical reasons (although that just might be my inner pessimist speaking, since there were a couple of great performances in 2018). If her illness is chronic, like someone said, I'd like her to sit out on the next couple of releases and see if her health gets better, even though it would make me very sad since she is what drew me to Keyaki. But if it still doesn't get better then maybe it would be best for her to graduate (although for the sake of the group she shouldn't graduate this year). Ultimately I think her health is the most important thing. But because jpop groups in general aren't open about these kind of things, and Techi herself is quite mysterious, perhaps I'm exaggerating and it isn't that bad.

 

we're clearly talking about different websites because in the one i'm talking about there's not a single positive thread about keyaki and techi is not even the only one targeted because the posts go from attacking the girl's looks to spreading rumors about their personal lives

 

According to Hono, Tecchan said to 2nd gen members this when they were worried whether they can be of help or not:

“1st GEN or 2nd GEN doesn’t matter. Keyakizaka was consisted of all of them.”

Once again I've been captivated by Tecchan's kindness and thoughtfulness towards the group.

You see, even though she is the center for all 8 singles, I never see Tecchan as somebody who put herself as the most important member. She is not attention hungry nor she is jealous when a fan loves other members.

She really is humble. Her seemingly cold demeanor may make people misunderstood. But those who are close to her or observe her carefully, like other members, staffs, and fans will be able to see just how beautiful her heart is