Kuramochi Asuka

Name

Kuramochi Asuka

Kuramochi Asuka (2015)


Kanji	倉持明日香
Kana	くらもちあすか
Romaji	Kuramochi Asuka
Nickname	Mocchi (もっち)

Birth Info

Birthdate	September 11, 1989
Birthplace	Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Blood type	A
Current Age	35 Years Old

Sizes

Height	156.5cm

Professional Info

Agency	Watanabe Pro
Social Networks	Official Fanclub / Ameblo / Twitter / Instagram

Idol Career Info

Former Group	AKB48
Former Team	Team B
Debuted	July 2007 / 4th Generation
Graduated	August 2015

Kuramochi Asuka was a member of AKB48's Team B. She is now affiliated with Watanabe Pro.

Catchphrase

もちもちもっちぃこと倉持明日香です

Mochi mochi mocchi koto Kuramochi Asuka desu.

(Mochi mochi Mocchi, Kuramochi Asuka.)

Trivia

Favorite AKB48 single: Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou
Favorite AKB48 stage song: MARIA
Favorite artist: 19, Gospellers, Crazy Ken Band
Favorite brand: Auntie Rosa and Shibuya's Marui JAM stores
Favorite drink: Milk tea
Favorite food: Chicken wings
Favorite magazine: WPW, YJ
Favorite season: Winter
Favorite TV show: Ametaalk!, Samaazu x Samaazu, Watanabe Atsushi no Tatemono Tanbou, Hayaasa
Favorite town: Monaco
Likes: Frogs
Good friends with: Nito Moeno, Kobayashi Kana, Sato Amina
Future ambition: Sportscaster at the Olympics
Former member of French Kiss
Former member of Culture Club
She is the daughter of Kuramochi Akira, a former baseball player and sport commentator.
She has two older brothers. She said that her oldest brother was the one who encouraged her to work hard to become a Senbatsu member and not give up. He even convinced their parents to let Asuka continue being an AKB48 member, as they had become upset that she was not attending college.
She planned to become a dental hygienist if she did not join AKB48.
She was somewhat shy when she was in school and did not like to raise her hand to answer questions.
Her parents gave her the name “Asuka” because the character 明 appears in both her name and her father’s name.
She is a fan of the music group SPEED. They inspired her to join the entertainment industry.
She decided to audition for AKB48 after watching a performance of Team A’s 4th Stage, Tadaima Renaichuu.
She practiced baseball and softball when she was young.
She confessed she was chubby in middle school, and was called “Meat Bun” because of it. She also had short hair and was called “Bowl Cut”.
She had a part-time job at a bento shop. She quit because she found it difficult to stand for three hours straight.
She went to an all-girls’ high school.
Her high school did not allow students to work in the entertainment industry, so she had to transfer out. Her former teacher wrote her a handwritten diploma though, and made an intentional pause in reading students’ names at the graduation ceremony where Kuramochi’s name would have been.
Her official nickname is Mocchi, but she has also been called “Mochikura”, “Chii”, and “Kero”. The Original Team K members call her “Asuka”.
Staff members praised her kind and funny personality. Fellow Team K members described her as gentle, and said they have never seen Asuka get angry. She was known to take responsibility in her teams, supporting the Captain and assembling members to begin rehearsal. In later years she was also praised for her strong MC skills.
She was the second AKB48 Kenkyuusei to ever be promoted, after Saeki Mika.
After the AKB48 22nd Single Senbatsu Sousenkyo "Kotoshi mo Gachi Desu" she observed that she was 21 years old at the time and ranked 21st. Her father's baseball jersey number was also #21, and her name “Asuka” is written with 21 kanji strokes.
- Her family and relatives had purchased over 500 CDs to vote for Asuka in this election. Her father even promoted Asuka during his work as a sports commentator.
She is a longtime fan of the Saitama Seibu Lions shortstop player Nakajima Hiroyuki and the pro wrestler Kenta Kobashi.
- She met Kobashi on a 2008 episode of AKBINGO! alongside Akimoto Sayaka and Kasai Tomomi. The three members watched one of Kobashi’s wrestling matches, then congratulated him backstage. Asuka cried in happiness when she met him, and he allowed her to perform his famous inverted horizontal chop move on his chest.
- She maintained a working relationship with Kobashi, and even attended his retirement wrestling match in 2013. She presented him a bouquet of flowers on stage during the farewell ceremony and they took a photo together,
She is known for her love of ears. She was often photographed biting fellow members’ earlobes.
- The title of her photobook is "Earlobe" ("Mimitabu")
- Her B Garden line reads: "Earlobes are my favorite food / And I also like to gnaw on biceps"
- Takajo Aki and Shimoguchi Hinana became frequent victims of Asuka’s ear biting.
- Because Abe Maria also liked ears, she and Asuka formed the “Ear Club” together.
When she was selected for the subunit French Kiss she said she found the name embarrassing, as she had never said the phrase “French kiss” aloud before.
On April 14th, 2012 she became a sportscaster on BS Asahi's sports variety show "SPORTS X". She teams up with former Tokyo Yakult Swallows director, catcher and baseball commentator Atsuya Furuta to explore the appeal of various sports.
In December 2012 she took a brief hiatus due to acute tonsillitis.
In April 2014 she bought a white cat named “Shiromi”.
She likes men with long, tied back hair and beards.
She likes adding sake (alcohol) to her bathwater. She claims it makes the bath more relaxing and draws toxins out of the body.
She dislikes cilantro.
She intentionally announced her graduation from AKB48 in a sports newspaper, as she wanted to be a sportscaster.
After graduating, she has continued to work as a sportscaster, actress, and multitalent.