"We Met in Japan and..." Honda Hitomi Shares IZ*ONE Is Still Close

J-pop group AKB48's member Honda Hitomi shared that the members of disbanded project girl group IZ*ONE are still close to each other. 

On April 26, news outlet Hankook Ilbo released their interview with Honda Hitomi online. 

Honda Hitomi is a J-pop star who used to be active in the K-pop industry as a member of IZ*ONE. 

After Mnet's survival audition show 'Produce 48' ended, a project group called IZ*ONE was formed, consisting of the 12 winners of the show. 

The 12 girls promoted as IZ*ONE from October 2018 until April 2021.

Following the group's disbandment, Honda Hitomi returned to Japan to resume her activities as part of AKB48―her initial group. 
In this interview, Honda Hitomi revealed something that put a huge smile on fans who still love IZ*ONE. 

Honda Hitomi stated that the IZ*ONE members remained good friends even after they disbanded, "Last year, they actually came to Japan to participate in 'Mnet Asian Music Awards'. To see them, I flew all the way to Osaka on the day of the event. I was thrilled to see them again." 

She went on, "IVE and LE SSERAFIM frequently come to Japan for their performance, but it's not easy to meet them, because their schedule's packed at all times. We even went on the same music show here in Japan, but failed to see one another. Unbelievable, right?" 

"Before the show, I texted Kim Chaewon saying, 'Oh, we'll be on the same show. I'll be able to see you. How exciting is this!' But our waiting rooms were on a different floor and we were all too busy that we couldn't meet at that time. I was so sad.", she said as she pulled an unhappy face.  

But Honda Hitomi commented that they keep in touch often, although they cannot see one another as much as they wish, "We have a group chat, and we're always having a conversation through the group chat. If it is anybody's birthday, we would congratulate them, and if they made a comeback, we would show them support." 
Then, Honda Hitomi was asked who she feels the closest to, in which she answered, "I'm close to everybody. However, I do feel slightly more comfortable with Jo Yuri and Kim Min-ju, as we're the same age." 

The J-pop star explained, "When Jo Yuri came to Japan, we went out for a meal together, and I went back to the hotel with her and stuff. Kim Min-ju is a harder-to-meet person. I met her the last time I was in Korea though. She likes to be alone, and she's someone who puts a lot of effort into maintaining the shape of her body, but she made time for me. We had some good food, and just had a great time, really!"
(Credit= 'official.izone' Facebook)

(SBS Star)