YUNA

Yamashita Yuna (山下友菜), better known under her stage name YUNA (ユナ), is a Japanese singer and performer. She is a member of the girl group iScream.

She was selected to join the group after becoming a finalist of the LDH Presents THE GIRLS AUDITION.

Early Life

Yamashita Yuna was born on March 6, 2004, in Osaka Prefecture, Japan.

She started dancing when she was 4 years old after being inspired by one of her friends: "I saw my friend's dance performance and told my mother, 'I want to dance too' (laugh). My mother immediately enrolled me in a small dance class in my hometown (Hirakata City). When I became an elementary school student, I rode the train by myself to a more distant school for lessons."^[1] Later, when she was in 5th grade, she also started taking vocal and acting lessons which led to her dream of becoming an artist: "I always liked singing, but when I was in the fifth grade, the principal of the dance and vocal school I attended asked me if I wanted to start singing vocals as well. I thought I would give it a try, so I started. But I liked singing and dancing on stage the best, and I could be myself the most, so I decided that I wanted to be an artist."^[2]^[3]

In junior high school, Yamashita began attending EXPG Osaka at the recommendation of her aunt.^[4] "My aunt told me that there was a dance school in Osaka City and an audition for admission. When I looked into it, I found that many famous artists had studied at the school, so I took a chance and tried it, and I was very happy to be a candidate."^[1] However, the dance school was located quite far from her home and training hours were long, resulting in a tight schedule in her childhood: "I took the train right after school and had lessons from 6:30 in the evening to 9:30 in the evening, a full three hours. There were about 15 of us in the class, and we all worked hard every day in dance, vocals, and acting. My friends and teachers from junior high school also supported me, which was very encouraging."^[1]

A month after she passed the admission audition and became a candidate in her first year of junior high school, she was approached by representatives of EXPG. From there, she went through various training camps and was accepted into EXPG Lab in the second year of junior high school.^[3] Looking back at her time as a student at EXPG, she later revealed that she was able to move up the ladder quite smoothly and did not feel a sense of great frustration while training.^[5]

Looking back on her busy but fulfilling days, in which she was able to devote herself to what she loved, she later recalled, "I was a child, and I didn't know what to be afraid of."^[1]

Career

In December 2017, she was revealed as a member of EXPG Lab's project group KIZZY.^[6]^[7]^[8]

In 2018, shortly before she entered her third year of junior high school, she participated in the LDH Presents THE GIRLS AUDITION and became a finalist.^[4] She later revealed that she entered the audition with the confidence that she would win the grand prix and with the conviction that if she didn't make it, she would give up on the idea of becoming an artist. When she was not selected as one of the winners, she "felt like she had fallen off the top of a roller coaster" and thought her dream of becoming an artist had ended.^[3]

In her first year of high school (2019), she moved to Tokyo.^[9] In order to concentrate on her career as an artist, she chose to attend a correspondence high school.^[1]

On February 1, 2020, at the first concert of E-girls' final tour E-girls PERFECT LIVE 2011▶2020, she was introduced as 1 of 3 vocalists of LDH's new girl group "iScream".^[10]

On June 23, 2021, YUNA made her major debut as a member of iScream with the release of the group's first EP Maybe...YES EP.

In March 2022, she graduated from EXPG High School.^[11]^[12]^[13]

Works

Radio

[2022.05.xx-present] FM Shiga (e-radio) "Catch" corner "LDH Next Generation Artist's Catch!" (FM滋賀（e-radio）「キャッチ」内のコーナー「LDH次世代アーティストのキャッチ！」)

Trivia

Hobbies: Watching movies and eating (going to all-you-can-eat restaurants)^[14]^[5]
Special skill: Playing the piano,^[5] singing high notes
Emoji: 🐤
Can do whistle notes.^[15]
In charge of rapping for iScream.^[16]
Was one of the twin-vocalists of KIZZY alongside RUI.
Described as stoic and hardworking. However, she also has a presence that makes a place become more relaxed when she is around. She is leading iScream in terms of music as she can play the piano.^[17]^[2]
According to herself, she likes to talk and be with people, has an innocent personality, is adventurous but also stubborn and competitive.^[5]^[18]
According to her members, she has the biggest gap between the first impression she gives and on-stage character, as she would seem cute like a small animal but become cool, sharp and charismatic on stage.^[19]
- Described as "the mascot character" of the group.^[5]
According to herself, she is often called "serious" or "quiet", but that would not be true at all. "[...] I am not quiet at all. I am the type of person who says what I mean, and I am rather straightforward, so I think I am the complete opposite of the calm image you may have of me. I am unexpectedly passionate and unexpectedly crass (laughs)."^[20]
- According to HINATA, she is stoic and serious, but also has a fun and playful side.^[21]
Describes her goal for iScream to become a group that everyone in the world can feel close to and an artist that represents Japan.^[22]^[23] Additionally, she aspires to do a live tour, to stand on the Budokan stage by the end of her 20th year and RUI's 20th year, and to stand on the dome stage by the end of the next 5 years (until 2027). Eventually, she would also like to expand overseas and someday become a big artist who can perform in stadiums and do world tours.^[2]
Her personal goal is to become active as an actress besides her position in the group because she has been interested in pretending to be something else since she was little and because she loves musicals.^[24]
Has always wanted to be in a girl group since the people she has admired and looked up to have been in (girl) groups.^[17]
LDH artist who influenced/inspired her the most: Ishii Anna^[19]
She first met RUI in the latter half of the first year of junior high school. Her first impression of RUI was that she was a different type of person compared to herself and flamboyant since she wore very heavy make-up with red lips and red nail polish.^[25]
- According to RUI, they had always wanted to make their debut together.^[26]
Likes Ariana Grande's music.^[9]
Admires the K-Pop group BLACKPINK. "The reason why I had the dream of being active globally was because I saw BLACKPINK speaking many languages and being active globally."^[27]^[28]^[29]
Good at Jazz-Funk and Hip-Hop dance.^[2]
Cooks a lot and likes home cooking.^[26]
Loves to eat.^[30]^[31]
The type of person who does things to keep her self-esteem high, for example makeup or clothes.^[32]
When she feels unsure of herself, she tends to compare herself with others, so in order to avoid that, she tries not to look at social networking sites and puts her phone down.^[33]
Used to have a long hairstyle and was going to debut with it, but her manager and the members told her to cut it into a bob, so she decided to cut it about 15 cm. She received many compliments for her short hair style, which motivated her to be bold.^[8]
According to herself, singing and dancing have been the greatest joy in her life since she was a little girl, and she never wanted to give it up.^[3]
In a vlog from iScream in August 2023, she revealed that she was currently studying at university besides her activities as an artist.^[34]
Has known several members of Girls² for a long time and is especially close to Yamaguchi Kira and Sumitani Momoka since they took lessons at EXPG Osaka together and were members of the trainee unit KIZZY. Hishida Minami also trained at EXPG Osaka, but wasn't in the same classes as them.^[35]
- Has become especially close with Yamaguchi Kira since they moved to Tokyo, and they often go out to eat together and to bedrock baths.^[35]
According to herself, she was a cheerful girl with quite a lot of friends when she was in elementary school.^[36]
Her favorite subjects were arts and crafts, e.g. making things and drawing pictures, and her weakest was arithmetic.^[36]
On January 1, 2024, she opened a personal Instagram account.

References

External Links

[:4-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 https://nordot.app/907095350394568704?c=62479058578587648

[:3-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 https://www.barks.jp/news/?id=1000218361

[:6-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 https://hochi.news/articles/20220421-OHT1T51198.html

[:0-4] 4.0 ^4.1 https://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/news/202103040000703.html

[:7-5] 5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 ^5.4 https://www.astage-ent.com/music/iscream-4.html

[6] EXPG Diary Vol.60 Page 8

[7] EXPG Diary Vol.64 Page 12

[:8-8] 8.0 ^8.1 https://hochi.news/articles/20220421-OHT1T51197.html

[:2-9] 9.0 ^9.1 https://www.musicvoice.jp/interview/music-interview/203023/

[10] ttps://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/news/202002020000109.html

[11] ttps://www.instagram.com/p/CbAKB-CPc7A/

[12] ttps://www.instagram.com/p/Ca4dASnv1GR/

[13] ttps://www.instagram.com/p/Cqcyj_mPY4U/

[14] ttps://ar-mag.jp/articles/-/12702

[15] ttps://realsound.jp/2022/01/post-946606.html

[16] ttps://rollingstonejapan.com/articles/detail/40450/2/1/1

[:1-17] 17.0 ^17.1 https://www.tokyoheadline.com/559353/

[18] ttps://www.astage-ent.com/music/iscream-5.html

[:5-19] 19.0 ^19.1 https://jj-jj.net/lifestyle/162535/

[20] ttps://realsound.jp/2024/01/post-1546680_2.html

[21] ttps://cancam.jp/archives/1410239

[22] ttps://realsound.jp/2021/06/post-798126_2.html

[23] ttps://hochi.news/articles/20220421-OHT1T51201.html

[24] ttps://lp.p.pia.jp/shared/cnt-s/cnt-s-11-02_2_0c974b1c-d7e7-4ec3-abef-688cf2206b60.html?detail=true&page=4

[25] ttps://lp.p.pia.jp/shared/cnt-s/cnt-s-11-02_2_0c974b1c-d7e7-4ec3-abef-688cf2206b60.html?detail=true&page=2

[:9-26] 26.0 ^26.1 https://hochi.news/articles/20220421-OHT1T51199.html

[27] ttps://numero.jp/20211225-harumi-yamaguchi-iscream

[28] ttps://glitter-official.com/2022/05/iscream/

[29] ttps://www.nicopuchi.jp/article/detail/37566

[30] ttps://cancam.jp/archives/1410228

[31] ttps://jj-jj.net/lifestyle/168628/

[32] ttps://www.tokyoheadline.com/671736/2/

[33] ttps://realsound.jp/2023/05/post-1323997_2.html

[34] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5mZK_Wk0rs

[:10-35] 35.0 ^35.1 https://www.thefirsttimes.jp/interview/0000322558/

[:11-36] 36.0 ^36.1 https://www.nicopuchi.jp/article/detail/37566?page=2

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