>Chika Nanase, who likes shrines and foxes, styled her own costume after an Inari shrine. She plans to stick with that concept going forward. But why did she come to like shrines in the first place? “There was a shrine near my parents’ house and I used to visit it a lot. Going to shrines calmed me down, so I started visiting every shrine I could reach by bicycle. It became a hobby—or something I really liked.” The overall orange color comes from Nanase’s personality. She’s naturally quite negative, so by choosing the complete opposite—bright orange—she hoped both she and everyone else would feel energized. She wants to be more positive and, even more, “to get cheerful together with the people watching me.” At first the costume was a pants style, and she thought, “This is better because it’s easy to move in.” But after seeing other performers’ outfits she began to think, “A skirt would be nice too.” So she added a sash at the hips for a slight image change. She still plans to keep pants as her main style, but she’s thinking about adding more accents like this. “Since many people wear skirts, I don’t want to be the same as everyone else—I want to show my own color and personality. It’s difficult, but I love designing, so I’ve been thinking about it a ton!” It’ll be interesting to see how her look evolves from here.
>Detail 1: Awakening Switch on the Head
>Since her debut, she’s tried various hairstyles, but she’s now settled on a ponytail with a red scrunchie, since it received good feedback. “I dyed my hair blonde, so it kind of looks like a tail — which I like. And if the scrunchie comes off and my hair loosens… maybe that’s my awakening mode?”
>Detail 2: Warding Barrier with Paper Streamers
At first, her costume only had faint shrine elements, so she added paper streamers (shide) to it. “They act like a barrier to ward off evil — I put them on so I can stay positive all the time.”