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STAYC Japan Debut!! Feature 4

If you come to Japan, would you like to work here!? STAYC's first candy craft experience

2023.01.24 18:00

This is the 4th special feature that has been delivering the charm of STAYC, a six-member K-POP girl group who made their long-awaited Japan debut in November last year. This will be the last feature of the Japan debut, and we want them, who are busy visiting Japan, to enjoy Japanese culture even in the limited time they have! With that in mind, I decided to go on location in Asakusa. Their Japan debut single, "POPPY," featured a dance that resembled animal ears, and at their debut showcase, the girls, who love sweets so much that they openly declared, "I love cakes!" They were given the opportunity to try their hand at Amezaiku (candy craft), a process that allows them to make animals out of sweets.

This time, we visited "Amezaiku Ameshin" * in Asakusa. While the usual class for beginners is to make a rabbit, this time we asked them to challenge of making a more difficult animal, with the aim of having each STAYC member make their own signature animals.

*[ The "about us" and "workshop" pages are available in English. The link is for "about us". There are beautiful Amezaiku pictures on this site. ]

After earnestly listening to the lecture video and the teacher's explanation, it's finally time to start the experience with practice candy. First of all, from making the shape of the animal. The temperature of the candy placed on the tip of the stick is about 90 ℃ [sic]*. Using only Japanese scissors and bare hands, the candy that has warmed up and softened is beautifully shaped into a perfectly round shape. After two demonstrations with practice candies to get the hang of using scissors and shaping, they went on to the actual performance using clean white candies. And finally, they aim for completion in the procedure of painting.

*[In Japan, degree Celsius is used instead of decree Fahrenheit. 90℃ = 194℉]

| Start by making a standard "rabbit"

Since it started with a basic form for beginners, Sumin, who is in charge of "Rabbit", is the top batter. Rabbits are characterized by their ears. First, she insert the scissors and make the long ears that are characteristic of rabbits.

Seeing Sumin inserting scissors for the first time, the members exclaimed, "Oh~~!” When the rabbit-like ears are formed, Sumin smiles and says, "Wow, cute!" While listening to the members' advice, such as Sieun's "The legs look like this!" Sumin challenged it with a serious look on her face, “I'm so nervous!” Her craft went quite well, with Sumin saying, "It looks good!"

The second challenge was Isa the "Cat". The cat is a slightly more difficult animal that will be the subject of the advanced classroom. As she spins the stick that supports the candy, Isa ponders where to put the scissors. She seems pretty cautious.

"Where should I cut it? It's difficult! It'll harden right away. It's hard because the tail is long. Look, it hardened again..." Isa struggled. The candy gets colder and colder when she touch it, so she only have 2-3 minutes to work with it. 

While watching Isa's work, Seeun and Yoon, who were next to her, held scissors and said, "Is this it?" These two lively livened up the place from beginning to end.

The third challenge was Yoon, who made the most difficult "Tiger" among the six. In order of difficulty, but she challenged after Isa because the tiger is an application of the cat. She was full of confidence because she was doing image training all the time while watching other members challenge. She sings, "I'll make a tiger~♪" and quickly inserts her scissors, saying, "I have to do it like a pro! My image training is perfect!"

Yoon is like a professional when he puts his scissors in at an angle. Her gesture seemed a professional. She said, "I'll do it!", and went into the performance with enthusiasm, stretching her legs while saying "Piyong" and finely adjusting the shape. Yoon was the mood-maker of STAYC and was very lively while both working and waiting for her turn.

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| Sieun, Seeun, and J Challenge!

The fourth is Sieun. Sieun's "Shiba Inu" is also for advanced users. The sharp tip and fluffy tail are the main points. Motivated by the members' cheers of "Do your best!"

Sieun in charge of Shiba Inu [sic]

She said, "It's really difficult to make the tail. To make it look fluffy, I have to make a lot of cuts. I'm nervous to try not to cut too much! But fun!" "I stretch the candy with my fingers. Wow," chatting with each process. She actively asked questions in Japanese, such as, "Teacher, what's next?" and "Teacher, I don't understand!"  Saying, "The candy is getting hard!" Until the end, she was quite enthusiastic, even though she was flustered.

The 5th challenger was Seeun in charge of "Fox". For the fox, it would be good to arrange the Shiba Inu made by Sieun further. It is characterized by a thinner nose and a thicker tail than the Shiba Inu.

While listening to the teacher's explanation, Seeun nodded, "I see." "Making the tail is difficult! Maybe it's better to squeeze the root more." Due to the effect of the image training with Yoon, the teacher praised her, saying, "You're good at using scissors, and you're bold." The tail was plump and nicely finished.

Yoon advised her, "Make nose more slender!" then she made the candy like that. She said, "Oh, It has got a little face!" She got in low spirits. Yoon said, "But it's handsome," and the two of us smiled.

The last is the challenge of J in charge of "Maltese". Along with tigers, maltese are the most difficult. Like the maknae, she asked the members for help. "My heart is pounding! Please help me, unnies (older sisters)!" Because it was the last turn, the image training was perfect, and even the difficult parts were handled quite well, saying, "I mastered it!"

Sieun kept taking pictures of such a cute youngest girl with her smartphone. J would also look at the camera when requested. Isa enthusiastically sent advice to J, saying, "It's easier to do it this way," After all, the youngest girl is supposed to be loved... (laughs).

When it was completed, she said with a satisfied expression, "Making the body was unexpectedly easy. Isn't this ear too cute?" 

Once each shape is completed, the last step is painting. Using three colors of red, brown, and black, they will finish animal-like appearance.  The trick is not to mix the colors, but to apply them little by little.

Yoon was the first to pick up the brush. She carefully drawn the striped pattern of the tiger using a sponge. The members turned away from the liveliness of the past and grabbed their brushes seriously. However, Yoon, who wondered, "Is it going to look fluffy?" Isa said, "Drawing a face makes it even cuter!" and the two of them were excited.

After completing these steps, the Amezaiku is completed in about 2 hours! Since it's a big deal, they received comments from the teacher on each completed work (laughs).

Teacher:  Sumin-san's [sic]* rabbit was made by everyone in the hands-on class, and among the participants this month, she made it so well that he was in the top 5!

*[Japanese "-san" is the honorific suffix of the name. Hereafter, annotation of "-san" will be omitted.]

Sumin: is it true? I'm so happy!

Teacher: Isa's Mikeneko has a small face and is stylishly finished.

Isa: It's so cute! I put ribbons on the cat's ears like glitter under my eyes.

Teacher: Yoon's tiger was also difficult, but she did it well.

Yoon: I drew the fluffy feeling of the tiger's fur and the strong whiskers as a finishing touch.

Sieun: Its face is cute!

Yoon: Look, look! (Her name "Yoon" and "Tiger" were written on its feet.)

Teacher: Sieun's Shiba Inu has a sense of dynamism.

Sieun: I tried to make the dog look like it was running by stretching its legs out in front of it. However, I ended up with a dog that was flying rather than running (laughs).

Seeun: Amazing, it looks like a fox! I was able to draw a cute face too! I really liked the Amezaiku. (Serious) Teacher, can I get a job here?

Teacher: Craftsmanship is a humble job, so please continue to shine brightly as an idol (laughs). J's Maltese is white, so the expression on its face is the key.

J: I tried to draw the mouth in red. It got a puckered-up mouth. (laughs).

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| Try making candy for the first time

Finished Amezaiku and commemorative photos at the end. It seems that Amezaiku is sensitive to humidity, but if you pay attention to the humidity, it can be stored for a long time.

With that, STAYC's first Amezaiku experience ended. At the end of the day, I asked them again about their impression.

Sumin: When the teacher showed me the model, it looked very easy, so I tried to imitate the movement, but it was difficult because the speed of the melted candy falling down was faster than I thought. But when I look at other Japanese people who have experienced it, they are really good at it. I thought, "I can't lose either!" and tried my best (laughs).

Sieun: It was a very special experience, and it was very strange, but it was fun! I heard that it is a traditional Japanese Amezaiku. It was great to be able to experience such a tradition in Japan, but it was a lot more difficult than I thought, and it was a lot of fun.

Isa: It was my first time to learn about the tradition of Amezaiku, but it was fun to try. After all, it was difficult, but it was fun to think about how to cover up the mistakes after failing, and I am very satisfied! 

Seeun: When I saw teacher's demo, I thought it might be pretty easy, but when I actually tried it, it was difficult to use scissors! Sometimes I want to cut just a little bit, but it's so soft that I end up cutting too much. In places where I wanted to make deep cuts, I could only cut a little. After all, I thought that the teacher was a professional (laughs).

Yoon: I wonder if South Korea doesn't have candy like this. On STAYC's YouTube, the sister team has made stamps, but this is the first time! I personally became interested in making things by watching videos of glasswork that takes shape by blowing air into it, so I was very happy with this experience. When I actually tried it, it hardened and melted immediately, so it was really difficult!

J: I often watch videos of the candy workshops. I happened to see something that appeared in a related YouTube video and got hooked. So, when I heard that I could make candy, I was looking forward to it and said, "Wow, I can do that too!" It was more difficult than I imagined, but I want to do it again!

You can also see this experience as a part of the behind-the-scenes video of the STAYC Japan Debut Single "POPPY". Please take a look at the video to see the fun atmosphere!

This is the end of the STAYC Japan Debut!! Features, for now. Thank you to everyone around the world for reading. When they come to Japan again, we plan to bring you their charms in a different project, so please look forward to it!

| STAYC's autographed checkit (instax) will be presented to one person! 

[How to apply]

(1)  Follow Bezzy's Twitter account (@Bezzyjp)

(2)  RT the tweet of this article

A winner will be sent a DM from Bezzy's Twitter account.

*Please apply only if you can contact the delivery address after winning. Personal information will not be used for purposes other than sending gifts.

*The winning announcement will be replaced with the shipping of the prize.

[Application deadline]

Until 23:59 on Sunday, February 5, 2023

* You can apply as many times as you like during the period. [sic]*

*[It seems difficult to apply from outside Japan, as the entry of the address is a condition of entry.]

End of translation

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