From left: Tomoko Takagaki, Aisa Senda, Mai Satou, Chika Goshima

Taiwanese idol from Japan, SUNDAY GIRLS

The winter of 2001. When I was working while the Chinese program on the international channel was on a TV, suddenly heard a voice of gal saying in Japanese, "Though, we can't speak Taiwanese well yet, we're doing our best." 

"Hah?! Is it already a time for the Japanese show?!" I immediately looked at the screen. It was still the Taiwanese hit program "The Entertainment of Big Brother". However, somehow, there were 4 cute unknown Japanese girls on that TV show-- A new idol group?

They were replying cheerfully to the TV host who was asking each member some questions through an interpreter. "We practices singing every day, learning Taiwanese little by little, and we are doing our best, yeeeeah." They are frank, cute and bright!

"Let's see the video" (I guess that was what the host said), a tape was shown. 
"Hey ! How are you doing over there Aisa? Everybody's supporting you here!" 
It was one of the member, Aisa's family video-letter from Okinawa. 
This group skipped Japan to debute suddenly from Taiwan was called, "SUNDAY GIRLS". Sure enough, for Aisa, Taiwan is much closer than Tokyo. 

The girls were repeatedly saying "do our best", and getting emotional by seeing such a heartwarming v-letter from home. Their junior high school student looking girl fans were also having each other embraced, and did the infectious crying and weeping.
By such a SUNDAY GIRLS's single-minded effort, whole people at the studio cried movingly... It was a somehow frightful atmosphere like a style "the star of birth" show back in the 70s in Japan.

"What is SUNDAY GIRLS?! I didn't know them at all!" Soon, I asked the people from Taiwan around me. "Well, they are like 'Morning Musume' I suppose.
A Taiwanese TV show "Super Sunday" collected Japanese girls who want to debut from Taiwan, and they are the selected ones." 
Then, I'd looked for their CD in the various record stores at Chinatown, but couldn't found it easily.

Finally, one CD I found came with additional VCD of the title "Magical Japanese lesson by SUNDAY GIRLS". The CD tracks were mostly cover songs. They were somewhat lonely contents. (covers of Morning Musume. , a Japanese hit song, "Dango Sankyodai" and so on.) 

But the problem was the bonus VCD. One chapter called "Magical basic 50 sounds"  was the Japanese A-Z hiragana alphabet pronunciation, demonstrated by each member with no back ground music and their close up shots eternally.  (It's sort of like a trip-video) Moreover, another title, "100 magical life terms" was the example phrase demonstration. Again with no back ground music. It was like, "I want to go to Shinjuku." "Please eat this after microwave it."
The phrases that can't think of any purpose of regular use were, "This jacket is strange." "Rider gang" Perhaps, they may be the magical words.

Anyways, it was very pathetic. It would make you wanna cry for them. (actually, I was cracking up.)

Because they've got good looks, I couldn't understand why they were doing such things.
And for that reason, this group became the one of my unforgettable idol group.  What and how they made a mistake to become like this?

Since then, there are no "SUNDAY GIRLS" goods, even at Chinatown. 
Wonder, if they've ever made their original song album...

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As of 2003. It seems that excepting Aisa, other three went back to Japan, so SUNDAY GIRLS have been breaking up in fact. But Aisa is in a trendy drama, CM, and quite active in Taiwan. Do your best, Aisa! As a sunday best girl !
 
 
 

—J. Tack