On September 30th, it was announced that the 13-year-old actress with the stage name Minamino Saki will be making her acting debut as a regular cast member in the upcoming fall drama 'Akumu-chan' (NTV).

The special thing about this junior high first grader is that she was personally scouted during a summer festival last year by actress and singer Kitano Kii. Kitano expressed delight stating, "I'm so happy that she was picked for a drama. It almost feels like I've become her manager." Minamino commented with sparkling eyes, "Once I've improved my acting, I'd like to work together with Kitano!"

Kitano also revealed how she discovered this beautiful girl at a summer festival in Kawasaki in July 2011. She explained, "When we passed each other, I thought that she was extremely cute, but I didn't know to call out to her. Later I saw her lining up at the 'Jaga Butter (=steamed potato with butter)'�stand and since I also was in the mood for some 'Jaga Butter', I lined up as well. That's when I got the chance to greet her."

Apparently Kitano was once told by her agency that whenever she happens to see a cute girl, she should greet her and give her her own business card. Since then she has always been carrying her personal business cards with her, but this was the first time she actually approached a girl.

Of course it didn't really go that fluidly, after all Kitano was wearing a mask to enjoy the festival without being recognized. She asked the girl, "Are you interested in the world of show business?" However, the girl was confused and rejected her right away, "Eh? No... I'm not, excuse me."

Kitano continued, "I just couldn't let this opportunity go away. Her smile was so beautiful and she was really polite. I myself was also scouted when I was 13 years old, which is why I felt a certain affinity between us."

In that situation, Kitano had no choice but to call her own manager and ask him whether it was okay to reveal her own identity in front of this girl. "How cute is she really?" Her manager asked. "She's stunning," she answered, "I'll regret it if I don't speak to her now." Her manager then asked her to send him a photo of her over the phone, which she did. Only a few seconds later she received the reply, "You have to get her name!"

This was the sign that Kitano could risk exposing herself in order to scout this girl and greeted her once again, "Hello, my name is Kitano Kii." Obviously the girl and her friends were quite surprised and couldn't help but realize how amazing this was. Kitano then gave the girl her business card and asked the girl for her name.

One month later, her agency finally decided to get in contact with this girl and paid her a visit in order to negotiate all the details together with her parents. In the fall, she signed the contract and started modeling in May 2012. Now, she has received her first offer for a drama role.

Minamino expressed, "When Kitano Kii told me her name that time, I couldn't believe that there's an actress standing right in front of my eyes." She had no interest to enter the world of show business at all and already refused several scouting attempts in her past. However, the fact that it was no scouting agent but a 'genuine' actress that approached her was the reason she changed her mind this time.

Kitano added, "Since I'm the one who brought her into the industry, I'm feeling a certain responsibility, but I'm also glad that she made this choice. However, I don't get to appear together with her in her first drama. This pains me. I want to work together with her as soon as possible!"

They also talked about Minamo's stage name, which resembles Kitano's stage name a lot. Kitano's name includes the kanji for 'north' ('kita'), while Minamo's name includes the kanji for 'south' ('minami'). The second kanji for 'no' is the same. It was their agency that decided to give her this name.

Kitano wondered, "Isn't she going to feel like she's being haunted by my existence all the time? I chose her first name carefully in order to make up for that." It's said that she put a lot of consideration into her first name, such as the number of strokes and so on.

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Source: Sanspo (1,2)