5444 replies to this topic

[Aeria]

Miki doesn't need to be called Mikity. Maybe Mii-Chi. That sounds cute. lol

[Mizura]

^ Mii-Chi is kinda hard to pronounce though. Maybe Mii-chan.

[simplemindead'19]

i no like her! english more good then my.

[blackknight07]

Wow, you guys weren't lying when you said her english was perfect

[gx240]

And, if my snooping has led me in the right direction, she also has a dance school background, I found a Miki Nonaka at the Applause Fine Arts School in Sheffield, Alabama, where she won some prizes!

From this website is this listing for a photobook from 2009.........with just the descriptions of the photos and who's in them!  How can we look at these pics and see if it's her?

http://www.mixbook.c...7?vk=SEYN2qtFe9

 

According to this .pdf, she was part of a winning dance team that did "Cotton Eyed Joe!"  Yee-haw!

 

http://www.statedanc...lts/Alabama.pdf

 

 

I have no idea how you managed to find that. Really nice job. I notice in the State Dance Championships there's a "Nonaka Miyu" as well, so apparently she has a sister.

 

I found these pictures in that yearbook. They're 5 years old, but that's her right? Nonaka Miki is the only Asian name I see in the member list at the end.

 

[decocandy]

^
Aww those pictures of her are really cute

[RenaiDestiny。]

That's definately her, that dimple.

[gx240]

Hey, you're right. I didn't even notice that at first, but the dimple is definitely recognizable.

 

[ItsudemoAibon]

I'm unashamedly proud of scooping this!  LOL!  My "net patrolling" certainly rivals Sayu's!

 

I presume that's her okasan with her in that pic?  How did you get those pics, gx240?

[TommyKupo]

Oh hello Miki.

[gx240]

 

I presume that's her okasan with her in that pic?  How did you get those pics, gx240?

They were in the yearbook link you posted. She's in a couple more group pictures, but they're fairly small.

 

OK, I'm starting to feel a little bit like a stalker here, but I found the local newspaper of her hometown in Alabama. Her name pops up in a couple stories.

 

This one is a group project she participated in and has her parents' names.

(Link 1) (Link 2)

 

Muscle Shoals Schools third through sixth grade enrichment classes participated in the Daughters of the American Revolution Creative Writing and Art Contest... National winners include:

 

Banner category:

Carly Corfman, Miki Nonaka, Katelyn Burrow, second place, fourth grade, children of Charles and Kim Corfman, Hideaki and Hiromi Nonaka and Sara Kennedy.

 

This one is more interesting. It looks like she competed in some kind of gymnastics or cheerleading thing, but I really don't know anything about either one so I don't really understand the article. 

(Link)

 

Here's the competitors and their all-around scores:

Level 3: Mikayla Vandiver 37.25; Minori Moriyama 37.20; Breanna Bevis 36.70; Arden Rose 36.25; Lauren Nicholas 36.20; Hannah Jenkins 35.925; Miki Nonaka 35.725; Zoe Capaldo 35.40; Briley Black 35.375; Anna Katherine Eastman 35.05; Lindsay Wilkins 34.95; Mollie Melton 34.625; Meredith Simpson 33.95; Hannah Goff 30.05.

 

Anyone know anything about gymnastics competitions? Did she do well? Either way she apparently spent her childhood doing gymnastics and dance which is a pretty good way to prepare for an idol career I would think.

 

I tried to find her school yearbook, but as far as I can tell the Muscle Shoals Schools don't have their yearbooks up online, sadly.

[spotkatt]

Maybe we'll see Eripon and Miki doing cartwheels from opposite sides of the stage.

[ItsudemoAibon]

^ ^

 

Good snooping!  It says her prize was for "floor" which is the part of gymnastics that involves doing a routine full of running, cartwheels, flips, etc (the other events are vaulting, beam and trapeze).  I'm impressed that she's been to both dance AND gymnastics school!  And don't feel guilty about digging this stuff up, it's going to come out anyway and it gives us an idea of her background and makes us (well, me, anyway) confident that Tsunku has made a wise choice in finding someone who has so much to offer to the group.  I can't wait to start seeing the videos where she shows off her stuff like we've seen with the other girls (Eripon's golf skills, Maachan's piano, drumming and horse riding skills).

 

I also hope she helps to teach the girls English, it can only strengthen the group to have as much foreign language skill as possible.  Now that Reina is out of the group, I wonder which member dislikes English the most.......I think Reina absolutely hated it!  LOL!

 

From ShiroiChanUK over at MM-BBS.....................she's tied for the top score.  This is the "Test of English for International Communication."

 

http://www.amity.co....tBridge.dat&s=4

 

We're not the only ones net patrolling info about Miki!

[Corpenicus62]

Miki sounds awesome so far.   Very multi-talented.

 

I'm really interested in hearing her sing.   Her voice sounds strong and clear -- I hope she can contribute to the group vocally.

 

 

For those who care, here's an interesting article on why Japan does so much business in Alabama:

 

http://www.bizjourna...erested-in.html

[Aika-chan]

wow, I'm impressed by her!

and seeing the videos of the announcement and everything, she seems to be a really nice and cheerful girl, I already like her a lot! ^^

[gx240]

So now that we have those dance yearbook pictures of her we know for sure where she used to live (Muscle Shoals, Alabama). The area she grew up in is relatively small (a little over 10,000 people), mostly white, and less than 1% Asian according to the 2010 census, which makes it really really easy to search for someone with a Japanese name. And that article I linked before gave her father's name (Hideaki Nonaka).

 

There's only one Hideaki Nonaka anywhere near that area that I can find. Here's the name and address in the local yellow pages.

 

He was employed at North American Lighting Inc. as a Molding Engineer. If you look at the website for North American Lighting Inc they have locations in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and Flora, Illinois. As Roddy Reta pointed out on the first page of this thread, we know Miki lived in Illinois and Alabama. So I search in Flora, Illinois and find her father's name and address again. Once again he's really easy to find because Flora, Illinois is only a little over 1% Asian.

 

You can find their phone numbers and addresses in both cities really easily with little more than a last name since there aren't any other Nonakas in either city as far as I can tell.

[zeroyon]

Oh, the power of google and internet search!  If it is this easy for us to dig up the past of people, imagine how easy it is for the NSA

 

Anyways, great finds! I hope someone finds video of her from a dance or singing competition from when she was in the USA

[usagi_no_kami]

Oricon Official report:

 

Maidigi:

 

Jiji press:

[ItsudemoAibon]

^

 

Ah, that's what I was waiting for, the official media reports!  Thanks!

 

 

And digging up her father's work info................that's what I'm talkin' about!  LOL!

 

North American Lighting is a subsidiary of the Koito Corporation, which has five factories in Shizuoka.  According to this history, the Alabama plant opened in 2007, probably when the Nonaka's moved there........their specialty is automotive lighting.

 

http://www.koito.co....rp/history.html

[gx240]

Oh, the power of google and internet search!  If it is this easy for us to dig up the past of people, imagine how easy it is for the NSA

 

Well I hope there's a Momusu fan at the NSA to help us out, I need my idol gossip!

 

Mostly I'm just excited that we not only have a Morning Musume member who speaks American English, but one who grew up around white people in Middle America so she won't be scared of foreigners! Yay!