A month ago, Japanese people all over the country woke up to this photo of Fukuoka-based idol Kanna Hashimoto of the group Rev. From DVL all over the internet. And just like that, her modest level of local fame on stage has been skyrocketing. Some are calling her an idol that you’d find once in a thousand years.

We’re not sure who came up with that title or how it was calculated, but certainly no idol has caught the nation’s attention without any gimmicks or PR stunts like Hashimoto has from simply a photograph.

Thanks to this new-found fame Kanna Hashimoto will be making appearances all over Japan. In fact, tomorrow those living in Tokyo or Osaka will have a chance to buy some glasses from her at the grand opening of ALOOK stores in each city.

■ Get your glasses handed to you by Kanna-chan

On 6 December, glasses brand ALOOK will be opening two new shops in Shibuya, Tokyo and Shinsaibashi, Osaka. To commemorate the event they are hiring Kanna Hashimoto to be “manager for a day.” Considering she’s only 14 she probably won’t be handling invoices, but she will be personally handing out the glasses purchased by customers.

Hopefully smelling salts and mops will be on-hand. It’s a drastic leap from having Kanna – who’s tapped to be the next idol to end all idols – on the computer screen to standing inches from your face. This may be too much for some idol fans to handle.

■ Rising star

It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly it is about Kanna that sets her apart from other idols. Of course she’s cute, but being cute is just a prerequisite for becoming one of the thousands of idols active today among which she seems stand out. There’s something else that people seem to be seeing in her.

Perhaps she has a girl-next-door vibe that guys are picking up on. Some say she gives off that nostalgic feeling of a girl in your class that was too cute to even try to speak to. Either way, people seem to be reading a lot of sincerity in her face rather than the artificial looks and acts otherwise rampant in show-business.

Personally, I like it because she looks like she about to shoot some kind of force beam or something. Actually…

Thanks Photoshop!

■ Whirlwind tour

For those in Tokyo looking to pick up some new specs from Kanna Hashimoto she’ll be appearing at the Shibuya ALOOK store from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. Then she’ll make her way to Osaka where she’ll be handing purchases to customers at the Shinsaibashi ALOOK from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm.

In both cases, you can bet there’ll be line-ups so be sure to arrive early. Also, the first one hundred customers at each ALOOK store will receive a free gift so for those looking to meet Kanna in Tokyo’s morning appearance might land some Kyari-Pyamu-Pyamu swag as well. We may just have to go down tomorrow ourselves and see in person what is so captivating about young Kanna Hashimoto.

Source: ALOOK, Hashimoto Kanna Blog (Japanese)
[ Read in Japanese ]