When Chanmina and MIZYU from Atarashii Gakko no Leaders shared their childhood reunion on Japanese television in July 2026, viewers discovered something remarkable: two of Japan's most distinctive musical artists had been inseparable friends since they were three years old. Their story goes far deeper than a simple "we went to school together" — it's a decade-long bond that shaped both their artistic paths, complete with an exchange diary where they wrote about becoming artists and meeting again on stage.
We've gathered everything we know about their friendship, from their nursery school days through their emotional reunions as professional performers.
The Quick Version
- Chanmina and MIZYU have known each other since age 3 in nursery school and remained together through the end of junior high school in their shared hometown
- They were especially close during upper elementary school, spending every day together after class until dinner time and co-founding their school's dance club
- The two kept an exchange diary where they wrote about their dreams of becoming professional artists and reuniting someday
- They've reunited publicly at several music events, including a Japanese artists' festival in Los Angeles and Tokyo International Music Market on October 25, 2025
- A July 2026 television feature included a reunion with their sixth-grade homeroom teacher, who shared stories from their childhood
A Friendship That Started at Age Three
Chanmina and MIZYU first met when they were three years old at the same nursery school in their hometown. From that point forward, they were rarely apart. Both artists have described the relationship in remarkably similar terms: they were together constantly, from nursery through elementary and junior high school, attending the same institutions throughout their entire childhood.
MIZYU put it simply during a television appearance: they were together from age three in nursery school, through elementary and junior high. Chanmina echoed this, describing MIZYU as one of the very few friends she remained close to from that early age all the way through middle school — a span of roughly ten years of near-constant companionship.
The fact that they grew up in the same hometown meant their paths naturally overlapped. But what made their friendship special wasn't just proximity — it was the intensity of their connection and their shared creative drive, something that became especially clear during their elementary school years.
The Elementary School Years: "We Were Inseparable"
If there was a peak period of their childhood friendship, it was upper elementary school. MIZYU has said that their elementary school years, particularly the upper grades, were when they were "at their closest" — spending literally every day together. The phrase she used captures it perfectly: they were together all the time, truly every day.
Chanmina remembers it the same way. On television, she recalled: "We were always together from age three. In elementary school, we were stuck to each other, weren't we?" MIZYU confirmed they spent time together not just during school hours but after school until dinner time.
In sixth grade, when they were in the same class, their bond was particularly strong. This was the year their homeroom teacher witnessed both girls beginning to show the artistic ambitions that would define their futures. The teacher later appeared on a July 2026 television program and shared memories from that time, including how Chanmina would write lyrics during class and give them to her teacher as birthday presents — an early sign of the songwriter she would become.
Starting a Dance Club Together
One of the most telling episodes from their childhood is that Chanmina and MIZYU co-founded their school's dance club. The club didn't exist before they created it — they saw something they wanted, something that aligned with their artistic interests, and they made it happen together.
This wasn't just a casual after-school activity. For both girls, who were already drawn to performance and music, the dance club represented their first collaborative creative project. It's a detail that takes on greater meaning when we look at where they ended up: Chanmina as a rapper, singer, and songwriter known for her powerful stage presence, and MIZYU as a member of Atarashii Gakko no Leaders, a performance group built around synchronized choreography and explosive energy.
The fact that they took the initiative to start something new, rather than simply joining an existing club, hints at the determination both possessed even as children — the same quality that would later drive them to pursue professional music careers.
The Exchange Diary: Writing Their Futures
Perhaps the most poignant detail of Chanmina and MIZYU's childhood friendship is their exchange diary. Like many close friends in Japan, they kept a shared journal, passing it back and forth and writing to each other. But the content of their diary was unusual: they wrote about their dreams of becoming professional artists and about the day when they would reunite, each having made it in the music world.
MIZYU revealed this during a reunion appearance, saying she had always believed that someday they would each become different kinds of artists and meet again in that context. Chanmina confirmed the diary exists, responding directly: "It's written in our exchange diary."
Think about what this means. Two elementary school girls, close enough to spend every day together, weren't just dreaming vaguely about the future — they were actively writing down specific visions of themselves as working artists. They imagined a future where they would both succeed, separately, in the notoriously difficult Japanese music industry, and where their paths would cross again at music events and festivals.
That future came true.
How Chanmina Describes MIZYU
In a message that was read during a television program, Chanmina offered one of the most revealing descriptions of their friendship. She called MIZYU "like my alter ego" — a person who is loud, fiercely competitive, someone who chases dreams seriously, and who has remained essentially unchanged since childhood.
The phrase "alter ego" is particularly interesting. It suggests not just closeness but recognition — that in MIZYU, Chanmina sees a reflection of her own qualities and drive. The characteristics Chanmina lists — loudness, competitiveness, serious pursuit of dreams — are all traits that we can see in both artists' public personas and careers.
Chanmina also described MIZYU as one of the few friends she's maintained from childhood. Given how common it is for people to drift apart as they grow and their paths diverge, the fact that they've remained connected speaks to something genuine at the core of their relationship.
The Reunion as Professional Artists
After going their separate ways after junior high school — each pursuing the artistic careers they'd written about in their exchange diary — Chanmina and MIZYU reconnected publicly as working professionals in the music industry. One notable reunion took place at Tokyo International Music Market (TIMM) at Zepp Shinjuku on October 25, 2025, where they met backstage, embraced, and were introduced to the audience as childhood classmates.
Another reunion featured on Japanese television showed footage from a Japanese artists' music festival in Los Angeles. In the backstage video, the two greet each other warmly — "Good work! / Thanks, good work! You haven't changed" — and hug. The ease of their interaction, the immediate familiarity despite their busy separate careers, speaks to a friendship that never really faded.
MIZYU's comment at one of these reunions captures the emotion of the moment: meeting like this, with each of them having become a different kind of artist, was exactly what she had believed would happen. The exchange diary prediction had come true.
In an October 25 Instagram post, Chanmina wrote that meeting her real childhood friend MIZYU made her "revert to elementary school behavior" — a revealing admission that in each other's presence, they slip back into the dynamic they had as kids, before fame, before careers, when they were just two girls who spent every day together.
The Teacher Reunion
In July 2026, a Japanese television program arranged something particularly emotional: a reunion between Chanmina, MIZYU, and their sixth-grade homeroom teacher. The segment allowed the teacher to share memories of both girls from that pivotal year when they were classmates.
The teacher recalled Chanmina's habit of writing song lyrics during class and gifting them to her teacher on birthdays — a detail that's both endearing and prophetic, given that Chanmina would go on to become an accomplished lyricist and songwriter. For MIZYU, the teacher's memories confirmed what we already knew: she was deeply involved in performance and dance even then.
These kinds of reunions serve a purpose beyond nostalgia. They validate the artists' stories about their childhood and provide a third-party perspective on who they were before they became famous. The teacher's presence confirmed that Chanmina and MIZYU weren't exaggerating their closeness or constructing a convenient narrative — they really were those two inseparable girls who founded the dance club and dreamed of making it as artists.
Why Their Connection Surprised So Many Fans
When the depth of Chanmina and MIZYU's childhood friendship became widely known through television coverage and social media in July 2026, many fans expressed genuine surprise. Entertainment coverage repeatedly emphasized how unexpected the connection was — two artists with such different styles and public images, linked by a decade of shared childhood.
Part of the surprise stems from their distinct artistic identities. Chanmina is known as a solo rapper and singer-songwriter whose work blends Japanese and English, often exploring themes of identity and cultural duality (she was born to a Korean mother and Japanese father and spent part of her childhood in South Korea). Her music is deeply personal, introspective, and lyrically complex.
MIZYU, as a member of Atarashii Gakko no Leaders (often translated as "Leaders of the New School"), is part of a four-member performance group known for their energetic, synchronized choreography, sailor-uniform aesthetics, and genre-blending music that mixes elements of pop, punk, and traditional Japanese sounds. The group has a deliberately playful, rebellious image.
On the surface, these might seem like artists who would run in completely different circles. But knowing their shared history reframes everything. The dance club they started in elementary school? That's the through-line. Both ended up in careers built around performance, music, and stage presence — they just took different paths to get there.
What People Are Saying
"I had no idea they were childhood friends! It's amazing that they both made it and actually kept their exchange diary promise."
— Fan reaction on social media
"The fact that they wrote about becoming artists and meeting again in their exchange diary, and it actually happened... that's so emotional. Most of us had childhood dreams that didn't come true."
— Viewer comment following television feature
"Two incredibly talented people who knew each other before fame. You can tell their friendship is real — not just a PR story. The way they talk about each other is so genuine."
— Comment on entertainment news coverage
"I love that Chanmina said meeting MIZYU makes her act like she's in elementary school again. That's what real old friends do — you just slip back into who you were."
— Fan observation on Instagram post
Frequently Asked Questions
How long have Chanmina and MIZYU known each other?
They've known each other since age three, when they met in nursery school. They remained close friends through elementary and junior high school, a period of roughly ten years of near-constant companionship in the same hometown schools.
Did they stay in touch after junior high school?
While the exact details of their contact during high school and early career years haven't been publicly detailed, they clearly maintained their connection. They've reunited publicly multiple times as professional artists, including at music festivals and industry events, and speak about each other with the familiarity of people who've stayed genuinely close.
What did they write in their exchange diary?
According to both artists, they wrote about their dreams of becoming professional performers and about the day when they would reunite, each having succeeded as a different kind of artist. MIZYU has said she always believed they would meet again in the music world, and Chanmina confirmed these aspirations were written in their diary.
Are they planning to collaborate musically?
As of July 2026, no official collaboration between Chanmina and MIZYU (or Atarashii Gakko no Leaders) has been announced. However, given their renewed public connection and their shared history, fans have expressed hope that they might work together on a project in the future.
What is Atarashii Gakko no Leaders?
Atarashii Gakko no Leaders is a four-member Japanese performance group known for their energetic choreography, sailor-uniform stage outfits, and genre-blending music. MIZYU is one of the four members. The group has gained international attention for their distinctive style and high-energy performances.
What Makes This Friendship Story Resonate
We're drawn to stories like Chanmina and MIZYU's because they represent something we want to believe is possible: that childhood friendships can survive, that the dreams we write down when we're young can actually come true, and that success doesn't have to mean leaving behind the people who knew us before we made it.
The exchange diary is the symbolic heart of the story. It's concrete evidence that these weren't just vague childhood wishes — they wrote down their goals and their belief that they would both succeed. Most of us had similar dreams as children, but very few of us wrote them down with a friend who also went on to achieve them. The fact that both Chanmina and MIZYU not only entered the music industry but found significant success makes their story genuinely rare.
Their continued closeness also matters. Fame often isolates artists, surrounding them with new people whose relationships to them are colored by their success. Having someone who knew you at age three, who co-founded a dance club with you at school, who wrote dreams with you in a diary — that's a kind of grounding that's hard to find once you become a public figure. When Chanmina says MIZYU is "like my alter ego" and one of her few long-term friends, we understand that she's describing something irreplaceable.
The story reminds us that the paths to success are often intertwined with the people we meet along the way, and that the most meaningful reunions are with those who believed in our potential before anyone else did. Chanmina and MIZYU believed in each other's potential when they were children, wrote it down, and lived to see it come true. That's the kind of story that makes us want to reach out to our own old friends and tell them we still believe in them, too.
