The OCHA NORMA member shaped ten looks around her own ideas, combining a fashion-magazine finish with the freshness she wanted to preserve at 19.
Momo Kitahara’s first photobook arrived on the final day of her teens, but the timing is only one part of the farewell built into Momomoteen. The OCHA NORMA member also helped shape its title, cover, makeup and ten-look styling around ideas she had wanted to realize in a book of her own.
Kitahara discussed the Odyssey Books release at Shosen Book Tower in Tokyo on August 29.
1 / 4
“I was incredibly happy,” she said of releasing the book before turning 20. “I had always said, ‘I want to publish a photobook,’ so being able to release it on the last day of my teens made me very happy. I think it became a work that fulfilled everything I had dreamed of doing.”
The title joins “Momomo,” the nickname used by her fans, with “last teen.” That same sense of personal authorship runs through the photographs. Kitahara had long wanted to pose with peaches as a play on her name, and her favorite image from the shoot was selected for the cover. She said the team discussed each detail with her, including the places where she wanted to do her own makeup.
The book contains ten looks. One flower-filled photograph began with Kitahara’s request to be surrounded by blooms and led her to try natural makeup after planning the approach with the makeup artist. A red outfit worn at the launch came from another request: a bathtub photograph with a polished, stylish feel.
Kitahara described the wider brief as a blend of photobook and fashion magazine. She had long admired fashion models and wanted natural makeup paired with a fashion-editorial texture. Although she often chooses more mature styling as OCHA NORMA’s self-appointed “sexy member,” she turned this book toward the freshness and cuteness of being 19, with carefully constructed worlds and a few playful photographs rather than only unguarded expressions.
Not every memory was glamorous. A swimsuit sequence in a pool was so cold that Kitahara called it probably the coldest she had felt in her 19 years. During preparation, she also cut back on the spicy ramen she loves and tried to avoid overeating and drinking too much.
Her groupmates had not yet seen the finished book when she spoke to GirlsNews, though leader Madoka Saito had been waiting for it. Asked to score the result, Kitahara gave it “10 billion out of 10 billion,” saying it contained both her particular choices and the photobook ideas she had wanted to make real.
Kitahara said her goal for her twenties is to keep setting a new personal best. She had already challenged herself to sightsee alone during free time in Osaka and hopes to appear in fashion shows, spend more time around makeup and clothing, and eventually walk a runway.
If another photobook follows, she would like to shift fully toward the mature styling she usually favors and shoot by the sea in Okinawa or on a remote island. Momomoteen., by contrast, preserves the version of herself she wanted to leave at the threshold of 20.
Event and book details
Title: Momomoteen.
Publisher: Odyssey Books
Event: August 29, 2026
Venue: Shosen Book Tower, Tokyo
Official site: Odyssey Books
Source: GirlsNews
The OCHA NORMA member leads a Glass Girl package with a “Summer Girlfriend” gravure, special movie and Hiroaki Terada interview.
The November 5 debut offers seaside and indoor cover portraits across two editions, with identical contents and separate Seven Net postcard bonuses.
The October 26 competition selects 55 MVPs per member for an in-person culture festival, alongside a six-member voiced story and new member-photographed cards.
