TOKYO —

Popular model Yuri Ebihara, 29, who recently officially announced her relationship with Ilmari, 34, from music group Rip Slyme, spent Tuesday playing manager for the day at Samantha Thavasa’s Omotesando Gates store.

This was the first appearance Ebi-chan has made since word got out on May 28 that she and Ilmari were seeing each other, and she said of her beau, “He’s a great person and I really respect him. It’s so fun being together.” As for marriage, she commented positively, “It would be great if that happens (someday).”

The media then flooded the model with questions, turning the event into a spur-of-the-moment press conference. Her first impression of Ilmari, she gushed, was that of “a wonderful and handsome person. He’s really talented, and I hope we’ll be there for each other.”

When asked how she feels right now, she answered without hesitation, “Pink!” Ebihara revealed that the pair use pet names for each other, but giggled nervously that she was “too embarrassed to say what they were.”

Ebi-chan showed off a ring on the middle finger of her left hand, but said it was one of her own designs.

The pair made their acquaintance through a mutual friend, and have been seeing each other for two months now. Word of the relationship got out when a weekly magazine published photos of the two visiting Aoshima Shrine, a shrine dedicated to marriage, together with Ebi-chan’s mother and sister’s family in her hometown of Miyazaki.

Ebi-chan said she “didn’t realize it was a shrine for marriage. I’ve been going there forever.” When asked what she prayed for, she quickly replied, “They say if you tell someone, it won’t come true, right?” She said Ilmari “looked really nervous” when he met her family, but seemed to leave a good impression on both her mother and sister.

The model denied the possibility of a sudden plunge into married life, though she admitted she was definitely keeping it in mind in their relationship, saying, “I’m hoping things go well.”

Source JapanToday