is a Japanese actress, singer, and former member of the Japanese idol group

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (''Akiba'' for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with i ...

. Her supposed apathetic attitude toward idol fans led to the popularity of the buzzword in Japanese media. Since graduating from AKB48 in 2016, Shimazaki has worked as an actress, including roles in ''

Hiyokko is a Japanese television drama series and the 96th asadora series, following ''Beppinsan''. It was premiered on April 3, 2017, and ended on September 30, 2017. Plot Mineko Yatabe is a teenager living in a very rural area of Ibaraki Prefecture in ...

'', ''

Nisekoi is a Japanese romantic comedy manga series written and illustrated by Naoshi Komi. ''Nisekoi'' was first published as a one-shot manga in Shueisha's seasonal '' Jump NEXT!'' magazine before being serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' ...

'', and ''

Tonde Saitama is a 2019 Japanese comedy film directed by Hideki Takeuchi, based on the 1980s manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Mineo Maya. It was released to critical acclaim and received 12 nominations at the 43rd Japan Academy Film ...

''. She also started her own YouTube channel on March 30, 2020.

Career

Haruka Shimazaki was born in

Saitama Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefecture ...

, and began her entertainment career in 2009 by successfully auditioning for

in the 6th Kenkyūsei Audition (9th generation AKB48 audition). Her official nickname, Paruru, was coined by then fellow member Rumi Yonezawa. In the AKB48 17th single senbatsu election, which took place from May to June 2010, Shimazaki ranked 28th, the highest of all trainees. In June 2011 it was announced that she would be promoted to a newly created Team 4. In the AKB48 27th single senbatsu election, which took place from May to June 2012, Shimazaki ranked 23rd. In August 2012 she was transferred to Team B after Team 4 was disbanded. In September 2012 she won the 3rd AKB48 rock-paper-scissors tournament, held in

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...

, earning the center position in AKB48's single "

Eien Pressure is the 29th major single by the Japanese female idol group AKB48, released in Japan on December 5, 2012. Background The sixteen members that were featured in the title track were decided in the AKB48 rock-paper-scissors tournament held in Septe ...

," which was released on December 5, 2012. In 2012, Shimazaki appeared in the movie ''

Gekijōban Shiritsu Bakaleya Kōkō is a 2012 Japanese film directed by Takashi Kubota. Cast * Shintaro Morimoto *Hokuto Matsumura * Yuya Takaki *Taiga Kyomoto *Haruka Shimazaki (AKB48) *Mina Ōba (AKB48, SKE48) * Kaoru Mitsumune * Hiroki Uchi *Toshiya Miyata *Rena Katō (AKB48) ...

'', which was based on the 2012 TV series ''

Shiritsu Bakaleya Kōkō (lit. "Private Bakalea High School") is a 2012 Japanese television series. Written by AKB48's producer Yasushi Akimoto, this television series featured Johnny's Hey! Say! JUMP member Yuya Takaki, and members of then Johnny's Jr. now known as Si ...

''. Later the same year she appeared together with

Minami Takahashi is a Japanese idol, singer, tarento and a former member of the Japanese girl idol group AKB48. She is in Team A of AKB48. She became the first of AKB48 and its sister groups. In an interview with Nippon Television in June 2010, AKB48 produ ...

in an

automated external defibrillator An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation (VF) and pulseless ventricular tachycardia, and is able to treat them thro ...

(AED) training session, sponsored by the

Japanese Red Cross The is the Japanese affiliate of the International Red Cross. The Imperial Family of Japan traditionally has supported the society, with the Empress as Honorary President and other imperial family members as vice presidents. Its headquarters i ...

. On February 23, 2013, she appeared on the cover of the April issue of the Japanese fashion magazine ''Smart''. In October, the fashion magazine

CanCam is a Japanese monthly fashion magazine published by Shogakukan. Its name supposedly derives from "I Can Campus", because girls who read it are expected to become "campus leaders". The magazine was created for fashion-conscious consumers, and offer ...

published an article about her signature look, dubbed the ; this term went on to become one of the Top 50 Japanese Buzzwords of 2013, compiled by the publisher Jiyu Kokuminsha. In 2014, Shimazaki appeared in a recruiting commercial for the

Japan Self-Defense Forces The Japan Self-Defense Forces ( ja, 自衛隊, Jieitai; abbreviated JSDF), also informally known as the Japanese Armed Forces, are the unified ''de facto''Since Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution outlaws the formation of armed forces, th ...

. Later that year, the phrase , which referred to her supposed apathetic attitude toward her fans during meet-and-greet events, was again included as one of the Top 50 Japanese Buzzwords for the year. On October 3, 2016, during a promotional appearance for the brand ''Baitoru'', Shimazaki announced her graduation from AKB48. For the group's 46th single " High Tension", released on November 16, 2016, Shimazaki served as the choreographic center in her final appearance on an

single. She attended the

67th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen The was the 67th edition of NHK's Kōhaku Uta Gassen, held on December 31, 2016, live from NHK Hall from 19:15 (JST) to 23:45 (JST), with a 5-minute break for the latest news. This is the 28th Heisei Era edition. The broadcast schedule was announ ...

and graduated from AKB48 on December 31, 2016. Since graduating from AKB48, Shimazaki has pursued an acting career, playing a supporting role in the 96th

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

asadora , colloquially known as , is a serialized, 15 minutes per episode, Japanese television drama program series broadcast in the mornings by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. The first such series aired in 1961 with the black-and-white , starring Take ...

'', appearing alongside veteran actor

Kōji Yakusho , known professionally as , is a Japanese actor. He is well known for his starring roles in ''Shall We Dance?'' (1996), ''Cure'' (1997), ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' (2005), '' 13 Assassins'' (2010), ''The Third Murder'' (2017), '' The Blood of Wolv ...

in a series of television commercials for the national Jumbo Lottery, and playing the role of Marika Tachibana in ''

'', the 2018 film adaptation of the

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

Naoshi Komi is a Japanese manga artist. His works have debuted in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine and its affiliates. In 2008, he released ''Double Arts'', which lasted for three ''tankōbon'' volumes. His best known and most widely circulated work, ''Nis ...

. On her 26th birthday on March 30, 2020, Shimazaki launched her official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel, called . It releases a new video every day at 7:00 pm JST. The channel reached 100,000 subscribers on May 2 and has featured other former AKB48 members such as

Mariya Nagao is a Japanese television personality and former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. Nagao is represented by Irving. Career Mariya Nagao joined AKB48 as a 9th generation trainee in late 2009. On December 8, 2010, together with Mina ...

and

Tomomi Itano is a Japanese recording artist, songwriter, dancer, model, and actress. She is a former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. She was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. In 2011 she debuted solo with a single titled " Dear J", which w ...

. The channel's opening

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

was created by singer-songwriter . On July 18, Shimazaki revealed that she has become an independent talent.

Personal life

Shimazaki has a younger brother. When they were children, both of their parents worked and their grandmother often took care of them. Before she entered the entertainment industry, Shimazaki had aspired to become a

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

Discography

Singles with AKB48

Albums

; Koko ni Ita Koto * "High School Days" (Team Kenkyūsei) * "Koko ni Ita Koto" (AKB48+SKE48+SDN48+NMB48) ; 1830m * "First Rabbit" * "Chokkaku Sunshine" (Team 4) * "Itsuka Mita Umi no Soko" (Up-and-coming Girls) * "Yasashisa no Chizu" * "Aozora yo Sabishikunai Ka?" (AKB48 + SKE48 + NMB48 + HKT48) ; Tsugi no Ashiato * "After Rain" * "Boy Hunt no Houhou Oshiemasu" * "Boku wa Ganbaru" * "Ponkotsu Blues" * "Dōki" * "Kanashiki Kinkyori Renai" ;

Koko ga Rhodes da, Koko de Tobe! is the sixth studio album by Japanese idol girl group AKB48. Promotion and release The album was released on January 21, 2015 under King Records in Japan, in several editions: Theater, Type A, and Type B. The Theater edition is only sold at t ...

* "Ai no Sonzai" * "Oh! Baby!" (Takahashi Team A) * "Tomodachi de Irareru Nara" ;

0 to 1 no Aida 0 to 1 no Aida (0と1の間; Hepburn: ''Zero to Ichi no Aida'', ''Between 0 and 1'') is the seventh studio album from Japanese idol girl group AKB48, released on . This album marks the tenth anniversary of the group, and contains a compilation of ...

* "Toy Poodle to Kimi no Monogatari" * "Clap" (Team A) ;

Thumbnail Thumbnails are reduced-size versions of pictures or videos, used to help in recognizing and organizing them, serving the same role for images as a normal text index does for words. In the age of digital images, visual search engines and imag ...

* "Ano Hi no Jibun"

AKB48 theater acts

;Team Kenkyūsei "Idol no Yoake" # ;Team B 4th Stage "Idol no Yoake" # "Kataomoi no Taikakusen" #: substitute for Moeno Nitō ;Team Kenkyūsei "Renai Kinshi Jōrei" # ;Team A 5th Stage "Renai Kinshi Jōrei" # (dancer) # (dancer) # "Tsundere!" #: substitute for

;Team Kenkyūsei "Theater no Megami" # ;Team B 5th Stage "Theater no Megami" # (as part of zenza girls, i.e. the opening number performed by trainees) # "Candy" #: substitute for

Amina Satō is a Japanese voice actress and a former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. In AKB48, she was originally a fourth generation trainee, then in Team A, in Team B, and finally in Team K. Amina Sato was also a member of a pop group named N ...

;Team A 6th Stage "Mokugekisha" # (zenza girls) # #: substitute for Sayaka Nakaya ;Team K 6th Stage "Reset" # (zenza girls) # #: substitute for Tomomi Nakatsuka ;Team 4 1st Stage "Boku no Taiyō" # ;Team B Waiting Stage # ;Team A Renai Kinshi Jōrei # ;Team A 7th Stage "M.T. ni Sasagu" #

Appearances

Films

* ''

'' (October 13, 2012), Fumie Shingyōji * ''Ataru The First Love & The Last Kill'' (September 14, 2013), Rumi Mizuno * ''

Ghost Theater is a 2015 Japanese horror film directed by Hideo Nakata and a remake of ''Don't Look Up'' (1996). It was released on November 21, 2015. In May 2018, an anthology series based on the film was released in the United States on Toku. Synopsis Sara ...

'' (November 21, 2015), Sara Mizuki * ''Haunted Campus'' (2016), Koyomi Nada * ''

'' (2018), Marika Tachibana * '' Fly Me to the Saitama'' (2019) * ''Nagi's Island'' (2022) * ''The Fish Tale'' (2022)

Dubbing

* '' Yo-Kai Watch: Tanjō no Himitsu da Nyan! (December 20, 2014), Yukippe

TV dramas

* ''

Majisuka Gakuen (lit. "Majisuka Academy") is a Japanese television drama series about high school delinquents, starring members of idol group AKB48. The first season aired in 2010 on TV Tokyo. A second season Majisuka Gakuen 2 was aired the following year. T ...

'' (final episode, March 26, 2010,

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certifie ...

) * ''

Majisuka Gakuen 2 (lit. "Majisuka Academy") is a Japanese television drama series about high school delinquents, starring members of idol group AKB48. The first season aired in 2010 on TV Tokyo. A second season Majisuka Gakuen 2 was aired the following year. T ...

'' (April 15 — July 1, 2011, TV Tokyo), Kanburi * ''

'' (April 14 — June 30, 2012, NTV), Fumie Shingyōji * ''

Majisuka Gakuen 3 (lit. "Majisuka Academy") is a Japanese television drama series about high school delinquents, starring members of idol group AKB48. The first season aired in 2010 on TV Tokyo. A second season Majisuka Gakuen 2 was aired the following year. Th ...

'' (July 13 — October 5, 2012, TV Tokyo), Paru * (January 6, 2013, TBS) * ''So long!'' (2013, NTV), Asuka Hashimoto * ''Fortune Cookie'' (2013, Fuji TV), Michiko Shintani * ''Honto ni Atta Kowai Hanashi 15-shunen Special "Sasoi no Mori"'' (2014, Fuji TV), Aoi Sumida * '' Majisuka Gakuen 4'' (January 19 — March 30, 2015,

Nippon Television JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed ...

), as Salt * '' Majisuka Gakuen 5'' (August 24 — October 27, 2015,

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series ...

) as Salt * ''AKB Horror Night: Adrenaline's Night'' Ep.24 - Music Box, as Mariko (2015) * ''Yutori Desuga Nanika'' (2016, NTV), as Yutori Sakama * ''AKB Love Night: Love Factory'' Ep.33 - Marriage Reason, as Haruko (2016,

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Comp ...

) * ' (2016, TV Asahi) as Kyoko Kazahaya * ''

Kyabasuka Gakuen is a 2016 Japanese television drama series starring Sakura Miyawaki and Jurina Matsui. It is the sequel to Majisuka Gakuen 5, set in an alternate timeline where the events of that season never happened but the Majisuka All-Girls High School go ...

'' (2016, NTV) as Salt * ''

'' (2017, NHK) as Yuka Makino * ' (2018, NTV) as Yuko Machida * ' episode 4, as Rena Mineshima (2018, TV Asahi) * ''

Harem Marriage is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by NON. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Young Magazine'' from July 2014 to June 2019, with its chapters collected in nineteen '' tankōbon'' volumes. A nine-episode television dra ...

'' (2022, ABC) as Koharu Date * ''DCU'' Ep. 8 (2022, TBS) as Akemi Totsuka

TV variety shows

* '' Ariyoshi AKB Kyōwakoku'' (March 29, 2010 — March 28, 2016, TBS) * (August 13, 2010,

) * ''

AKBingo! ''AKBingo!'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese television variety show featuring Japanese idol girl group AKB48. The show aired weekly on Nippon Television. In each episode, members of AKB48 and occasionally their sister groups participate in ...

'' (December 22, 2010 — present, TV Tokyo) * (Family Gekijō) ** (July 17, 2011) ** Season 7 ** Season 8 * '' Atsushi Paruru no OO baito!'' (2015 — 2016)

Bibliography

Magazines

* ''Myojo'',

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The fol ...

* ''SEDA'', Hinode Publishing

Photobooks

* ''Paruru, Komaru.'' (July 19, 2013,

) * ''ParU'' (November 20, 2015, Shufu to Seikatsu Sha)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shimazaki, Haruka 1994 births Living people Actors from Saitama Prefecture AKB48 members Japanese idols Japanese film actresses Japanese television actresses Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists Musicians from Saitama Prefecture 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese actresses Japanese female YouTubers Japanese YouTubers