is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

tarento Celebrity, Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in Media of Japan, mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in Ame ...

and former idol. She is a former member of the

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

Nogizaka46 is a Japanese female idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto, created as the of the group AKB48. They are the first group from the Sakamichi Series, which also includes sister groups Sakurazaka46 (formerly Keyakizaka46), Yoshimotozaka46, ...

Life and career

Akimoto was born in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

on August 20, 1993. Her family moved to

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 Prefectur ...

, where she was raised, when she was 7 months old. She was the vice-president of the student council in middle school and was active in the home economics and cooking clubs. In high school, she was the student council president. In her third year of high school, she was informed about the

first generation member auditions and recruitment. However, Akimoto's career goals at the time were closer towards being a television presenter or actress and she was not actively interested in becoming an idol. She ended up signing up for the auditions on the final deadline date when she stumbled upon the news on her phone. Akimoto passed the auditions on August 21, 2011, becoming one of the first generation members and a temporary main selection member. However, due to her studies and obligations, she was not active with the rest of the members until she graduated from high school in April 2012. Akimoto enrolled in university, but against her parents' wishes she returned to Nogizaka46, training to prepare for her debut. She was present at almost all ''Nogizakatte, Doko?'' studio recordings and Nogizaka46 live concerts as a trainee.
In October 2012, Akimoto was selected as a main selection member for the fourth Nogizaka46 single, "

Seifuku no Mannequin is the fourth single by Nogizaka46, released on December 19, 2012. It debuted in number one on the weekly Oricon Singles Chart. It also reached number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Ja ...

", during the recording of a ''Nogizakatte, Doko?'' episode, marking her unexpected debut as an official member of Nogizaka46. She debuted as an actress in the television drama ''Bad Boys J'' in April 2013.
, Akimoto is active as a regular main selection member of Nogizaka46. She is also active as a television personality, with numerous appearances on variety shows as a panelist, guest and assistant MC. On August 14, 2019, Akimoto was named the next captain of Nogizaka46, replacing

Reika Sakurai is a Japanese idol singer, actress and a former member of the Japanese idol girl group Nogizaka46. She was also the captain of the group before her departure. Career In 2011, Sakurai auditioned for Nogizaka46 and was chosen as one of the firs ...

. Akimoto announced her graduation from Nogizaka46 on January 7, 2023. Her graduation concert was held on February 26, 2023. She is the last first generation member to leave the group. Third generation member Minami Umezawa took her place as captain. On March 1, 2023, Akimoto announced her affiliation with Japan Music Entertainment.

Discography

Singles with Nogizaka46

Albums with Nogizaka46

Other featured songs

Filmography

Television

Bibliography

Photobooks

* ''Manatsu no Kiatsu Haichi'' (July 28, 2017, Tokumashoten) * ''Shiawase ni Shitai'' (April 8, 2020,

Takeshobo is a major publisher in Japan. Takeshobo was founded in 1972 by Kyōichirō Noguchi, starting Japan's first Mahjong magazine . Other magazines, such as a magazine dedicated to mahjong-themed manga, as well as a magazine dedicated to yonkoma ma ...

)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akimoto, Manatsu Living people 1993 births Japanese idols Japanese women singers J-pop singers 21st-century Japanese actresses Japanese television personalities Nogizaka46 members People from Saitama Prefecture