, formerly , is a

Japanese idol An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese popular culture, Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in other performance skills such as acting, dancing, and modeling. Idol ...

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

produced by

Yasushi Akimoto is a Japanese record producer, lyricist, and television writer, best known for creating and producing some of Japan's top idol groups, Onyanko Club and the AKB48 franchise. Total sales of the singles he has written exceed 100 million copies, ma ...

. The group was created on August 21, 2015, becoming

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

's first sister group under the

Sakamichi Series refers to a Japanese idol group franchise that began with Nogizaka46, an "official" rival group of AKB48. It currently consists of four groups: Nogizaka46, Sakurazaka46, Hinatazaka46, and Yoshimotozaka46. Despite the name, the groups are n ...

. The group was rebranded as Sakurazaka46 after their last concert on October 13, 2020. The group's fans are known as Buddies. As Keyakizaka46, the group had released nine singles, eight of which topped the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard Single (music), singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track down ...

and ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100. The group had also released three compilation albums, one of which was released by Hiragana Keyakizaka46, a subgroup who later became an independent group,

Hinatazaka46 is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. The group was established as a subgroup of Sakurazaka46, Keyakizaka46 named Hiragana Keyakizaka46 on 30 November 2015, and was renamed and spun off into its own group on 11 February 2019. ...

. Additionally, the group hosts multiple

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

radio program A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...

s, and television dramas.

History

2015: Formation

On February 22, 2015, during the ''Nogizaka46 3rd Year Birthday Live'' at

Seibu Dome (official name: ) is a baseball stadium located in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan. It is home to the Saitama Seibu Lions, a professional baseball team. The stadium has a roof over the field and the stands, like other indoor ballparks. However, it la ...

, Nogizaka46 announced plans to recruit the first generation members for their new project. The new group's name was , named after the Toriizaka area in the

Roppongi Roppongi (, , 'six trees') is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popu ...

district of

Minato, Tokyo is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is also called Minato City in English. Minato was formed in 1947 as a merger of Akasaka, Tokyo, Akasaka, Azabu and Shiba, Tokyo, Shiba wards following Tokyo City's Local Autonomy Ac ...

, and the recruitment was started on July 28. The final stage of the audition took place on August 21, the same day Nogizaka46 was created four years earlier, and 22 were selected out of 22,509 candidates. At the same time, the group's name was suddenly changed to ''Keyakizaka46''; however, its reason is unclear. Furthermore, two members, Mizuho Suzuki and Mayu Harada, left the group before their first performance, bringing the total number of members to 20. Similar to Nogizaka46, Keyakizaka46 began airing a television show on October 4 titled on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network. On November 29, the show announced a new member,

Neru Nagahama is a Japanese television personality, television presenter, and actress. She is a former member of the idol girl groups Keyakizaka46 and Hiragana Keyakizaka46 and current chairperson of the Tokyo Idol Festival. Nagahama joined Keyakizaka46 i ...

. Nagahama had passed the auditions but did not join due to her parents' objections. She debuted as the first member of a newly-formed subgroup called and auditions for more members started soon after. On December 16, the group gave its first live performance at

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

's music show ''

FNS Music Festival is an annual music show held among the Fuji Network System and Fuji Television since 1974. The program originated as a song contest to celebrate Fuji TV's 15th anniversary. It is commonly known as FNS, however it has no official short name. ...

''. The center position in the choreography was held by the youngest member

Yurina Hirate is a Japanese singer and actress. She is a former member of the idol group Keyakizaka46. Early life and education Yurina Hirate was born on 25 June, 2001. In March 2017, she graduated from junior high school. Career Hirate was the choreo ...

, being 14 at the time.

2016–2017: Early success

On April 6, 2016, the group debuted their first single, ''Silent Majority''. All members except Nagahama were selected to perform in the title song. It sold 261,580 copies in the first week and ranked first on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

weekly chart. The single also broke the debut week sales record for female artists, previously held by

HKT48 HKT48 (read "H.K.T. Forty-eight") is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. HKT48 is named after the Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Hakata-ku ward of Fukuoka, where Akimoto originally intended to base the group. The group currently performs at ...

with their single ''

Suki! Suki! Skip! is the first single by Japanese girl group HKT48. It was released in Japan on March 20, 2013, and was released through iTunes on February 6, 2013. Release ''Suki! Suki! Skip!'' was released in Japan on March 20, 2013 in four different versi ...

''. Between April and May, eighteen people auditioning for Hiragana Keyakizaka46 live streamed on

Showroom A plumbing fixture showroom, Canada, 1921 A showroom is a large space used to display products or show entertainment. Marketing location A showroom is a large space used to display products for sale, such as automobiles, furniture, appliances ...

as part of the audition process. Eleven of those passed and became official members, joining Nagahama. The expanded subunit debuted with "Hiragana Keyaki" as part of Keyakizaka46's second single, '' Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai.'' Keyakizaka46's first featured drama ''Tokuyama Daigorō o Dare ga Koroshitaka?'' premiered on the TX network on July 16, 2016. ''Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai'' was used as the theme song. The group was also featured in ''

KeyaBingo! KeyaBingo! (stylized as KEYABINGO!) is a Japanese television variety show starring Japanese idol group Keyakizaka46 and Hiragana Keyakizaka46 (now Hinatazaka46). The show ran for four seasons and hosted by the comedy duo Sandwichman. It premiere ...

'', a variety show similar to ''

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 ...

'' and ''

NogiBingo! NogiBingo!, stylized as NOGIBINGO!, was a Japanese television variety show starring Japanese idol girl group Nogizaka46. Ijiri Okada, who is known for AKB48-related shows such as ''AKB48 Nemōsu TV'', hosts the program. The show first aired on Jul ...

'' 2016 marked the first time the group appeared on NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, an event that the group participated in every year since. Additionally,

Mizuho Habu is a Japanese people, Japanese model. She is a former member of Japanese idol group Sakurazaka46 & was formerly represented by Sony Music Records. Career On August 21, 2015, Habu along with 21 other members were announced for the newly created ...

became the first member to make a

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

debut, appearing in GirlsAward 2016 Spring/Summer. Three more members, Hirate, Yui Kobayashi, and

Risa Watanabe is a Japanese fashion model and former idol. She is an exclusive model for the women's magazine ''non-no'' and a former member of the female Japanese idol group Sakurazaka46. Biography On August 21, 2015, Watanabe passed the audition for Keya ...

, would later make their debuts in GirlsAward 2016 Autumn/Winter. In January 2017,

Yūka Sugai is a Japanese ''tarento'', actress, radio personality and former Japanese idol, idol. She is the former captain of idol group Sakurazaka46, represented by Sony Music Records. Career Sakurazaka46 On August 21, 2015, Sugai along with 22 other ...

and Akane Moriya were pointed as captain and vice-captain of the group, respectively. In July, Hiragana Keyakizaka46 added a second generation, with nine new members. The subgroup was featured on '' Re:Mind'', a TV thriller series aired on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. In August, Keyakizaka46 made their first performance at the

Rock in Japan Festival The Rock in Japan Festival is an annual three-day rock festival A rock festival is an open-air rock concert featuring many different performers, typically spread over two or three days and having a campsite and other amenities and forms of ...

, and have appeared in every year since.

2018–2020: Member departures and rebranding

In November 2018, Yui Imaizumi became the first member to leave the group, intending to pursue other forms of entertainment. Afterwards, Nanami Yonetani, Manaka Shida and Nagahama also left the group. Meanwhile, on November 29, 2018, Nogizaka46 and Keyakizaka46 held a joint audition, where thirty-six people passed. Out of those members, eleven went to Nogizaka46, nine went to Kanji Keyakizaka46, one went to Hiragana Keyakizaka46, and the remaining fifteen became that are not assigned to any group. Shortly afterwards, Hiragana Keyakizaka46 formed an independent group known as

, and released their debut single, " Kyun", on March 27, 2019. During this time, Keyakizaka46 still held multiple concerts, including their largest one September 18–19, 2019 at

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium (whose former site is now occupied by the Tokyo Dome Hotel and a plaza for this stadium). In Japan, it is often us ...

, attracting roughly 50,000 fans per day. On September 24, a

rhythm game Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to pres ...

titled '' Uni's On Air'' was released that featured Keyakizaka46 and Hinatazaka46. Keyakizaka46, for the very first time, applied the ''senbatsu'' (selection of members) system for their 9th single during ''Keyakitte, Kakenai?'' on September 8, 2019. The ''senbatsu'' included 17 members, with Hirate at the center position. The single was originally set to be released at the end of the year, before first being delayed due to production issues, and then further delayed with the sudden departure of Hirate in January 2020, the 9th single's planned center. On February 16, 2020, the ''kenshūsei'' members were assigned to their respective Sakamichi Series group through Showroom, with six of these members becoming part of Keyakizaka46's second generation. On July 16, 2020, Keyakizaka46 live streamed a concert titled ''Keyakizaka46 Live Online, but with YOU!'' The concert was the first one held since their Tokyo Dome concert in September 2019 and the first without Hirate. During the concert, the group unveiled their last single " Dare ga Sono Kane o Narasu no ka?", which was released digitally only on August 21, with every single member being featured in the song. Additionally, captain Sugai announced that Keyakizaka46 was ending its five year journey and its members were starting over under a new name, with a final concert planned in October. On September 21, Sakurazaka46 was announced as their new name, with the change occurring after their last concert on October 12 and 13. Sakurazaka46 is named after Sakurazaka street within

Roppongi Hills is a development project in Tokyo and one of Japan's largest integrated property developments, located in the Roppongi district of Minato, Tokyo. Constructed by building tycoon Minoru Mori, the mega-complex incorporates office space, apartm ...

, located next to Keyakizaka street. ''Sakura'' (cherry tree) is written in the

kyūjitai ''Kyūjitai'' () are the traditional forms of kanji (Chinese written characters used in Japanese writing). Their simplified counterparts are '' shinjitai'' (). Some of the simplified characters arose centuries ago and were in everyday use in bot ...

form instead of the more common .

2020–present: Restarting as Sakurazaka46 and 3rd Generation

Following their farewell concert on October 14, 2020, the group officially changed its name to Sakurazaka46. Their weekly variety show ''Keyakitte, Kakenai?'' was renamed to '' Soko Magattara, Sakurazaka?.'' Their first single under the new name, '' Nobody's Fault'', was released on December 9, with only 14 members performing in the title track. Additionally, this single saw the creation of the "Sakura Eight", the eight members in the first two rows. Members featured on Sakura Eight appear in every B-side. "Nobody's Fault" was performed in the 71st NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen. On January 4, 2021, Rina Matsuda replaced Moriya as vice-captain of the group; Sugai remained as captain. On March 14, Matsudaira Riko became the first second generation member to leave the group. On April 14, the 2nd single "Ban" was released. In June, the group held a three day concert called ''Backs Live'', in which non-Sakura Eight members performed without the Sakura Eight, taking their positions. In July, Sakurazaka46 held their first joint concert with Hinatazaka46 (since Hinatazaka46's rename), ''W-Keyaki Fes 2021'' at Fuji Q Highland. In October, Moriya and Rika Watanabe announced their departures from the group, and left on December 19 after their final concert on December 10. On November 9, 2022, Sugai left the group after their first Tokyo Dome concert as Sakurazaka46 and Matsuda succeeded her as captain. On June 5, 2022, Sakurazaka46 announced the auditions for their third generation members, which were held from July to December 2022. 11 members passed the auditions and 9 of them were revealed during January 2023. However, due to academic commitments, the remaining two members were revealed on March 1 and 2, 2023.

Members

Since its founding, Sakurazaka46 has had a total of 70 members from five generations, including members from Hiragana Keyakizaka46 (now

). 33 of those members are still in the group. If second generation members are marked with an asterisk (*), it means that they joined after the initial second generation members on February 15, 2020.

Former members

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Video albums

Singles

Promotional singles

Guest appearances

Other charted songs

Filmography

Television shows

Radio shows

Awards

Notes

References

External links

* {{authority control Japanese idol groups Japanese girl groups Musical groups established in 2015 2015 establishments in Japan Musical groups established in 2020 2020 establishments in Japan Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists Japanese pop music groups Musical groups from Tokyo Sakamichi Series MTV Europe Music Award winners