is a Japanese singer and idol. She is a former member of the idol group

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 city of Fukuoka Prefecture, where Akimoto originally intended to base the group. The group currently performs at ...

Biography

In 2011, Tashima took part in the 10th generation auditions for the idol group

Morning Musume , formerly simply and colloquially referred to as , are a Japanese girl group, holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most top ten singles with an ...

. She passed 3 rounds and advanced to the final, but was not chosen to join the group. In 2012, the idol group

held its 2nd generation audition. Tashima participated and passed. She was added to the group as trainee member along with 33 other winners of the audition. She became soon a hot topic throughout Japan, after it was reported that

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 it ...

and HKT48 producer

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, ...

commented on her as being "the new

Jurina Matsui is a Japanese TV personality, singer, actress, and YouTuber. She is a former member of Japanese idol girl group SKE48 and former concurrent member of AKB48 (in 2012–2015). She is recognized as SKE48's absolute "ace", having placed in the top 1 ...

", a member who joined AKB48's sister group

SKE48 SKE48 (S.K.E. Forty-eight) is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. SKE48 is named after the Sakae district in Nagoya of Aichi Prefecture, where the group is based. The group performs at SKE48 Theater on 2F of Sunshine Sakae, a ...

at the age of 11 and was immediately appointed one of the front positions in the next

single and featured on its cover art. Thus she became one of the most prominent members of the project in a matter of months. Another surprise came when Tashima, in spite of officially being a trainee member, was appointed the central position in her band's first original song "Hatsukoi Butterfly", to be released as a B-side on the 29th single by AKB48. In February 2013 it was announced that HKT48 will release its debut single, titled "

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 ver ...

", and that Tashima, again, was going to hold the central position in the title song. In HKT48's second single " Melon Juice", Meru Tashima was again featured in a central position. This time there were two "centers", her and

Mio Tomonaga is a former Japanese idol singer, and a former member of the idol girl groups HKT48 and AKB48. In HKT48, she was in Team KIV, and in AKB48 in Team B. Career On March 30, 2016, Mio Tomonaga released her first photobook, titled ''Hinata''. ...

. * In November 2019, Tashima acted in ''Battles Without Honor and Humanity: On'na-tachi no Shitō-hen'', a stage adaptation of the ''

Battles Without Honor and Humanity , also known in the West as ''The Yakuza Papers'', is a Japanese yakuza film series produced by Toei Company. Inspired by a series of magazine articles by journalist Kōichi Iiboshi that are based on memoirs originally written by real-life ya ...

'' yakuza film series. She played the role of Yoshio Yamamori, based on

Nobuo Kaneko was a Japanese actor. His wife was actress Yatsuko Tanami. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1950 and 1993. Career Kaneko was a versatile character actor, playing roles ranging from comedic buffoons to hardened yakuza bosses. He is e ...

's original portrayal. On January 15, 2022, Tashima announced her graduation from HKT48. Her graduation performance is scheduled for March 14, then she will officially graduate from the group on April 3.

Filmography

Television

* (

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

, October 27, 2013 – March 16, 2014) * (drama,

Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting is a broadcasting station in Fukuoka, Japan, and it is affiliated with National Radio Network (NRN) on radio and All-Nippon News Network (ANN) on TV. With its relay transmitters in Saga, KBC functions as the default ANN affiliate for the ...

, March 21, 2014) * as Megaphone (drama, Nippon Television, November 28, 2015) * Ep.4 – First Boyfriend, as Ema Hoshina (drama,

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 Com ...

, April 27, 2016)

Stage

*'' Battles Without Honor and Humanity: On'na-tachi no Shitō-hen'' (2019)

Film

*''Sengoku Girl and Kendō Boy'' (2020)

Anime

*''

Armor Shop for Ladies & Gentlemen is a Japanese four-panel manga series by Fumi Ayamiya. It was first published on September 15, 2017, via a web comic distribution site ''GANMA!'' at Comic Smart. The story focuses at the daily life of Kautz, a new shopkeeper at an armor shop ...

'' (2021)

References

External links

Meru Tashima official HKT48 profile

Tashima Meru
on 755 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tashima, Meru 2000 births Living people HKT48 Japanese idols Japanese women pop singers Musicians from Fukuoka Prefecture Universal Music Japan artists