was a Japanese female

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a devotional image of a deity or saint used during puja ...

group, and a subgroup of Japanese female idol group

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol musical girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48 has sold more records than any other female musical act in Japanese history. AK ...

. Under

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which distributes music, films, home video, and video games. It is affiliated with the Japanese media group Fujisankei Communications Group. Pony Canyo ...

, the group debuted in January 2009 with the

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

single " Hatsukoi Dash/Aoi Mirai."

History

In October 2008, Yasushi Akimoto announced that he was going to revive the 1980s girl group Ushirogami Hikaretai, using four members of

and was renaming the group to Watarirouka Hashiritai. The group debuted under

releasing a

single, "Hatsukoi Dash/Aoi Mirai" in January 2009. The single entered 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 ...

single chart at number ten. In April the group released their second single, "Yaruki Hanabi" which charted at number nine. In November 2009, the group released their third single "Kanpeki Gū no ne" which was used as the ending theme song for the

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

version of the

manga 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 history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

Fairy Tail ''Fairy Tail'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from August 2006 to July 2017, with the individual chapters collect ...

''. This single had more success than the other two singles, as it sold over 23,200 copies in its first week and charted at number seven. In February 2010, Ayaka Kikuchi joined the group changing the roster from four members to five. Their first single in 2010, " AkKanbe Bashi," reached number 1 on

charts. On June 30, 2010, two members from AKB48,

Misaki Iwasa is a Japanese idol. She is a former member of the Japanese idol group AKB48 and enka singer. Her nickname is Wasamin. Her talent agency is Nagara Productions. She was also a member of the sub-unit Watarirouka Hashiritai 7. Career 2008 * Decemb ...

and

Mika Komori Mika is a given name, a nickname, and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr. * Mika (footba ...

, were added to Watarirouka Hashiritai to form "Watarirouka Hashiritai7", but the name applied to their "radio-only" activities, as two singles released on and after June 30 were under the name of "Watarirouka Hashiritai", not as "7" since the two newcomers were not included. They eventually debuted as "7" with a single "Valentine Kiss", a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

Sayuri Kokushō is a Japanese actress, singer, and tarento. She was an original member of Onyanko Club. She works for the talent management firm Sony Music Entertainment Japan, Sony Music Artists. Her debut single, "Valentine Kiss", is the most popular Valenti ...

's single, originally written 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 ...

and released 25 years earlier. In 2011 Natsumi Hirajima announced on the group's official blog that a new single would be released by "Watarirouka Hashiritai 7" on August 3 of that year. Kikuchi Ayaka revealed on July 4, 2011 that the title of the song would be " Hetappi Wink". Both Natsumi Hirajima and Kikuchi Ayaka described it as "a summer-ish, energetic and bright song". This was the second time a single was released with the "7" in the group's name. On June 25, 2012, Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 took part in Yubi Matsuri, an idol festival produced by

Rino Sashihara is a Japanese tarento, singer, producer and actress. She is best known as a former member of idol groups HKT48, AKB48 and STU48, and was the theater manager for HKT48 and STU48. She was also a member of AKB48's unit Not Yet and is the produc ...

from

. The concert was held at

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. The Budokan was a popular venue for Japanese professional wres ...

before a crowd of 8,000 people and featured such girl groups as

Idoling!!! was a Japanese TV show with an attached female idol group created by Fuji TV. The concept of the group was to watch as the girls grow as idols and experience various things. Idoling's main source of exposure was their TV show, which aired s ...

Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku is a Japanese female Japanese idol, idol group. The group's name is officially shortened to . The group was created by 3B Junior, the third section of the talent agency Stardust Promotion. Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku is considered a "little sister" g ...

, Super Girls,

Tokyo Girls' Style (stylized as TOKYO GIRLS' STYLE) is a Japanese girl group formed in 2009, and was the first idol group created under Avex Trax after SweetS. The idol group originally consisted of five members: Miyu Yamabe, Hitomi Arai, Yuri Nakae, Konishi Ayano ...

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 ...

Passpo was a Japanese girl group under Platinum Passport that was active from 2009 until 2018. Passpo's first major single, "Shōjo Hikō", reached number 1 at the Oricon charts on May 16, 2011. On June 25, 2012, they took part in Yubi Matsuri, an ...

Buono! Buono! was a subgroup of the Japanese girl groups Berryz Kobo and Cute, formed in 2007 by Up-Front Promotion and associated with Hello! Project. The members consisted of Momoko Tsugunaga and Miyabi Natsuyaki from Berryz Kobo, and Airi Suzuki ...

, and

Momoiro Clover Z is a Japanese idol girl group, commonly abbreviated as MCZ or . The four members of MCZ are known for energetic performances, incorporating elements of ballet, gymnastics, and action movies. MCZ is notable for being the first female group to ho ...

. On August 24, 2012, during the AKB48 in TOKYO DOME ~1830m no Yume~ concert tour members

Aika Ota , is a former member of the Japanese idol group HKT48, the captain of its Team KIV. She has also been a member of AKB48 and Watarirouka Hashiritai, and portrayed Kazue Kae in ''Tomie Unlimited'' (2011). Career 2006ー2012: AKB48 and Watarirouk ...

and

Haruka Nakagawa , is a Japanese people, Japanese Media Personality, media personality based in Indonesia. She is a former member of the Japanese idol group AKB48 and its sub-unit Watarirouka Hashiritai, as well as its Indonesian sister group JKT48, all produced ...

were transferred to

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 ...

and

JKT48 JKT48 ( pronounced J- K- T- 4 8 ) is Indonesia’s premier girl group, established in 2011 as the first international sister group of Japan’s AKB48. Based in Jakarta, which is the capital and largest city of Indonesia, located on the northw ...

respectively. On November 13, 2013, it was revealed that the group will disband on Christmas and at the same time, release a best-of album. On February 9, 2014, their final concert was held at ZeppDiver City, Tokyo.

Members

* (

member on February 9, 2014) * * * (

member on February 9, 2014) * (Watarirouka Hashiritai 7) * (Watarirouka Hashiritai 7)

Provisional member

* (Former AKB48 Team B member,

SDN48 SDN48 (read ''S.D.N. Forty-Eight'', short for Saturday Night 48) was a Japanese idol girl group, created and produced by Yasushi Akimoto. SDN48 was created based on an "adult idol" concept. Former AKB48 member Kayo Noro was chosen as the captain ...

member) on March 10, 2012

Former Member

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Watarirouka Hashiritai Official Site

Watarirouka Hashiritai Official Blog
* {{Authority control AKB48 sub-units Japanese girl groups Japanese idol groups Musical groups established in 2009 Musical groups disestablished in 2013 Pony Canyon artists Japanese pop music groups 2008 establishments in Japan Musical groups from Tokyo