Sakurazaka46

, formerly , is a Japanese idol girl group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. The group was created on August 21, 2015, becoming Nogizaka46's first sister group under the Sakamichi Series. The group was renamed after their concert on October 13, 2020. Sakurazaka46 is named after Sakurazaka street within Roppongi Hills in Minato, Tokyo.
As of 2020, the group has released nine singles, eight of which topped the Oricon Singles Chart and "Billboard Japan" Hot 100. The group has also released three compilation albums, one of which was released by Hiragana Keyakizaka46, a subgroup who split off into Hinatazaka46. Additionally, the group hosts multiple variety shows, radio programs, and television dramas.
History.
2015: Formation.
On February 22, 2015, during the "Nogizaka46 3rd Year Birthday Live" at Seibu Dome, Nogizaka46 announced plans to recruit the first generation members for their new project. It was revealed that the new group's name was , named after the Toriizaka area in the Roppongi district of Minato, Tokyo, and the recruitment was started on July 28. The final examination of the audition took place on August 21, the same day as Nogizaka46 was created, and 22 passed out of 22,509 candidates. At the same time, it was announced that 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. On November 29, the show announced a new member, Neru Nagahama. Nagahama had passed the auditions but did not join due to her parents' objections. She debuted as a member of the subgroup and auditions for more members started soon after.
On December 16, the group gave its first live performance at Fuji TV's music show "FNS Music Festival". The center position in the choreography was held by the youngest member Yurina Hirate, 14 at the time.
2016–2017: Early success.
On April 6, 2016, the group debuted their first single, "Silent Majority". All members except Neru Nagahama were selected to perform in the title song. It sold 261,580 copies in the first week and ranked first on the Oricon weekly chart. The single also broke the debut week sales record for female artists, previously held by HKT48 with their single "Suki! Suki! Skip!".
Between April and May, eighteen people auditioning for Hiragana Keyakizaka46 live streamed on Showroom as part of the audition process. Eleven of those passed and became official members, joining Neru Nagahama. The expanded subunit performed "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!", a variety show similar to "AKBingo!" and "NogiBingo!"
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 became the first member to make a runway debut, appearing in GirlsAward 2016 Spring/Summer. Three more members, Yurina Hirate, Yui Kobayashi, and Risa Watanabe, would later make their debuts in GirlsAward 2016 Autumn/Winter.
In 2017, Hiragana Keyakizaka46 added a second generation, with nine new members. The subunit was featured on "", a TV thriller series aired on Netflix.
In August, Keyakizaka46 made their first performance at the Rock in Japan Festival, and have appeared in every year since.
2018–2020: Departures, 9th single, and renaming.
In 2018, Yui Imaizumi became the first member to leave the group, intending to pursue other forms of entertainment. Afterwards, more members left the group, including Nanami Yonetani and Manaka Shida in 2018 and Neru Nagahama in 2019. Meanwhile, on November 29, 2018, the two Sakamichi Series groups held joint audition, where thirty-nine 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 Hinatazaka46, and released their debut single, "Kyun", in March 2019.
During this time, Keyakizaka46 still held multiple concerts, including their largest one September 18–19, 2019 at Tokyo Dome, attracting roughly 50,000 fans per day. On September 24, a rhythm game titled "Uni's On Air" was released that featured Keyakizaka46 and Hinatazaka46.
Keyakizaka46 held an "senbatsu" (selection of members) for their 9th single during "Keyakitte, Kakenai?" on September 8, 2019. Historically, the "senbatsu" included every single member, but with the addition of the second generation, not all members were allowed to participate in the 9th single. Originally set to be released at the end of the year, the release was first delayed due to production issues, and then further delayed with the sudden departure of Yurina Hirate, the 9th single's planned center.
On February 16, 2020, the remaining fourteen "kenshūsei" members were assigned to their respective Sakamichi Series group through Showroom. Six of these members became 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 Yurina Hirate. During the concert, the group unveiled their ninth single, "Dare ga Sono Kane o Narasu no ka?", which is scheduled to be released digitally only on August 21. Additionally, captain Yūka Sugai announced that the group will be renamed and will go on hiatus, with a final concert planned in October. On September 21, it was announced Sakurazaka46 would be their new name, with the change occurring after their last concert on October 12 and 13. The group performed in the 71st NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, which is considered their debut appearance in the show due to the new name, as they have appeared four times as Keyakizaka46. While the kanji for "sakura" (cherry tree) is commonly written , the new name uses the kyūjitai form , which is written in 21 strokes, like the ("keyaki") character after which their variety show Keyakitte, Kakenai? was named.
Controversy.
In 2016, Keyakizaka46 was criticized by the Simon Wiesenthal Center for wearing outfits resembling the Schutzstaffel military uniforms of Nazi Germany at a concert. Sony Music responded with an official apology.
Members.
Since its founding, Sakurazaka46 had a total of 59 members from five generations, including members from Hiragana Keyakizaka46 (now Hinatazaka46). 26 of those members are still in the group.
Second generation members marked with an asterisk (*) joined after the initial second generation members on February 15, 2020.
Awards.
The following table lists some of the major awards received by the group.