Sakurazaka46 debuted their first live appearance in Los Angeles as part of Anime Expo 2025. To many audiences, this was the first glimpse at one of the largest idol groups in Japan, known for their tight synchronized choreography and a one-of-a-kind stage spectacle as part of the J-POP Sound Capsule.
Sakurazaka46 members Hono Tamura, Karin Fujiyoshi, Rena Moriya, Ten Yamasaki, and Hikaru Morita sat down with Anime Trending to discuss new experiences, dreams, and what this debut means for the future of Sakurazaka46.
This is your first U.S. performance with the welcome ceremony and the J-POP Sound Capsule! What does this performance mean for you as individuals and Sakurazaka46?
Hono Tamura: As a group, we’ve been able to perform a few times overseas, but this is our first time in the States. It almost feels like this may be our final destination because it’s always somewhere we’ve aspired to perform, and so it’s such an honor to be able to perform here. We’re hoping to go over the expectations that there may be for us, that the fans are excited, and also gain more fans. We’re also hoping that we can one day come back.
Hono Tamura: This is my third time personally coming to the States. I just love the United States – I love the weather. It’s always such nice weather, and ever since I landed, I’ve been having fun! It’s my first time in LA! It’s such a cute city, and I’m just so excited that my first time is here with the members.
What are you looking forward to during your time in Los Angeles? Is there a particular place you would like to visit or food to try?
Karin Fujiyoshi: I love Coke. I’m always drinking it in Japan as well, and so my dream was to drink a big Coke and eat a large burger. I was already able to accomplish this on my first day by the beach, so that was the perfect setting.
What is it like within a group composed of many performers? How would you describe that dynamic for U.S. audiences who rarely see large performance groups?
Hono Tamura: Even within Japan, we’re one of the larger female idol groups. We have so many members, and this might be a concept that many American fans might not be familiar with, but because we have so many members, there are so many different performance styles and individual personalities. With our concerts, we can create different formations and expressions in terms of us as a group during these performances.
If you were to introduce yourself to new potential fans, what songs would you recommend to them and why? Are there songs that best represent individual strengths or the group dynamic of Sakurazaka46?
Karin Fujiyoshi: There’s a song called “Ikutsu no Koro ni Modoritai no ka?,” and with this song, there are parts where each member sings. Usually, there are songs where a few of us sing together, whereas this one is meant for each member. With that in mind, there are parts where we dance freely, and we can change them every day based on how we feel.
For example, there’s a member, Yu Murai, who’s really good at spin choreography and turning, and she can really express her individual strength there.
What artists do you look up to? How has that influenced your career or style?
Ten Yamasaki: I love Kyary Pamyu Pamyu! She’s so popular overseas, and so I’ve been a fan of hers ever since I was little. With her, regardless of where she goes or how many years, she’s been solid with her unique style, and we hope to become a group like that as well where we stay true to our unique selves. I just love her because her message gets across to everyone – she’s loved by all generations, regardless of age or gender. Everyone loves her, and it goes across borders outside of Japan.
Since we are here at Anime Expo, the largest anime convention in North America, of the members in Sakurazaka46, who do you think is the biggest anime otaku?
Hikaru Morita: I watch a lot of anime myself, but there is a member in the third generation, Airi Taniguchi, and there’s a lot of anime she mentions that even I don’t know about! She’ll talk about it, and that becomes an inspiration for me to watch it. So, I feel like that becomes a way for the anime world to become larger within our group.
What are you most looking forward to with the upcoming J-POP Sound Capsule performance?
Hikaru Morita: During our first song, “Start over!” there is going to be an animation of Hunter x Hunter playing in the background, so even though we’re performers for the song, we’re going to be so curious about what’s going on behind us! We hope that the fans will be just as excited as we are, especially because this is a performance that’s for one night only.
What are your closing thoughts on Anime Expo, and what does performing at Anime Expo mean for you?
Hono Tamura: We’re just so honored to be a part of Anime Expo, and we hope that when we can go back, more people will know about us. We’re working hard so that we can be a part of communicating Japanese culture to everyone. On a personal note, I was just so excited about coming back to the States, and I hope that when I leave, I’m leaving with no regrets left behind!
Rena Moriya: It’s our first time performing in the States, so we’re very excited to see how the fans and audience will react. As we mentioned before, the animation is going to be shown in the back. We’re just very excited about that during the concert, especially because I think this is very rare for something like that to happen.
Ten Yamasaki: This is the first time a lot of our fans will be able to see us in the States, and so it’s just such a great experience for us to be able to come here rather than them going over to Japan. Some of our goals are to have people in the audience think after seeing our stage performance, “Oh, I want to go see their stage in Japan!” After this experience, we hope to take some American culture back to Japan and incorporate what we learned this time into our concerts.
Karin Fujiyoshi: We’re just so happy and excited to be able to perform at such a large Japanese event here, and we’re hoping to express and showcase to the U.S. what it means to be Japanese idols. Earlier, we were able to perform at the opening ceremony, and for the audience, it was probably their first time seeing our group. They seemed to be in such awe. It was probably very new and fresh for them to see such a large group, so hopefully that was a fun experience for them!
Hikaru Morita: I’m really excited to see the reactions to each individual song, and also trying to see the reactions of each individual audience member. I try to look at the different audience members’ faces during all the performances and try to make eye contact. They really empower me, so I’m really excited to see that!
