■ Hinatazaka46​

 

Produced by Yasushi Akimoto.

On​ ​August​ ​21, 2015, Keyakizaka46 was born as the second Sakamichi series following Nogizaka46. Neru Nagahama, one of the candidates who got a ticket to the final examination, was taken back to her hometown Nagasaki on the morning of her audition by her mother, who had frowned upon her daughter becoming an idol. Nagahama's  No.​17 seat was empty at the final audition.

 

That night, the father, who saw his crying daughter, contacted management, and management invited the family to Nogizaka46's national tour in Fukuoka the next day, taking into account the father's feelings. Nogizaka46 's live performance that day was highly acclaimed, including by the girl's mother, and Nagahama Neru's feelings for idols became stronger, and while following a strange fate, she began to consider joining Keyakizaka46 as an additional member.

 

On the other hand, Keyakizaka46 started a regular program "Keyakitte, Kakenai?" as early as October.

On November​ ​30th, three months after their formation, the addition of new members was announced, and Nagahama Neru made her first appearance.

 

In the program, it was announced that the hiragana-character "Keyakizaka" was to be used instead of the kanji character "Keyakizaka," and that they would start activities as "Keyakizaka46." It was the moment when “Keyakizaka46” ("Hiragana Keyaki”) was formed with Nagahama, a member of the group. Then, member recruitment began under the idea of "Let's gather new members like Nagahama Neru."

 

On​ ​May​ ​8, 2016, Hiragana Keyaki's activities began with 11 successful applicants selected by audition and 12 members from Neru Nagahama.

 

At "Keyakitte, Kakenai?" on June​ ​26th, the senbatsu announcement for their 2nd single "Sekai ni Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai" was announced, and Neru Nagahama was selected as a concurrent member of Kanji Keyaki and Hiragana Keyaki.

 

"Hiragana Keyaki" was recorded as the first song for Hiragana Keyaki as a coupling song for this single. Since then, the songs have been recorded as coupling songs for each single, but they had not been recognized yet, and their popularity paled compared to Kanji Keyaki, whose popularity was rapidly increasing.

 

On October​ ​28th, they held their first solo event "Hiragana Debut Party" at Akasaka Blitz, and as their individuality began to show, their popularity gradually began to establish itself.

 

 In 2017, the group began a nationwide tour before kanji Keyakizaka46, starting with a stop at Zepp Tokyo on March 22 under the title "Hiragana National Tour 2017. ​​​​​​ ​​​ ​​​​​

 

On April 6th, Keyakizaka46 's 1st anniversary live was held at Yoyogi Daiichi Gymnasium, where they announced that they would be recruiting additional members under the title of "Hiragana Keyaki Power Up Project". Members were recruited from June, and nine successful applicants were selected on August​ ​13th. They started taking lessons as Hiragana Keyaki 2nd gen members.

 

As Hiragana Keyaki became more active, Nagahama's schedule became extremely busy, and on the first day of the tour at Zepp Tokyo,  she was unable to rehearse until the day of the event.

 

After that, the Osaka performance in May and the Nagoya performance in July continued, but Nagahama's busyness reached its peak, and on September​ ​25, considering her physical condition, Nagahama's concurrent position was canceled and she became full-time at Keyakizaka46. The matter was announced by management. It happened the day before the “Hiragana National Tour 2017” Zepp Sapporo performance.

 

The remaining 11 members went to the Sapporo concert the next day with disappointment, but were encouraged by the unexpectedly warm cheers and attracted the audience with their signature powerful stage presence and peaceful performance. The Sapporo concert was an unforgettable start for the members.

 

Hiragana Keyaki's breakthrough begins here. . .

 

 TV Tokyo's Thursday drama "Re:Mind," in which Keyakizaka46 starred for the first time and sang the theme song, started in October. ​​​​​​​​

 

“Hiragana Nationwide Tour 2017” continued vigorously while filming the drama, and after performing in Fukuoka, a 2-day final performance was held at the Makuhari Messe Event Hall on December 12th and 13th. The performance of the 20 members, having welcomed the 2nd generation members for the first time, was full of happiness and was highly acclaimed, and the tour ended.

 

In 2018, the Nippon Budokan performances, which were scheduled to be held for Keyakizaka46 (Kanji) and Keyakizaka46 (Hiragana) for three days on January​ ​30th, 31st, and February​ ​1st, were performed for three days by Hiragana Keyaki alone due to various circumstances. While rehearsing with anxiety about the sudden big stage, the tickets were sold out immediately. On the last day of the Nippon Budokan performance, the release of Hiragana Keyaki's solo album was announced as a surprise, and all the members were on stage in tears.

 

On February 12th, Hiragana​ ​Keyaki 's nine 2nd generation members held a "hospitality party" at the Makuhari Messe Event Hall. 

 

In April, the long-awaited regular program "Hiragana Oshi" (on air every Sunday from 25:05 on TV Tokyo) started, and Hiragana Keyaki also appeared alone in "KEYABINGO!4", and at the AiiA Theater during Golden Week. They energetically performed their first theater performance "Ayumi" with all the members of Hiragana Keyaki.

 

On June​ ​1st, it was announced that member Yuka Kageyama would be taking a temporary hiatus due to her studies.

 

 On June 3, Kumi Sasaki's appointment as captain was announced on SHOWROOM, and on June 20, her debut album "Hashiridasu Shunkan" was finally released, reaching No. 1 on the Oricon Weekly Chart, and the "Hashiridasu Shunkan Tour 2018," the album launch tour, drew approximately 50,000 people for 10 concerts in 5 locations. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

 

In August, Sarina Ushio, Memi Kakizaki, Shiho Kato, Kyoko Saito, Mirei Sasaki, Miku Kanemura, Hina Kawata, Suzuka Tomita, Akari Nibu, Miho Watanabe appeared in "Stage Magia Records: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story" at the TBS Akasaka​ ​ACT Theater.

 

In October, they performed with Kyary Pamyu Pamyu at the HOTSTUFF 40th anniversary event held at the Nippon Budokan, making the Nippon Budokan feel like home.

 

 In November, they appeared at the "MUJACK" event at Osaka Castle Hall, and in November, Kyoko Saito and Nao Kosaka appeared as TEAM RED and Memi Kakizaki and Shiho Kato as TEAM BLUE in the stage "Zambi" at TOKYO DOME CITY HALL, the first time the three Sakamichi groups appeared together on stage. ​​​​​​  ​​​​​​​

 

In addition, from among the members who passed the "Sakamichi Joint Audition" held this summer, group assignments were announced on November​ ​29th, with one Hiragana Keyaki member and Hinano Kamimura as 3rd generation members. 1st generation members and 2nd generation members welcomed Uemura with the legendary "Dokkiri".

 

On December​ ​10th, at the Nippon Budokan, the "Omitatekai" was held jointly by the 2nd generation members of Keyakizaka46 and the 3rd generation members of Keyakizaka46, and it was Uemura's first stage.

 

“Hiragana Christmas​ ​2018” was held at Nippon Budokan for three​ ​days on  the​ ​11th, 12th, and 13th.

 

In 2019, the stage "Zambi -Theater 's end" opens at the Ginga Theater in February, with Sarina Ushio as TEAM BLACK, Konoka Matsuda as TEAM YELLOW, and Kumi Sasaki as TEAM GREEN.

 

On February 11th, SHOWROOM streaming was carried out as "News from Hiragana," and an independent debut was announced on March​ ​27th. After that, as a surprise to the members, the name change of the group was announced, and Keyakizaka46 was reborn as Hinatazaka46.

 

​Hinatazaka46 finally arrived at the start after climbing the slope little by little while taking a detour.

 

​Hinatazaka46 will climb a new slope for their single debut.