Hinatazaka46
Hinatazaka46 is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. The group was established as a subgroup of Keyakizaka46 named Hiragana Keyakizaka46 on 30 November 2015, and was renamed and spun off into its own group on 11 February 2019. The group's name is adopted from the alternate reading of Hyūgazaka Street in Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo, following the custom of naming groups after sloping streets in the Sakamichi Series. The captain of the group is Mikuni Takahashi and its fans are referred to as Ohisama.
As a subgroup of Keyakizaka46, Hiragana Keyakizaka46's works were released as part of the main group's releases, except for the album Hashiridasu Shunkan. As of March 2025, Hinatazaka46 has released thirteen singles and two albums, and its first single, "Kyun", is the best-selling debut single by a female artist in Japan. Members of the group have also appeared in television dramas such as Re:Mind, Dasada, and Koeharu!, the weekly variety show Hinatazaka de Aimashō, as well as a feature film and two theatrically released documentaries.
History
2015–2018: Hiragana Keyakizaka46
The group was established as Hiragana Keyakizaka46 on 30 November 2015, as a subgroup of Keyakizaka46, with their name written in hiragana as opposed to kanji. Colloquially, Hiragana Keyakizaka46 was also known as Hiragana Keyaki, while the main Keyakizaka46 group was known as Kanji Keyaki.At its founding, Hiragana Keyakizaka46 consisted of only one member, Neru Nagahama, who did not participate in the Keyakizaka46 final audition due to her parents' earlier disapproval and was assigned to the subgroup as a "special case"; she would later be appointed a "concurrent" member of both groups and join the main Keyakizaka46 lineup starting from their second single, "Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai". Auditions were held soon after for Hiragana Keyakizaka46, and the first generation of eleven members joined the group in May 2016. The group was initially announced as the "under" group to Keyakizaka46 with the possibility of its members also being selected for the main group's song lineup, a system already practiced by Nogizaka46. Due to the two groups' increasing activities, Nagahama left Hiragana Keyakizaka46 in September 2017, becoming only a member of the main group. A second generation of nine people was added in August 2017, and a third, again consisting of only Hinano Kamimura, was added in November 2018 through a Sakamichi Series joint audition. Kumi Sasaki was appointed the group's captain in June 2018.As a subgroup, Hiragana Keyakizaka46 released their music as part of the main group's singles and albums. Their first release as a group is the B-side "Hiragana Keyaki" from "Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai", although Nagahama did perform "Noriokureta Bus" from Keyakizaka46's debut single "Silent Majority" with several Keyakizaka46 members. In concerts, the two groups often performed together, but Hiragana Keyakizaka46 also held independent concerts, including a nationwide Zepp tour in 2017 and a three-day Nippon Budokan performance in January 2018, after Keyakizaka46 pulled out due to lead singer Yurina Hirate's injury. Hiragana Keyakizaka46 also released an independent album in 2018 titled Hashiridasu Shunkan.
In terms of variety shows, Hiragana Keyakizaka46 initially appeared in Keyakizaka46's shows Keyakitte, Kakenai? and KeyaBingo!, and started their own show Hiragana Oshi in 2018. The first generation also appeared in the drama series Re:Mind in 2017.
From April to May 2018, Hiragana Keyakizaka46 members performed in the stage play Ayumi written by, where the characters was portrayed by different members on every scene change. The play was released on Hulu Japan in February 2021.
2019–2023: Reborn as Hinatazaka46
Hiragana Keyakizaka46 became an independent group on 11 February 2019, and was renamed Hinatazaka46. The new name is an alternate reading of Hyūgazaka street in Minato-ku, Tokyo, following the custom of Sakamichi Series of having its groups named after sloping streets. The group's official Twitter and TikTok accounts were launched shortly, and their variety TV program was renamed to Hinatazaka de Aimashō. They also announced in a Showroom live broadcast that their fandom name would be Ohisama, which is a slang for the Sun, as "just like a sunny place cannot exist without the Sun, cannot exist without the fans".Their first single, "Kyun", was released on 27 March 2019, and surpassed 476,000 copies sold within the first week. The single became the best-selling debut single by a female artist in Japan, a record previously held by Keyakizaka46's "Silent Majority". "Kyun" also won the Best Choreography award at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards. On 24 September, a rhythm game titled Uni's On Air was released that featured Keyakizaka46 and Hinatazaka46. Hinatazaka46 attended the 70th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen for the first time in the group's history, where they performed "Kyun". After that, "Azato Kawaii" was shown at the 71st NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, and "Kimi Shika Katan" was performed at the 72nd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, and "Kitsune" was performed at the 73rd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen.
On 16 January 2020, the members of Hinatazaka46 were featured in a television series titled Dasada, with Nao Kosaka as the main protagonist. On 16 February 2020, three members were added to the third generation from the remaining unassigned members of the 2018 Sakamichi Series joint audition, bringing that generation up to four people. On 31 July 2020, Hinatazaka46 live streamed a concert titled Hinatazaka46 Live Online, Yes! With You!, where they announced that their first studio album will be released on 23 September. Their mascot character, a sky blue bird named Poka, was introduced at the live streamed Hinakuri 2020 concert on 24 December.
On 7 March 2022, the group announced the audition for their fourth generation members with applications starting that day and screening taking place on 4 April. Twelve members passed the audition out of 51,038 participants, and they were gradually introduced to the public from 22 September to 3 October. They would make their musical debut with the song "Blueberry & Raspberry", included on the group's 8th single, "Tsuki to Hoshi ga Odoru Midnight". It was first shown at the Happy Smile Tour 2022 in Tokyo held on 12–13 November 2022.
On 30–31 March 2022, the group held their long-sought first Tokyo Dome concert, "Hinatazaka46 3rd Anniversary Memorial Live in Tokyo Dome", attended by about 100,000 people in two days. The concert was originally scheduled for 2020, but postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
From 30 March 2023, the Hinatazaka46 official website will start supporting in Japanese, English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean.
On 19 April 2023, the group announced the launching of the Hinatazaka Channel on YouTube for content other than music.
2024–present: Adopting the ''senbatsu'' system, first Hinata Fes
In March 2024, Hinatazaka46 opened its first exhibition, titled "WE R!", showcasing the group's history and various memorabilia. It consisted of the "WE R!" exhibition at the, held 1 March–13 May, and the "WE R! in Tokyo Skytree﹣Rainbow of Hinatazaka46" exhibition at the Tokyo Skytree, held 12 March–12 June.On 5 April, Kyōko Saitō parted ways with the group with a "graduation" concert held at the Yokohama Stadium. She is the first member to leave who had served as original center for a title song, 2022's "Tsuki to Hoshi ga Odoru Midnight".
The 11th single, "Kimi wa Honeydew", released on 8 May, marked a significant change in the group's organization. While all active first to third-generation members participated in the title songs of previous releases, "Kimi wa Honeydew" is the first Hinatazaka46 release to implement a system, in which 16 selected members from all generations active at the time would perform the title song. Members who were not selected, commonly known as "under girls", are referred to as Hiragana Hinatazaka46, similar to Hinatazaka46's former name Hiragana Keyakizaka46, and performed their own B-side song. Real Sound commented that this change was likely caused by the continuing departures of the group's founding first generation members, as well as the "rapid" development of the fourth generation members, five of whom were included in the single's senbatsu.
Hiragana Hinatazaka46's first independent concert would be held on 3−4 July at the Pacifico Yokohama convention center, continuing the usual practice of holding independent concerts for non-senbatsu members in the Sakamichi Series.
On 4 August, Hinatazaka46 announced that the recruitment process for the fifth generation members would begin on 5 August. On 10 March 2025, a teaser video was released on the Hinatazaka Channel, followed by individual introduction videos for the 10 new members over the following days.
On 7–8 September, Hinatazaka46 held the first Hinata Fes in Miyazaki Prefecture, also known as the "Hinata of Japan" and first visited by the group in 2019 for location shooting of the variety show Hinatazaka de Aimashō. Approximately 40 thousand people attended the event, consisting of a two-day ticketed concert at the Hinata Sun Marine Stadium—the first concert ever held at the venue—and a free festival at the nearby Hinata Miyazaki Prefectural Comprehensive Sports Park. To accommodate the influx of attendees, the Kyushu Railway Company operated additional train services, including those named Hinatazaka46 and Ohisama, and the Hyūgashi Station was also temporarily renamed to Hinatazaka46 Station. The festival also aimed to minimize its impact on the environment and revitalize the economy of the region; the University of Miyazaki estimated that the festival brought about an economic ripple effect of about 2.9 billion yen from tourism in Miyazaki and surrounding areas, while the Kyushu Economic Research Center estimated an economic impact of 4.33 billion yen for the Kyushu region as a whole.On November 7, Mikuni Takahashi was announced to have been appointed as the first vice-captain of Hinatazaka46.
On 6 January 2025, Kumi Sasaki, Mirei Sasaki and Mana Takase, the three remaining first generation members, announced that they would depart from the group after promotions for the 13th single have concluded. Kumi and Mirei Sasaki's graduation ceremonies took place as part of the 6th Hinatansai anniversary concert at the Yokohama Stadium on 5−6 April, while Takase's would take place as part of the 13th Single Hiragana Hinatazaka46 concert at the Makuhari Messe on 1 May. Takahashi was appointed to succeed Kumi Sasaki as captain on the second day of the 6th Hinatansai on 6 April.