This week Japan billboard leader: Sakurazaka 46

Sakurazaka46 (櫻坂46, Sakurazaka Forty-six), formerly Keyakizaka46 (欅坂46, Keyakizaka Forty-six), is a Japanese idol girl group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. A sister group was created as part of the Sakamichi Series on August 21, 2015, becoming 's first sister group. In October 2020, the group will be renamed after their concert.

Sakurazaka46 is named after Sakurazaka street within Roppongi Hills in Minato, Tokyo. This week, they show you how to be billboard japan music leader.

Yasushi Akimoto (Japanese: 秋元 康, born May 2, 1958) 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. He is Japan's best-selling lyricist, with a total sales of more than 100 million singles

On October 14, 2020, the group officially changed its name to Sakurazaka46 after their farewell concert. The group's weekly variety show Keyakitte, Kakenai? was similarly renamed to Soko Magattara, Sakurazaka? From the October 19 broadcast. On December 9, Nobody's Fault, the band's first single under the new name, was released. The title track featured only 14 members rather than all members who had appeared for past singles. Additionally, this single ushered in the creation of the "Sakura Eight", the eight members from the first and second rows of the band; they appear on every B-side. "Nobody's Fault" was performed at the 71st NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen.

Akane Moriya was replaced as vice-captain of the group by Rina Matsuda on January 4, 2021; Yuka Sugai retained the title of captain.

Concept and curiosity

Sakurazaka46 will be a sister group of AKB48. The concept of the group is to focus on different regions of Japan, with each member representing one prefecture. To reflect this, members will take on stage names consisting of their own name and the name of their respective prefecture. In addition, there will be a single captain for each team, who will represent her team in song performances and other activities during lives. The captains are Yuko Oshima (Tokyo), Sakura Miyawaki (Saitama), Minami Minegishi (Aichi), Rina Kawaei (Shizuoka) and Mariko Shinoda (Kanagawa).

The group will be produced by Yasushi Akimoto, who has previously worked on the creation of AKB48. Yuko Oshima is a former member of AKB48, having left the group in 2009.

They are currently on their third generation, with 46 members in this generation. No one knows when the group will end or what its future holds, but it has already captured the hearts of many fans.

From their catchy songs and choreography to the members’ engaging personalities, Sakurazaka46 has become a fan favorite.The fans will soon see their idols compete in a new TV show called “Produce 48”. This group is just like any other idol group, with a large number of members competing to be the center member.

The concept of the show is quite different from any other shows as it follows the same concept as “Produce 101” which was aired in Korea. It also follows the format of AKB48 and NMB48, where there are a total of 46 members in each team. The same "Produce 101 Japan" now on Japan for the music groups INI, J01 and OCTPATH. It is broadcast on Fuji TV every Sunday at 20:00 (JST) starting from April 9, 2018.

On May 10, 2018, Fuji TV announced that the show will be renewed for a second season. It is broadcast on Sundays at 20:00 (JST) starting from October 7, 2018.There are two teams, the White Team and the Black Team. Each team has 46 members who are selected from 2,777 participants. The show follows a voting system similar to that of "Produce 101" where each member will be given a number of points based on their performance and is then ranked according to these points.

The format of the show consists of 46 girls who are split into three groups (INI-J01-OCTPATH), with one member from each group performing each week. The girls will be evaluated by judges and viewers through voting to determine which team wins. The first team to win a total of four times will be crowned the winner.

What are Japanese idol girl groups?

The term “idols” comes from the Japanese word アイドル ( aidoru ), a portmanteau of the words “image” ( イメージ , imēji ) and “deity” ( 神様 , kami-sama ). The term was coined by the Japanese entertainment conglomerate Yoshimoto Kogyo in 1971, and nowadays almost everyone knows what an idol is.

They are a subculture of Japanese pop music that features young women who are often in the late teens or early twenties. These girls are highly trained in a type of performance where they dance, sing and play musical instruments on stage. The idols perform live concerts, appear in photobooks, have fan clubs and sell self-produced records.

In the early 2010s, idol girl groups started to gain popularity in Japan. The first idol group was AKB48, and it was established in 2005. The group consists of about 130 members who are split into various teams.

AKB48 has expanded their business by launching sister groups outside of Japan, including Indonesia’s JKT48, Thailand’s BNK48, China’s SNH48, Taiwan’s TPE48, and the Philippines’ MNL48.

In 2012, the girl group Momoiro Clover Z debuted and immediately made a splash. They were different from AKB48 because they were more theatrical and used music as a medium to promote their entertainment careers. They used the theme of “idol you can meet” in their debut song “Momoiro Sparkling” and focused on the interactions between fans and idols.

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