Keyakizaka46


Keyakizaka46 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. Keyakizaka46 was named after Keyakizaka street within Roppongi Hills in Minato, Tokyo.
As of March 2019, the group has released a total of nine singles, all of which have topped the Oricon Singles Chart and Billboard Japan Hot 100. The group has also released two compilation albums, one of which was released by Hiragana Keyakizaka46, a subgroup who split off into Hinatazaka46. Additionally, the group created 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 Toriizaka46, 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 Keyakitte, Kakenai? 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 Hiragana Keyakizaka46 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: Major changes

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, in 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 kenshūsei 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 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, Miyu Suzumoto, and Nana Oda in January 2020.
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 the 9th single, "Dare ga Sonokane o Narasunoka?", which is schedule 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.

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, Keyakizaka46 had a total of 59 members from five generations, including members from Hiragana Keyakizaka46. 29 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.
NameBirth date Prefecture
of origin		GenerationNotes
Nijika IshimoriMiyagi1
Rina UemuraChiba1
Rika OzekiKanagawa1
Minami KoikeHyōgo1
Yui KobayashiSaitama1
Fuyuka SaitōTokyo1
Shiori SatōTokyo1Currently on hiatus
Yūka SugaiTokyo1Captain
Mizuho HabuTokyo1
Aoi HaradaTokyo1
Akane MoriyaMiyagi1Vice-Captain
Rika WatanabeIbaraki1Oldest
Risa WatanabeIbaraki1
Rina InoueHyōgo2
Yumiko SekiFukuoka2
Yui TakemotoShiga2
Hono TamuraOsaka2
Karin FujiyoshiOsaka2
Rina MatsudaMiyazaki2
Riko MatsudairaTokyo2
Hikaru MoritaFukuoka2
Ten YamasakiOsaka2Youngest
Hikari Endō*Kanagawa2
Rei Ōzono*Kagoshima2
Akiho Ōnuma*Shizuoka2
Marino Kōsaka*Mie2
Kira Masumoto*Hyōgo2
Rena Moriya*Tokyo2

Former members

NameBirth date Prefecture
of origin		Notes
Mizuho SuzukiUnknownUnknownLeft in September 2015 before the group officially debuted.
Mayu HaradaTokyoLeft on November 11, 2015 after pictures of her and her boyfriend, her former middle school teacher, surfaced.
Yui ImaizumiKanagawaGraduated from Kanji Keyaki on November 3, 2018.
Manaka ShidaNiigataGraduated from Kanji Keyaki on November 16, 2018.
Nanami YonetaniOsakaGraduated from Kanji Keyaki on December 22, 2018.
Neru NagahamaNagasakiJoined on November 30, 2015 as a member of Hiragana Keyaki.
Transferred permanently to Kanji Keyaki on September 24, 2017.
Graduated on July 30, 2019.
Miyu SuzumotoAichiGraduated on January 23, 2020
Nana OdaShizuokaGraduated on January 23, 2020
Yurina HirateAichiWithdrew from group on January 23, 2020
Nanako NagasawaYamagataGraduated on March 31, 2020

Discography

Album

Video albums

Singles

Filmography

Television shows

The following table lists some of the major awards received by the group.
YearCeremonyAwardNominated WorkResult
2016Yahoo Japan Search Grand PrixIdol Group Award
201731st Japan Gold Disc AwardNEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
2017The 5th V Chart AwardsTop New Artist Award
2017Yahoo Japan Search Grand PrixIdol Group Award
201759th Japan Record AwardsExcellent Work AwardKaze ni Fukarete mo
201750th Japan Cable AwardsExcellent Music AwardKaze ni Fukarete mo
2017MTV VMAJBest Buzz Award
201860th Japan Record AwardsExcellent Work AwardAmbivalent
2018MTV VMAJBest MV of Japanese GroupAmbivalent
201810th CD shop AwardsFinalist AwardMasshiro na Mono wa Yogoshitaku naru
2018The 31st Shogakukan DIME Trend AwardBest Character Award
2019MTV VMAJBest MV of Japanese GroupKuroi Hitsuji
201961st Japan Record AwardsExcellent Work AwardKuroi Hitsuji