Sakura Gakuin

Sakura Gakuin (Japanese: さくら学院, lit. Cherry Blossom Academy)^[3] is a Japanese idol girl group formed in 2010 by the Amuse talent agency. The group functions as a unit restricted to the "growing period", typically containing between 10 and 12 members at a time who fall between the ages of 10 and 15. With the theme of school life and extracurricular club activities, when the current nendo ("academic year") ends in April, the group releases an annual studio album, new members "transfer in" to the group, and others who finish compulsory education "graduate", or leave.^[4]

History

2010-2011: Beginnings

Sakura Gakuin was created around April 2010 by the talent agency Amuse. In August, the group participated in the first Tokyo Idol Festival (TIF). In October, the group formed the baton-twirling subgroup Twinklestars, with seven members; in November, the group released its first single "Dear Mr. Socrates", which was sold only at live venues.^[5] Sakura Gakuin held its first solo event on November 28, 2010.^[6] On December 8th, the group released its major debut single "Yume ni Mukatte / Hello! Ivy".

Sakura Gakuin's first album, Sakura Gakuin 2010 Nendo: Message, was scheduled to appear on March 23, 2011,^[5] but was postponed until April 27 due to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The same year, Hana Taguchi and Rinon Isono joined the group. On May 30th, Twinklestars announced a new single, "Please! Please! Please!", for a July 6th release.^[7] In August, Sakura Gakuin performed at Tokyo Idol Festival 2011. On October 23, at an event held in Tokyo, the group announced that second single, "Verishuvi", would be released on December 21 through Universal Music;^[8] the song had its live debut on November 23.^[9]

2012: Formation of more subgroups

Sakura Gakuin's third single, "Tabidachi no Hi ni", was released on February 15, 2012,^[10] debuting at number 6 in the Oricon Daily Singles Chart for February 14.^[11] Three of the members, Ayami Muto, Ayaka Miyoshi, and Airi Matsui, graduated from Sakura Gakuin in April 2012, and three new members—Yunano, Saki and Mariri—were transferred into the group in May 2012. In August, the group performed at TIF 2012, on August 4th and 5th, and revealing that a new subgroup would perform at the Sky Stage on the 4th;^[12] the following day, it was revealed to be a tennis club consisting of four members with Nene Sugisaki as the leader. On September 1, the science club Kagaku Kuymei Kikoh Logica? was officially revealed as another new unit. On October 1, the Logica? announced their first single, "Science Girl ▽ Silence Boy", for a November 21 release. On October 6, Babymetal announced their major label debut with "Ijime, Dame, Zettai" for January 9, 2013.

2013-2015: New look

Sakura Gakuin released their fifth single, "My Graduation Toss", on February 27, 2013, as well as their third album My Generation on March 13. The group held the 2012 graduation concert for Suzuka Nakamoto and Mariri Sugimoto at Tokyo International Forum on March 31.^[13]

After sending fellow members Suzuka and Mariri, the group started their new school semester on May 5, 2013 at Shibuya Cultural Center Owada with two new members and a new beige uniform.^[14] The group later released the song, "Ganbare!!", which ranked 6th on the Oricon Weekly Chart. Sakura Gakuin later released their seventh single, "Jump Up (Chiisana Yūki)", and fourth DVD, Sakura Gakuin Festival 2013: Live Edition on February 12, 2014. The Road to Graduation 2013 Final was held at Shibuya Public Hall, where Marina Horiuchi, Raura Iida, Nene Sugisaki and Hinata Sato, the last of the original eight members, gave their farewells to the fans and remaining eight members.

The group later welcomed two new members, Sara Kurashima and Megumi Okada, in May 2014, bringing the total to ten members. In March 2015, the group held a graduation concert at which Moa Kikuchi, Yui Mizuno, Hana Taguchi, and Yunano Notsu bid goodbye to the fans and remaining six members. On May 6, six new members joined the group, bringing the total to twelve members. At the same time, Rinon Isono was appointed as the fifth Student Council President. The remaining two Year 3 members, Saki Ooga became the Education Chairman, while Saki Shirai was appointed as the third Talk Chairman.^[15]

2016-present: Yakusoku

March 2016 marked the departure of Saki Ooga, Saki Shirai and Rinon Isono, but in May of the same year Momoe Mori, Tsugumi Aritomo and Yuzumi Shintani transferred in. 2016 also marked the departure of the "beige" uniforms, instating a dark gray one in its place, and the promotion of Sara Kurashima to Class President, Aiko Yamaide to Vice-President and Mirena Kurosawa to MC Chairman. Sara Kurashima and Mirena Kurosawa left the group in March 2017, with new members Miku Tanaka and Miki Yagi joining in May.^[4] Aiko Yamaide became the Class President, Megumi Okada became the Talk Chairman, Momoko Okazaki became the Effort Chairman, and Maaya Asou became the Education Chairman.

Members

Sakura Gakuin employs a line-up changing system in which older members leave the group and new members join each year. Since the group's theme is that of an elementary and junior high school, when a member graduates from junior high, or specifically ninth grade, she leaves Sakura Gakuin as well, during a ceremony the group holds around the end of the Japanese school year in which these members "graduate".^[16]

As of May 7, 2017, the group consists of the following twelve members.^[17]

Past members

Member timeline

Subgroups

An italicized English name in the "club" column denotes that the group in question is presently known to be defunct.

1. ↑ Babymetal split from the main group in 2013, and continues to perform as a separate group, but the club is defunct in that there is not currently a group of this nature currently performing as a subgroup of Sakura Gakuin.
2. ↑ Lit. "Scientific Investigation Organization Logica?". Romanization provided in table is that used in official sources. Hepburn romanization is "Kagaku Kyūmei Kikō Rojika?"

Discography

Sakura Gakuin

Albums

Singles

Twinklestars

Singles

Babymetal

Singles

Kagaku Kyumei Kikoh Logica?

Singles

• "Science Girl ▽ Silence Boy" (サイエンスガール▽サイレンスボーイ) (November 21, 2012 (2012-11-21), Universal Music Japan, My Generation)

Notes

A. ^{^} Sold only at live venues and online.

B. ^{^} Released as a DVD single.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sakura Gakuin.

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Official profile at Amuse Inc. (in Japanese)
• Sakura Gakuin's channel on YouTube