, commonly abbreviated to ASH, is a

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

school in

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, founded in 1999. It is managed by the production company , a subsidiary of

Shinhiroshima Telecasting TSS-TV Co., Ltd. (株式会社テレビ新広島, Television Shin-Hiroshima System), named Shinhiroshima Telecasting Co., Ltd. until 2008, is a TV station serving in Hiroshima Prefecture and eastern Yamaguchi Prefecture, affiliated with of Fuji N ...

, and is located within TSS Production offices. It has a longstanding business relationship with the talent agency

Amuse, Inc. is a Japanese entertainment company that provides artist management services. The artists include idols, musicians, and so on. Amuse produces TV and radio programs, commercial films, and movies. Other interests are in publication, music software ...

In October 2017, ASH opened a branch school near Fukuyama Station in Fukuyama, the second-largest city in

Hiroshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,479 km² (3,274 sq mi). Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama ...

Activities

Classes offered at Actor's School Hiroshima include acting, singing, dancing, and modelling. ASH maintains several internal idol groups, which membership consists of its active students and perform both in internal and outside events, allowing them to obtain real-world experience. These include , MAX♡GIRLS, peony (

Shimane Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geographic area of 6,708.26 km2. Shimane Prefecture borders Yamaguc ...

promotional unit, named after that prefecture's official flower), and . ASH holds recitals, or "Acts", twice a year in the spring and autumn. The audience is allowed to record the performances using professional equipment. Students may perform solo or in groups, and the internal idol groups also perform there.

Alumni relations

On March 31, 2019, to commemorate the school's 20th anniversary, ASH students performed a medley of songs released by their notable alumni in that year's Spring Act. In 2019,

Riho Sayashi Riho Sayashi (鞘師里保 ''Sayashi Riho''; born May 28, 1998 in Hiroshima, Japan) is a Japanese dancer, actress, and singer. She is a former ninth generation member of the Japanese pop group Morning Musume, along with Mizuki Fukumura, Erina Iku ...

, formerly of Morning Musume, became a support dancer for Babymetal. This was considered a "shocking" occurrence in the Japanese entertainment industry, especially since Sayashi held a prominent position in her former group and both groups belong to different management companies. Sayashi and Babymetal lead singer Suzuka Nakamoto's relationship at ASH, where they were considered rivals and two of the top students of their time, is believed to have an influence on this. On December 1, 2020, Arisa Mineyoshi of STU48 covered " Ijime, Dame, Zettai" by Babymetal in the final rounds of the AKB48 Group No. 1 Singer Contest. On February 2, 2021, ''Nikkan SPA!'' reported on a series of concerts at the

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...

by three different musical acts fronted by ASH graduates, which it dubbed the "Budokan ASH

Relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switch ...

". It started with STU48, which performed there on January 15 and announced that

Chiho Ishida is a Japanese idol, singer, model, and presenter, represented by Twin Planet. She is a member of the girl group STU48. She is the first member of the group to hold a solo concert and release a photo book, and has twice been the lead performer o ...

would be the lead performer in their sixth single. Mitsuki Imamura, the group's captain, tweeted after the show "We left the baton at the Budokan", and

=Love =Love (イコールラブ ''Ikōrurabu,'' pronounced "equal love", stylized as =LOVE) is a Japanese idol group composed of voice actors from the Yoyogi Animation Academy. The twelve-person group is produced by former AKB48 and HKT48 member Rin ...

leader Anna Yamamoto tweeted "We received the baton" before her group performed there the next day. Babymetal would also perform in Budokan on the 19th and 20th, the first two shows in a planned ten-day performance. On September 20, 2021, STU48 announced the "New Wave Project", an STU48 trainee recruitment process exclusively for active ASH students, at the 2021 ASH Autumn Act.

Notable faculty

* MIKIKO

Notable alumni

Perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

** Yuka Kashino (1st class) **

Ayano Omoto Ayano (written: , , , or ) is both a feminine Japanese given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese singer-songwriter *, Japanese synchronized swimmer *, Japanese ''tarento'' and impressionist *, Japanese long-dista ...

(1st class) **

Ayaka Nishiwaki , nicknamed , is a Japanese singer and dancer. She is known as one of the members of the Japanese electropop group Perfume. Biography Nishiwaki was born and raised in Hiroshima, Japan, where she attended Actor's School Hiroshima with friends a ...

(1st class) ** Yuka Kawashima (former member) (1st class) *

, solo singer, former member of Morning Musume, former support dancer of Babymetal (12th class) * , model, former member of Sakura Gakuin (12th class) * Suzuka Nakamoto, former member of

Karen Girl's was a Japanese three-member girl group formed in 2008 by the Amuse talent agency. The group performed songs for the anime ''Zettai Karen Children'' for the duration of the show. History Karen Girl's was formed from elementary school children as ...

and Sakura Gakuin, member of Babymetal (15th class) *

Himeka Nakamoto is a Japanese mental health counselor, radio personality, author, and former idol. She was a first-generation member of the idol group Nogizaka46. Career In 2006, Nakamoto enrolled in Actor's School Hiroshima as part of the sixteenth batch, ...

, former first generation member of Nogizaka46 (16th class) * , member of

Anna Murashige , 村重杏奈, Murashige An'na, born July 29, 1998 is a Russo-Japanese tarento and a former member of the idol groups HKT48 and NMB48 represented by Twin Planet. She was in Team KIV (formerly in Team H) in HKT48. Career On July 10, 2011, Mu ...

, member of HKT48 * Yuri Tani, former member of

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (''Akiba'' for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with it ...

Team 8 * and , members of

Team 8 * , member of * STU48 ** 1st Generation: Mitsuki Imamura,

, Marina Otani (former), Arisa Mineyoshi, (former; currently a model) **2nd Generation: Sara Shimizu, Yuna Kawamata, Yura Ikeda ** New Wave Project: Azumi Okada, Rio Okamura, Yuka Kurushima, Noa Morokuzu (a.k.a. Noa Mitsuki) * , member of

Juice=Juice Juice=Juice, pronounced "Juice Juice", is a nine-member Japanese idol girl group formed in 2013. The group originally consisted of six trainee members of Hello! Project. They have released one studio album and twelve singles. Juice=Juice was no ...

(19th class) * Aina Yoshida, former member of Pink Babies * , performed the Japanese end credits version of '' Frozen II'' theme, " Into The Unknown" * , member of Sakura Gakuin * , member of

Ocha Norma is a Japanese idol girl group that formed in 2021. They released their debut single, "Koi no Crouching Start / Omatsuri Debut da ze!", on July 13, 2022. History On March 7, 2021, it was announced by Mizuki Fukumura is a Japanese singer, ...

(31st class) * AIri Taniguchi, member of Sakurazaka46

References

External links

*
About ASH
officially endorsed blog {{DEFAULTSORT:Actor's School Hiroshima Dance schools Schools of the performing arts in Japan Schools of the performing arts Buildings and structures in Hiroshima