is a Japanese businessperson and former singer and actress. She is a 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 i ...

, and has founded two companies aiming to provide second career options for aspiring and active entertainers.

Biography

Shimada joined AKB48 in 2009. During her time with the group, she had served as the vice-captain of Team K. In April 2017, Shimada announced that she would graduate from the group in September 2017 and retire from the entertainment industry. Her graduation live concert was held on November 13, and she released her photo book the same month. She posted her farewell message on her official

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

accounts on December 31, 2017 and stated that she will only maintain her Instagram account going forward. In 2018, Shimada moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and lived there for about a year to learn English. She worked at an advertising agency after returning to Japan, and went on to establish the company Dct Inc. in May 2021. Drawing from her own experiences, the company offers courses to prepare

Japanese idol An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in acting, dancing, and modeling. Idols are commercialized through merchandise and endorsements b ...

s for the general workforce should they decide to retire from the entertainment industry, considering that they often start out while in school and have little or no work experience outside the industry such as

part-time Part-time can refer to: * Part-time job, a job that has fewer hours a week than a full-time job * Part-time student, a student, usually in higher education, who takes fewer course credits than a full-time student * Part Time Part Time (styliz ...

work, although they might have an advantage in communication skills. Former AKB48 members have enrolled in the courses, three of whom found employment in January 2022. She later established a second company named Clover Academy, which offers a combined course of performing arts training and

child care Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

qualification for high school graduates who aspire to enter show business, similarly to provide an option for a second career should they later retire. Shimada also helps manage her family's ''

ryokan A is a type of traditional Japanese inn that typically features ''tatami''-matted rooms, communal baths, and other public areas where visitors may wear yukata and talk with the owner. Ryokan have existed since the eighth century A.D. du ...

'', Tachibana, in her hometown of

Atami is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 36,865 in 21,593 households and a population density of 600 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Atami is located in the far ea ...

. After the

2021 Atami landslide Following torrential rainfall, a landslide was triggered which swept through the Izusan neighbourhood of Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan on 3 July 2021. 27 people died during the landslide and three injured. The city received of rainfall in a ...

, she launched a crowdfunding project for reconstruction of the affected areas, which managed to collect 3,331,000 yen.

AKB48 participation

Singles

Albums

Other songs

Stage units

Filmography

TV dramas

Variety

Other TV programmes (mainly tennis related)

Stage

Radio

Films

Events

Internet

Bibliography

Books

Calendars

References

Notes

Sources

External links

Official Instagram account
* on 755
Dct.inc

Clover Academy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shimada, Haruka AKB48 members Japanese idols 21st-century Japanese actresses Musicians from Shizuoka Prefecture Living people 1992 births