was a

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 ...

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of wh ...

formed in 2010 by the

Amuse Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or animal actively maintains the experience, and is associated with enjoyment, happiness, laughter and pleasure. It is an emotion with posit ...

talent agency. The group's membership fell within the age range of Japanese compulsory education, 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 academic year ends at the end of March, the group released an annual studio album, new members "transferred in" to the group, and others who finish compulsory education "graduated", or left. Members of the group also belonged to one or more of its sub-units, which are modeled after school extracurricular clubs. Each club performed with its own theme and musical genre, and their music may be included in the main group's albums or released as a separate single. The group disbanded on August 31, 2021.

Concept

The group functioned as a , typically containing between 10 and 12 members at a time who fall between the ages of 10 and 15, and therefore are between fifth and ninth grade. The group was themed around the idea of school life and extracurricular activities, featuring a "principal", , "teacher" , and sub-units designated as "clubs". The group released an album annually in mid-March, the month marking the end of the , leading to a concert at the end of the month in which the most senior members "graduate", or leave, in accordance with having finished their compulsory education. Each May, new members from lower grades "transferred in" to the group.

History

2010–2011: Beginnings and ''Message''

Sakura Gakuin was created around April 2010 by the talent agency

. Members of the group often blog in a class journal by posting notes handwritten on loose leaf paper. In August, the group participated in the first Tokyo Idol Festival (TIF). In October, the group formed the baton-twirling sub-unit Twinklestars, with seven members; in November, the group released its first single "Dear Mr. Socrates", which was sold only at live venues. Sakura Gakuin held its first solo event on November 28, 2010. On December 8, 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, 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 30, Twinklestars announced a new single, "Please! Please! Please!", for a July 6 release. In August, Sakura Gakuin performed at Tokyo Idol Festival 2011. On October 23, at an event held in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, the group announced that second single, "Verishuvi", would be released on December 21 through

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and it ...

; the song had its live debut on November 23.

2012: ''Friends'', formation of more sub-units, and ''My Generation''

Sakura Gakuin's third single, "Tabidachi no Hi ni", was released on February 15, 2012, debuting at number 6 in the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike i ...

Daily Singles Chart for February 14. Three of the members, Ayami Mutō, 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 4 and 5, and revealing that a new sub-unit would perform at the Sky Stage on the 4th; 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 (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese kawaii metal band consisting of Suzuka Nakamoto as "Su-metal" and Moa Kikuchi as "Moametal". The band is produced by Kobametal from the Amuse talent agency. Their vocals are backed by heavy metal instrume ...

announced their major label debut with " Ijime, Dame, Zettai" for January 9, 2013.

2013–2015: New look, ''Kizuna'', and ''Kimi ni Todoke''

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. 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. 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 Satō, 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.

2016–2019: ''Kirameki no Kakera'', ''Yakusoku'', ''My Road'', ''Life Iro Asenai Hibi'', and ''Story''

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. Aiko Yamaide became the class president, Megumi Okada became the talk chairman, Momoko Okazaki became the perseverance ("ganbare") chairman, and Maaya Asou became the Education Chairman. On March 24, 2018, the graduation concert for Aiko Yamaide, Megumi Okada and Momoko Okazaki took place at Nakano Sun Plaza. In May 2018, Sana Shiratori, Kokona Nonaka and Yume Nozaki joined the group. During the concert in which the new members were introduced, it was announced that Yuzumi Shintani had become class president, with Maaya Asou as talk chairman, Marin Hidaka as breakthrough ("hamidase") chairman, Kano Fujihira as performance chairman, and Soyoka Yoshida as education chairman. On March 30, 2019, Maaya Asou, Marin Hidaka, and Yuzumi Shintani graduated from Sakura Gakuin. 2019 also marked the departure of the grey uniforms, enlisting a deep blue one in its place. On May 6, Neo Sato, Miko Todaka, and Sakia Kimura joined the group. It was also announced that Kano Fujihira had become class president, with Soyoka Yoshida as perseverance chairman, Tsugumi Aritomo as breakthrough chairman, and Momoe Mori as talk chairman. A concert was planned to occur on March 29, 2020, to mark the graduations of Kano Fujihira, Soyoka Yoshida, Tsugumi Aritomo and Momoe Mori. However, the concert was postponed to May 29 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

and then subsequently canceled. An alternative, livestream-only graduation was later planned for August 30.

2020-2021: 10th anniversary

After the graduation of Kano Fujihira, Soyoka Yoshida, Tsugumi Aritomo, and Momoe Mori, Sakura Gakuin immediately began preparations for their 10th anniversary. On September 1, 2020, it was announced that Sakura Gakuin would continue as an 8-member group until their disbandment on August 31, 2021. All eight of the remaining members were given a position on the student council, with Kokona Nonaka as the tenth and final Student Council President. Sana Shiratori became the Talk Chairman, Miki Yagi became the third vice-president, and Miku Tanaka became the second spirit chairman, with Yume Nozaki as the first and only PR chairman, Neo Sato as the fourth education chairman, Miko Todaka as the third performance chairman, and Sakia Kimura as the first and only "reckless" chairman and also the youngest Sakura Gakuin member to ever be appointed onto the student council. The group held their final concert on August 29, 2021 at

Nakano Sun Plaza , formerly Nakano Sun Plaza, is a hotel in Nakano, Tokyo. The hotel includes a concert hall, the Nakano Sunplaza Hall (formerly Nakano Sun Plaza Hall). Built in 1973,

, before disbanding two days later.

Members

Sakura Gakuin employed a line-up changing system in which older members would leave the group and new members joined each year. Since the group's theme was that of an elementary and

junior high school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

, when a member graduated from junior high, specifically her third year, she would leave Sakura Gakuin as well, during a ceremony the group held around the end of the Japanese school year (late March) in which these members would "graduate". At the time of the group's disbandment, the group consisted of the following eight members. Note: Names presented here are in Western format (i.e. given name followed by family name) as opposed to

Japanese name in modern times consist of a family name (surname) followed by a given name, in that order. Nevertheless, when a Japanese name is written in the Roman alphabet, ever since the Meiji era, the official policy has been to cater to Western expec ...

Past members

Members that leave Sakura Gakuin also complete ninth grade education in school, and are considered "graduated".

Member timeline

Sub-units

The sub-units of the group were described as extra-curricular activities, each with its own theme and genre. For example, the Heavy Music Club

performed music which combined J-pop and heavy metal and wears

Gothic Lolita is a subculture from Japan that is highly influenced by Victorian clothing and styles from the Rococo period. A very distinctive property of Lolita fashion is the aesthetic of cuteness. This clothing subculture can be categorized into three ...

outfits; the Go Home Club Sleepiece performed live wearing pajamas, with light choreography invoking movements during sleep; and the Science Club Kagaku Kyumei Kikoh Logica?, which members perform wearing

lab coat A white coat, also known as a laboratory coat or lab coat, is a knee-length overcoat or smock worn by professionals in the medical field or by those involved in laboratory work. The coat protects their street clothes and also serves as a simpl ...

s, aimed to get people more interested in science and uses scientific terms in the lyrics. The Heavy Music Club, performing as Babymetal, was spun off from Sakura Gakuin in 2013 following the graduation of its lead singer, Suzuka Nakamoto, and is now considered a separate musical act, with no current Sakura Gakuin member being a member of the club. An italicized English name in the "club" column denotes that the group in question is presently known to be defunct.

Discography

References

External links

*
Official profile
at Amuse Inc. * {{Authority control Japanese pop music groups All-female bands Japanese girl groups Japanese idol groups Japanese-language singers Musical groups established in 2010 2010 establishments in Japan Universal Music Japan artists Child musical groups Musical groups from Tokyo Fictional schools Amuse Inc. artists 2021 disestablishments in Japan Musical groups disestablished in 2021