Sakura Miyawaki (
Japanese: 宮脇 咲良,
romanized: Miyawaki Sakura; born March 19, 1998), better known
mononymously as Sakura, is a Japanese singer and actress based in South Korea. She is currently a member of the South Korean girl group
Le Sserafim, and is a former member of South Korean-Japanese girl group
Iz*One, Japanese girl group
AKB48 and
HKT48.
Miyawaki began her music career with the girl group
HKT48 in 2011, and was a concurrent member of their sister group
AKB48 from 2014 to 2018. During her tenure, she held center positions for the singles "
Kimi wa Melody" and "
No Way Man". Miyawaki took a hiatus from HKT48 in 2018 after placing second in the reality competition show Produce 48, joining the girl group
Iz*One until 2021, then leaving HKT48 a few months later to pursue her idol career in South Korea by joining
Le Sserafim, which debuted in May 2022.
Miyawaki joined
HKT48 as a first generation trainee in July 2011.[2] She made her first official appearance as an HKT48 member on October 23 at a national handshake event for the song "
Flying Get". She made her theater debut on November 26 with a revival of
SKE48 Team S stage "Te wo Tsunaginagara".[3][4][5]
Miyawaki was officially promoted to full member status of HKT48 Team H on March 4, 2012, along with 15 other trainees.[6][7]
In 2012, Miyawaki became the first HKT48 member to have ranked in the
AKB48 general election. She received 6,635 votes, placing her at the 47th position.[8] Later that year, she landed her first A-side participation on AKB48's 28th single "
Uza". Although she did not make the A-side for the 29th and 30th singles, she appeared on the A-side for the 31st single, "
Sayonara Crawl", released on May 22, 2013, and placed 26th overall in AKB48's 2013 general election with 25,760 votes.[9]
On January 11, 2014, it was announced during the first day of HKT48's Kyushu 7 Prefecture Tour at Oita, that Miyawaki would be transferred to the newly formed Team KIV.[12] Later, at AKB48's Group Grand Reformation Festival, she was promoted to vice captain of Team KIV and given a concurrent position in AKB48 Team A.[13]
Miyawaki participated in the 2014 AKB48 general election and placed 11th overall with 45,538 votes, landing her a position on the A-side for "
Kokoro no Placard".[14] In that year's rock-paper-scissors tournament, Miyawaki lost in the 3rd round of the preliminary competition. However, management decided she would share the lead position with winner
Mayu Watanabe for AKB48's 38th single, "
Kiboteki Refrain", and became the first local HKT48 member to have lead position on an A-side single.[15][16][17]
In 2015, Miyawaki was given a lead role in AKB48's drama Majisuka Gakuen 4 along with
Haruka Shimazaki. The season premiered on January 19.[18] She placed 7th overall in the general election the same year with 81,422 votes.[19]
In July 2015, she released her first photobook, titled Sakura which reached number 1 on the weekly Oricon photobook chart and number 3 on the general book chart.[20]
She got her first solo lead position on AKB's 43rd single with "
Kimi wa Melody", released on March 9, 2016.[21]
2018–2021: Produce 48, Iz*One, graduation from HKT48
In 2018, Miyawaki participated and placed second in reality girl group survival show Produce 48 and became a member of Korean-Japanese idol group
Iz*One that debuted in October of the same year. She and the other two Japanese members of the group took a hiatus from their respective Japanese groups until their contracts with Iz*One expired in April 2021.[22] She also launched her own video gaming channel on
YouTube.[23] As of August 6, 2021, Miyawaki has over 692,000 subscribers and garnering 22 million video views.[24]
After Iz*One's disbandment in April 2021, a preview of her interview with the July issue of Vivi leaked that she was leaving HKT48. On May 15, 2021, Miyawaki confirmed her departure, with a graduation concert scheduled to be held on June 19.[25] A short version for the music video of her graduation song, "Omoide ni Suru ni wa Mada Hayasugiru" (思い出にするにはまだ早すぎる,
lit. "It's Too Early to Turn it Into a Memory Yet"), was uploaded to
YouTube on June 14, while the official audio was released on June 20.[26] Her final performance with HKT48 was on June 27.[27] In May 2021, Miyawaki became the face of the hair care brand Kerastase and the Chinese cosmetics brand Flower Knows.[28][29] On November 1, 2021, Vernalossom announced that Miyawaki's contract with them has concluded.[30]
On March 14, 2022, Miyawaki, alongside former Iz*One member
Kim Chae-won and former Produce 48 contestant
Huh Yun-jin, signed exclusive contracts with
Source Music, and were confirmed to debut as members of
Le Sserafim in May.[31][32] On March 21, 2022, she joined Japanese talent agency A.M. Entertainment for individual activities in
Japan.[33][34] On May 2, 2022,
Le Sserafim made their debut with the extended play, Fearless.[35]
AKB48 General Election placements
Miyawaki's placements in AKB48's annual general elections:
Miyawaki has been the main model of the Japanese colour contact lens company Molak since 2019.[43][44] In 2021, she was appointed the Asian brand ambassador of the makeup brand Flower Knows[45][46] and the muse of
Kérastase's Japanese branch, acting as the face of its "Blond Absolu" line.[47]
In 2022, Miyawaki was selected as Japanese clothing brand Lily Brown's main model, collaborating with its clothing lines and seasonal collections.[48][49]
In 2023, South Korean skin care brand Primera appointed Miyawaki as its global ambassador.[50]
Business
Miyawaki launched her cosmetic brand Cran by Molak in 2021, as a partnership with the brand Molak, which she models for.[44] The brand ceased operations on November 30, 2022.[51]
^"AKB48 32ndシングル 選抜総選挙" [32nd single selection elections]. AKB48 Official Site (in Japanese). June 8, 2013.
Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
^"AKB48 37thシングル 選抜総選挙" [37th single selection elections]. AKB48 Official Site (in Japanese).
Archived from the original on June 14, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
^AKB新曲センター宮脇咲良、インフルでダウン [AKB new song center Sakura Miyawaki comes down with the flu.].
Oricon News. March 3, 2016.
Archived from the original on June 5, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
^Yoon Sang-geun (March 14, 2022).
"미야와키 사쿠라·김채원 하이브 합류 "쏘스뮤직 걸그룹 데뷔"[전문]" [Miyawaki Sakura and Kim Chae-won join Hybe "Source Music girl group debut" [Full text]] (in Korean). Star News.
Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022 – via
Naver.
^Lee Jae-eun (March 21, 2022).
"쏘스뮤직 측 "김채원·사쿠라 그룹, 5월 데뷔 목표로 준비중"[공식]" [Source Music side "Kim Chae-won and Sakura group are preparing to debut in May" [Official]] (in Korean). Sports Khan.
Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022 – via
Naver.
^Jin, Sato (October 9, 2019).
"IZ*ONE宮脇咲良イメージモデルの新カラコンブランド『MOLAK(モラク)』登場!" [A new color contact brand "MOLAK" with the image model of IZ*ONE Sakura Miyawaki is launched!]. OKMusic (in Japanese).
Archived from the original on December 4, 2021. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
^
ab"Cran by Molak". Cran by Molak (in Japanese). September 15, 2021. Archived from
the original on September 15, 2021. Retrieved December 29, 2023. Producer: Miyawaki Sakura; 2011年から日本にて活動。2018年〜2021年まで韓国にて活動し、2年6カ月の活動を経て日本へ凱旋帰国。日本だけでなくグローバルな活動を展開。カラーコンタクトレンズ『MOLAK』のイメージモデルを務めている。 [Producer: Miyawaki Sakura; Active in Japan since 2011, she worked in Korea from 2018 to 2021, returning triumphantly to Japan after 2 years and 6 months of activity. She has been active not only in Japan but also globally. She is the image model for the colour contact lens "MOLAK".]
^"宮脇咲良が「フラワーノーズ」アジアブランド大使に就任" [Sakura Miyawaki appointed the Asian Brand Ambassador for "Flower Knows".]. PR Times (in Japanese). June 21, 2021.
Archived from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2021. SNSで話題のファッションコスメブランドFlowerKnows(フラワーノーズ)は、若い層に絶大な人気を誇る「宮脇咲良」をアジアブランド大使として、アンバサダーに起用。 [Flower Knows, a trendy cosmetics brand popular on SNS, has appointed Sakura Miyawaki, who is extremely popular among the younger generation, as its Asian brand ambassador.]
^"宮脇咲良×LILY BROWNコラボ第3弾は「フリルミニワンピース」"今着たい"を凝縮" [The third collaboration between Sakura Miyawaki and Lily Brown is the "Frilled Mini Dress", a condensed version of "what I want to wear now".]. Oricon News. July 7, 2022.
Archived from the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
^"【LILY BROWN×宮脇咲良】年間プロジェクトの最新スペシャルコンテンツ『宮脇咲良が誘うSpring Mood』を3月3日(金)12:00より公開!" [[LILY BROWN x Sakura Miyawaki] The latest special content of the annual project "Spring Mood by Sakura Miyawaki" will be released on March 3 (Fri.) at 12:00!]. PR Times (in Japanese). March 2, 2023.
Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.