Meet award-winning J-pop group Sakurazaka46
JAPANESE idol group Sakurazaka46 — the group behind hits “Ban,” “Nobody’s Fault,” “Samidare yo,” “Nagare Dama,” and “Masatsukeisu” — accepted the AAA Best Musician and AAA Popularity Award at the 2023 Asia Artist Awards held at the Philippine Arena.
Previously known as Keyakizaka46, the group rebranded to Sakurazaka46 in October 2020.
As of this date, Sakurazaka46 has 28 members, with half of the band attending the awards show. A day before the event, Music Geek had the chance to meet the J-pop idols for an exclusive interview to introduce the band.
Matsuda Rina, Sakurazaka46’s captain, initiated the group’s official greeting with members Fujiyoshi Karin, Kobayashi Yui, and Tamura Hono. All members have at least five years of experience in the industry, with Kobayashi having eight years under her belt.
The J-pop group believes having multiple members is their strong point, enabling them to deliver meaningful messages through their performances. Furthermore, when asked about their favorite part of performing, they revealed that they often make eye contact with their members and find it enjoyable.
“When we are having fun on the stage, the fans enjoy watching us. I can feel the unity of the group enjoying itself together with our fans,” Matsuda shared.
The group selected the title track of their album released in the first half of 2023, “Start over!”
“It is a song that gives its listeners lively energy, and we feel that it translates to our audience as well,” Kobayashi noted.
Cheerfully, the idols also revealed that they appreciate preparing brand-new dance breaks whenever they have live shows.
For this reason, Fujiyoshi mentioned, “The members and the staff deliver their uttermost performance, and we feel thrilled when preparing for this new part aside from the original choreography of our songs. Overall, we enjoy learning new ways to improve our performance.”
Moreover, being a large group enables them to explore techniques such as danc- ing in unison. Specifically, Tamura shared, “We are a large group and can do unison dance. We try to execute the right angles while dancing as a group, from the tip of our fingers down to the tip of our toes.”
But the idols maintained they still try to present their individual characters to ensure that their audience receives their intended message.
When asked about the most memorable song the band has released, they revealed that their debut single, “Nobody’s fault,” holds meaningful memories.
“Whenever we perform that track, it reminds us of our beginnings when we debuted with it,” Matsuda said.
Since 2020, the essence of their music has constantly highlighted significant topics, from introspection to questioning societal expectations. Admirably, with themes as such, they hope their audience can relate to and feel the message, from the lyrics to the choreography.
They also expressed their hopes of delivering songs that would touch the lives of their listeners.
Fujiyoshi modestly responded when asked about the secret to their success. Besides upholding their goal since its debut, she stated, “There are many wonderful groups globally, but we wish to uphold our colors as Sakurazaka46, loved by our fans.”
Sakurazaka46 recently celebrated their 3rd anniversary. As Fujiyoshi mentioned, the J-pop group will continue developing their colors with their members, staff, and fans, also known as Buddies.
Wrapping up the interview, Matsuda said they can broaden their horizons and enjoy a blissful life together with combined efforts.