Sakurazaka46

Sakurazaka46 (櫻坂46; Sakurazaka Forty-six), formerly Keyakizaka46 (欅坂46; Keyakizaka Forty-six), is a Japanese idol girl group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. The group was created on August 21, 2015, becoming Nogizaka46's first sister group under the Sakamichi Series. The group was rebranded as Sakurazaka46 after their last concert on October 13, 2020. The group's fans are known as Buddies.

As Keyakizaka46, the group had released nine singles, eight of which topped the Oricon Singles Chart and Billboard Japan Hot 100. The group had also released three compilation albums, one of which was released by Hiragana Keyakizaka46, a subgroup who later became an independent group, Hinatazaka46. Additionally, the group hosts multiple variety shows, radio programs, and television dramas.

On February 22, 2015, during the Nogizaka46 3rd Year Birthday Live at Seibu Dome, Nogizaka46 announced plans to recruit the first generation members for their new project. The new group's name was Toriizaka46 (鳥居坂46), named after the Toriizaka area in the Roppongi district of Minato, Tokyo, and the recruitment was started on July 28. The final stage of the audition took place on August 21, the same day Nogizaka46 was created four years earlier, and 22 were selected out of 22,509 candidates. At the same time, the group's name was suddenly changed to Keyakizaka46; however, its reason is unclear. Furthermore, two members, Mizuho Suzuki and Mayu Harada, left the group before their first performance, bringing the total number of members to 20.

Similar to Nogizaka46, Keyakizaka46 began airing a television show on October 4 titled Keyakitte, Kakenai? (欅って、書けない?; So, can you write 'keyaki'?) on TV Tokyo. On November 29, the show announced a new member, Neru Nagahama. Nagahama had passed the auditions but did not join due to her parents' objections. She debuted as the first member of a newly-formed subgroup called Hiragana Keyakizaka46 (けやき坂46) and auditions for more members started soon after.

On December 16, the group gave its first live performance at Fuji TV's music show FNS Music Festival. The center position in the choreography was held by the youngest member Yurina Hirate, being 14 at the time.

On April 6, 2016, the group debuted their first single, Silent Majority. All members except Nagahama were selected to perform in the title song. It sold 261,580 copies in the first week and ranked first on the Oricon weekly chart. The single also broke the debut week sales record for female artists, previously held by HKT48 with their single Suki! Suki! Skip!.

Between April and May, eighteen people auditioning for Hiragana Keyakizaka46 live streamed on Showroom as part of the audition process. Eleven of those passed and became official members, joining Nagahama. The expanded subunit debuted with "Hiragana Keyaki" as part of Keyakizaka46's second single, Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai.

Keyakizaka46's first featured drama Tokuyama Daigorō o Dare ga Koroshitaka? premiered on the TX network on July 16, 2016. Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai was used as the theme song. The group was also featured in KeyaBingo!, a variety show similar to AKBingo! and NogiBingo!