Sayaka Akimoto

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Sayaka Akimoto
AKB48 20090704 Japan Expo 07.jpg
Sayaka Akimoto at Japan Expo 2009 in Paris, France
Background information
Native name 秋元 才加
Born (1988-07-26) July 26, 1988 (age 35)
Matsudo, Chiba, Japan[1]
Genres J-pop
Occupation(s) Japanese idol, singer, actress
Years active 2006 - present
Labels King (AKB48), Avex Trax (Diva), UMG Japan (with Chocolove from AKB48)
Associated acts AKB48, Diva, Chocolove from AKB48
Website www.akimotosayaka.jp

Sayaka Akimoto (秋元 才加 Akimoto Sayaka?, born July 26, 1988 in Matsudo, Chiba), is a Japanese idol singer, dancer, actress, television host, and model. She is best known as being a member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48, where she had served as the captain of Team K and has also been involved in the AKB48 sub-unit Diva.

Personal life

Akimoto was born and raised in Matsudo, Chiba to a Japanese father and a Filipino mother.[2] Since her father is Japanese and her mother Filipino, she was bullied in school a lot since being a Hafu is still considered improper in Japan - many Hafus have explained that it was hard growing up as a mixed-raced child and Akimoto has claimed to have felt embarrassment about it when she was a child. However in 2012, she ran the Tokyo Marathon for the second year in a row and donated the money to the Philippines.[3]

Akimoto's reason to join AKB48 was that her family was quite poor - in the second episode of variety show AKB Kousagi Dojo, she explained that she had three part-time jobs in highschool to pay for her fees herself. She also explained that she skipped a lot of training and practise lessons of her basketball club in High School because of the lack of time. Furthermore she said that AKB helped her a lot because with the money she earned as a member she didn't have to do three jobs anymore.

In another variety show, AKBingo! she admitted that she took home bentos from work to be able to feed her family. This was mentioned quite a lot during the show and turned into a joke.

Her family was suspected of accepting social welfare but Akimoto denied it by writing a blog post about it, saying that her family was indeed not wealthy but did not depend on social welfare and that she was happy to be born into this family.

At the age of 17 Akimoto joined the idol group AKB48 as a member of the second generation (known as the original Team K). As explained in an early episode of AKBingo! members auditioned by sending in selfies taken with their phones and out of the almost 12,000 people who applied, 19 passed and finally 17 were accepted, Sayaka Akimoto being one of them.

On the 23rd August 2009, a team shuffle was announced (Tokyo Dome Shuffle). In this Team Shuffle, some members were appointed new teams and captains plus vice-captains were introduced. Akimoto was made the captain of Team K, guaranteeing her a spot in the A-side of singles the band created.

She seems to be very intelligent as well; while many Japanese struggle with learning English,[4] Akimoto has shown to speak it quite fluently, for example by doing a parody of Lady Gaga called Lady Dada and speaking fluent English while performing the sketch.[5][6] Furthermore, she managed to become 2nd Place in the Shukan AKB Test, the 4th in the Mecchaike Bakajo Test and had 100% correct in "Narudo Highschool." All of these were special tests set for the members of AKB48 to test their intelligence.

Akimoto's fashion and build are considered less girly and cute than most of the other idols', especially within AKB48, but she shares this trait with Sae Miyazawa, who was a member of Team K as well. Together they were often called the Twin Tower as they were both tall and strong, representing Team K in this respect (whereas Team A stands for freedom and Team B for idol-like cuteness).[7]

Alleged sex scandal

On October 13, 2010, Akimoto was caught up in an alleged scandal with director Oji Hiroi after Weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun reported that he visited her apartment on October 9, and stayed overnight. According to the magazine, Hiroi visited her place 30 minutes after she came back home. After Ayaka Umeda (another AKB48 member), who at the time was Akimoto's roommate, left the house the next day, Akimoto and Hiroi were seen coming out of the apartment, albeit separately. The magazine asserts that Hiroi visited Akimoto's apartment on the 7th as well. Hiroi was known as the creator of the hit games Tengai Makyo and Sakura Taisen, and also produced the musical AKB Kagekidan. The scandal lay in the fact that Sayaka starred in the AKB48 musical, leading many to speculate whether she landed the part in an honest manner.[8]

Akimoto and Hiroi both denied anything happening between them during that night although Hiroi did admit that he stayed overnight and slept on a sofa and that they were only watching a movie together. Akimoto later on talked about this issue on the radio show AKB48 no all night Nippon which aired on October 16, in which she also apologized for creating a big issue and misunderstanding. She also announced that she would step down as the captain of Team K.[9]

On February 27, 2011, it was announced that Akimoto was re-instated as the captain of Team K after she completed the Tokyo Marathon. Various members of AKB48 showed their support for her by watching the marathon in the studio and leaving kind messages to her.[10]

File:AKB48 20090703 Japan Expo 53.jpg
Sayaka Akimoto during her live performance at Japan Expo 2009 in Paris

Career

2006-2013: Early career a AKB48 member

On the last day of the Budoukan concert on August 23, 2009, during the team shuffle, Akimoto was officially made captain of Team K. Akimoto has been featured on every single by the group as she is the Captain of Team K making her a regular featured member for most of their A-side tracks until she was suddenly hit with a scandal in 2010.[9] After the scandal she resigned as the captain of Team K[11] but after completing the Tokyo Marathon in 2011, she was reappointed the position.[12] Since then she has only appeared on A-side tracks from a general election or a rock-paper-scissors tournament. On August 24, 2012, Yuko Oshima replaced her as the captain of Team K.

She was sometimes seen performing with the group during their live appearances on TV when the other featured members are on busy schedules.[vague] She has since been involved with sub-unit group Diva under Avex. Akimoto is also one of the most well-known members among the public,[peacock term] as she was a regular on the popular noon TV show Waratte Iitomo, and as well as appearing in many variety TV shows.[citation needed] She was also one of the members in AKB48's own anime TV show, AKB0048 beside other popular members Minami Takahashi, Yuko Oshima, Tomomi Itano, Atsuko Maeda and others.

On April 7, 2013, Akimoto announced on her official blog that she would not be participating in AKB48's 2013 general election, and would be graduating from AKB48 to focus on her acting. Her graduation ceremony was held on August 22 at the Tokyo Dome,[13][14] and her final stage performance was held on August 28 at the AKB48 Theater,[15][16] and has been streamed live by Nico Nico Namahousou.[17] Later in 2014, she reunited with her sub-unit group DiVa to release their final single "Discovery" and eventually disbanded.

2014-present

On June 26, 2014, Akimoto was appointed as the Goodwill Philippine Tourism Ambassador in order to promote the Philippines as a tourist destination in Japan.[18]

Since leaving AKB48 she has starred in four cinematic movies (Me & 23 Slaves, 2014; Mango and the Red Wheelchair, 2015; Galaxy Turnpike, 2015; Bikuu, 2015) and two TV dramas (Fathers, 2014; Sumika Sumire 2016).[19]

Discography

With AKB48

Singles

Year No. Title Role[20] Notes
2006 1 "Aitakatta" A-side Debut with Team K. Also sang on "Dakedo..."
2007 2 "Seifuku ga Jama o Suru" A-side Also sang on "Virgin Love"
3 "Keibetsu Shiteita Aijō" A-side
4 "Bingo!" A-side Also sang on "Only Today"
5 "Boku no Taiyō" A-side Also sang on "Mirai no Kajitsu".
2008 7 "Romance, Irane" A-side Also sang on "Ai no moufu".
8 "Sakura no Hanabiratachi 2008" A-side
9 "Baby! Baby! Baby!" A-side
10 "Ōgoe Diamond" A-side Also sang on "109".
2009 11 "10nen Sakura" A-side
13 "Iiwake Maybe" A-side Ranked 12th in 2009 General Election.
14 "River" A-side
2010 15 "Sakura no Shiori" A-side[citation needed] Also sang on "Majisuka Rock 'n' Roll".
16 "Ponytail to Shushu" Under Girls Did not sing on title track. Sang on "Nusumareta Kuchibiru" as Under Girls; and "Majijo Teppen Blues"
17 "Heavy Rotation" A-side, Yasai Sisters Ranked 17th in 2010 General Election. Also sang on "Yasai Sisters".
18 "Beginner" Diva Did not sing on title track. Sang on "Nakeru Basho" as Diva.
19 "Chance no Junban" B-side Did not sing on title track; lineup was determined by rock-paper-scissors tournament.[21] Sang on "Alive" with Team K.
2011 20 "Sakura no Ki ni Narō" Diva Did not sing on title track. Sang on "Area K" as Diva.
-- "Dareka no Tame ni - What can I do for someone?" -- Charity single
21 "Everyday, Katyusha" B-side Did not sing on title track. Sang on "Yankee Soul".
22 "Flying Get" A-side Ranked 17th in 2011 General Election. Also sang on "Seishun to Kizukanai mama"; and "Yasai Uranai" as Yasai Sisters 2011.
23 "Kaze wa Fuiteiru" Under Girls Yurigumi Did not sing on title track. Sang on "Gondola Lift" as Under Girls Yurigumi.
24 "Ue kara Mariko" A-side Lineup was determined by rock-paper-scissors tournament;[22][23] She sang on "Zero-sum Taiyō" as Team K.[citation needed]
2012 25 "Give Me Five!" Special Girls B Did not sing on title track. Sang on "Hitsujikai no Tabi" as Special Girls B.
26 "Manatsu no Sounds Good!" Special Girls Did not sing on title track. Sang on "Mitsu no Namida" as Special Girls.
27 "Gingham Check" Under Girls Did not sing on title track. Ranked 20th in 2012 General Election.[24][25] Sang on "Nante Bohemian" as Under Girls.
28 "Uza" New Team K Did not sing on title track. Sang on "Scrap & Build" as New Team K.
29 "Eien Pressure" B-side Did not sing on title track; lineup was determined by rock-paper-scissors tournament. Sang on "Watashitachi no Reason".
2013 30 "So Long!" B-side Did not sing on title track. Sang on "Yuuhi Marie" as Team K.
31 "Sayonara Crawl" B-side Did not sing on title track. Sang on "How Come?" as Team K.[citation needed]
2014 36 "Labrador Retriever" B-side Did not participate in title song. Participated in "Kyō made no Melody" as graduated member.

Singles with SKE48

Year No. Title Role Notes
2016 19 "Chicken Line" B-side Sang on "Tabi no Tochū". Participated as graduated member.

Stage units

Team K 1st Stage "Party ga Hajimaru yo" (PARTYが始まるよ?)
  • Skirt, Hirari (スカート、ひらり?)
  • Hoshi no Ondo (星の温度?)
Team K 2nd Stage "Seishun Girls" (青春ガールズ?)
  • Blue Rose
  • Fushidara na Natsu (ふしだらな夏?)
Team K 3rd Stage "Nōnai Paradise" (脳内パラダイス?)
  • Kimi wa Pegasus (君はペガサス?)
Himawari Gumi 1st Stage "Boku no Taiyō" (僕の太陽?)
  • Himawari (向日葵?)
Himawari Gumi 2nd Stage "Yume o Shinaseru Wakeni Ikanai" (夢を死なせるわけにいかない?)
  • Confession
Team K 4th Stage "Saishū Bell ga Naru" (最終ベルが鳴る?)
  • Return Match (リターンマッチ?)
Team K 5th Stage "Sakaagari" (逆上がり?)
  • Mushi no Ballad (虫のバラード?) (Solo Unit)
Team K 6th Stage "Reset"
  • Ashita no Tame ni Kiss o (明日のためにキスを?)
Team K Waiting Stage
  • Anata to Christmas Eve (あなたとクリスマスイブ?)
  • Yuuwaku no Garter (誘惑のガーター?)

With Diva

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Main article: Diva (Japanese band) § Discography
  • "Tsuki no Ura gawa"
    • "Fade out"
    • "Information"
    • "Blue rose -Diva ver.-"
  • "Cry"
    • "No way out"
    • "Chika Suidō"
    • "Maria -Diva ver.-"
  • "Lost the Way"
    • "Kanashimi no Mirage"
    • "Kimi wa Pegasus -Diva ver.-"

Filmography

Movies

Year English title Japanese title Role
2007 Densen Uta 伝染歌 Matsuda Shuri (松田朱里?)
2009 Super Gore Girl 聖白百合騎士団 Takashi Yukie (鷹司有希恵?)
2009 High Kick Girl! ハイキック・ガール! Rika (リカ?)
2012 Ultraman Saga ウルトラマンサーガ Ozaki Anna (アンナ（尾崎杏奈）?)
2014 Tokyo Slaves 奴隷区　-僕と23人の奴隷- Arakawa Eia (荒川エイア?)
2015 BIKUU 媚空－ビクウ－ Biku (媚空?)
2015 Mango to Akai Kurumaisu マンゴーと赤い車椅子 Miyasono Ayaka (宮園彩夏?)
2015 Galaxy Turnpike ギャラクシー街道 Manmo (マンモ?)

Dramas

Year English title Japanese title Role
2008 Tadashii Ouji no Tsukuri Kata 正しい王子のつくり方 Kiryu Natsuki (桐生夏輝?)
2008 Ecogainder 環境超人エコガインダー Mudana-sama (ムダーナ?)
2010 Salary Man Kintaro 2 サラリーマン金太郎2 Torii Madoka (鳥居まどか?)
2010 Arienai! (episode 7) あり得ない! Aihara Kaori (相原香織?)
2010 Majisuka Gakuen マジすか学園 Chokoku (チョウコク?)
2011 Majisuka Gakuen 2 マジすか学園2 Chokoku (チョウコク?)
2011 Kudo Shinichi e no Chosenjo 名探偵コナン 工藤新一への挑戦状 Suzuki Sonoko (鈴木園子?)
2012 Asadora Satsujin Jiken 朝ドラ殺人事件 Niimi Miho (新見美穂?)
2012 Taiga Drama Daisakusen 大河ドラマ大作戦 Niimi Miho (新見美穂?)
2013 Hosou Hakubutsukan Kikiippatsu 放送博物館危機一髪 Niimi Miho (新見美穂?)
2013 Discover Dead (episode 1) ディスカバーデッド Mermaid
2014 Garo: Makai no Hana 牙狼〈GARO〉-魔戒ノ花- Biku (媚空?)
2014 Oyaji no Senaka (episode 10) おやじの背中 Ueda (上田?)
2014 Senkan Yamato no Curry Rice 戦艦大和のカレイライス Kureha Saori (呉羽沙織?)
2015 Orange: 1.17 Inochigake de Tatakatta Shoboshi no Tamashi no Monogatari ORANGE〜1.17 命懸けで闘った消防士の魂の物語〜 Yukimura Hana (雪村華?)
2015 Kouncho Kohiya Koyomi 紅雲町珈琲屋こよみ
2015 Wakaretara Sukina Hito 別れたら好きな人 Kihara Megumi (木原めぐみ?)
2016 Gūddo Mōningu Kōru グッドモーニング・コール Yukari (ゆかり)

Stage plays

Year English title Japanese title Role
2008 Oishii Timing おいしいタイミング
2010 Space Wars スペース・ウォーズ
2010 Act Izumi Kyoka 音楽劇 「ACT泉鏡花」 Tomohime (富姫?)
2012 Roman Holiday ローマの休日 Ann Princess (アン王女?)
2014 Kokumin no Eiga 国民の映画 Elsa Veesenmayer (エルザ・フェーゼンマイヤー?)

Musicals

Year English title Japanese title Role
2009 AKB Kagekidan Infinity AKB歌劇団 「∞・Infinity」 Muraama Ruka (村雨ルカ?)
2010 Minky Momo: Kagami no Kuni no Princess ミンキーモモ〜鏡の国のプリンセス〜 Nightmare (ナイトメアー?)
2011 Super Live Show "Double Heroine" スーパーLIVEショー「ダブルヒロイン」 Kinoshita Rachel (木下レイチェル?)
2012 Mozart l'Opéra Rock ロックオペラ モーツァルト Constanze (コンスタンツェ?)
2015 Shelock Holmes 2: Bloody Game シャーロック ホームズ2 ～ブラッディ・ゲーム～ Maria Clara (マリア・クララ?)

Television

Year Title Role
2008 Mujack Self
2008 AKB 0ji 59fun Self
2008–2013 AKBingo! Self
2008–2010 AKB48 Nemosu TV (AKB48ネ申テレビ?) Self
2009–2010 Shukan AKB48 (週刊AKB?) Self
2009 Music Fighter Self
2010 G.I. Goro Self
2010-2012 Waratte Iitomo! Self

References

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  14. ↑ http://mantan-web.jp/2013/08/22/20130822dog00m200049000c.html
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External links

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