Ma Chia-ling

Biography

Ma Chia-ling (Chinese: 馬嘉伶; pinyin: Mǎ Jiālíng; born 21 December 1996), currently known under the stage name Macyarin (真(ま) 楪伶(ちゃりん), Ma Charin), is a Taiwanese tarento based in Japan. She was a member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. She was also the first and so far only member of AKB48 who is not Japanese. Her nickname is "Macharin" (まちゃりん). Má Ka-lêng is her Hokkien name.

Career

Ma debuted on 16 December 2015 at a concert of AKB48. She sang "Heavy Rotation" which was a mix of Japanese and Chinese. On 21 February 2016, she was officially promoted to Team B.
Ma entered the Senbatsu for AKB48's 51st single "Jabaja", which was released on March 14, 2018. She was also the lead performer for the unit Macharin and Friends. (まちゃりんと仲間たち。, Macharin to Nakamatachi.) which performed the coupling song "Tomodachi ga Dekita" (友達ができた).
On May 25, 2020, Ma announced her agency transfer from AKS to JPEG, Co. Ltd., as well as the launching of her YouTube channel. In 2022, she later changed her agency to CANVAS, an agency owned by stage production company ILLUMINUS.
On November 30, 2023, Ma announced that she will be graduating from AKB48. Her graduation was on February 20, 2024. After graduation, she aims to become a gaijin tarento and actress under the name of Macyarin (真 楪伶, Ma Charin), pronounced the same way in Japanese as her real name but written with different kanji characters.
Ma's first photobook, titled Kiseki to Deatta Toki (奇跡と出会った瞬間(とき); lit. 'The Time I Encountered a Miracle'), was released on July 11, 2024, published by Kadokawa and photographed in Bali, Indonesia. The title is a reference to her stage name: the second kanji of her name, 楪, which represents the yuzuriha tree, contains two ki (木) and one se (世) radicals, which form a homophone to the word kiseki (奇跡; lit. 'miracle').
On November 30, 2024, Ma's contract with CANVAS expired, and she announced that she is going independent. However, her freelance days were short, since on January 1, 2025, she became affiliated with Elixir Co., Ltd.