Sakura Miyawaki

Biography

Sakura Miyawaki (宮脇咲良, Miyawaki Sakura; born March 19, 1998), also known mononymously as Sakura, is a Japanese singer and actress based in South Korea. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Le Sserafim, and a former member of South Korean–Japanese girl group Iz*One and Japanese girl groups AKB48 and its sister group 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.

Early life

Sakura Miyawaki was born on March 19, 1998, in Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, where she was raised. Her parents divorced when she was a year old. She has a younger half-brother, twelve years her junior, from her mother's second marriage. Influenced by her mother, she began attending a local musical school at a young age, and at the age of 10, she appeared as Young Nala in the Shiki Theatre Company's musical The Lion King. In 2010, she participated in "The Broadway Experience" in New York, where she received intensive dance, singing, and acting lessons from Broadway musical actors and choreographers for a week. She later graduated from the Maria Musical Academy in her hometown of Kagoshima.

2011–2017: Career beginnings

Miyawaki joined HKT48 as a first-generation trainee in July 2011. 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".
Miyawaki was officially promoted to full member status of HKT48 Team H on March 4, 2012, along with 15 other trainees. That year, 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. In October, 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. In the same year, Miyawaki made her first A-side participation with HKT48 on their first single "Suki! Suki! Skip!" (Like! Like! Skip!) and Melon Juice.
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. 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.
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". 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.
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. She placed 7th overall in the general election the same year with 81,422 votes. In July, she released her first photobook, Sakura, which peaked at number 1 on the weekly Oricon photobook chart and number 3 on the general book chart. She achieved her first solo lead position on AKB's 43rd single with "Kimi wa Melody", released on March 9, 2016.

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 knew very little Korean upon joining the group, but improved her skills with the help of Lee Chae-yeon and other Korean members of the group who could speak Japanese. Miyawaki 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. She also launched her own video gaming channel on YouTube in 2018, which had over 717,000 subscribers and 25 million video views by March 16, 2025.
After Iz*One's disbandment, a preview of Miyawaki's 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. At the concert, held in Fukuoka, Miyawaki was joined by other former AKB48 and HKT48 members including Nako Yabuki, Rino Sashihara, and Haruka Kodama to perform their groups' songs; she also sang several of her solo songs including "Yume de Kiss Me". 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. Her final performance with HKT48 was on June 27. On November 1, 2021, Vernalossom announced that Miyawaki's contract with them had concluded.

2022–present: Debut with Le Sserafim

On March 14, 2022, Miyawaki, alongside former Iz*One member Kim Chaewon and former Produce 48 contestant Huh Yunjin, signed exclusive contracts with Source Music, and were confirmed to debut as members of Le Sserafim in May. On March 21, 2022, she joined Japanese talent agency A.M. Entertainment for individual activities in Japan. On May 2, 2022, Le Sserafim made their debut with the extended play, Fearless.
In 2026, Miyawaki was included on the Forbes Japan 30 Under 30 list.

Endorsements

On November 14, 2015, Miyawaki was chosen as the model for the "Kagoshima Roman Theater" campaign, aimed at promoting tourism and showcasing various attractions in Kagoshima. In September 2016, Miyawaki collaborated with Erika Kenko Dojo to promote the champagne drink "Yukousen," alongside four of her HKT48 bandmates. In October 2016, a new campaign starring Miyawaki was announced to promote World Heritage Sites in Kagoshima City, including the Shōko Shūseikan.
In 2019, Miyawaki was selected as the main model for the Japanese color contact lens brand Molak. In May 2021, Miyawaki was selected as the Asian brand ambassador for the Chinese cosmetics brand Flower Knows, and the face of the hair care brand Kérastase Japan, representing its "Blond Absolu" line. In 2022, she was selected as the main model for the Japanese clothing brand Lily Brown, collaborating on its seasonal collections. In 2023, South Korean skincare brand Primera appointed her as its global ambassador. In January 2026, Miyawaki was appointed the first K-pop global ambassador for the Japanese lifestyle company Felissimo, launching a collaborative yarn craft line under the "SAKURA MIYAWAKI × Couturier" brand. The partnership involved in-depth product planning and a television appearance on NHK to showcase the crochet kits. In June 2026, Miyawaki was selected as the brand ambassador for Maybelline New York's new line of mascara products.

Business

Miyawaki launched her cosmetic brand Cran by Molak in 2021, as a partnership with the brand Molak, which she modeled for. The brand ceased operations on November 30, 2022. In January 2025, she launched a personalized knitting and crochet brand called "Kkurochet", and participated in the design and planning of the project.

AKB48 General Election placements

Miyawaki's placements in AKB48's annual general elections:

Composition credits

All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database, unless otherwise noted.