http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Music/SakuraGakuin

The 2020 members * Left to Right: Yume Nozaki, Miko Todaka, Miki Yagi, Sana Shiratori, Kokona Nonaka, Miku Tanaka, Sakia Kimura, Neo Sato

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Sakura Gakuin (さくら学院 - literally Cherry Blossom Academy) is a school-themed Japanese Idol group managed by Amuse, the same agency which manages Perfume, One OK Rock, and Babymetal (originally a Sakura Gakuin subunit), amongst other talents. Most years, the group is comprised of twelve* (the very first year [2010] and the fifth [2014] had ten; the final year [2020-21] had eight) girls spanning anywhere from 5th to 9th grades (ages 10-15).note Not every nendo has all grades represented  2010 had no 9th-graders; 2012, 2014, 2016, & 2020 had no 5th-graders; 2013 and 2017 had no 6th-graders.

Started in 2010* (announced in Idol magazine Pure Pure on Apr 30th 2010; homepage created May 5th; the first Ameblo diary [Ayami's] posted May 6th), with their first public appearance at the inaugural TOKYO IDOL FESTIVAL that August. The groups main Gimmick is that it is a "Unit Limited to the Growth Period", meaning that when members graduate from middle school in real life (the end of compulsory education in the Japanese school system), they also leave the group, prompting the annual end-of-term "Road To Graduation" concert at the end of March. note The Japanese school calendar resets at the beginning of April. Sakura Gakuin normally holds its Tenyuusei show, where new recruits are revealed to the fans, at the end of or immediately following Golden Week (a bunch of official holidays in a row spanning April 29th to May 5th). April is used to introduce the new girls to returning members and get everyone prepared for the Transfer Ceremony.

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Just like a school, the subunits of Sakura Gakuin are called Clubs (-bu)  such as the Cooking, Science, Tennis, Art, Heavy Music, Purchasing, Baton Twirling, Newspaper, and "Go Home" themed clubs.* The only exception to date is Puro-Resu Dōkō-kai, which is translated as "Pro Wrestling Fan Circle". Songs from whichever clubs are active in a year, along with songs from the whole group, are collected in an album released around the end of the Japanese school year. For the group's first few years, they would also release singles containing additional studio material absent from the nendo album. Regrettably, despite their popularity with fans and the girls themselves, all remaining clubs except Kobaibu ("Purchasing") were officially stopped at the end of the 2018 school year and Kobaibu did not perform onstage during the 2019 year (they appeared in costume on social media to promote merchandise).

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The group also releases various videos as bonuses on special editions of their albums. One of these is the Class Test, which involves the members taking a test in general knowledge every year.

There is a Student Council with designated roles. Which positions exist depends on the year, though there is always a President. Other titles used over the years include Talk Chairman, Education Chairman, Spirit Chairman, Performance Chairman, Mood Chairman, Production Chairman, and Vice President. The President will always be from the Senior year even if there is a junior with more time in the group. Other positions are usually divided amongst the other 9th-graders, with the exception of Vice President who, if the title is active, will always be an 8th-grader. The girls are accompanied by their "Homeroom Teacher" Hayashi Mori (commonly referred to as Mori-sensei) who often acts as a mentor to them, if perhaps a Trickster Mentor sometimes.

In addition to their albums and stage shows, plus occasional print and televised interviews, the group also hosts a weekly livestream series on Monday evenings, originally on TV Asahi's LoGiRL platform from January 2015 through March 2017, then on the FreshLive and Openrec.tv platform from July 2017 to the present. These normally only feature a few of the girls at a time, allowing them an opportunity to show off their personalities  real, stage, or both  to fans in a way they otherwise couldn't. Mori-sensei usually joins them on these broadcasts, helping with showrunning and keeping the girls on their toes. Sometimes graduates will also drop in to plug whatever project they're working on. While the respective shows have proper titles* (Houkago Manande Monday for the LoGiRL show and Ganbare!! FRESH! Monday for the Freshlive/ORTV version), fans and the girls themselves typically just call them by their channels (LoGiRL and FRESH) instead.

Other talent agencies have Idol training units (for example the Hello! Project Kenshuusei). Sakura Gakuin is unusual even with respect to these due to the school year membership limit  the absolute longest any girl can be in the group is five years, and most members aren't there that long. Also, there is no senior Idol group or project the members are specifically aiming for  indeed, most graduates pursue other occupations: as models, TV presenters, media personalities, actresses (TV, voice, film, stage), etc., and a few have left entertainment entirely.

The 2020 Coronovirus pandemic threw Japanese entertainment into chaos, and Sakura Gakuin was hit particularly hard. The 2019 Graduation ended up being postponed until August 30th 2020, and even then it was a livestream-only event with no audience. Then, on September 1st, staff announced that 2020 would have no new transfers and that, due in part to social distancing requirements making live shows impossible, the school would close on August 31st 2021. That date is, coincidentally, one day after the eleventh anniversary of Sakura Gakuin's public debut. The announcement also reiterated that the remaining girls would continue to receive the training they were promised following the closure, albeit in a different fashion.

Has an entry on the other wiki .

Members

Members in 2020 {seniority order taken from SG's website} Sana Shiratori  Joined 2018  Seventh Talk Chairman

Kokona Nonaka  Joined 2018  Tenth Class President

Miku Tanaka  Joined 2017  Second Spirit Chairman

Miki Yagi  Joined 2017  Third Vice President

Neo Satou  Joined 2019  Fourth Education Chairman

Miko Todaka  Joined 2019  Third Performance Chairman

Yume Nozaki  Joined 2018  P.R. Chairman

Sakia Kimura  Joined 2019  "Reckless" Chairman Graduated Members (based on join date) Ayami Muto  Founding member: First Class President. Graduated 2012

Ayaka Miyoshi  Founding member: Graduated 2012

Airi Matsui  Founding member: Graduated 2012

Suzuka Nakamoto  Founding member: Second Class President. Graduated 2013

Marina Horiuchi  Founding member: 1st Vice President (2012), Third Class President. Graduated 2014

Raura Iida  Founding member: Performance Chairman. Graduated 2014

Nene Sugisaki  Founding member: First Talk Chairman. Graduated 2014

Hinata Sato  Founding member: Mood Chairman. Graduated 2014

Moa Kikuchi  Joined 2010 * (while Yui and Moa were added to the roster at a later time than "Ayami's Eight", Sakura Gakuin didn't start performing without them, and they revealed that they were intended to be part of the "first batch", hence most fans and Mori-sensei still consider them founding members) : Fourth Class President. Graduated 2015

: Fourth Class President. Graduated 2015 Yui Mizuno  Joined 2010: Production Chairman. Graduated 2015

Hana Taguchi  Joined 2011: First Spirit Chairman. Graduated 2015

Rinon Isono  Joined 2011: Fifth Class President. Graduated 2016

Yunano Notsu  Joined 2012: Second Talk Chairman. Graduated 2015

Saki Ooga  Joined 2012: First Education Chairman. Graduated 2016

Mariri Sugimoto  Joined 2012. Graduated 2013 (she left early to pursue modeling after grade school)

Saki Shirai  Joined 2013: Third Talk Chairman. Graduated 2016

Aiko Yamaide  Joined 2013: 2nd Vice President (2016), Seventh Class President. Graduated 2018

Sara Kurashima  Joined 2014: Sixth Class President. Graduated 2017

Megumi Okada  Joined 2014: Fourth Talk Chairman. Graduated 2018

Mirena Kurosawa  Joined 2015: MC Chairman. Graduated 2017

Momoko Okazaki  Joined 2015: First Ganbare! Chairman. Graduated 2018

Maaya Asou  Joined 2015: Second Education Chairman (2017), Fifth Talk Chairman. Graduated 2019

Marin Hidaka  Joined 2015: First Hamidase! Chairman. Graduated 2019

Kano Fujihira  Joined 2015: 2nd Performance Chair (2018), Ninth Class President. Graduated 2020

Soyoka Yoshida  Joined 2015: 3rd Education Chairman (2018), 2nd Ganbare!! Chair. Graduated 2020

Yuzumi Shintani  Joined 2016: Eighth Class President. Graduated 2019

Tsugumi Aritomo  Joined 2016: Second Hamidase! Chairman. Graduated 2020

Momoe Mori  Joined 2016: Sixth Talk Chairman. Graduated 2020

Sub-Units

Baton Twirling Club: TWINKLESTARS (active: 2010-2012, 2014-2015) Ayami (leader), Marina, Raura, Nene, Hinata, Yui, Moa (2010-2012) Yui, Moa, Yunano, Sara, Aiko (2014-2015)

Go Home Club: sleepiece (active: 2010-2014, 2015-2017, 2019) Raura, Nene, Marina (2010-2014) Saki Ooga, Mirena, Maaya (2015-2016) Mirena, Maaya, Kano (2016-2017) Maaya, Marin, Kano (2019)

Cooking Club: MiniPati (active: 2009-2017) note (formed in April 2009 with Marina, Raura, and Nene as part of AMUSE 'FOOD ACTION NIPPON' supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries; it became a sub-group when they joined Sakura Gakuin as founding members) Raura, Nene, Marina (2009-2011) Hana, Moa, Yui (2011-2015) Aiko, Marin, Momoko (2015-2018)

Heavy Music Club: Babymetal (active: 2010-) note (became an independent group when Suzuka graduated in 2013) Suzuka, Yui, Moa (2010-2017) Suzuka & Moa (2017- )

Newspaper Club: SCOOPERS (active: 2010-2012)  Ayaka & Airi

Tennis Club: Pastel Wind (active: 2012-2014) Nene (leader), Marina, Hana, Yunano (2012-2013) Nene (leader), Hana, Yunano, Saki Ooga (2013-2014)

Science Club: Kagaku Kyumei Kikoh LOGICA? (active: 2012-2014, 2015-2017) Hinata, Marina, Rinon (2012-2014) Rinon, Sara, Megumi (2015-2016) Sara, Megumi, Momoko (2016-2017)

School Store Club: KOBAIBU (active: 2014-) Yunano & Saki Shirai (2014-2015) Saki Shirai & Soyoka (2015-2016) Soyoka & Tsugumi (2016-2020)

Pro-Wrestling Circle (active: 2014-2015)  Hana & Rinon

Art Club: trico dolls (active: 2018-2019)  Momoe (leader), Yuzumi, Yume

Discography

Albums Sakura Gakuin 2010 Nendo ~message~ (2011)

Sakura Gakuin 2011 Nendo ~FRIENDS~ (2012)

Sakura Gakuin 2012 Nendo ~My Generation~ (2013)

Sakura Gakuin 2013 Nendo ~Kizuna~ (2014)

Sakura Gakuin 2014 Nendo ~Kimi ni Todoke~ (2015)

Sakura Gakuin 2015 Nendo ~Kirameki no Kakera~ (2016)

Sakura Gakuin 2016 Nendo ~Yakusoku~ (2017)

Sakura Gakuin 2017 Nendo ~My Road~ (2018)

Sakura Gakuin 2018 Nendo ~Life Iroasenai Hibi~ (2019)

Sakura Gakuin 2019 Nendo ~Story~ (2020) Compilation Albums: Houkago Anthology from Sakura Gakuin (2014) note Contains only subunit songs. Singles Yume ni Mukatte / Hello! IVY (2010) note December 8th, which SG considers its "official" anniversary.

Verishuvi (2011)

Tabidachi no Hi ni (2012)

WONDERFUL JOURNEY (2012)

My Graduation Toss (2013)

Ganbare!! (2013)

Jump Up ~Chiisana Yuki~ (2014)

Merry Xmas To You (2019) DVD Singles Heart no Hoshi (2014)

Aogeba Toutoshi ~From Sakura Gakuin 2014~ (2015)

School Days -2015- (2015)

Sakura Gakuin contains examples of: