generasia:Featured article for 2021 week 21
Hinatazaka46
Hinatazaka46 (日向坂46), formerly known as Hiragana Keyakizaka46 (けやき坂46) or Hiragana Keyaki (ひらがなけやき), is a Japanese pop girl group produced by Akimoto Yasushi and signed to Sony Music Entertainment, and the fourth group in the "Sakamichi Series". The group was originally formed on November 30, 2015 as a distinct group from Keyakizaka46, with their name spelled out in hiragana in contrast to the main group's name in kanji. On February 11, 2019, they became an independent group and their name was changed to Hinatazaka46.
Their first single, "Kyun", was released on March 27, 2019, and surpassed 476,000 copies sold within the first week. The single became the best-selling debut single by a female artist in Japan, a record previously held by Keyakizaka46's "Silent Majority". "Kyun" also won the Best Choreography award at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards. That same year, Hinatazaka46 attended the 70th NHK Kouhaku Utagassen for the first time, where they performed "Kyun".
Their fifth single, "Kimi Shika Katan", is released this week on May 26th.
