Yurina Hirate

Yurina Hirate is a chart-topping J-pop singer, fashion model, dancer, and award-winning actress. Born in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on June 25, 2001, she began her music career as a member of the Japanese idol group Sakurazaka46. The all-female, multi-platinum group was formed in April 2015, with Hirate quickly emerging as Sakurazaka46's focal point and lead dancer. "Silent Majority," the group's debut single, shot to Number 1 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart in 2016, setting a new record for first-week sales by a Japanese girl group. Although she launched an acting career that same year with a role in TV Tokyo's Who Killed Daigoro Tokuyama?, she remained a member of Sakurazaka46 until January 23, 2020, during which time the group released seven additional Number 1 singles and won three Japan Record Awards. Meanwhile, Hirate's role as Hibiki Akui in the 2018 film Hibiki earned her the Newcomer of the Year award at the 2019 Japan Academy Film Prize, Japan's equivalent of the Oscars. Months after leaving Sakurazaka46's lineup, she debuted her first single as a solo artist, performing "Dance no Riyū" to a nationally televised audience at the FNS Music Festival in December 2020. The song's studio version was released on December 25, 2020, climbing to Number 6 on the Oricon Digital Singles Chart and cracking the Top 40 of Japan's Hot 100.