Rino Sashihara

2007-2012: AKB48

In October 2007, she auditioned and was chosen as a trainee for the 5th generation of AKB48. She was promoted to a regular member of Team B in August 2008. Her first title track single was "Ōgoe Diamond", in October of that year. She placed 27th in the popularity-driven 2009 General Election, where she was grouped with the "Under Girls", the ones who would perform on the first B-side singles. She remained in that position on the follow-up single releases until the following year, the 2010 General Election, where she placed 19th and was grouped with the main girls who sing on the title track. On August 2009, AKB48 announced that she would transfer to Team A, although the transfer did not occur until July 2010.

On December 4, 2010, Sashihara attempted to upload 100 articles in a day on her official blog, with the number of page views reaching 35 million on the same day.

In January 2011, Sashihara starred in a half-hour television program titled "Although You Are Sashiko (This Program Is Totally Unrelated to AKB)" (さしこのくせに〜この番組はAKBとは全く関係ありません〜, Sashiko no Kuseni (Kono Bangumi wa AKB to wa Mattaku Kankei Arimasen)), broadcast by TBS, which features her hetare (ヘタレ, means somewhat cowardly, incompetent, impatient) character. The program was subtitled "A variety program to train Sashiko" (さしこ育成バラエティ, Sashiko Ikusei Variety).

Sashihara starred as the lead character in the NTV4 drama "Muse no Kagami" starting on January 14, 2012. She sings the theme song titled "Soredemo Suki Da yo", which was released as her debut solo single in May 2, on the major record label Avex Trax.

In April 2012, it was announced that Sashihara would produce Yubi Matsuri, an idol festival to be held at Nippon Budokan on June 25, featuring girl groups such as Momoiro Clover Z, Idoling!!!, Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku, Super Girls, Tokyo Girls' Style, Passpo and Watarirouka Hashiritai 7.

2012-: Transition to HKT48

On June 16, 2012, Sashihara was demoted and transferred to HKT48, due to her involvement in a dating/sex scandal. The tabloid Shukan Bunshun published an article in which a man who allegedly dated and slept with Sashihara came forwards. Sashihara replied by saying that the man was "just a friend", and the story was completely false. On June 20, 2012, Sashihara had a panic attack onstage, and hyperventilated due to the stress.

Sashihara officially debuted at the HKT48 Theater as a member of HKT48 Team H on July 5, 2012. Her "Send-off Party" stage performance for AKB48 was, however, postponed since it coincided with Natsumi Matsubara's birthday stage performance. Her send-off was eventually held on July 23, 2012, and involved Team A as well as HKT48 Team H members as guest performers.

Sashihara released her second single, "Ikujinashi Masquerade", on October 17, 2012. The single reached number one on the Oricon Weekly chart, which made it only the third solo single by an AKB48 member ever to do so.

On April 28, 2013, it was announced at the Budokan Arena concert that Sashihara would assume the position of HKT48 co-manager and theater manager, while continuing to be a member of HKT48 Team H. In an interview with Asahi Shimbun, she said "I helped select the numbers and members to perform when HKT48 held its first concert at Nippon Budokan hall (in Tokyo). What I had in mind was to use old songs of AKB48. The reason is that the current age makeup of HKT48 and the progression of the members’ growth are similar to those of AKB48 several years ago." Although already enjoying a privileged position inside her destination group as show host and unofficial leader, Sashihara's promotion was also seen by some as a confirmation of Yasushi Akimoto's wish to grant her a role in the management of the group because of her production skills, something he's been hinting at since as early as 2010.

Sashihara's talents as self-producer have not gone unnoticed by the management, which has granted her many opportunities to demonstrate her full potential throughout the years. Most notably, in 2012 Sashihara was tasked with producing her own concert "Yubi Matsuri", which was held in June 25, 2012, and featured a multitude of idol groups from various agencies, ranging from Idoling!!! to Buono! On May 12, 2013, during the night show AKB Eizo Center (also co-hosted by Sashihara) it was announced that she would produce SKE48 member Kaori Matsumura's first solo single "Matsumurabu", which was originally planned to be released in a limited number of one thousand copies with an additional batch to be reprinted later. The allotted budget for the single was set at ten thousand yen, with Sashihara being given free reins over costume design, lyrics writing, PV direction, as well as choice of music and instrumental arrangement. Commenting on the news, producer Yasushi Akimoto explained that the reason for Sashihara's full-spanning involvement in the project was because he was sure that, as an idol fan herself, she knew what was best to bring out Matsumura's charm.

Sashihara was announced as having received the most votes in AKB48's annual general election in 2013. She received 150,570 votes, beating out Yuko Oshima, who received 136,503 votes. She thus earned the right to be the center on their single "Koi Suru Fortune Cookie".

In the wake of her mainstream popularity, on August 11, 2014, Sashihara's first auto-biography, "Gyakuten-ryoku ~ Pinchi o Mate ~", was published by Koudansha, recording over 20,000 copies sold in its first week of release and prompting a number of subsequent reprints. The content of the book, compiled on the basis of a series of interviews with Sashihara, presents a recollection of various periods of her private life from her teenage years as a wota and hikkikomori up to her current job as a group manager with a stress on the lessons she learned by overcoming hurdles and "turning a predicament into a strong point". The book was widely advertised by press as a self-improvement volume, whose reading was recommended to salarymen and OL, as well.

In 2015, Sashihara won AKB48's general election with a total of 194,049 votes, returning to the center position. In 2016, Sashihara won AKB48's general election with a total of 243,011 votes. In 2017, Sashihara won AKB48's general election with a total of 246,376 votes.

AKB48 general elections

Solo singles

* RIAJ Digital Track Chart was established in April 2009 and discontinued in July 2012.

Albums with AKB48

Performance groups

Films

Dubbing

TV dramas