The Japanese Idol Group that spawned Babymetal, Sakura Gakuin, comes to an end today. The announcement was made on September 1 2020 and the farewell show was held two days ago at the Sun Plaza Hotel Concert Hall in Tokyo. The last eight members of Sakura Gakuin graduated and special guests included three successful graduates from the very early days, Ayami Muto, Ayaka Miyoshi and Airi Matsui whom all left the unit on March 25 2012. As usual, the show was filmed and I assume that fans will be able to buy a DVD/Blu-ray later on. On May 17, Sakura Gakuin put up their last music video on YouTube, a song called “The Days”. Efforts to save Sakura Gakuin has been made by fans but it seems to be over. I can confirm that interest in Sakura Gakuin is healthy. Even today as I write this I notice that my blog post about the end from August 31 2020 (no, I do not have a time machine, it is the time difference between Sweden and Japan that can result in me posting news seemingly before they do…), “Sakura Gakuin To End In 2021”, has good traffic (and have had visits nearly every day since which is very unusual). Had it not been for Sakura Gakuin I never would have discovered the joy of Japanese popular culture (outside of movies). And had it not been for Sakura Gakuin we would never have had Babymetal. Followers of this blog will know that I dived into the Fox Hole with all my heart when I discovered Babymetal in March 2017. The whole experience – and I would include Sakura Gakuin in this for sure – has been utterly wonderful. So today I would like to say Thank You to everybody that has been involved in Sakura Gakuin. The reddit support page, Sakura Gakuin – The Cherry Blossom Academy, will continue to exist and to follow all 33 graduates on their journeys. It is a wonderful source of information and joy. Also, I predict more releases under the Sakura Gakuin name. Would not a full documentary on DVD/Blu-ray be a good idea? I think so. We shall see. As for the farewell show, rumours have it that the girls from Babymetal were there. I have no way of knowing details but if this is true it says a lot about Japanese culture that nobody has posted a picture or two on social media. Only in Japan…
More Sakura Gakuin and early Babymetal history on Trinkelbonker: “Spot The Girls That Became Babymetal” (April 15 2017), “Japanese Idol Magazines” (April 27 2017), “Roots Of Babymetal” (May 20 2017), “Fly To The Future” (May 30 2017), “Ave Babymetal – Live Legend 1999 1997 Apocalypse (2013) DVD Review” (June 29 2017), “Essential Babymetal History (Sakura Gakuin DVDs)” (July 14 2017), “Twinklestars” (July 15 2017), “The Ultimate Babymetal Collectable (Sakura Gakuin CD)” (July 15 2017), “Minipati” (July 15 2017), “My Generation” (October 14 2017), “Babymetal Live Legend IDZ Apocalypse” (November 9 2017), “Suzuka Nakamoto Graduation Book” (December 2 2017), “Words Of Wisdom” (February 4 2018), “Suzuka Nakamoto Autograph” (March 13 2018), “Sakura Gakuin 2015 Graduation Book Arrives” (March 15 2018), “Sakura Gakuin 2012 Photo Book” (May 27 2019), “Early Sakura Gakuin Compilation” (August 28 2019), “First Babymetal Article In UK Rock Media (Kerrang! 1509)” (February 16 2000), “Babymetal Nostalgia” (March 7 2020), “Babymetal World Tour 2014 Apocalypse” (June 17 2020), “2013” (August 4 2020), “Sakura Gakuin To End In 2021” (August 31 2020), “Collecting Babymetal (Metal Hammer 267)” (October 7 2020), “Sakura Gakuin 10th Anniversary Book Coming Up” (January 27 2021), “Collecting Babymetal” (March 1 2021), “Collecting Babymetal” (July 16 2021) – Please note that Babymetal has its own tag on this blog.
(My shot of Sakura Gakuin era Babymetal spread – Big One Girls Magazine 11, printed in 2012)
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