Minami Takahashi (高橋 みなみ, Takahashi Minami, born 8 April 1991) is a Japanese idol, singer, tarento and a former member of the Japanese girl idol group AKB48. She is in Team A of AKB48. She became the first General Director (総監督, sōkantoku) of AKB48 and its sister groups.[2] In an interview with Nippon Television in June 2010, AKB48 producer Yasushi Akimoto says she is the "eldest daughter of the 48 sisters".[3] She is also regarded as "soul of AKB",[4] and her motto "Making efforts will be paid" has inspired many members of AKB48.[5] She is commonly part of the main lineup of AKB48 singles. She was a member of the AKB48 sub-group no3b, alongside fellow AKB48 graduates Minami Minegishi and Haruna Kojima. She has a business alliance with Mama&Son Inc.[6]
Career
Takahashi was born in Hachiōji, Tokyo. In August 2005, she became one of the 30th HoriPro Talent Contest's 15 final candidates, but she did not win the competition's Grand-Prix prize. In October 2005, she participated in the first AKB48 audition and beat 7,924 other applicants to be chosen as one of the 24 founding members of the group. According to Tomonobu Togasaki, the manager of the AKB48 Theater, she had two unofficial advantages going for her, in that both her birthday (8 April; 1991-04-08) and her height (148 cm) contain the number "48".[7] She debuted with Team A on 8 December 2005.[8][9]
In 2008, no3b members, including Takahashi, appeared in the TV Tokyo drama Men Dol. She starred as Nami/Kai in this television series.[10]
On 23 August 2009, Takahashi was officially announced as the captain of AKB48's Team A.[citation needed]
Three years later, on 24 August 2012, with Mariko Shinoda replacing her as the captain of Team A, Minami Takahashi was promoted to be the General Director of the entire AKB48 enterprise, including all sister groups.[11]
Takahashi appears regularly in the AKB48 singles as one of the group's key singers. In addition, Minami frequently represents AKB48 on TV programs such as Music Station, and in other of the group's publicity events.[12] She was also scheduled to take part in the AKB48's 3-day live concert event titled "Takamina ni tsuite ikimasu" (たかみなについて行きます, lit. "We will follow Takamina"), which was to have been held on 25–27 March 2011 at the Yokohama Arena but was cancelled due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[13]
Minami Takahashi at the opening ceremony for the 4th annual Tokyo Detention House Exhibition, October 2015.
On 25 August 2012, the second day of AKB48 Tokyo Dome Concert, it was announced by Max Hole that Takahashi would make her solo debut with the company, through its Nayutawave Records label.[14][15] The single, titled "Jane Doe", was released on 3 April 2013. It is the opening theme song for the Fuji TelevisionTV dramaSaki, which stars Yukie Nakama.[16] She also released the single "Hito no Tobira" for the 2013 film The Smurfs 2 in which she provides the Japanese voice of Smurfette. [17]
On 8 December 2014, the 9th Anniversary of AKB48 Theater, it was confirmed by Takahashi herself that she would officially leave AKB48 exactly one year later, or 8 December 2015, the 10th Anniversary of the AKB48 Theater. Yui Yokoyama will then succeed her job as the General Director of AKB48.[18]
On 25 October 2015, during the handshake and autograph event at Pacific Yokohama had announced the details of AKB48's 42nd Single and Request Hour 2016. The 42nd Single will be released on 9 December 2015. She will be the Center which will be her final appearance on an AKB48 single.[19]
On 26 to 27 March 2016, her graduation concert titled "Congratulation Takahashi Minami Graduation "148.5 cm Have Seen a Dream" in Yokohama Stadium" was held at Yokohama Stadium, with her last theater performance on 8 April 2016.[20]
On 8 April 2017, Takahshi held her own birthday party titled "Minami Takahashi 26th Birthday Live 2017❤︎199104080127❤︎26❤︎" with the members of no3b reunited.[21]
Since her graduation, Takahashi has been hosting her own radio show "Takahashi Minami no [Korekara Nanisuru?]" (Takahashi Minami's "What are you going to do now?") on Tokyo FM airing every Monday-Thursday at 1:00 p.m. to 2:55 pm,[22] as well as having a solo singer career.
Personal life
On 1 May 2019, Takahashi announced her marriage to a non-celebrity man 15 years her senior.[23]
Did not sing on title track; lineup was determined by rock-paper-scissors tournament.[28] Sang on "Yoyakushita Christmas"; and "Kurumi to Dialogue" as Team A.
Did not sing on title track; lineup was determined by rock-paper-scissors tournament;[29][30] She sang on "Noël no Yoru"; and on "Rinjin wa Kizutsukanai" as Team A.[citation needed]
^愛してもいいですか?(初回限定盤) (in Japanese). Oricon News. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
^Center and A-side lineup information provided by "AKB48 歴代シングル選抜メンバー（2006年～2013年）" [(2006–2013) AKB48 successive single member selection]. entamedata.web.fc2.com. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
