Nako Yabuki

The native form of this personal name is Yabuki Nako. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Nako Yabuki (矢吹 奈子, born 18 June, 2001) is a Japanese actress and former singer. She is a former member of the Japanese idol girl group HKT48 and the South Korean-Japanese girl group Iz*One, having finished sixth in the competition television show Produce 48.^[2] As an actress, she is known for her role as young Minami Asakura in the film Touch (2005).^[3]

Nako Yabuki
矢吹 奈子
Yabuki in December 2023 at the 2023 Melon Music Awards
Born	(2001-06-18) 18 June 2001 (age 23) Tokyo, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2005[1]–present
Agent	Twin Planet
Musical career
Genres	J-pop K-pop
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	2013–2023
Labels	EMI Records[lower-alpha 1] Off The Record[lower-alpha 2] Vernalossom
Formerly of	AKB48 Iz*One HKT48
Korean name
Hangul	야부키 나코
Revised Romanization	Yabuki Nako
McCune–Reischauer	Yabuk'i Nak'o
Japanese name
Kanji	矢吹 奈子
Hiragana	やぶき なこ
Romanization	Yabuki Nako

She joined HKT48 in November 2013, and was a concurrent member of AKB48 from 2015 to 2017. She is an exclusive model for Japanese magazine Love Berry since 2016.^[4]

Career

Yabuki made her film debut as young Minami Asakura in the coming-of-age film Touch in 2005. Two years later, she appeared in JCB and Dainichi (ja) commercials.^[5] In 2009, she appeared in the made for television films Detective Samonji Susumu and My Father's Longest Day.^[6] She appeared in a Koala's March commercial in 2011.^[1] In 2012, she appeared in the short film On the Shinhori River.^[7] The following year, she appeared in the tokusatsu superhero film Gatchaman.

Yabuki is a fan of Rino Sashihara. During an AKB48 handshake event, she met Sashihara, who told her to audition for the group.^[8] Yabuki decided to audition for HKT48 instead, after Sashihara was demoted and transferred to HKT48.^[8] In 2013, she passed the third generation auditions for HKT48.^[9]

In 2018, Nako participated in reality girl group survival show Produce 48, and after ranking #6 in the final ranking,^{[10][unreliable source?]} she placed in the top twelve, and became a member of Korean-Japanese idol group Iz*One. She and the other two Japanese members of the group took a hiatus from their respective Japanese groups until their contracts with Iz*One expire in April 2021.^[11]

On April 29, 2021, her contract with Iz*One officially expired and she and the other two Japanese members returned to Japan. On May 15, 2021, Nako officially resumed HKT48 activities with a theater appearance.

On October 16, 2022, during HKT48's 11th-anniversary concert, she announced her graduation from the group with a graduation concert which was held on April 1, 2023.^[12] After graduation, she continued her career as an actress.

On January 28, 2023, Yabuki's contract with Vernalossom expired.^[13] On June 18, it was announced that Yabuki had signed on with Twin Planet.^[14]

AKB48 general election placements

Since her debut in 2013, Yabuki has taken part in five of AKB48's annual general elections. Her placements were as follows :

Edition	Year	Final rank	Number of votes	Position on single	Single
6	2014	Not ranked	Not ranked	Not ranked	Not ranked
7	2015
8	2016	28	28,276	Undergirls	Densetsu no Sakana[15]
9	2017	37	25,364	Next Girls	Tomadotte Tameratte[16]
10	2018	9	51,650	Senbatsu	Sentimental Train[17]

Discography

For Yabuki's discography with HKT48, AKB48 and Iz*One, see HKT48 § Discography, AKB48 discography, and Iz*One discography.

Songwriting credits

Year	Song	Album	With
2020	"Secret Story of the Swan (Japanese Ver.)"	Oneiric Diary	MosPick, Sakura Miyawaki
	"Violeta (Japanese Ver.)"	Twelve	Seung-soo

Filmography

For Yabuki's filmography with HKT48, AKB48 and Iz*One, see HKT48 § Filmography, AKB48 filmography, and Iz*One filmography.

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2005	Touch	young Minami Asakura		[3]
2012	On the Shinhori River		Short film
2013	Gatchaman	Dr. Nambu's daughter
2022	The Mukoda Barber Shop	Shizuku Ōhara		[18]

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2009	Detective Samonji Susumu	young Natsume	Television film
	My Father's Longest Day
2015	Fukuoka Love White Paper	Wakana
2015	Majisuka Gakuen 0: Kisaradzu Rantō-hen	Namaiki
2016	AKB Love Night Love Factory	Rin	Episode: "Graduation"
2021	Kao Dake Sensei	Sanjo Aika
2022	Convenience Store Heroes	Mizuki Shimamura	Cameo	[19]
	Kasouken no Onna Season 22	Fukawa Misato		[20]
2023	Numaru. Minato-ku Joshikosei	Yuzuki Kotona		[21]
	Iyashi no Otonari-san ni wa Himitsu ga aru	Tanabe Manami		[22]
	18-sai, Niizuma, Furin Shimasu	Sanjo Meika		[23]
	Renai no Susume	Takada Hanako		[24]

Television shows

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2018	Produce 48	Contestant	Finished 6th	[25]
2022–2023	The Idol Band: Boy's Battle	Host	with Rowoon	[26]
2023	Produce 101 Japan The Girls	Ambassador		[27]

Hosting

Year	Title	Notes	Ref.
2022	Gala Show 2022 Asia Artist Awards	with Hwang Min-hyun	[28]

Bibliography

Magazines

• Love Berry, Tokuma Shoten (2001), exclusive model since 2016.^[4]

Notes

1. As a member of HKT48 only.
2. As a member of Iz*One only.

References

1. しずちゃん、日本武道館のリングに登場! スーパーササダンゴマシンとのプレゼン対決に勝利!! (in Japanese). Yoshimoto Kogyo. January 26, 2016. Archived from the original on July 1, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
2. "Korean-Japanese Girl Group IZ*ONE Releases First Single 'La Vie en Rose'". Billboard. October 29, 2018. Archived from the original on January 6, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
3. HKT矢吹奈子、映画「タッチ」南役にメンバー驚き. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). July 21, 2015. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
4. "復活『ラブベリー』専属モデルに人気アイドル起用 HKT48なこみく、エビ中りったんら". Oricon. August 19, 2016. Archived from the original on November 9, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
5. 矢吹奈子のCM出演情報 (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on January 10, 2015. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
6. 矢吹奈子. Television Drama Database (in Japanese). Archived from the original on May 31, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
7. 新堀川の上で (in Japanese). eiga.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
8. HKT期待の星「なこみく」先輩を語る さしこは勧誘したのに... (in Japanese). Sports Nippon. August 3, 2018. Archived from the original on October 15, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
9. HKT48ひまわり組の初日公演で3期生サプライズお披露目 (in Japanese). Natalie. November 3, 2013. Archived from the original on September 17, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
10. "Meet the Final 12 Members of "Produce 48" Debut Group, IZONE". Koreaboo. 2018-08-31. Archived from the original on 2020-07-02. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
11. "[★밤TView]'프듀48' 장원영, 1등으로 아이즈원 데뷔..12등 이채연". entertain.naver.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-01. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
12. 矢吹奈子がHKT48を卒業 (in Japanese). Natalie. October 16, 2022. Archived from the original on October 16, 2022. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
13. Choi, Hye-jin (January 29, 2023). "아이즈원 출신 야부키 나코, 사쿠라 前 소속사와 계약 종료..향후 거취는? [스타이슈]" [Yabuki Nako, former member of IZ*ONE, terminates contract with Sakura's former agency.. What is the future? [Star Issue]] (in Korean). MT Star News. Archived from the original on January 30, 2023. Retrieved January 30, 2023 – via Naver.
14. "矢吹奈子 所属のお知らせ". TWIN PLANET ENTERTAINMENT (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2023-06-18. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
15. "AKB48 45th Single Senbatsu Sousenkyo 〜Bokutachi wa Dare ni Tsuiteikeba ii?〜". stage48. Archived from the original on May 21, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
16. "AKB48 49th Single Senbatsu Sousenkyo". stage48. Archived from the original on May 21, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
17. "AKB48 53rd Single Sekai Senbatsu Sousenkyo 〜Sekai no Center wa Dare da?〜". stage48. Retrieved May 26, 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}
18. "高橋克実の主演作「向田理髪店」公開日決定、矢吹奈子や運上弘菜も出演". Natalie. Archived from the original on June 26, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
19. "NI尾崎匠海がコンビニバイトの"ヒーロー"役でドラマ初出演、HKT48矢吹奈子やNMB48川上千尋らも登場". natalie.mu. September 18, 2022. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
20. "HKT48矢吹奈子：「科捜研の女」でJK姿に 事件の根幹に関わるキーパーソン" [HKT48 Nako Yabuki: A key person involved in the root of the case who appears as a JK in "Kasouken no Onna"]. MANTANWEB編集部. November 7, 2022. Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
21. "矢吹奈子「沼る。港区女子高生」出演決定！「揺れ動く繊細な気持ちを丁寧に表現できれば」【コメント】" [Nako Yabuki will appear in "Numaru. Minato Ward High School Girl"! "If I could express my fluctuating delicate feelings carefully" [Comment]]. ntv.co.jp. December 21, 2022. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
22. "武田航平&矢吹奈子&前田公輝ら「癒やしのお隣さんには秘密がある」出演へ". cinemacafe.net. 19 June 2023. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
23. "矢吹奈子：芸歴20年超で初の連ドラヒロイン 「18歳、新妻、不倫します。」でワガママ"お嬢様"に". MANTANWEB編集部 (in Japanese). September 7, 2023. Archived from the original on September 8, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
24. "『恋愛のすゝめ』新キャスト発表！". TBS (in Japanese). October 20, 2023. Archived from the original on November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
25. "'프로듀스48' 야부키 나코 F등급→A등급 초고속성장...고음폭발무대 이변". Segye Ilbo (in Korean). 2018-06-30. Archived from the original on 2021-06-06. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
26. Lee Seung-gil (July 28, 2022). "아이즈원 야부키 나코, 다시 한국에서 본다...로운과 '더 아이돌 밴드' MC 확정 [공식]" [IZ*ONE Yabuki Nako, see you again in Korea... Rowoon and 'The Idol Band' confirmed as MCs [Official]] (in Korean). My Daily. Archived from the original on July 28, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022 – via Naver.
27. 矢吹奈子 PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SEASON3 公式アンバサダーに就任決定 [Nako Yabuki appointed as PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SEASON 3's official ambassador]. Produce 101 Japan official website (in Japanese). May 15, 2023. Archived from the original on September 3, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
28. Ahn, Ha-na (October 11, 2022). "황민현·야부키 나코, '2022 AAA AFTER STAGE' 공동 MC 출격" [Minhyun Hwang and Nako Yabuki, co-MC for '2022 AAA AFTER STAGE] (in Korean). Maeil Broadcasting Network. Archived from the original on October 11, 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2022 – via Naver.

External links

• Nako Yabuki at Twin Planet (in Japanese)