is a Japanese music producer, television personality, and entrepreneur. She is best known as the producer of the girl groups =Love, ≠Me, and ≒Joy, and as a former member of girl groups HKT48, AKB48, and STU48. She holds the record for winning the annual AKB48 Group General Elections four times. She was also chairperson of the Tokyo Idol Festival from 2017 to 2021.
Sashihara joined AKB48 in 2007, and in 2011 became a member of its subgroup Not Yet, which released several singles as a separate unit. She was transferred to HKT48 in Hakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, in 2012, where she became theater manager in 2013. 2017 marked several major milestones of her career, as she became a founding member and theater manager of STU48; launched her first idol group as producer, =Love (Equal Love); won the AKB48 Group General Elections for the fourth time; and became chairperson of the Tokyo Idol Festival. She left HKT48 in 2019, and has since produced two sister groups to =Love: ≠Me (Not Equal Me) in 2019 and ≒Joy (Nearly Equal Joy) in 2022.
Aside from music production, Sashihara is a prominent variety television personality, as well as co-founder and producer of the cosmetic brand and the contact lens brand Topards.
Career 2007–2012: AKB48 In October 2007, Sashihara was accepted 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", released in October of that year. She placed 27th in the 2009 AKB48 Group General Elections, where fans voted for the members to be included in the singer lineups for the next AKB48 single, and was assigned to the "Under Girls" lineup, who would perform on the first B-side singles. She remained in that position for subsequent single releases until the 2010 General Elections, where she placed 19th and was assigned to the primary group, known as , who perform the title track. In 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 , broadcast by TBS, which features her persona. The program was subtitled .
Sashihara starred in the NTV4 drama Muse no Kagami starting on January 14, 2012. She sang the theme song, "Soredemo Suki Da yo", which was released as her debut solo single on May 2 on the major record label Avex Trax.
Sashihara produced the idol festival Yubi Matsuri, held at Nippon Budokan on June 25 and featuring girl groups such as Momoiro Clover Z, Idoling!!!, Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku, Super Girls, Tokyo Girls' Style, Passpo and Watarirouka Hashiritai 7.
2012–2017: Transition to HKT48, four-time AKB48 Group General Elections winner On June 16, 2012, Sashihara was transferred to HKT48 after the tabloid Shukan Bunshun published an interview with a man who claimed to have had an intimate relationship with her. She stated in response that the man was "just a friend" and that the story was completely false. Four days later, she had a panic attack onstage, and hyperventilated due to the stress. She debuted at the HKT48 Theater as a member of HKT48 Team H on July 5, 2012.
Sashihara released her second solo single, "Ikujinashi Masquerade", on October 17, 2012. The single reached number one on the Oricon Weekly chart, becoming the third solo single by an AKB48 member to reach that milestone.
In 2013, Sashihara assumed the position of HKT48 co-manager and theater manager, while continuing to be a member of HKT48 Team H. Her promotion was seen by some in the media as a confirmation of producer Yasushi Akimoto's intention to grant her a role in the management of the group due to her production skills, something he had been hinting at since as early as 2010. She produced SKE48 member Kaori Matsumura's first solo single "Matsumurabu", with free rein over costume design, lyrics writing, music video direction, as well as choice of music and instrumental arrangement.
Also in 2013, Sashihara won the annual AKB48 Group General Elections for the first time with 150,570 votes, beating previous year winner Yuko Oshima's 136,503 votes and making her the center (lead performer) for the first time for the single "Koi Suru Fortune Cookie".
In wake of her mainstream popularity, on August 11, 2014, Sashihara's first autobiography, , was published by Kodansha, selling over 20,000 copies in its first week of release and prompting a number of subsequent reprints. The book was based on a series of interviews with Sashihara and recollects various periods of her life and career. It was widely advertised by the media as a self-improvement volume recommended for working adults.
After taking second place to Mayu Watanabe in 2014, Sashihara won the AKB48 Group General Elections three years in a row with a total of 194,049 votes in 2015, 243,011 votes in 2016, and 246,376 votes in 2017. She opted out of the 2018 Elections, which would be the last such event to be held.
In 2017, Sashihara announced the audition for voice actress idols on April 29 and started producing the idol group =Love (Equal Love), consisting of voice actresses from the Yoyogi Animation Academy. In February, she became member and theater manager of the newly founded STU48, and resigned on November 25 to focus on HKT48. She also became chairperson of the annual Tokyo Idol Festival, where =Love had their first live performance in August; she would hold this position until she was succeeded by Neru Nagahama in 2021.
2017–present: Idol production and other business ventures On December 15, 2018, Sashihara announced that she would depart from HKT48. Her "graduation" concert, titled "Sashihara Rino Graduation Concert ~Sayonara, Sashihara Rino~", was held on April 28, 2019, three days before Japan's transition to the Reiwa era; she commented that she wanted to "do [her] best as an idol" until the very end of the Heisei era.
Sashihara launched ≠Me (Not Equal Me) in 2019 and ≒Joy (Nearly Equal Joy) in 2022 as sister groups to =Love. She won the Lyrics Award in the 67th Japan Record Awards for the =Love song "Tokubechu, Shite" in 2025.
Sashihara is co-founder and producer of the cosmetic brand , founded in 2022 in collaboration with talent agency Twin Planet and cosmetics manufacturer Koji Honpo, and the contact lens brand Topards. Ririmew products have won awards from prominent beauty portals LDK the Beauty in 2022 and @cosme in 2025.
AKB48 General Election placements
Sashihara's placements in AKB48's annual general election: Edition Year Final rank Number of votes Position on single Single Ref. 1 2009 27 1,170 Undergirls "Tobenai Agehachou (B-side on "Iiwake Maybe") 2 2010 19 6,704 Senbatsu "Heavy Rotation" 3 2011 9 45,227 Media Senbatsu "Flying Get" 4 2012 4 67,339 Senbatsu "Gingham Check" 5 2013 1 150,570 Center "Koi Suru Fortune Cookie" 6 2014 2 141,954 Senbatsu "Kokoro no Placard" 7 2015 1 194,049 Center "Halloween Night" 8 2016 1 243,011 Center "Love Trip / Shiawase wo Wakenasai" 9 2017 1 246,376 Center "#SukiNanda"
Discography
Solo singles Year Title Chart position Oricon sales Notes OriconWeeklySinglesChart (subscription only) BillboardJapanHot100*RIAJDigitalTrackChart* Firstweek Total 2012 "Soredemo Suki Da yo" 2 1 6 124,483 151,724 "Ikujinashi Masquerade" 1 4 68,403 85,798 with Anrire (Rina Kawaei, Rena Katō, Anna Iriyama)
* RIAJ Digital Track Chart was established in April 2009 and discontinued in July 2012.
Singles with HKT48
Year Title Role Notes 2013 "Suki! Suki! Skip!" A-side Also sang on "Onegai Valentine", "Ima ga Ichiban" and "Seifuku no Bambi" "Melon Juice" A-side Also sang on "Doro no Metronome" and "Namioto no Orugoru" 2014 "Sakura, Minnade Tabeta" A-side Also sang on "Kimi wa Doushite?", "Kidoku Suru" with Team H and "Kimino Kotoga Sukiyaken" "Hikaeme I Love You!" A-side Also sang on "Idol no Ouja" with Team H 2015 "12 Byō" A-side Also sang on "Rock Da yo, Jinsei wa..." and "Chameleon Joshikōsei" with Team H "Shekarashika!" A-side Also sang on "Tasogare no Tandem" and "Buddy" with Team H 2016 "74 Okubun no 1 no Kimi e" A-side Also sang on "Chain of love" "Saikō Kayo" A-side Also sang on "Yume Hitotsu" and "Yozora no Tsuki o Nomikomou" with Team H 2017 "Bagutte Iijan" A-side, Center Also sang on "Hitsuzenteki Koibito" and "HKT48 Family" "Kiss wa Matsushikanai no Deshōka?" A-side 2018 "Hayaokuri Calendar" A-side Also sang on "Kisetsu no Sei ni Shitaku wa nai" 2019 "Ishi" A-side, Center Graduation single. Also sang on "Dare Yori Te wo Furou" and "Itsudatte Soba ni Iru" (graduation song)
Singles with AKB48