Aobazaka46 Holds Audition Seminars in Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo With Current Sakamichi Members

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Three cities, three lineups

Audition seminars for Aobazaka46 — the newly announced one-year-only group that will feed new members into Nogizaka46, Sakurazaka46, and Hinatazaka46 — have been confirmed for three cities: Nagoya on September 17, Osaka on September 18, and Tokyo on September 23, 2026.

At each seminar, current members from all three sakamichi groups will appear to discuss the reality of group activities and share stories about their own audition experiences. Tokyo's event will run two separate sessions with different member lineups.

For participants in an already-open audition

Aobazaka46's audition itself opened August 18, 2026 and remains open for applications through October 8. These seminars are aimed at people who have already applied or are considering applying, rather than a public fan event.

What To Know

Seeing which specific current members from Nogizaka46, Sakurazaka46, and Hinatazaka46 are chosen to represent their groups at each city's seminar gives fans of any of the three groups a concrete new detail to follow, beyond the group's original announcement last month.

It's a distinctly Japanese idol-industry practice for established groups to actively participate in recruiting and mentoring the next generation this directly — current members appearing in person to explain "what it's really like" to prospective members is part of how the sakamichi franchise maintains its culture across generations.

What Fans Are Saying

Original Japanese

Easy Japanese

「青葉坂46」のオーディションセミナーが、名古屋・大阪・東京で開催されます。乃木坂46・櫻坂46・日向坂46の現役メンバーが登場します。