Nako Yabuki (矢吹奈子, Yabuki Nako, born 18 June 2001) is a Japanese singer and actress. She is a member of the Japanese idol girl group HKT48 and part of the South Korean-Japanese girl group Iz*One after the competition television show Produce 48.
She joined HKT48 in November 2013. From 2015 to 2017, she was a concurrent member of AKB48. In 2018, she competed in the South Korean survival show Produce 48. She placed sixth and debuted as a member of Iz*One.[2] She is an exclusive model for Love Berry.[3] She is also known for her role as young Minami Asakura in the film Touch (2005).[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 became a member of Korean-Japanese idol group Iz*One. She and the other two Japanese members of the group will take a hiatus from their respective Japanese groups until their contracts with Iz*One expire in April 2021.[10]
AKB48 general election placements
Since debuted in 2013, Yabuki already take a part in sixth edition of AKB48's annual general election. This is Yabuki ranking placement :
