Shinoda Mariko Biography

PROFIE

• Name: Shinoda Mariko (篠田麻里子)
• Nickname: Maririn (まりりん)
• Birthdate: March 11th, 1986
• Birthplace: Fukuoka, Japan
• Blood Type: A
• Hobbies: Fashion
• Audition song: None
• Height: 168cm
• Bust: 87cm
• Waist: 57cm
• Hips: 85cm

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 HISTORY

While most of the members of AKB48 were selected through auditions, Shinoda Mariko is so far the only exception. Before joining, she worked part-time in the café on the same floor as the AKB48 theater. Having intended to audition for the group, she unfortunately had to work on the date of her audition and was thus unable to attend.

She shared this story with customers at work as little more than a talking point, and was surprised when hundreds of them wrote to Akimoto Yasushi requesting that she be allowed to audition. Presumably realizing that she came with a pre-prepared fan base, Akimoto allowed her to join the group as the most recent member of Team A just three months before Team K was formed.

It is for this reason that she is not present in the DVD of Team A's first stage but can be seen in the PV to the single Skirt, Hirari; the first she participated in, unlike the rest of Team A who had all previously participated in the single Sakura no Hanabiratachi.

It was not long after joining that Shinoda began to exhibit her potential and improved rapidly - while it had seemed that Akimoto had chosen his consistent leads in Skirt, Hirari as Sukahira Seven and intended to stick with them, over time he appears to have changed his mind and pushed Shinoda to the group's forefront in place of Narita Risa.

Shinoda is perhaps most widely known for her love of Hamtaro, and the song Koike from Team A's third stage, in which she took all of the speaking parts along with a lead singing role. While the addition of Team B has resulted in some shifts in the leads of AKB48 in general, Shinoda has remained close to the forefront for every single to date, and seems set to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.