Jurina Matsui

Jurina Matsui (松井 珠理奈) is a Japanese TV personality, singer, actress, and YouTuber.

Mnet later confirmed Matsui was also withdrawing from Produce 48 where she placed 13th in the voting results of the fifth episode with 329,455 votes.

Jurina Matsui was born on March 8, 1997, in Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture as the only child to Yumiko Matsui, a cosmetologist.

Matsui was interested in singing since nursery school, then came to like dancing when she started to attend hip-hop dance school around the third grade of primary school.

Thinking singing and dancing are what idols do, Matsui started aiming to become an idol.

Matsui debuted with SKE48 in 2008 and was soon appointed as the center position for AKB48's single "Ōgoe Diamond", making her the first sister group member to participate and serve as the choreography center in the group's main single lineup.

Matsui graduated from SKE48 in 2021 with her last single "Koiochi Flag".

In 2008, Matsui auditioned for SKE48 and made her debut performance on October 5 at SKE48 Theater in Sakae, Nagoya.

Three months later, at the age of 11, Matsui was chosen as the choreography center and the cover girl for AKB48's single "Ōgoe Diamond".

It was the first time an AKB48 single would feature a member of a sister group.

In 2009, Matsui was chosen again as one of the centers for AKB48's 11th major single "10nen Sakura" with Atsuko Maeda.

In 2011, Matsui starred as one of the leading roles in the music video for AKB48's 20th single "Sakura no Ki ni Narō".

She is a former member of Japanese idol girl group SKE48 and former concurrent member of AKB48 (in 2012–2015).

In early 2012, following scandals in which members Natsumi Hirajima and Rumi Yonezawa resigned from AKB48, Matsui was added to AKB48 as a temporary concurrent member to fill in one of the vacant positions.

She later made her debut performance at AKB48 Theater on June 1.

At the next rock-paper-scissors tournament in 2013, Matsui came out as the winner after beating a total of 83 members which earned her the center position for the group's 34th single, "Kimi no Hohoemi wo Yume ni Miru".

In August, Matsui served as the choreography center for SKE48's debut single "Tsuyoki Mono yo" then continued to hold that position until "Mae Nomeri" in 2015.

In 2015, Matsui's first solo song "Akai Pinhiiru to Professor" was released as one of the new songs for AKB48's sixth studio album Koko ga Rhodes da, Koko de Tobe!.

During the broadcast of AKB48 All Night Nippon on October 21, 2015, Matsui announced that she would terminate her concurrent position in AKB48 Team K after three years to commit herself to SKE48.

She subsequently had her last performance at the AKB48 Theater on December 24.

As a solo artist, Matsui has starred in many supporting roles and had her first leading role in horror TV drama Death Cash (2016).

On June 16, Matsui collapsed on stage during a concert for the 10th AKB48 general election and had to be carried away to rest before returning.

In 2017, Matsui's first self-written song titled "Hana Uranai" was released and included in SKE48's second studio album Kakumei no Oka.

Matsui stated that the song consists of her feelings towards her fellow first-generation members.

In May, Matsui shared the choreography center position with Sakura Miyawaki for AKB48's commemorative single "Negaigoto no Mochigusare" which was used as the theme song for the junior high school division at the NHK All-Japan School Choir Competition.

She is recognized as SKE48's absolute "ace", having placed in the top 10 in many of AKB48's annual general elections and winning the 2018 election.

Since then Matsui continued to participate in the main lineup of AKB48's singles until 2018, except singles which lineup was decided by the rock-paper-scissor tournaments.

On September 18, Matsui was announced to be one of the center performers for AKB48's 28th single "Uza" with Yuko Oshima, and performed the song for the first time at the group's rock-paper-scissors tournament.

In May 2018, Matsui was one of the two SKE48 members to participate in the South Korean competition show, Produce 48.

The news of her win and sickness made her one of the three most-searched idols in the first half of 2018 according to Yahoo! Japan.

Matsui resumed her activities on September 6, 2018, and made a surprise appearance at the SKE48 Theater to announce her return.

Because of her long hiatus, Matsui was unable to participate in the recording of the song and music video of her winning single "Sentimental Train".

Matsui was temporarily replaced by storyboard and CG images in the unfinished version of the music video.

On September 25, the full version of both song and music video was released and could be downloaded by CD purchasers with serial numbers included in the CD.

She released her self-written first solo album Privacy on October 5, 2019.

After her graduation, Matsui is active as a TV personality and occasionally involves in sport events, especially pro-wrestling.

In April 2022, she entered an indefinite hiatus due to "poor physical condition".

At the end of the night, Matsui was announced as the winner with 194,453 votes and would become the center performer for AKB48's 53rd single.

On July 7, SKE48 manager Yuasa Hiroshi released a statement that Matsui would halt all activities to take some time off to recover.

On October 5, 2019, which is also the 11th anniversary of her debut, Matsui released her debut solo album Privacy under label Showroom Records.