The only three Japanese members of Japanese-Korean girl group IZ*ONEHKT48‘s Sakura Miyawaki and Nako Yabuki, and AKB48 Team 8‘s Hitomi Honda, will be putting their HKT48/AKB48-related activities on hold while they fulfill their IZ*ONE responsibilities until April 2021.

© AKS
© AKS
© AKS

IZ*ONE is the result of the reality show Produce48, which put together a new girl group from over 96 contestants from South Korea and Japan. The show was a collaboration between the Mnet series Produce 101 and the J-pop idol group AKB48. IZ*ONE was announced during the show’s finale on 31st August 2018.