Yurina Hirate (平手 友梨奈, Hirate Yurina; born June 25, 2001) is a Japanese singer and actress. She was the lead performer of the idol group Keyakizaka46 (now Sakurazaka46) until she started her solo career in 2020. As an actress, she has won awards for her starring role in Hibiki (2018) and appeared in Dragon Zakura 2 (2021) and The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn't Kill (2021).
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Early life and education
Yurina Hirate was born on 25 June, 2001. In March 2017, she graduated from junior high school.
Career
Hirate was the choreography center of the idol group Keyakizaka46 for eight singles. When she was selected as the center for the first time (for Keyakizaka46's debut single "Silent Majority", released in April 2016), she was 14 and was the youngest member of the girl group. The second Keyakizaka46's single "Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai" (released in August 2016) contained Hirate's solo song as one of the coupling tracks.
On October 8, 2016, at the GirlsAward 2016 Autumn/Winter show, she made her catwalk debut. In January 2017, she and Rika Watanabe (also from Keyakizaka46) appeared as models in the women's fashion magazine Larme for the first time. The 2017/14 issue of the manga magazine Weekly Young Jump (released on March 2) marked her first solo magazine cover. In the 2017/16 issue of the manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine, she again had a solo cover.
In June 2016, she made her acting debut in Keyakizaka46's TV drama Who Killed Daigoro Tokuyama? (徳山大五郎を誰が殺したか?). Since April 17, 2017, she has been a regular on a popular radio show for teenagers titled School of Lock! on Tokyo FM. Hirate played one of the lead roles in the 2017 Nippon TV dorama Cruel Crowd (残酷な観客達).
Hirate withdrew from Keyakizaka46 on January 23, 2020.
On December 9, 2020, Hirate performed her debut single "Dance no Riyū" for the first time at the FNS Music Festival. The single was later released digitally on December 25 with an accompanying music video released three days earlier. Her second single "Kakegae no Nai Sekai" was released on September 24, 2021. A music video for the song was later released on December 26, 2021.
On December 21, 2022, Hirate was announced to be the first artist to sign with Naeco, a newly established label under Hybe Japan, in order to expand her career globally. She was set to join the company's social platform, Weverse, in early 2023.
In July 2024, Hybe announced that they had decided to terminate Hirate's contract. On September 1, 2024, Hirate revealed that she had officially signed with Cloud Nine.
Public image
Hirate has been dubbed a "rebirth of Momoe Yamaguchi", "a masterpiece beyond Atsuko Maeda" and called one of the most attractive idols of 2016.
Personal life
Hirate is skilled at basketball, ballet, cartwheels, monkey bars, and blowing up balloons. When Hirate was little, she was influenced by her friends from nursery school and fell in love with basketball. She joined her school's basketball club in second grade and was assigned to the position of centre. Her team even won a championship at a tournament when she was in 6th grade. Hirate also studied ballet from the ages of five to twelve years old.
In February 2026, Hirate announced her marriage to actor Fūju Kamio.
