Masaki Sato

**Masaki Sato** is a 10th generation member of Morning Musume, as well a member of the SATOYAMA movement units Harvest, Jurin and Sato no Akari. She is also Wally's adoptive mother.

She graduated from both Morning Musume and Hello! Project on December 13, 2021 due to health issues.

As of April 2022, she is part of the M-line club.

## History

### Early Life

Sato Masaki was born on May 7, 1999 in Hokkaido, Japan.

On September 29, 2011, Sato was selected from Morning Musume's 10th Generation audition to join the group along with Haruna Iikubo, Ayumi Ishida, and former Hello Pro Kenshuusei member Haruka Kudo. The tenth generation made their official presentation on the same day they were announced as new members in the "Morning Musume Concert Tour 2011 Aki Ai Believe ~Takahashi Ai Graduation Memory Special~" concert, and they participated in a performance of the song "Tomo." They also participated in the end of the song "Namidacchi."

### 2012

On April 18, it was announced that Reina Tanaka and the 9th & 10th Generation members would participate in a new stage play titled Stacey's Shoujo Saisatsu Kageki. The musical ran from June 6-12.

During the last few days of her first concert tour, she cut her hair short.

On May 13, information was released about an event for the 9th and 10th generation members of Morning Musume as well as S/mileage’s 2nd generation members, titled Mosuma FC Event ~Gachi☆Kira~. It took place on June 15th, 18th, and 20th at Yokohama Blitz.

On October 10, it was announced that Sato would be a member of the new unit Harvest alongside Erina Ikuta, Ayumi Ishida, and Takeuchi Akari.

### 2013

On May 7, Sato had her birthday event, titled Sato Masaki Birthday Event ~14 sai nau nauuuu!!~. Guest included fellow 10th generation member Haruka Kudo.

On July 23, it was announced that Sato would be a member of the new unit Jurin alongside Juice=Juice member Miyamoto Karin.

### 2014

On March 13, it was announced that Sato would be a member of a newly formed SATOYAMA movement unit called Sato no Akari.

On May 7, Sato celebrated her 15th birthday. This special event was called Morning Musume '14 ~Sato Masaki Birthday Event 2014~. It featured two performances in Tokyo.

### 2015

On May 7, Sato celebrated her 16th birthday at a special event called Morning Musume '15 Sato Masaki Birthday Event. It featured two performances in Tokyo.

### 2016

On May 20, Sato celebrated her 17th birthday at a special event called Morning Musume '16 Sato Masaki Birthday Event, featuring one performance at Yamano Hall in Tokyo.

On December 22, it was announced that Sato had injured her back and was diagnosed with acute lower back pain from a lumbar herniated disc. As a result, she missed the Morning Musume '16 x ANGERME FC Event "Gachi☆Kira Christmas Sen" on December 24, as well as the cheki and handshake events on December 25.

On December 28, it was announced that Sato would be missing the Hello! Project COUNTDOWN PARTY 2016 ~GOOD BYE & HELLO!~ concert, as well as the January 2 to January 4 shows of the Hello! Project 2017 WINTER tour due to her back injury. She would have an appointment with her doctor on January 4 to determine whether she is fit to perform again or not.

### 2017

On January 6, it was announced that Sato will be taking a break from activities until late February. Sato had a re-examination of her lumbar disc herniation two days before, which the doctor concluded she was still not in the condition to resume performing on stage. At this time, the UP-FRONT PROMOTION representative and Sato herself revealed that she was diagnosed with a suspected lumbar disc herniation back in June 2015, but she did not have enough time for physical training. As of now, Sato will do physical training throughout January as the doctor observes the progress of her condition. In mid-February they will judge whether she can restart activities in March, which the decision will be reported when the time comes.

Due to being in recovery during the production period, Sato was not featured in the A-sides of Morning Musume '17's 63rd single, "BRAND NEW MORNING / Jealousy Jealousy", released on March 8. In spite of this, she was featured in Limited Edition SP's exclusive B-sides.

On February 24, it was announced that Sato would be returning from hiatus on March 18, on the opening day of Morning Musume '17's spring concert tour.

Sato celebrated her 18th birthday at a fanclub event, titled Morning Musume '17 Sato Masaki Birthday Event, on May 8 at Differ Ariake.

On May 19, Sato released a digital song with Haruka Kudo titled "Miss Henkan!!".

On November 8 and 9, the 10th generation members of Morning Musume '17 held the Morning Days Happy Holiday 10ki Member Iikubo Haruna・Ishida Ayumi・Sato Masaki・Kudo Haruka Fanclub Tour in Yamanashi.

### 2018

On March 17, Sato was featured in the *graduation2018 Koukou Sotsugyou* published by TOKYO NEWS magazine&mook, commemorating her and other idols' graduation from high school in 2018.

On May 7, she celebrated her 19th birthday at a fanclub event titled Morning Musume '18 Sato Masaki Birthday Event at Differ Ariake.

On October 6, Sato released her first visual photobook, titled *Sankaku no Glass*.

### 2019

On March 8, it was announced that Sato would voice the recurring character Mei, the baby sister of the main character, in the NHK E Tele anime *Aware! Meisaku-kun* which began its fourth season on April 5.

On May 7, she celebrated her 20th birthday at a fanclub event titled Morning Musume '19 Sato Masaki Birthday Event with two shows at Shinagawa Stellar Ball.

On October 5, the *Hello Tsu PHOTOBOOK①* was released, including Sato's gravure that was originally published in a June 2018 issue of *Weekly Famitsu*.

### 2020

On May 7, she was set to celebrate her 21st birthday at a fanclub event titled Morning Musume '20 Sato Masaki Birthday Event with two shows at Zepp Tokyo. It was later cancelled due to the government's declaration of emergency following the spread of COVID-19 getting worse. The event was eventually rescheduled for August 26.

### 2021

On February 21, Sato Masaki was absent from a release event due to poor health and severe abdominal pain. It was later announced that she had been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome by a doctor. She had also taken a blood test that same day, and results would be announced on February 26. She was subsequently be absent from activities until then.

On March 12, it was announced that she would need two weeks of treatment for her irritable bowel syndrome, and she would be absent from the March 13 Hello! Project 2021 Haru "Kachou Fuugetsu" concert as a result.

On March 23, it was announced that Sato will remain on rest from the activities until the end of April as the symptoms of her irritable bowel syndrome have not changed. As result, she will be absent from the Hello! Project Hina Fes 2021, from the April 4 to 29 concerts of the Hello! Project 2021 Haru "Kachou Fuugetsu" tour, from the 16th ~That's J-POP~ release commemoration event on March 25 and 30, and from the "Junjou Evidence / Gyuu Saretai Dake na no ni" release event on April 3.

After consulting with a doctor, it was announced that she would be absent for concerts through May 30 so she can continue treatment and refrain from strenuous activities.

On June 3, an update on Hello! Project's website announced that Sato will be also missing the upcoming Hello! Project 2021 summer tour, scheduled to start in July, as it is still difficult for her to do work that involves long-term travelling and activities in an environment where she have to stay in the same place for a long time. She will be gradually resuming other activities by watching her situation from time to time. On July 5, another update on Hello! Project's website announced that she will be also absent from the Hello! Project 2021 Aki "Zoku Kachou Fuugetsu" tour.

On September 24, it was announced that Masaki Sato will be graduating from Morning Musume and Hello! Project on December 13 in order to begin activities as a solo artist. Since February, Sato has been suffering from the effects of irritable bowel syndrome, which has made her absent from several activities that she is satisfied with, mainly concerts and events. Despite her condition has been improving, it is still interfering with her activities, and she also expressed that it is difficult for her to continue activities as a Morning Musume member as she feels she has been causing trouble for the members and staff. As a result of discussions with her, she decided to improve her condition first than rather continue in the group under the situation where she can not make plans for the future. She also had a strong desire of graduating after a Morning Musume concert, and although she is not without concerns about her health, she has come to the conclusion that the group's upcoming concert at Nippon Budokan, which was originally planned, will be her graduation concert. Sato has also expressed desire to continue her music activities as a solo artist after graduating, so she is planning to distribute singing videos while monitoring her health.

On October 1, she and Ayumi Ishida held a joint fanclub event titled Morning Musume '21 Ishida Ayumi & Sato Masaki FC Event ～Hiyoko ga 10-nen tattara, saa nani ni naru? ~“Mabasude yattenai yo. Semete isho dake ki sasete!” “Iya, taitoru nagai yo!”, featuring two shows at Edogawa cultural center.

On December 13, She graduated from Morning Musume and Hello! Project because of health issues and to become a soloist.

On December 15, she opened an official Ameba Blog.

### 2022

On April 15, it was announced that she joined the M-line club.

### 2023

On January 1, she was transferred from UP-FRONT PROMOTION to J.P ROOM alongside Sayumi Michishige, Manaka Inaba, Chisaki Morito, Risa Ogata and Kaede Kaga.

On January 27, a staff Twitter account of Sato was opened. Along with it, it was revealed in a teaser video that Sato would be making her solo debut in spring.

On March 27, she was diagnosed with COVID-19. She had reported symptoms of sore throat and fever that morning, and took an antigen test which had a positive result. Release events for her debut single would be postponed until she is able to return in full health.

On March 29, she made her solo debut with the single Ding Dong / Romantic Nante Gara ja nai

## Appearance

She wears an emerald green shirt, emerald green trousers and emerald green shoes. She also has an emerald green cap, with black hair.

## Trivia

* Masaki was the fourth from last member to die in Homer Kills Morning Musume/Gets Grounded.
* Her official YouTube username is SatoStar.
* She has a very cheerful character.