Shinoda Mariko (篠田麻里子), nickname "Marikosama" (麻里子様), born March 11, 1986 i… Read Full Bio ↴Shinoda Mariko (篠田麻里子), nickname "Marikosama" (麻里子様), born March 11, 1986 in Fukuoka, Japan is a Japanese model and actress, as well as a former idol singer and member of idol group AKB48. She closed the chapter on her singing career with her graduation from AKB48, instead deciding to pursue a career in fashion.

After years as a popular front girl and one of the most recognizable members of AKB48, as well as the only member of the 1.5 generation, Shinoda announced her graduation from the group in June of 2013 and would officially graduate the following month. Her last single was "Koi Suru Fortune Cookie" (恋するフォーチュンクッキー).

Although Shinoda had auditioned for the first generation of AKB48 and failed, at the time of AKB48's humble beginnings, a vote box for fans was placed in the lobby to write the name of the member they liked. They encountered a number of votes for an unknown girl whom they found out was Shinoda who worked part time at the AKB48 cafe. Intrigued by this, Akimoto challenged her to remember 12 songs in four days and in turn she'd be able to perform on stage.

In 2006, two months after the group debuted, through customer's feedback she was able to join the group before the second generation and is the only member referred to as generation 1.5.

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.