Sakuraba, a native of
Iwamizawa, Hokkaido, was born on 29 January 2006. During her youth, she was struggling through what she called "a really tough time" when she became interested in idols, recalling in an interview that she was "captivated by their strength and looked up to them so much that she" decided to become one. In particular, she often listened to the
Itzy song "
Dalla Dalla" as a source of emotional support at the time. She participated as one of the trainees in the 2023 series
Produce 101 Japan The Girls, finishing in 19th place. In March 2024, Sakuraba made her magazine debut in 's 60th issue, marking her first media appearance since
Produce 101. That same month, she made her runway debut at , wearing "a lovely pink outfit lavishly adorned with ribbons" and "amplif[ying] her already cute aura to the max" with a set of rabbit ears. In June 2024, she was hired as one of
Larmes regular models, and she was the 61st issue's cover model;
Model Press remarked of her appearance: "Clad in a custom-made, original -pink dress created just for her, she perfectly embodies the magazine's sweet and adorable aesthetic". In August 2024, Sakuraba appeared at 2024 Autumn and Winter, wearing a dress accented with lace and
velour alongside a set of cat ears and a cat tail and dancing to
Fruits Zipper song "New Kawaii" (a performance
Model Press said was done with "an abundance of charm and charisma") In September 2024, she held a "Cutest Me Ever" fashion campaign in collaboration with Sapporo
Parco. On 29 January 2025 (her 19th birthday), Lcode released Courage, a brand of coloured contact lenses made in collaboration with Sakuraba. In June 2024, Sakuraba joined . In July 2024, she joined
Cutie Street, which is part of the agency's idol project
Kawaii Lab.; she is the group's youngest member. On 21 June 2025, she formed the unit
PiKi with
Fruit Zipper member
Karen Matsumoto. On 25 July 2025, it was announced that she would take a brief hiatus from Cutie Street activities for the rest of the month due to health concerns. While appearing on
Produce 101 Japan The Girls, Sakuraba dropped out of high school due to low attendance. She then attended an online high school to obtain her diploma, ==References==