• Birthplace: Ōita, Ōita, Japan
• Age: 31
• Height: 160 cm
• Weight: N/A
• Website: N/A

Rino Sashihara (指原 莉乃, Sashihara Rino, born November 21, 1992) is a Japanese singer, producer and actress. She is best known as a former member of idol groups HKT48, concurrently acting as the HKT48 theater manager, AKB48 and STU48. She was also a member of AKB48's unit Not Yet and is the producer of the idol groups =LOVE and ≠ME.

2007–2012: AKB48

In October 2007, she auditioned and was chosen as a trainee for the 5th generation of AKB48. She was promoted to a regular member of Team B in August 2008. Her first title track single was "Ōgoe Diamond", in October of that year. She placed 27th in the popularity-driven 2009 General Election, where she was grouped with the "Under Girls", the ones who would perform on the first B-side singles. She remained in that position on the follow-up single releases until the following year, the 2010 General Election, where she placed 19th and was grouped with the main girls who sing on the title track. In August 2009, AKB48 announced that she would transfer to Team A, although the transfer did not occur until July 2010.

On December 4, 2010, Sashihara attempted to upload 100 articles in a day on her official blog, with the number of page views reaching 35 million on the same day.

In January 2011, Sashihara starred in a half-hour television program titled "Although You Are Sashiko (This Program Is Totally Unrelated to AKB)" (さしこのくせに〜この番組はAKBとは全く関係ありません〜, Sashiko no Kuseni (Kono Bangumi wa AKB to wa Mattaku Kankei Arimasen)), broadcast by TBS, which features her hetare (ヘタレ, means somewhat cowardly, incompetent, impatient) character. The program was subtitled "A variety program to train Sashiko" (さしこ育成バラエティ, Sashiko Ikusei Variety).

Sashihara starred as the lead character in the NTV4 drama "Muse no Kagami" starting on January 14, 2012.[6] She sings the theme song titled "Soredemo Suki Da yo", which was released as her debut solo single on May 2, on the major record label Avex Trax.

In April 2012, it was announced that Sashihara would produce Yubi Matsuri, an idol festival to be held at Nippon Budokan on June 25, featuring girl groups such as Momoiro Clover Z, Idoling!!!, Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku, Super Girls, Tokyo Girls' Style, Passpo and Watarirouka Hashiritai 7.

2012–: Transition to HKT48

On June 16, 2012, Sashihara was demoted and transferred to HKT48, due to her involvement in a dating/sex scandal: the tabloid Shukan Bunshun published an interview with a man who allegedly dated and slept with Sashihara. She replied by saying that the man was "just a friend", and the story was completely false. On June 20, 2012, Sashihara had a panic attack onstage, and hyperventilated due to the stress. Sashihara debuted at the HKT48 Theater as a member of HKT48 Team H on July 5, 2012.

Sashihara released her second single, "Ikujinashi Masquerade", on October 17, 2012. The single reached number one on the Oricon Weekly chart, only the third solo single by an AKB48 member ever to do so.

In 2013 she assumed the position of HKT48 co-manager and theater manager, while continuing to be a member of HKT48 Team H. Sashihara's promotion was also seen by some as a confirmation of Yasushi Akimoto's wish to grant her a role in the management of the group because of her production skills, something he's been hinting at since as early as 2010.

In 2013 she would produce SKE48 member Kaori Matsumura's first solo single "Matsumurabu". Sashihara was given free reins over costume design, lyrics writing, PV direction, as well as choice of music and instrumental arrangement.

Sashihara received the most votes in AKB48's annual general election in 2013: with 150,570 votes she beat out Yuko Oshima, who received 136,503 votes.

In the wake of her mainstream popularity, on August 11, 2014, Sashihara's first autobiography, "Gyakuten-ryoku ~ Pinchi o Mate ~", was published by Koudansha, selling over 20,000 copies in its first week of release and prompting a number of subsequent reprints. The book was based on a series of interviews with Sashihara, and recollects various periods of her life and career. The book was widely advertised by press as a self-improvement volume, whose reading was recommended to salarymen and OL, as well.

In 2015, Sashihara won AKB48's general election with a total of 194,049 votes, returning to the center position. In 2016, Sashihara won AKB48's general election with a total of 243,011 votes. In 2017, Sashihara won AKB48's general election with a total of 246,376 votes.

In 2017, she started producing Japanese idol group =LOVE. and that same year became member and theater manager of the newly founded STU48. She resigned from STU48 on November 25 to focus on HKT48.