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AKB48 (read "A.K.B. Forty-eight") is a girl group that has achieved enormous popularity in Japan,^[1] to the point of being characterized as a social phenomenon.^[2] The group has 64 members, ranging in age from early teens to mid-20s.^[3] Produced by Yasushi Akimoto, it is one of the highest-earning musical acts in the world, with 2011 record sales of over $200 million in Japan alone.^[4]

The group's twelve latest consecutive singles topped the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. In 2010, "Beginner" and "Heavy Rotation" placed, respectively, first and second in the list of Japan's best selling singles for the year,^[5] while in 2011 AKB48 occupied the whole top 5 of the Oricon Yearly Singles Chart.^[6] The band has sold over ten million records.^[7] More precisely, with 11,787,000 CD single sales by January 6, 2012 according to Oricon, AKB48 holds the record for most singles sold in Japan by a female group.^[8]

AKB48 is named after Akihabara (Akiba for short), the area in Tokyo where the group's own theater is located. The idea of AKB48's producer Yasushi Akimoto was to create a girl group that, unlike a regular pop group, that gives occasional concerts and that is mostly seen on TV, would have its own theater and perform there on a daily basis; the fans would always be able to go and see the girls live. Presently, AKB48 still performs at the theater every day,^[9] although, due to great demand, tickets are now distributed only via a lottery

AKB48 holds the Guinness World Record for being the world's "largest pop group".^[10][11] Currently, it consists of four subgroups: Team A, Team K, Team B, and Team 4 with 16 members each, summing up to a total of 64 girls.^[12] There is also a number of aspiring members, who are called "kenkyūsei" ("trainees").^[13] The member lineup often changes; when girls get older, they "graduate" from the group, while new members are cast through regularly held auditions.^[1] Having several teams not only allows the group to reduce the load on its members, since a daily concert at the theater is given by only one team, but also gives AKB48 opportunity to perform in several places and even countries simultaneously.

Yasushi Akimoto is also expanding his theater-based idol group concept to other cities and, since recently, countries. He has formed SKE48 (based at a theater in the Sakae area of Nagoya), SDN48 (intended to have a more mature image), NMB48,^[13] HKT48, JKT48 (Jakarta, Indonesia), TPE48 (Taipei, Taiwan), SNH48 (Shanghai, China). Another of his recent creations, Nogizaka46, was announced as an official rival for AKB48.

Given the large number of members in the group, AKB48 uses various selection methods to determine the member lineup who will participate in the recording of a single. Each year, one single's member lineup is determined by fans who vote for their favorite members in so-called "general elections", and one is decided in a rock-paper-scissors tournament between the members themselves. The members of the sister groups are also eligible. The popularity of AKB48 is so huge that in the last election the number of votes cast exceeded 1 million and the single "Everyday, Katyusha", that contained a voting card for the election, set a new Japanese all-time record for weekly sales of a CD single.^[14]

Concept [link]

AKB48 members are girls whose age ranges from 14 to 20-plus. They are recruited through auditions that are held regularly in Japan.^[9] Members of the group are not allowed to have boyfriends, and must be well-behaved.^[15] If they misbehave, they may be expelled from the group.^[16] When members get older, they "graduate" from the group and are replaced by new members.^[1]

AKB48 was founded based on the "idols you can meet" concept.^[17] The group's producer Yasushi Akimoto decided to create an idol group that, unlike a regular idol group that gives occasional concerts and that is mostly seen on TV, would have its own theater and perform there on a daily basis; the fans would always be able to go and see the girls live.^[13][17] Presently, AKB48 still performs at the theater every day, although, due to great demand, tickets are now distributed only via a lottery.^[9] The AKB48 Theater is located in the Don Quixote store in Akihabara, Tokyo.^[9]

The group consists of four subgroups: Team A, Team K, Team B, and Team 4. Having several teams not only allows the group to reduce the load on its members, since a daily concert at the theater is given by only one team, but also gives AKB48 opportunity to perform in several places and even countries simultaneously.^{[citation needed]} Each of the teams also has its own unique image.^[15] According to member Misaki Iwasa, Team A represents freedom, Team B is very idol-like with cutesy costumes, while Team K has a strong and powerful image.^[15] There is also a number of aspiring members (so-called trainees or "Kenkyūsei"), who learn the group's songs and are appointed as stand-ins for the main members, so that a replacement is always available. In addition to singing performances, members are heavily promoted throughout the Japanese mass media.^[9] The group regularly holds "handshake events", where fans get a chance to shake hands with the group's members.^[9]

In 2009, the concept of "senbatsu general elections" was introduced.^[13] In these elections, fans vote for their favourite members of AKB48 and its sister groups. Members who receive most votes get to participate in the recording of AKB48's next single^[13], are more heavily promoted,^[9] and get to sing center stage during the group's performances. To obtain a ballot, voters have to buy the group's singles.^[18] Another new concept, AKB48's rock-paper-scissors tournaments, was introduced in 2010 for the group's 19th single "Chance no Junban".^[19] Members of AKB48 and its sister groups compete against each other in the knockout tournament for being on AKB48's next single.^[20]

History [link]

2005–2006: Creation and independent releases [link]

AKB48 Theater in Akihabara, Tokyo

In July 2005, Yasushi Akimoto held an audition for a new theater-based idol girl group.^[21] Of the 7,924 girls that applied, 24 girls were chosen to become members of the group.^[21]

On December 8, 2005, the group debuted in the theater with only 20 members, who are later known as Team A.^[22] A new audition which was held in cooperation with NTT DoCoMo was subsequently announced.^{[citation needed]} This was the first audition where the applicants had to send in their audition videos with their mobile phones.^{[citation needed]} Out of the 11,892 applicants, 19 were chosen to join AKB48, but in the end only 18 girls joined the group to form Team K in April 2006.^[23]

In January 2006, Akimoto let Mariko Shinoda join the group without passing an audition, after she won a popularity vote by AKB48 fans.^[24] She was working as a waitress at the AKB48 Cafe after she had failed to attend the group's first audition.^[25]

AKB48 released its debut single "Sakura no Hanabiratachi" in February 2006. This single made it to the TOP10 Oricon weekly charts and sold 22,011 units in its debut week, a rarity for a group on an indie label.^[26] On March 1, AKB48 released their first photo book entitled Micchaku! "AKB48" ~Shashinshuu Vol.1 the DEBUT.^{[citation needed]} On March 31, member Yuki Usami graduates, thus becoming the first member to do so.^{[citation needed]} Team K started performing at the AKB48 theater on April 1.^[23]

AKB48 was preparing to make a major debut, on March 26, 2006

On June 7, the group released their second single, "Skirt, Hirari".^[27] Two days later, they sang their songs for the first time in a TV program.^[23] Ayako Uemura graduated from the group on June 17.^[23] In August 2006, AKB48 signed a major label contract with DefStar Records, a part of Sony Music Entertainment.^[28]

2006–2008: Major debut and the DefStar Records period [link]

Their first single under DefStar Records, "Aitakatta", was released on October 25, 2006, and it debuted at the 12th position on the Oricon weekly single charts.^[29] In the first 6 weeks of its release, "Aitakatta" sold a total of 25,544 copies.^[29]

In October 2006, a new audition was announced to form Team B,^[30] resulting in the arrival of 13 new members in December 2006.^[31] On November 3 and 4, AKB48 performed in their first concert entitled AKB48 First Concert: Aitakatta ~Hashira wa Nai ze!~" at Nippon Seinenkan in Shinjuku.^[23] The first-ever change to the lineup of AKB48's three teams was made in December 2006.^[23] Kazumi Urano, Shiho Watanabe and Natsumi Hirajima were transferred from Team A to Team B as supporting members.^[23] Ayumi Orii graduated from the group shortly after this, though she appeared in the unit Crayon Friends from AKB48 after her graduation.^{[citation needed]}

AKB48's fourth single "Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru" was released on January 31, 2007.^[32] It debuted at the 7th position on Oricon TOP10 charts.^[32] There has been speculation that the PV and lyrics to this song are an allusion to enjo kōsai (compensated dating), though this cannot been confirmed.^{[citation needed]}

On March 2, AKB48's second photo book AKB48 JUMP&CRY was released.^[33] AKB48's 5th single, "Keibetsu Shiteita Aijō", was released on March 18.^[34] The title song of this single revolves around the theme of school bullying and suicides.^{[citation needed]} "Keibetsu Shiteita Aijō" reached the 8th position on the Oricon TOP10 charts.^[34] AKB48's second concert tour, titled "AKB48 Haru no Chotto dake Zenkoku Tour ~Madamada daze AKB48!~", began on March 10.^[35]

In April 2007, Team B's information was added to AKB48's official website, albeit with five fewer members than the announcement original.^[23] This brought the group's numbers down from 53 to 48 - the first time since its creation that the member total reflected the group's name. Members Yū Imai, Michiru Hoshino, and Ayana Takada graduated at roughly the same time during June 2007.^{[citation needed]} The group's sixth single, "Bingo!", was released on July 18.^[36]

In October and November respectively, Shiho Watanabe and Kayano Masuyama graduated.^{[citation needed]} On December 31, 43 members of AKB48 appeared on the 58th Kōhaku Uta Gassen television program for the first time as part of the Akihabara performance segment.^[23] They set the record for the largest number of people in a single group to be on stage at one time in this program.^[23]

AKB48 released their first studio album, titled Set List: Greatest Songs 2006–2007, on New Year's Day of 2008.^{[citation needed]} Their seventh single, entitled "Romance, Irane" is released on January 23, 2008.^[37] It reached number 6 on the Oricon TOP10 charts.^[38]

On February 27, 2008, AKB48 released their tenth single, titled "Sakura no Hanabiratachi 2008". At the time of the release of their debut single "Sakura no Hanabiratachi", there was only Team A in AKB48. This 10th single features ten members from Team A, along with six and five selected members from Team K and Team B respectively.^[39] It was planned that people who collected 44 posters of the single CD would be invited to a special event, but this act was a suspected violation of the antitrust law, and it was eventually cancelled by DefStar Records.^[40]

2008–2009: Switch to King Records and the first Oricon number one [link]

In August 2008, they changed their record label from DefStar Records to King Records.^{[citation needed]} In the same month, Ayaka Kikuchi was fired from the group.^[41] She was later rehired after she passed a subsequent audition.^[42]

On October 22, 2008, the single "Ōgoe Diamond" was released.^[43] This single debuted at the number three position on the Oricon TOP10 weekly charts, becoming AKB48's first single to achieve a top three position on the chart.^[44] This is the first single to be released under King Record's You Be Cool label.^[43] On November 3, 2008, Rina Nakanishi, Hitomi Komatani, Tomomi Ohe, Risa Narita, and Tojima Hana graduated from the group.^{[citation needed]}

AKB48 in the Japan Expo in Paris, 2009

On February 11, Reina Noguchi, Yuki Matsuoka and Nozomi Kawasaki graduated.

AKB48 released their 11th single, "10nen Sakura", on March 4, 2009. The single reached number three on the Oricon charts in the first week and eventually became the first single for them to sell over 100,000 copies on the Oricon charts.^[45]

On April 26, Mai Oshima and Kaoru Hayano graduated. On May 24, Risa Naruse graduated.

AKB48 Team A became the honour guest for the Japan Expo in Paris between July 2 to 5, 2009,^[46] and featured English-lyric version of "Ōgoe Diamond" first time.

AKB48's 12th single, "Namida Surprise!", was released on June 24, the single include handshaking event ticket and a voting card (with a serial number) for their next single.^[47] "Namida Surprise!" sold 104,180 copies in the initial week on the Oricon charts.

The 13th single, "Iiwake Maybe", released on August 26, 2009,^[48] surprisingly outsold SMAP on its first day, taking the 1st place in the Oricon Daily Singles Chart,^[49] but eventually ranked 2nd for the week.^[50]

AKB48 had a US debut concert at Webster Hall in New York on September 27, 2009.^[51]

In October 2009, their three singles "10nen Sakura", "Namida Surprise!" and "Iiwake Maybe" were certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan at the same time for each shipments of 100,000 copies by September.^[52] Their 14th single, "River", was released on October 21, 2009.^[53] It debuted at the number 1 position on Oricon TOP10 weekly charts.^[53] This is the first single from the group to achieve the 1st position on the Oricon charts.^[53]

2010: Five number-one singles [link]

AKB48 released their 15th single, "Sakura no Shiori", on February 17, 2010. The single topped the Oricon chart and sold over 300,000 copies in its first week, which is the best record in seven years of Japanese female artists.^[54] Their 16th single, "Ponytail to Shushu", released on May 26, 2010, sold over 400,000 copies in its first day, and over 513,000 copies in its first week, making it AKB48's biggest selling single in its first week.^[55] On April 27, 2010, it was announced that AKB48 would be attending and performing in the United States at Anime Expo, the nation's largest anime convention, as official guests of honor. AKB48 performed at a concert on July 1, 2010, at the Nokia Theatre.^[56]

AKB48 in L.A.Live, on July 1, 2010

At AKB48's concert at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium on a Sunday in July 2010, it was announced that Team K member Erena Ono would be graduating from AKB48 to study acting abroad.^[57] Erena graduated from AKB48 on September 27, 2010 in a Team K theater performance.^[58]

On 23 October the band represented Japan and performed at the 7th Asia Song Festival, organised by Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange, at the Seoul Olympic Stadium.^[59] On October 27, 2010 AKB48's new single "Beginner" was released. In only the first week, the 18th single sold 826,989 copies making it the highest first week sales for AKB48, as well as highest first week sales ever for a female idol group single. As of February 2011 the single has sold over 1,010,000 copies.^[60] At the end of October Mayu Watanabe appeared on the cover of the December issue of UP to boy magazine together with Airi Suzuki from °C-ute. That was the first gravure collaboration between Hello! Project and AKB48.^[61]

In November 2010, AKB48 performed in Russia for the first time. A 12-member team gave a concert on November 20 at the Japanese Pop Culture Festival which took place in Moscow.^[62] Also in November 2010, AKB48 performed in the Cool Japan Night in Singapore as part of the Anime Festival Asia X. This is followed by a 2nd performance also in Singapore at the Singapore Toy Games & Comics Convention.^[63]

2011: Another five number ones and overseas expansion [link]

The first single of the year, named "Sakura no Ki ni Narō", was released on February 16. Upon the first day of release, AKB48 sold 655,000 copies of their single, beating their previous top record (568,000 copies of "Beginner").^[64] The single sold 942,479 copies in its first week, AKB48's highest record.^[65]

In February, it was announced that Yūki Kanazawa and Manami Oku would be graduating from the group.^[66]

Their third studio album, named Koko ni Ita Koto (ここにいたこと^?), was announced on 21 February 2011.^[67] This is their first original album (as opposed to collections of previously released singles), and it contains 11 new songs that were never released before, including the title track "Koko ni Ita Koto".^[67] It was scheduled to be released in Japan on 6 April 2011.^[67]

On March 12, 2011 it was also announced on their blog that the AKB Theater would close due to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, and all public events were cancelled until further notice. Two days later, it was announced on their official blog that their concert Takamina ni tsuite ikimasu (たかみなについて行きます^?, lit. "(We) will follow Takamina"), scheduled to be held on March 25–27 at Yokohama Arena, would be cancelled. Bank accounts had been opened to raise donations for earthquake and tsunami relief, as part of their project named "Dareka no Tame ni" (誰かのために, lit. "For someone's sake"^?). Under this project, they used the Yokohama Arena for their 2-day charity events starting on 26 March 2011 instead. 12 of their main members attended Okinawa International Movie Festival on the same day for the same purpose. Three days later, it was announced that ¥500 million will be donated by AKB48 and their sister groups: SKE48, SDN48 and NMB48, and their producer Yasushi Akimoto to these bank accounts. On the same day, the postponement of the release of their new album, Koko ni Ita Koto (ここにいたこと^?) was announced.^[68] Part of the proceeds from the sales of the album will be donated to the victims of this disaster.^[68] It was also announced that the group will hold a senbatsu election to determine the participating members for their 22nd single.^[68] On April 1, they also released a single, "Dareka no Tame ni (What can I do for someone?)" (誰かのために -What can I do for someone?-^?) through the Recochoku website as a digital download, and will donate all profits for earthquake and tsunami relief. Dareka no Tame ni was originally recorded on a live album released in 2007.

On April 8, Manami Oku graduated after performing at a Team B stage on the same day.

On May 1, a new AKB48 unit named HKT48 was announced.^[69] It will be based in Fukuoka in Kyushu, and their theater will be established in the Hawks Town Mall of Fukuoka’s Chuo ward.^[69]

AKB48 Official Shop in Singapore, 2011

On May 3, The Straits Times reported that AKB48's first overseas theater will be opened in Singapore.^[70] It will be based in *scape Youth Park, and 16 members of AKB48 and sister groups will be performing concerts there for two days in a month, with two performances each day.^[70] Apart from the theater, there will also be an AKB48 Official Shop where fans can purchase official AKB48 merchandise, and the world's first AKB48 cafe where Japanese fusion food and dessert will be served.^[70]

The AKB48 staff blog announced that the trainees Nau Yamaguchi and Sara Ushikobu will leave the group for undisclosed reasons.^[71] They will perform their last event as members on June 19.^[71]

AKB48 released their 21st singles album entitled "Everyday, Kachūsha" on 25 May 2011.^[72] On its release day 942,475 copies were sold ^[72] and 1,333,969 copies in the first week making it the highest first-week single sales record in Japan to that date.^[73] Later, on June 7, AKB48 announced a new team titled "Team 4" ahead of their nationwide tour concerts in Japan.^[74] The team was formed of ten members, with six more members to be added later to complete the 16-member team.^[74] This also marked 'Team Kenkyuusei' losing the 'Team' from their name.

On June 11, 2011, It was announced at a handshake event that Aimi Eguchi, a girl who had supposedly auditioned for NMB48, would be joining AKB48 as a trainee. It was later revealed that Aimi Eguchi was not a real person, and had been created to promote the Glico product Ice no Mi.^[75] Oricon announced on 22 June 2011 that AKB48 had the strongest album sales showing for the first half of 2011 in their sales ranking.^[76] They had the only two million-selling singles Everyday, Kachūsha and "Sakura no Ki ni Narō", which ranked as the best and second-best selling singles respectively.^[76] For the survey period between 27 December 2010 and 20 June 2011, AKB48 garnered ¥6.66 billion in total sales of all their merchandise.^[76]

In an announcement made on 28 June 2011, AKB48's producer Yasushi Akimoto revealed that he will be creating a group to become AKB48's "official rival". The group will be called Nogizaka46 (乃木坂46^?) and will debut with approximately 20 members. Yasushi Akimoto revealed that he teamed up with Sony Music Japan to produce this new group, whose auditions for members will start later this year.^[77]

AKB48 released their 22nd single, entitled Flying Get (フライングゲット, Furaingugetto^?), on 24 August 2011.^[78] Flying Get sold a total of 1,025,952 copies on its debut day,^[79] and sold 1.354 million copies in the first week.^[78] Flying Get is the group's 4th single album to sell over a million copies in its debut week.^[78]

Two trainees, Maria Abe and Anna Iriyama, were added to Team 4 as official members on 23 July 2011^[80] At the same time, the captain of Team 4 was also revealed to be member Mina Oba.^[80]

On September 20, 2011, the 2nd AKB48 rock-paper-scissors CD single lineup selection tournament was held.^[81]

AKB48 released their 23rd major single(25th overall), Kaze wa Fuiteiru on 26 October 2011. ^[82] The single sold 1,045,937 copies on the first day of release and set a new record for the first day sales of AKB48 singles.^[82] They subsequently released their 24th major single Ue kara Mariko on 7 December 2011.^[83] This single sold 1.199 million copies in the first week after its release.^[83]

For the year of 2011, AKB48 topped 7 of the 16 Oricon's rankings.^[6] These rankings includes: Total sales by an artist, Copies sold for a single, Total sales for a single, Total sales by an artist (for singles), Copies sold for a music Blu-ray disc, Total sales for a music Blu-ray disc and Total sales by an artist (for Blu-rays discs).^[6] In addition, it was also announced that the group broke the all-time records for the most singles selling over 1 million copies in a year, the best-selling single by a female group and the highest-earning female group.^[6] AKB48 won the 53rd Japan Record Award for their song Flying Get.^[84]

2012 [link]

AKB48 will receive their first television anime series.^[85] This anime series is directed by Yoshimasa Hiraike, while it is planned and supervised by AKB48 producer Yasushi Akimoto^[85] Following scandals where they were photographed with their boyfriends, Natsumi Hirajima and Rumi Yonezawa resigned from AKB48.^[16] They made their last appearance at a handshake event on February 5, 2012.^[16]

The group released their 25th single, "Give Me Five!", on 15 February 2012.^[6] For this single, the 18 selected members spend six months learning how to play instruments so they could perform this song live as the band "Baby Blossom".^[6] The song officially debuted on the final day of their Setlist Top 100 concerts at Tokyo Dome City Hall.^[6]

On March 24, 2012, it was announced that 5 trainee members will be promoted to become official members of Team 4, thus filling up the team's 16 member slot.^[86] Jurina Matsui of SKE48 Team S and Miyuki Watanabe of NMB48 Team N will also be temporarily transferred into Team K and Team B respectively.^[86] They will remain as members of their teams of origin.^[86] In the same announcement, it was revealed that AKB48 will be performing at the Tokyo Dome for the first time.^[87] Performing at the Tokyo Dome has been one of the main goals of the group since its founding.^[87] The date of this performance is not revealed yet. On the same day, Atsuko Maeda revealed that she would graduate from AKB48 in a shock announcement.^[88]

The next day, it was announced that AKB48's fourth senbatsu election, which will feature 243 members from AKB48, SKE48, NMB48, and HKT48, will take place on 6 June 2012.^[89] AKB48's 26th single, titled "Manatsu no Sounds Good!", will also be released on 23 May 2012.^[89]

On April 4, 2012, Atsuko Maeda announced her withdrawal from the upcoming 27th single senbatsu election.^[90] On April 23, the third overseas AKB48 sister group was announced.^[91] This group, named SNH48, is based in the Chinese city of Shanghai.^[91]

Musical style [link]

Overall, the band's style can be loosely characterized as bubblegum pop.^[3] All songs are choreographed, therefore the group's performances turn into a syncronized dancing show.

Reception [link]

The pop group has achieved enormous popularity in Japan.^[1] The group is popular to the point of being characterized as a social phenomenon.^[2] It is also one of the highest-earning musical acts in the world, with 2011 record sales of over $200 million in Japan alone.^[4] According to Oricon, AKB48 had sold a total of 11,787,000 singles as of 6 January 2012, breaking the record of "the most singles sold in Japan by a female group".^[8] Its twelve of its latest singles topped the Oricon TOP10 Weekly Singles Chart. In 2010, "Beginner" and "Heavy Rotation" placed, respectively, 1st and 2nd in the list of Japan's best selling singles for the year,^[5] while in 2011 AKB48 occupied the top 5 positions on the Oricon Yearly Singles Chart.^[6]

AKB48 holds several Guinness World Records, including for being the world's "largest pop group".^[11] AKB48 received the title in 2010, when was still a 48-member group.^[10][11] It also holds the record of "Most Number of Same Product Television Endorsement within 24 Hours", which it set on 28 February 2012 after 90 of the group members appeared in 90 different commercials that were aired in the Kanto, Kansai and Tokai regions of Japan.^[92]

On February 1, 2012, Japan issued a postage stamp in honor of the group.^[93]

In popular culture [link]

AKB48 hosts several its own TV shows, including AKBingo!, Shukan AKB, and Nemōsu TV. It has even its own TV series Majisuka Gakuen, starring AKB48 members in practically all the roles.

The manga AKB49: Ren'ai Kinshi Jōrei revolves around AKB48, and it features real-life AKB48 members in the story as supporting characters.^[94] The 2012 anime series AKB0048 is also inspired by the group, and is produced by AKB48 producer Yasushi Akimoto.^[95] Nine of the characters in this anime is voiced by members of AKB48 and its sister groups.^[95] The anime is currently airing in Japan since April 29, 2011.^[95]

Controversies [link]

Over the years, AKB48 has received criticism for the sexually suggestive texts of many of their songs, which some felt were unsuitable for AKB48's young members. When asked about it by CNN, Yasushi Akimoto, who is the author of all the AKB48's song lyrics, rebutted that his works simply "depict reality" and are a way of provoking in listeners thought about difficult issues.^[96]

The band's risqué music videos also have been a focal point for controversy. Underwear shots, teenage members hugging,^[3] kissing, taking a bath together have been complained about. Another popular music video cliché, used for AKB48's summer hits, involves members dancing on the beach in bikinis.

A TV commercial for the candy brand Puccho, airing from March 15, 2012, featured several members of AKB48 in schoolgirl uniforms passing a candy from mouth to mouth. Although the girls held the candy between their teeth and their lips didn't touch, some viewers were offended, finding it encouraging homosexuality, apart from being simply unhygienic and giving a bad example to children.^[97][98][3]

In April 2012, the choreography for Nogizaka46's upcoming single "Oide Shampoo" was heavily criticized.^[99] When the music video for the song was published on YouTube, it became a hot topic on the Internet, receiving negative response from a lot of viewers. As part of choreography, the girls, many of them middle school students, lifted their skirts all the way up to fully expose their petticoats. Many fans found the video obscene and stated that they felt uncomfortable watching it.^[100] There was also an opinion that the dance was sexually suggestive.^[100]

Performances outside of Japan [link]

AKB48 Performing at Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles, in July 2011

AKB48 Team A became the honour guest for the Japan Expo in Paris between July 2 to 5, 2009,^[101] and featured English-lyric version of "Ōgoe Diamond" first time.

AKB48 had a US debut concert at Webster Hall in New York on September 27, 2009.^[102]

On April 27, 2010, it was announced that AKB48 would be attending and performing in the United States at Anime Expo, the nation's largest anime convention, as official guests of honor. AKB48 performed at a concert on July 1, 2010, at the Nokia Theatre.^[103]

On 23 October, 2010, the band represented Japan and performed at the 7th Asia Song Festival, organised by Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange, at the Seoul Olympic Stadium.^[104]

In November 2010, AKB48 performed in Russia for the first time. A 12-member team gave a concert on November 20 at the Japanese Pop Culture Festival which took place in Moscow.^[105] Also in November 2010, AKB48 performed in the Cool Japan Night in Singapore as part of the Anime Festival Asia X. This is followed by a 2nd performance also in Singapore at the Singapore Toy Games & Comics Convention.^[63]

On May 3, 2011, The Straits Times reported that AKB48's first overseas theater will be opened in Singapore.^[70] It will be based in *scape Youth Park, and 16 members of AKB48 and sister groups will be performing concerts there for two days in a month, with two performances each day.^[70] Apart from the theater, there will also be an AKB48 Official Shop where fans can purchase official AKB48 merchandise, and the world's first AKB48 cafe where Japanese fusion food and dessert will be served.^[70]

Members [link]

(Entries are ordered by their hiragana readings.)

Former members [link]

Discography [link]

Filmography [link]

Bibliography [link]

Awards [link]

The most important awards received by the group

Subgroups and collaborations [link]

It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article titled List of AKB48 subgroups and collaborations. (Discuss) Proposed since May 2012.

Stand-alone units [link]

• Chocolove from AKB48
• no3b
• Watarirouka Hashiritai
  • Watarirouka Hashiritai 7
• French Kiss
• Not yet
• DiVA
• NO NAME (Mayu Watanabe, Amina Satō, Haruka Ishida, Sumire Satō, Sayaka Nakaya, Karen Iwata, Kumi Yagami (SKE48 Team S), Sawako Hata (SKE48 Team KII), Mao Mito (NMB48 Team M)

Single-B-side units [link]

• Under Girls (アンダーガールズ^?)
• Theater Girls (シアターガールズ^?)
• Team PB (チームPB^?) (collaboration with Shueisha and Weekly Playboy)
• Team YJ (チームYJ^?) (collaboration with Shueisha and Weekly Young Jump)
• Yasai Sisters (野菜シスターズ^?) (collaboration with Kagome)
• MINT (collaboration with Ameba)
• DIVA

Other units [link]

• Honegumi from AKB48 (ほね組 from AKB48^?)
• ICE from AKB48
• Crayon Friends from AKB48 (クレヨンフレンズ from AKB48^?) (collaboration with Crayon Shin-chan)
• Okashina Sisters (お菓子なシスターズ^?)
• AKB Idoling!!! (AKBアイドリング!!!^?) (collaboration with Idoling!!!)
• AKB Table Tennis Club (AKB卓球部^?)
• The 75th Anniversary Yomiuri Giants Foundation Support Unit (読売巨人軍創立75周年応援隊^?) (collaboration with Yomiuri Giants)
• Nattō Angel (ナットウエンジェル^?)
• Queen & Elizabeth (collaboration with Kamen Rider W)
• Team Dragon from AKB48 (チームドラゴン from AKB48^?) (collaboration with Dragon Ball)
• AKB Table Tennis Club 2010 (AKB卓球部2010^?)
• Nattō Angel Z (ナットウエンジェルZ^?)
• Miniskirt (ミニスカート^?) (collaboration with Takara Tomy)
• AKB48 Kaspersky Institute (AKB48カスペルスキー研究所^?) (collaboration with Kaspersky Lab)
• Team Kishin from AKB48 (collaboration with Kishin Shinoyama)
• Team Z (collaboration with Kyoraku Sangyo for the pachinko machine "Zenigata Heiji with Team Z")
• Team U (collaboration with Ultraman Saga)

Sister groups [link]

AKB48 producer Yakushi Akimoto has also created AKB48 sister groups that are based on the same "idols you can meet" concept. The group's are theaters based around Japan or throughout Asia, and they release their own individual singles. Members of the AKB48 sister groups also occasionally feature in AKB48's performances and singles.^[110][87] Jurina Matsui and Miyuki Watanabe, members of AKB48 sister groups, have also been temporary members of AKB48 as well.^[86]

AB48's first sister group, SKE48, was formed in 2008 and their theater is based in Sakae, Nagoya.^[111] Subsequently, SDN48, NMB48, and HKT48 were formed. In 2011, the first sister group outside of Japan, JKT48, was announced. The group is based in Jakarta, Indonesia. JKT48 was followed by several more overseas AKB48 sister groups: TPE48, based in Taipei, Taiwan, and SNH48, based in Shanghai, China.

Apart from sister groups, AKB48 also has an "official rival" named Nogizaka46.^[112] Created in 2011, Nogizaka46 is named after the Sony Music Japan main office building.^[112]

See also [link]

• SKE48
• SDN48
• NMB48
• JKT48
• HKT48

References [link]

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: AKB48

• AKB48 official website (Japanese)
• AKB48 official website (English)
• AKB48 King Records Website (Japanese)
• AKB48 Sony Music Website (Japanese)
• AKB48's channel on YouTube
• AKB48 on Google+(Japanese)
• AKB48 Now on Google+(English)
• AKB48 Official Shop Hong Kong (traditional Chinese)
• AKB48 Official Shop Hong Kong News (traditional Chinese)
• AKB48 Official Singapore Website (English)
• AKB48 discography at MusicBrainz