HKT48

HKT48 (read "H.K.T. Forty-eight") is an all-female Japanese theater/idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. The group performs at HKT48 Theater at Hawks Town in Fukuoka.

About

HKT48 is named after the Hakata-ku, Fukuoka city of Fukuoka Prefecture, where Yasushi Akimoto originally intended to base the group. HKT48's theater is located in Hawks Town Mall in Chūō-ku, Fukuoka.

History

Plans for a group entitled HKT48 were first revealed by AKB48 producer Yasushi Akimoto on November 19, 2008. HKT48 was officially announced on May 1, 2011 at an AKB48 handshake event. The group is the fourth AKB48 sister group to be launched, after the groups SKE48, SDN48 and NMB48. The group takes its name from its proposed base location of Hakata-ku, Fukuoka. Instead of the previously targeted Hakata, HKT48 will instead be based at a theater in the Hawks Town Mall in neighboring Chūō-ku, Fukuoka. This location is next to the Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome. In addition, it was announced that the group would be accepting applications from girls aged between 11 and 22. The first round of the first-ever HKT48 audition took place from May 31, 2011, and successful applicants took part in the second round of auditions, consisting of a singing and dancing test, in the first half of July 2011. The final auditions were held at Hliton Fukuoka Sea Hawk Hotel on July 10, and 24 candidates successfully passed the final.