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AKB48

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AKB48 (エーケービー フォーティーエイト, Ēkēbī Fōtīeito) is an all-female Japanese theater/idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. Unlike other idol groups in Japan, AKB48 is theater-based and have their own theater in Akihabara (a district in Tokyo) where they perform once every weekday, and more than once on both Saturday and Sunday. The theater is set up on the 8th floor of Don Quijote.[1] Some of the title songs released as a single have been made a tie-in song for a television show or a television advertisement. The name derives from a shortened, Romanized representation of 'Akihabara'. AKB48 currently holds the Guinness World Records for being the "Pop group with the greatest number of members".

AKB48

AKB48 is divided into three teams: Team A, Team K and Team B. Currently, there are 16 members in Team A, 16 members in Team K, and 16 members in Team B, getting to the total of 48 members in AKB48.[2] Minami Takahashi is the captain of Team A, Sayaka Akimoto is the captain of Team K, and Yuki Kashiwagi is the captain of Team B.

History

2005

File:AKB48Theater.jpg
AKB48 Theater in Akihabara, Tokyo.

In July 2005, Yasushi Akimoto held an audition for a new theater based idol girl group. Of the 7,924 girls that applied, 45 passed the first round of auditions. Finally, only 24 girls were chosen to be in the group.

In December 2005, the group debuted in the theater with only 20 girls, later known as Team A. A new audition was announced, this audition was held in cooperation with Japanese telecom company NTT DoCoMo. It was the first audition ever where the applicants had to send in their audition video with their mobile phones. 19 of the 11,892 applicants were chosen to join AKB48, but in the end only 18 girls joined the group to become Team K in April 2006.

2006

In January 2006, Mariko Shinoda joined the group. Ayako Uemura and Yuki Usami of Team A both graduated during 2006.

AKB48 released its debut single "Sakura no Hanabiratachi" in February 2006, which made it to #10 on the Oricon weekly charts and sold 22,011 units in its first week - surprising for a group on an indie label.

In August 2006, they signed a major label contract with DefStar Records, a part of Sony Music Entertainment. Their first single under DefSTAR Records, "Aitakatta", was released on October 25, 2006 and got to #12 on the Oricon weekly single charts.

In October 2006, a new audition was announced to form Team B, resulting in the arrival of 13 new members in December 2006.

In December 2006, the first change was made to the three teams; taking members Kazumi Urano, Shiho Watanabe, and Natsumi Hirajima from Team A to Team B. Ayumi Orii graduated from the group shortly after this, though appeared in the unit Crayon Friends from AKB48 after her graduation.

2007

On January 31, 2007, AKB48's fourth single (second under DefSTAR Records) "Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru" was released, reaching 7 on Oricon charts. There has been speculation that the PV and lyrics to this song are an allusion to Enjo kōsai—voluntary underage prostitution—though this has not been confirmed. Their next single, "Keibetsu Shiteita Aijō", featured a theme of bullying throughout the lyrics and PV.

In April 2007, Team B was added to AKB48's official website; albeit with five fewer members than had originally been announced. 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. However, Takada was the only one of these to appear in the PV to the group's sixth single "Bingo!", which was released on July 18, 2007.

On December 31, 2007, 46 members of AKB48 appeared on the 58th Annual Kōhaku Uta Gassen for the first time. They sang as part of the Akihabara performance, with Leah Dizon and Shōko Nakagawa following them. They became the most number of people in a single group to be on stage at one time.

2008

AKB48 released their first studio album on New Year's Day entitled Set List: Greatest Songs 2006–2007. On February 27, 2008, AKB48 released their 10th single entitled, "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 10 members from team A, along with 6 selected members from team K, and 5 selected members from team B making it the 2008 version. It was planned that people who collected 44 posters of the single CD would be invited to a special event, but this act was suspected as the violation of the antitrust law and was eventually cancelled by DefStar Records.[3] In August 2008, they moved from DefStar Records of Sony Music Entertainment to King Records.

On October 22, 2008, the single "Ōgoe Diamond" was released and finished the first week with number-three in Oricon charts. It was AKB48's first single that made into top three of the chart.

2009

AKB48 released their 11th single "Jūnen Zakura" on March 4, 2009. The single made into number three of Oricon charts in the first week and eventually became the first single for them to sell over 100,000 copies on the Oricon charts.

AKB48 Team A became the honour guest for the Japan Expo in Paris between July 2 to 5, 2009.[4]

AKB48 12th single "Namida Surprise!" released on June 24, the single include handshaking event ticket and a voting card (with a serial number) for their next single. "Namida Surprise!" sold 104,180 copies in the initial week on the Oricon charts. Their 13th single "Iiwake Maybe" was released on August 26, 2009.

AKB48 had a US Debut Concert at Webster Hall on September 27, 2009.[5]

In October 2009, their three singles "Jūnen Zakura", "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.[6] Their 14th single "River" was released on October 21, 2009, and hit number 1 on Oricon upon its debut.

2010

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.[7] 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 become AKB48's first biggest selling single in its first week. 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 had their concert on July 1, 2010, at the Nokia Theatre. On 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. Erena graduated from AKB48 on September 27, 2010 in a Team K theater performance and is now studying acting abroad in London. 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.

Members

Team A

Team K


Team B

Team Research Students

  • Maria Abe (阿部 マリア) (November 29, 1995 in Kanagawa)
  • Rina Izudta (伊豆田 莉奈) (November 26, 1995 in Saitama)
  • Miori Ichikawa (市川 美織) (February 12, 1994 in Saitama)
  • Sara Ushikubo (牛窪 紗良) (February 15, 1995 in Tokyō)
  • Anna Iriyama (入山 杏奈) (December 3, 1995 in Chiba)
  • Mina Ōba (大場 美奈) (April 3, 1992 in Kanagawa)
  • Rena Katō (加藤 玲奈) (July 10, 1997 in Chiba)
  • Yūki Kanazawa (金沢 有希) (May 1, 1993 in Hokkaidō)
  • Rina Kawaei (川栄 李奈) (February 12, 1995 in Kanagawa)
  • Natsuki Kojima (小嶋 菜月) (March 8, 1995 in Chiba)
  • Marina Kobayashi (小林 茉里奈) (February 24, 1996 in Tokyō)
  • Haruka Shimazaki (島崎 遥香) (March 30, 1994 in Saitama)
  • Haruka Shimada (島田 晴香) (December 16, 1992 in Shizuoka)
  • Shihori Suzuki (鈴木 紫帆里) (February 17, 1994 in Kanagawa)
  • Miyu Takeuchi (竹内 美宥) (January 12, 1996 in Tokyō)
  • Mariya Nagao (永尾 まりや) (March 10, 1994 in Kanagawa)
  • Shiori Nakamata (仲俣 汐里) (July 25, 1992 in Tokyō)
  • Mariko Nakamura (中村 麻里子) (December 16, 1993 in Chiba)
  • Wakana Natori (名取 稚菜) (June 7, 1995 in Tokyō)
  • Nana Fujita (藤田 奈那) (December 28, 1996 in Tokyō)
  • Anna Mori (森 杏奈) (March 21, 1994 in Chiba)
  • Ayaka Morikawa (森川 彩香) (March 24, 1996 in Saitama)
  • Suzuran Yamauchi (山内 鈴蘭) (December 8, 1994 in Chiba)
  • Nau Yamaguchi (山口 菜有) (January 19, 1994 in Kanagawa)


Former members

Graduated Members

Members who left

Team K
  • Ayako Uemura (上村 彩子) (February 7, 1986 in Saitama) Left on June 17, 2006.
Condidate for Team B
  • Reina Iso (礒 怜奈) (August 10, 1992 in Tōkyō) Left on before April 8, 2007.
  • Aki Ōtsuka (大塚 亜季) (February 12, 1989 in Kanagawa) Left on before April 8, 2007.
  • Ryō Sakata (坂田 涼) (March 18, 1990 in Tōkyō) Left on before April 8, 2007.
  • Mariachika Fujishima (藤島 マリアチカ) (April 28, 1990 in Philippines) Left on before April 8, 2007.
  • Mina Horie (堀江 聖夏) (July 14, 1993 in Tōkyō) Left on before April 8, 2007.
Research Students
  • Yurina Iinuma (飯沼 友里奈) (April 30, 1990 in Saitama) Left on before November 15, 2007.
  • Satomi Kaneko (金子 智美) (December 22, 1989 in Aichi) Left on before November 15, 2007.
  • Rina Kozuka (小塚 里菜) (May 22, 1993 in Chiba) Left on before November 15, 2007.
  • Saki Yoshioka (吉岡 沙葵) (September 1, 1984 in Tōkyō) Left on before November 15, 2007.
  • Marie Watanabe (渡辺 茉莉絵) (January 18, 1991 in Tōkyō) Left on before November 15, 2007.
  • Sara Nishizawa (西澤 沙羅) (May 14, 1992 in Kanagawa) Left on before August 23, 2008.
  • Yurie Katano (片野 友里恵) (April 29, 1990 in Ibaraki Prefecture|Ibaraki) Left on after September 9, 2008.
  • Remi Ishiguro (石黒 莉美) (May 23, 1991 in Tōkyō) Left on January 16, 2009.
  • Mizuki Komatsu (小松 瑞希) Left on July 14, 2009.
  • Ayano Hayashi (林 彩乃) (May 31, 1993 in Tōkyō) Left on July 18, 2009.
  • Nanami Nishikawa (西川 七海) (July 3, 1993 in Tōkyō) Fired on July 25, 2009.
  • Miku Sugiyama (杉山 未来) (December 12, 1995 in Tōkyō) Fired on December 4, 2009.
  • Ayaka Itō (伊藤 彩夏) (June 21, 1993 in Tōkyō) Left on January 6, 2010.
  • Yurie Imai (今井 悠理枝) (April 30, 1994 in Saitama) Left on February 1, 2010.
  • Eri Takamatsu (高松 恵理) (December 25, 1992 in Saitama) Left on June 20, 2010.
  • Asaka Ueki (植木 あさ香) (May 17, 1995 in Chiba) Left on July 6, 2010.
  • Saki Toyoda (豊田 早姫) Left on October 23, 2010.
  • Chinami Okazaki (岡﨑 ちなみ) Left on October 27, 2010.
  • Marina Kawakami (川上 麻里奈) Left on December 3, 2010.

Units

  • Under Girls (アンダーガールズ)
  • Theater Girls (シアターガールズ)
  • DIVA

Derivation Units

  • Honegumi from AKB48 (ほね組 from AKB48)
  • ICE from AKB48
  • Chocolove from AKB48
  • Crayon Friends from AKB48 (クレヨンフレンズ from AKB48)
  • Okashina Sisters (お菓子なシスターズ)
  • No3b (ノースリーブス)
  • Watarirouka Hashiritai (渡り廊下走り隊)
  • AKB Idoling!!! (AKBアイドリング!!!)
  • Special collaboration unit by AKB48 and 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)
  • Nattō Angel (ナットウエンジェル)
  • Team PB (チームPB)
  • Team PB (チームYJ)
  • Yasai Sisters (野菜シスターズ)
  • Special collaboration unit by AKB48 and Kagome Co.
  • Team Dragon from AKB48 (チームドラゴン from AKB48)
  • French Kiss (フレンチ・キス)
  • 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)
  • MINT
  • Special collaboration unit by AKB48 and Ameba
  • AKB48 Kaspersky Institute (AKB48カスペルスキー研究所)
  • Special collaboration unit by AKB48 and Kaspersky Lab
  • Team KISHIN from AKB48

Discography

Main article: AKB48 discography
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