AKB48

AKB48 (read "A.K.B. Forty-eight") is a Japanese idol girl group, initially named after the Akihabara (Akiba for short) area of Tokyo where the group's theater is located, and their original roster of 48 members. As of May 2014^[update], the group has expanded to include 140 members whose ages range from early teens to mid-20s. 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 television, 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. This "idols you can meet" concept includes the formation of different teams^[ that are able to rotate performances and to perform simultaneously in events at various locations, as well as the organisation of "handshake" events, where fans can briefly interact with band members. Akimoto has also expanded the AKB48 concept to several sister groups throughout Japan, and also in China and Indonesia.
The group is one of the highest-earning musical acts in Japan, with 2012 record sales of over US$226 million. It has achieved such popularity in the country that it has been characterized as a social phenomenon. As of March 2014^[update], the group has sold over 30 million records, including over 28.78 million singles as of May 2014^[update], which places it as the second highest musical act in Japan by number of singles sold, and the most by a girl group. The group's twenty-three latest singles have topped the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart, with a record eighteen singles that have sold over a million copies. Its 2013 single "Sayonara Crawl" sold over 1.87 million copies. In 2010, "Beginner" and "Heavy Rotation" placed, respectively, first and second in the list of Japan's best selling singles for that year. In 2011 and 2012, AKB48's singles occupied the top five spots of the Oricon Yearly Singles Chart and in 2013, the top four.

AKB48 was founded based on the concept of "idols you can meet". The group's chief producer Yasushi Akimoto once said that his aim was to create an idol group that is unlike any other ordinary idol groups which only give occasional concerts and mostly seen on TV; AKB48 would perform in its own theater regularly, and the fans would always be able to watch the girls performing live. The AKB48 Theater is located in the Don Quijote store of Akihabara, Tokyo.
The group is split into several teams, which allows the group to reduce its members' workload since the theater's daily performance is given by only one team. It also gives AKB48 opportunity to perform in several places and even countries simultaneously. According to member Misaki Iwasa, each team has its own theme: Team A represents freedom, Team B is idol-like with cutesy costumes, while Team K has a strong and powerful image. In an early press release, the group intended to have 16 members on each of three teams to make a total member count of 48, but as the member count varied over time, and had as many as 92, new members are appointed as trainees (研究生, kenkyūsei) that act as understudies for the main members, while they'll also perform in the theater as a team occasionally. In addition to dancing and singing, members are also promoted throughout the Japanese mass media. The group regularly holds "handshake events", where fans get a chance to shake hands with the group's members.
AKB48 consists of girls whose age ranges from early teens to 20-plus. They are selected from auditions that are held in Japan twice a year. Members of the group are not allowed to date with men, and must be well-behaved. If they misbehave, they may receive a punishment or even be dismissed from the group. The group has a graduation system, which allows members to "graduate" from the group when they get older, and are replaced by members promoted from the trainees. Monica Hesse of The Washington Post describes the AKB48 audition process as "rolling American Idol-esque".

In July 2005, Yasushi Akimoto held an audition for a new theater-based idol girl group. Of the 7,924 girls that applied, 24 girls were chosen to become the first generation members of the group. On December 8, 20 members debuted as Team A in the AKB48 theater performing PARTY ga Hajimaru yo (PARTYが始まるよ) to an audience of seven, but soon snowballed in numbers. In January 2006, AKB48 cafe waitress Mariko Shinoda joined Team A as a "1.5 generation" member after her popularity among AKB48 patrons prompted Akimoto to give her a special audition.
The group's second audition was held in cooperation with telecommunications company NTT DoCoMo in February 2006, in which applicants sent audition videos via mobile phones. Out of the 11,892 applicants, 19 were chosen, and 18 eventually joined AKB48 to form Team K in April 2006. Team B would perform Party ga Hajimaru yo, while Team A moved to a new stage program called Aitakatta.

In October 2006, AKB48 announced auditions for the formation of Team B, and 13 girls were chosen out of the 12,828 applicants in December 2006.
AKB48's first single under DefStar Records, "Aitakatta", was released on October 25. The title song was recorded with 20 members selected from Team A and Team K. It debuted at number 12 on the Oricon weekly single charts, selling a total of 25,544 copies in the first six weeks, and stayed on the chart for a total of 65 weeks. On November 3 and 4, AKB48 held its first concert named "AKB48 First Concert: Aitakatta ~Hashira wa Nai ze!~" at Nippon Seinenkan in Shinjuku. The group performed "Aitakatta" on the New Year's Eve TV program 58th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen as a part of the "Nihon ga Hokoru Saisentan! Special Medley". AKB48 made its first ever lineup change in December: Kazumi Urano, Shiho Watanabe and Natsumi Hirajima were transferred from Team A to Team B as supporting members.
AKB48's second major single "Seifuku ga Jama o Suru" was released on January 31, 2007. It debuted at number seven on the Oricon TOP10 charts. Its music video and lyrics have hinted at the subject of enjo kōsai (compensated dating), which led to controversies and received a number of negative reviews. On March 18, AKB48 released "Keibetsu Shiteita Aijō", which reached number eight on Oricon, dropped to number 98 in the second week. The group held a second concert tour, "AKB48 Haru no Chotto dake Zenkoku Tour ~Madamada daze AKB48!~", on March 10, however, the ticket sales were unsatisfactory.
In April, the AKB48 official website posted its roster for Team B, albeit with five fewer members than its original announcement. The group's member count stood at 48, which was the first time it had reflected its name. The group's fourth single, "Bingo!", was released on July 18. The sixth single "Yūhi o Miteiru ka?" was released on Halloween 2007, but sold only 18,429 copies in total, the least among all their singles. On December 31, AKB48 appeared on the 58th Kōhaku Uta Gassen television program for the first time as part of the Akihabara performance segment. With 43 members, the group set the record for the largest number of people in a single group to be on stage at one time for the program.

On New Year's Day of 2008, AKB48 released its first studio album, titled Set List: Greatest Songs 2006–2007. The album was a collection of the group's songs from previous singles and theater song lists. Its seventh major (ninth overall) single "Romance, Irane" was released on January 23 and reached number six on the Oricon TOP10 charts in the first week.
On February 27, AKB48 released its 8th major single, "Sakura no Hanabiratachi 2008", a rendition of its debut single when there was only Team A in AKB48. It featured 10 members from Team A, 6 members from Team K and 5 members from Team B. The single's CD included a poster, and a promotion was planned in which fans who had collected all 44 kinds of posters would be invited to a special event. However the promotion was called off by DefStar Records as it violated the antitrust law.
In June 2008, AKB48 announced plans to launch a sister group SKE48 in Sakae, Nagoya.
In August, AKB48 changed record labels from DefStar Records to King Records.^{[citation needed]} In the same month, Ayaka Kikuchi became the first member to be fired from the group, because of "immature behavior" that involved a leaked purikura photo of her and a boyfriend. Kikuchi later returned to the group in another audition held in 2010.
On October 22, AKB48's 10th single "Ōgoe Diamond" was released under King Records' "You Be Cool" label. It was the first single to feature a member from AKB48's sister group, where the 11-year-old SKE48 member Jurina Matsui performed as the single's center and cover girl. It debuted at number three on the Oricon TOP10 weekly charts.
AKB48 released its 11th major single, "10nen Sakura" on March 4, 2009. The single also reached number three on the Oricon charts in the first week, and eventually became the group's first single to sell over 100,000 copies. The group's 12th major single, "Namida Surprise!", was released on June 24. It included a handshaking event ticket and a ballot for an election that would select a member to headline its next single. "Namida Surprise!" sold 104,180 copies in its initial week on the Oricon charts. The 13th single, "Iiwake Maybe", released on August 26, outsold SMAP's single, to reach number one on the Oricon Daily Singles Chart; it reached number two on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart.

Their 16th single, "Ponytail to Chouchou", released on May 26, exceeded the previous single in sales with over 400,000 copies sold the first day, and over 513,000 copies in its first week. On April 27, Anime Expo, the largest anime convention in the United States, announced AKB48 as an official guest of honor. The group performed there on July 1 at the Nokia Theatre.
On October 23, AKB48 represented Japan at the 7th Asia Song Festival, organized by Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange, at the Seoul Olympic Stadium. On October 27, AKB48's released its 18th single "Beginner". In its first week, the single sold 826,989 copies, which made it the highest first week sales for a female idol group single. AKB48 member Mayu Watanabe was also announced to be on the cover of the December issue of the idol magazine UP to boy with Airi Suzuki from the Japanese girl group Cute. That was the first gravure collaboration between Hello! Project and AKB48.

AKB48 recorded the track "Sugar Rush" for the 2012 Disney animated movie Wreck-It Ralph. AKB48 was awarded the Guinness World Record for the most number of pop singers featured in a video game for their dating simulation game AKB1/149 Ren'ai Sōsenkyo. AKB48 won the Japan Record Award for the second year in a row for its song "Manatsu no Sounds Good!". The AKB0048 anime series was given a second season, AKB0048 next stage, which aired in 2013 from January 5 to March 30.
In January 2013, AKB48 held its Request Hour Set List Best 100 concert at Tokyo Dome City Hall, where it announced upcoming concerts at Nippon Budokan and Nissan Stadium, the latter of which would be the first time a female artist would hold a solo live concert at that venue. On February 1, AKB48 released the documentary theatrical feature film Documentary of AKB48: No Flower Without Rain: Shōjo Tachi wa Namida no Ato ni Nani o Miru?. It opened in the tenth position and grossed US$2.2 million by February 17. During a stage-greeting event for the film, first-generation member Tomomi Itano announced she would be leaving the group. On April 28, following a concert at Nippon Budokan, the AKB48 general manager announced another reorganization of the teams, including the status of girls who were concurrent members with its sister groups. Also, Nito Moeno and Tomomi Kasai had their last concerts with the group.
AKB48 released its 31st single, "Sayonara Crawl", as an election single on May 22. and more than 1.9 million copies were sold in a month. It also broke the record of highest female group single sales previously held by Speed's White Love in 1997. The election field consisted of 246 girls from AKB48, its sister groups, and some of its former members. On June 8, the results were broadcast on Fuji TV and streamed live on YouTube; the latter broadcast included both Japanese and English commentators. The winner was HKT48 member Rino Sashihara, who was formerly with AKB48. During the event, Team A captain Mariko Shinoda, who placed fifth, announced she would leave the group in July. During the group's summer concert series at the Sapporo Dome on July 31, AKB48 had a guest appearance by former headliner Atsuko Maeda, who performed a new solo single, "Time Machine Nante Iranai".
On August 21, the group released its 32nd single, "Koisuru Fortune Cookie" The single's music video involved 3,800 extras, the most for any AKB48 and sister group-related video. On August 24, AKB48 announced the reinstatement of Team 4, with Minami Minegishi as the captain, and the members promoted from the 13th and 14th generation of trainees.
On September 18, AKB48 held its annual rock-paper-scissors tournament at Nippon Budokan to determine the lineup for its 34th single. The winner was Jurina Matsui. Following the event, AKB48 announced the lineup for and performed the group's 33rd single, "Heart Electric", which was released in October. Its music video was directed by Shusuke Kaneko who is known for the Heisei Gamera trilogy, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, and the live-action film adaptation of Death Note.
On December 11, AKB48 released its 34th single "Suzukake no Ki no Michi de 'Kimi no Hohoemi o Yume ni Miru' to Itte Shimattara Bokutachi no Kankei wa Dō Kawatte Shimau no ka, Bokunari ni Nan-nichi ka Kangaeta Ue de no Yaya Kihazukashii Ketsuron no Yō na Mono" On December 31, long-time member Yuko Oshima announced on Kohaku Uta Gassen that she was leaving the group.
On January 22, 2014, AKB48 released the album Tsugi no Ashiato. It reached number one on the weekly Oricon Albums Chart, selling 962,000 copies. The group's 35th single "Mae shika Mukanee" was released on February 26, selling 970,413 copies on its first day of release.
The group announced plans to create a fifth team, "Team 8", where candidates from each of Japan's 47 prefectures would be given an opportunity to audition. On February 24, during the group's Grand Reformation Festival event at Zepp DiverCity Tokyo, AKB48 announced a major team reorganization, including assignment of a captain and a co-captain in each team, promotion of all AKB48 trainees to the regular member status and assigning to the four teams, as well as transfers and concurrent assignments of members from other sister groups to AKB48 and vice versa. On April 3, AKB48 debuted Team 8 with all 47 members, one from each prefecture, to represent "the Idols that come to meet you", Akimoto also announced auditions for an Otona "Adult" member who is over 30 years old, who would participate in events and be the center performer in a Glico Papico commercial. On April 16, AKB48 announced the Otona member to be Mariko Tsukamoto, a 37-year-old housewife and mother of two.
On May 21, the group released its 36th single "Labrador Retriever", which sold over 1,462,000 copies on its first day.
While at a handshake event at the Iwate Industry Culture & Convention Center in Takizawa, Iwate, on May 24, 2014, band members Rina Kawaei and Anna Iriyama, as well as an unnamed staff member, were attacked by a 24-year-old male assailant wielding a handsaw. The suspect was arrested for attempted murder, and the three were treated at a hospital for bone fractures and cuts. AKB48 suspended theater performances and handshake events through the end of May. In response to the security concerns, the local police (Manseibashi Police Station of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department) requested AKS that the group add security checks of audience members prior to entering the theater.^[179] On May 30, AKB48 performed on the live-broadcast TV program "Music Station", On June 2, the AKB48 theater resumed operation. Sister groups SKE48, NMB48, and HKT48 have not suspended their theater performances, but have introduced security measures such as metal detectors, forbidding the use of the theaters' front rows, suspending post-performance high five events, and increasing security guard presence.

The group's style is loosely characterized as "bubblegum pop and synchronised dancing" that appeals to pre-pubescent girls as well as older males who support the group's merchandise. Mari Yamaguchi of Associated Press wrote that the "performances can seem orchestrated. As the girls sing and dance in unison, fans follow a cheering formula" and likened the fan responses to a Kabuki audience. Monica Hesse of The Washington Post described the group's style: "It is as if Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and the entire cast of Twilight were placed into a saucepan and simmered on a low boil until nothing remained but the sweet, cloying essence of fame, and if that fame were then poured into pleated tartan skirts and given pigtails."
Andrew Joyce and Kenneth Maxwell of The Wall Street Journal described the music as "sugar-sweet pop tunes and sometimes-suggestive lyrics". During the AKB48 performances, "members perform a revue of simply choreographed routines in front of a roughly 95% male audience. The music is typical Japanese pop: fast-paced numbers with high-pitched, singalong choruses."

AKB48 and its sister groups significantly boost their record sales by multiple marketing schemes. The singles and albums are released with different editions (labelled as "types") which contain alternate album cover pictures and B-side tracks as well as extras such as video DVDs, collectible member pictures and handshake tickets. Alan Swarts of MTV Japan has noted that obsessive collectors purchasing multiple copies of AKB48 CDs has inflated the market, and is one of the reasons why Japan's music industry has been booming.
The group has publicized special events for choosing the promotional and recording lineup for some of its singles. In 2009, the concept of sōsenkyo (総選挙, "general elections") was introduced. To obtain a ballot, voters have to buy the group's latest "election single." The members who receive the most votes will get to participate in the recording of AKB48's next single, and are heavily promoted. The top vote getter earns the right to be the center performer during the group's live performances. Votes cast for the 2011 election exceeded 1 million, and the single "Everyday, Katyusha", that contained a voting ticket for the election, set a new Japanese all-time record for weekly sales of a CD single. The 2012 election had almost 1.4 million votes, and the 2013 election had 2.6 million votes. There have been several reports that individual fans buy up hundreds and in some cases even thousands of copies of these singles to vote for their favorite members.
Another selection method, AKB48's rock-paper-scissors tournaments, was introduced in 2010 for the group's 19th single "Chance no Junban". Members of AKB48 and its sister groups compete against each other in the knockout tournament in order to be part of the recording and promotional lineup for AKB48's next single. The participants dress up in various costumes.
The producers for AKB48 have developed several television shows to promote AKB48. AKBingo!, Shūkan AKB and Nemōsu TV are variety shows, while the Majisuka Gakuen series and Sakura Karano Tegami feature AKB48 members in drama roles.
Three documentaries about the group have been released in theatres since 2011. The first, titled Documentary of AKB48 -- To Be Continued, was released in Japan on January 22, 2011 and on DVD in North America on December 1. The second, titled Documentary of AKB48: Show Must Go On Shōjo-tachi wa Kizutsuki Nagara, Yume wo Miru, was released on January 27, 2012 and the third, Documentary of AKB48: No Flower Without Rain: Shōjo Tachi wa Namida no Ato ni Nani o Miru?, on February 2, 2013. The films chronicle events and issues encountered by the group during the previous year.
The manga AKB49: Ren'ai Kinshi Jōrei revolves around AKB48, and it features real-life AKB48 members in the story as supporting characters. The 2012 anime series AKB0048 is a science fiction series based on the group, with production supervision by Yasushi Akimoto. Nine of the characters in this anime are voiced by members of AKB48 and its sister groups. The anime aired in Japan in the spring of 2012, and a second season aired in 2013.
Video games have been developed that involve AKB48. The group has its own visual novel/dating sim series. In the first installment, AKB1/48: Idol to Koishitara..., the player engages in a relationship with one of the members; it was released on December 23, 2010. The second installment, AKB1/48: Idol to Guam de Koishitara..., released on October 10, 2011, has a similar storyline but is situated in Guam. The third installment AKB1/149 Ren'ai Sōsenkyo, released on December 20, 2012, expands the scenarios to AKB48's sister groups SKE48, NMB48, and HKT48. The three games were released for the PlayStation Portable, but Ren'ai Sousenkyo was also released for the PlayStation Vita and the PlayStation 3. In 2014, Namco Bandai developed Sailor Zombie: AKB48 Arcade Edition, an arcade game where the player uses a light gun to shoot vaccine bullets at zombified AKB48 members. Part of the game includes a rhythm game where the zombie idols dance.

Tower Records Japan’s CEO Ikuo Minewaki describes AKB48 as a wildly popular act  and it has been characterized as a social phenomenon in Japan. In 2011, the group had record sales in Japan of over $200 million. According to Oricon, AKB48 had sold a total of 11,787,000 singles as of January 6, 2012, breaking the record of "the most singles sold in Japan by a female group". Its latest twenty one singles have topped the Weekly Oricon 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, while in 2011 and 2012 AKB48 occupied the top five positions on the Oricon Yearly Singles Chart and in 2013, the top four. As of December 2013^[update], the group has sold over 25.83 million singles; it is the third musical act in Japan by number of singles sold. As of March 2014^[update], the group has sold over 30 million records.
AKB48 holds several Guinness World Records, including being recognized on December 1, 2010, as the "largest pop group", when it consisted of 48 members. It set the record for "Most Number of Same Product Television Endorsement within 24 Hours" on February 28, 2012, after 90 of its group members appeared in 90 different commercials that were aired in the Kanto, Kansai and Tokai regions of Japan.
Japanese ambassador to the United States, Ichirō Fujisaki, on meeting the group on its visit to Washington, D.C., stated that "AKB" stood for Adorable, Kind, and Beautiful.
On February 1, 2012, Japan Post issued a postage stamp in honor of the group.

Over the years, AKB48 has received criticism for sexually suggestive lyrics, which some felt were unsuitable for its young members. When asked about it by CNN's Anna Coren, AKB48 founder Yasushi Akimoto, who also writes all of AKB48's song lyrics, said that his works were a way of "depicting reality" and were meant to provoke in listeners thought about difficult issues.
The band's risqué music videos have also been a focal point for controversy. In the promotional video for Heavy Rotation some members of the public expressed outrage over the depictions of the AKB48 members in lingerie, hugging, kissing, and sharing a bath. "Heavy Rotation" music video director Mika Ninagawa explained she wanted to appeal to both men and women by creating a creative and fun video, due to the group's rising popularity among girls. In her interview she took full responsibility for the content and was quoted "Mr. Akimoto left everything to me. He did not give me any tips at all." she continued "I tried to show how AKB48 is in real life, in the video. In the dressing room, they seemed very close to each other. Then I came up with the concept, girl’s high school."
In a TV commercial for the candy brand Puccho, which aired from March 15, 2012, featured AKB48 members in schoolgirl uniforms passing a candy from mouth to mouth. Although the girls held the candy between their teeth, some viewers were offended, and called it "encouraging homosexuality", apart from being simply "unhygienic" and a "bad example to children".
In the second week of January 2013, the group came under fire when a photo from Tomomi Kasai's upcoming Shukan Young Magazine photoshoot was made public, as it featured Kasai topless with her breasts covered by a young child's hands. The image was subsequently pulled from the magazine and from Kasai's upcoming photobook, where it would have been the cover picture. The sale of the magazine was postponed from January 12 to 21.
In February 2013, member Minami Minegishi appeared in a YouTube video with a shaved head to apologize after it was reported by a tabloid that she had spent a night with a man in violation of her contract, and had been consequently demoted to trainee status. The act of shaving her hair was seen as extreme and drew criticism on how the situation was handled. Labor expert and writer for The Japan Times Hifumi Okunuki argued that a no-dating clause in a labor contract would be in violation of Japanese labor laws.
In January 2014, AKB48 made headlines in Japan when it was discovered a group of students from Osaka Sangyo University used credit card numbers stolen from one of the students' part-time jobs to purchase over 490 copies of one of the band's singles (identified as "Sayonara Crawl" in television coverage) online, costing nearly ¥490,000 (approx. US$4,800, GB£2,900, €3,500). The suspects were discovered to have been selling these CDs on the secondary market and one suspect was seen illegally dumping several hundred more that went unsold.

A few days after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, AKB48's official blog reported that a sum of more than 617 million yen had been donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society. On April 1, the group issued a digital charity single titled "Dareka no Tame ni (What Can I Do for Someone?)", all profit from which was donated to a 2011 earthquake and tsunami relief fund. AKB48's 23rd single "Kaze wa Fuiteiru" was also dedicated to the 2011 tsunami victims, its title song's lyrics having been written with the intention of cheering up the Japanese people who were affected by the March 11 disaster. In February 2012, the group announced another donation to the Japanese Red Cross, of over 580 million yen. It was reported that to date AKB48 had raised a total of over 1.25 billion yen for the earthquake and tsunami relief. On March 8, 2013, AKB48 released "Tenohira ga Kataru Koto", another song dedicated to the March 2011 disaster victims, for free digital distribution on their website. On the anniversary of the disaster, AKB48 and sister group members simultaneously visited the disaster regions to hold performances at children schools, as well as special concerts at AKB48, SKE48, NMB48, and HKT48 theaters where the profits from theater tickets were used to further help the recovery process.

As of April 25, 2014^[update], following the introduction of a fifth team, AKB48 consists of 140 members divided into several teams: Team A with 23 members, Team K with 21, Team B with 23, Team 4 with 23, Team 8 with 47, 2 kenkyūsei (研究生^?, trainees), and one graduating member still in the group. There are 2 AKB48 members who have been transferred to overseas sister groups. In addition, there is one honorary "Otona AKB" (大人AKB^?, "Adult AKB") member after a national audition took place for a new advertising campaign. Some members hold concurrent positions with AKB48's sister groups.
Minami Takahashi is called the leader, or "general manager", of AKB48 and all of its sister groups.

Reference: Wikipedia