AKB48 (short for Akihabara48) is an all female Japanese idol group which named after Akihabara district in Tokyo, Japan. It was introduced on its theater on December 8, 2005 and debuted February 1, 2006 with Sakura no Hanabiratachi as its first single.
Aside they break the Guinness World Record as the world's largest pop group, AKB48 is known as highest-selling musical group in Japan.
As of September 2023, AKB48 has 63 active members.
History[]
Formation[]
AKB48 was formed through an audition for a theater-based idol girl group which as held in July 2005 by Yasushi Akimoto. 24 out of 7,924 auditionees were chosen as members of the group's first generation.
Debut[]
AKB48 was debuted on December 8, 2005 with 20 members of the group's Team A performing Party ga Hajimaru yo.
AKB48 released its debut single Sakura no Hanabiratachi on February 1, 2006.
Popularity[]
AKB48 is well-known for its concept of "idols you can meet". The group was known for its hit songs like Koisuru Fortune Cookie, Heavy Rotation, Ponytail to Shushu, Sayonara Crawl, Nemohamo Rumor, etc.
Aside from this, AKB48 was also known for its longest-running variety show AKBingo!. This show was adopted in other countries in Asia within the AKB48 franchise. In April 2022, The show was revived as AKB48 Sayonara Mouri-san.
Expansion[]
In 2008, AKB48 announced its first ever sister group SKE48 which was debuted with its first single Tsuyokimono yo. It was released on August 2009.
In 2011, The AKB48 franchise was expanded in Indonesia with its first ever overseas sister group JKT48.
As of July 2022, AKB48 has 12 total active groups, They are all known as AKB48 Group or 48G.
Projects[]
OUC48[]
OUC48 is AKB48's home theater project in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project was launched on April 15, 2020
OUT OF 48[]
- Main article: UNLAME
Out of 48 (stylized as OUT OF 48) is a project which was formed for a new girl group, considering of both current AKB48 and non-AKB48 members.
The program was premiered on April 21, 2023.