Posts about AKB48
In fall of 2005, producer and lyricist Akimoto Yasushi had put his plan of creating an idol group that performs at their own theater every day into motion. His colleague Togasaki Tomonobu had secured an area to build the theater on the 8th floor of Akihabara’s Don Quijote. Now they needed members. Unlike his previous project, Akimoto elected not to put out wide-ranging TV ads. Instead, he believed that serendipity was important for this project, and put out posters, handed out flyers, and put ads in magazines. Twenty-four members were selected for the AKB48’s 1st generation. These members include Itano Tomomi, Kojima Haruna, Takahashi Minami, and Maeda Atsuko.
Before applying, Maeda Atsuko was a very shy and introverted girl, who seemed to have no real interests and wasn’t a member of any clubs at school. She had a secret longing in her heart of wanting to go into entertainment, something she could never admit to anyone. While out with her mother one day, she saw a poster for Akihabara48 auditions, and read its words. “I want to meet the you that’s on the inside.” She immediately turned to her mother and said, to her shock, “I’m going to apply to become an idol.”
Takahashi Minami originally wanted to join a talent agency, and was selected to go to a local audition. She failed it. The judge was Akimoto Yasushi himself. When walking home after being rejected, Takahashi was handed a flier for Akihabara48. She decided she would apply, and she was selected to become a member. Why would Akimoto fail her for one audition and then approve her for the next? Well, serendipity is supposed to be important, and her birthday is 4/8 and her height is 148.5cm, matching the name Akihabara48.
The 24 members of Akihabara48 were announced on October 30th. Opening night was set to be a month later, on December 1st. Four members dropped out during training. Kojima Haruna nearly dropped out herself, as the training schedule clashed with her part-time job, and she had to be convinced to choose becoming an idol over working her job. The members struggled to learn to sing and dance the 12 songs of their first set. Opening night was pushed back a week to December 8th. The members come out to perform their first stage, to an audience of 7 fans. The members were devastated, and had to be convinced by Akimoto to continue on. They performed every night, and three times a day on the weekend, and slowly the audience grew. In their 2nd week of performances, they were set to perform when right before the show started, the sound system of the theater broke down. The audience had grown to about 50 people at that point. Thinking fast, management decided that instead of a show, the fans would have a meet-and-greet with the members, and shake their hand. This was the birth of AKB48’s handshake event, their signature event. The equipment was fixed, and they continued to put on their first stage. However, the team was not yet complete.
In January, the managers put out a ballot box. Fans would write down the name of their favorite member and put it in the box. One day, they received a ton of votes that said “Mariko.” The problem was that AKB48 didn’t have a Mariko. Then suddenly they realized something. Wasn’t the girl they hired to sell ice cream and coffee at a booth in the theater named Shinoda Mariko? The fans were voting for the staff member who manned the “AKB48 Cafe” booth. Akimoto approached her and told her if she learns the songs by the next week, she’s in the group.
AKB48 still hadn’t been signed to a label, but Akimoto wanted to release a single anyway. He found out that fans would gather at a family restaurant after the show, and sent Togasaki to the restaurant to talk to fans. He wanted to know which song from their first stage they would pick for a single. The fans picked Sakura no Hanabiratachi, a song about graduating from high school and would later become the go-to farewell song when a member graduates from the group. They released their first unofficial single on February 1st, 2006.
AKB48 announced the 17 members of the 2nd generation in February of 2006. With the logic that it would be unsustainable to have the same group of girls perform every single night (and 3 times a day on the weekends), Akimoto decided to make a team system that rotated performances. The 1st generation became known as Team A and the 2nd generation as Team K. Team A did not take the news of a new generation well. They thought Akimoto believed that they weren’t good enough, and they were being replaced. A rivalry between Team A and Team K quickly developed. Team A and Team K perform different setlists, with different songs. Team K was full of members who were athletic and were good dancers, and Team K songs reflect that. One member of Team K immediately stood out: Oshima Yuko. Oshima Yuko is the single most charismatic person I’ve ever seen. It’s something that’s hard to describe in words, but whenever she stood on stage or on TV she was always the center of attention. She is hilarious, ridiculous, and infinitely loveable. She started as a child actress, and before being an AKB48 member she was a member of a failed idol group. Her dream was to become a renowned actress.
After adding the 2nd generation, Akimoto received many letters from fans. The common theme was that there were too many members, they can’t keep track of them. Akimoto and theater manager Togasaki decided that they needed a face for the group. A member that would stand out among the crowd. Suddenly, Akimoto says “I’ve decided. It’s Maeda.” Togasaki was confused. He thought she was just a dull schoolgirl. Akimoto wrote Team A’s second stage, a setlist of new songs. In it is the song where’s Maeda Atsuko, ace, was made. The 4th song in the setlist, Nagisa no Cherry. Maeda is the main singer, with the other three members being backup. Initially, fellow 1st generation member Minegishi Minami refused to do it. Asking why should she, who’s the same age and generation as Maeda, be her backup? She only agreed to do it when she saw Maeda, in tears, begging the managers not to make her center. Eventually, AKB48 were signed by DefSTAR Records, a major label. They released their first official single, Aitakatta, on October 25th, 2006. It featured a selection of members from Team A and Team K, with Maeda as the center. From then on, Maeda Atsuko was the face of the group.
On December 9th, 2006, the 13 members of the 3rd generation were announced. The new generation formed Team B. Watanabe Mayu, from nearby Saitama prefecture, had failed the 2nd generation audition. Kashiwagi Yuki, who was a massive Hello Pro fan, had failed Morning Musume’s 8th generation audition. Team B featured many young and cute members, so their songs had a distinctive “cute” aura. From the 4th generation onwards, members would first become kenkyuusei (literally, “research students”) and be added to Team A, Team K, and Team B later on. They were added to the teams according to need and according to ability to maintain that team’s concept.
AKB48 continued to perform at the theater and release singles, but going into 2008, they had yet to receive commercial success. Their 6th single sold a dismal 18,000 copies. After their 8th single, they were dropped by DefSTAR, and they released their 9th single online on Napster. AKB48 was hemorrhaging money, having to pay dozens of idols and countless staff, on top of rent for the theater. Many members figured it was over. But Akimoto continued on. They opened a second theater, in Sakae, Nagoya, and started SKE48. The ace of SKE48 was young member Matsui Jurina. In fall of 2008, AKB48 was signed to another major label, King Records. They released Oogoe Diamond, which featured a double center role of Maeda Atsuko and Matsui Jurina.
Having a total of 100 members between the two theaters, and only selecting ~20 members for a single, Akimoto constantly received fan letters complaining about his selections. “How could you not put (member) into the lineup of the single?!” they’d ask. In 2009, Akimoto had had enough. He said “fine, the fans get to pick. You buy a copy of the 12th single, you get to vote for the lineup of the 13th single.” After all, fan input had always been important to AKB48. And thus, the election was born. Fans bought copies of the 12th single, Namida Surprise, to vote for their favorite member. The top 21 vote getters would be the lineup for the next single.
AKB48 held an event to announce the winners of the election. Through hundreds of theater performances and appearances on their late-night variety programs, the early members had developed their trademark styles and personalities. Itano Tomomi was the laid back, cool gyaru, Kojima Haruna was the sexy gravure model who was a tennen boke (natural fool; airhead), Shinoda Mariko had model good-looks and her signature short cut, Watanabe Mayu had her twintails and idol cyborg (so perfect an idol, she must’ve been created in a lab) persona, Takahashi Minami had her high ponytail affixed with a bow and was the natural leader and emotional core of the group, Oshima Yuko had her big personality and even bigger smile, and Maeda Atsuko had her reserved, pure image and bob haircut. They counted down the members. Seventh place, Itano Tomomi. Sixth place, Kojima Haruna. Fifth place, Takahashi Minami. Fourth place, Watanabe Mayu. Third place, Shinoda Mariko. Second place, Oshima Yuko. First place, Maeda Atsuko. Maeda had 4,630 votes to Oshima’s 3,345.
AKB48 released their 13th single, with its selection voted on by fans, Iiwake Maybe. Its music video features a bicycling competition, and rivalry between Maeda and Oshima. While Iiwake Maybe didn’t have great sales, news reported that there was an idol group that had an election to decide their lineup, and they finally had mainstream recognition. Their next single, River, was their first to reach #1 on the weekly Oricon charts, and sold over 200,000 copies.
In 2010, Akimoto and co decided to have a 2nd election for the 17th single. Just like the first, if you buy a copy of their latest single, you get a vote for the lineup of the next song. AKB48 had increased in recognition since the last election, and the votes increased as well. They count down the members. 7th place, Kojima Haruna. 6th place, Takahashi Minami. 5th place, Watanabe Mayu. 4th place, Itano Tomomi. 3rd place, Shinoda Mariko. 2nd place, Maeda Atsuko. 1st place, Oshima Yuko. Oshima defeated Maeda with a margin of 31,448 votes to 30,851 votes.
AKB48 released their 17th single, Heavy Rotation, on August 18th, 2010. The selection chosen by fans, it was the first AKB48 single to not feature Maeda Atsuko as center, but instead had Oshima Yuko up front. It was an instant success. While the West knows it mostly for its raunchy (NSFW) music video, in Japan it became famous as a perfect karaoke song. It topped the karaoke charts for years, and broke the record for most weeks at #1 in karaoke. After 5 years, and 2000 theater performances, AKB48 was a success.
Their next song, Beginner, sold over a million copies in the Oricon chart, becoming the first song in Japan to do so since 2007. AKB48 became a massive social phenomenon, and the top 7 members (who remained unchanged in the first two elections) became known to the world as the Kami 7 (the God 7), and all became huge superstars. They continued to release songs, and despite Oshima centering Heavy Rotation, Maeda continued to be the center for the other singles.
There became a prevailing view among fans. In the 2nd election, they weren’t voting for Oshima, they were voting against Maeda. Or, more accurately, they were voting against management-selected favorites. It was a rebellion against Akimoto. Oshima happened to be the 2nd most popular member, and thus most likely to dethrone Maeda. After losing the center position, Maeda said that she herself was never fit to be center anyway, and she was fine with this result. She was lying.
Throughout 2010 and 2011, AKB48 released success after success. They dominated not just the music charts, but TV appearances, commercials, and magazine covers. Eventually, it became time for another election. AKB48 released Everyday, Kachuusya and the voting ticket along with it. Votes poured in, more than ever before. It came time to announce the winners. 8th place, Itano Tomomi, the first of the original Kami 7 to fall out. 7th place, Takahashi Minami. 6th place, Kojima Haruna. 5th place, Watanabe Mayu. 4th place, Shinoda Mariko. 3rd place, Kashiwagi Yuki. And 2nd place, with 122,843 votes, Oshima Yuko. 1st place was Maeda Atsuko with 132,892 votes. I have put some clips together from one of their documentaries, with English subtitles. I highly recommend that you watch it yourself. It shows the announcements of the top two, their speeches, and the aftermath backstage.
As Oshima’s name was called for 2nd place, you can hear Maeda wailing in the background. Oshima gave a speech about how the fans’ votes represented their love, and thanking them for all the love they had given her. Maeda is called for 1st place and gives what became AKB48's most famous speech. She acknowledges that there are those that hate her. She asks them one thing: even if they hate her, please don’t hate AKB48. Behind the scenes, Oshima was inconsolable as she weeps into the chest of Shinoda Mariko. Maeda and her best friend, Takahashi Minami, cry into each other’s arms. Later on, Oshima goes to Maeda and congratulates her, telling her the fans picked her because she’s the true center.
On August 24th, 2011, AKB48 released Flying Get, the song selected by the election. It was a massive success, surpassing any song AKB48 had released yet. It sold 1 million copies on the first day of release. AKB continued their dominance of the music chart and pop culture in general.
Maeda Atsuko announced graduation before the 4th election commenced, and Oshima Yuko easily won 1st place without a rival. AKB48 continued to release hit songs, and would go on to release 37 consecutive million-seller singles. Although the elections stopped after the 10th election in 2018, they continue to perform at that same theater to this day, now nearing 6000 performances.
In 2005, famed lyricist and former Onyanko Club producer Akimoto Yasushi had an idea. He wanted to create an idol group that was more accessible to the average person, instead of a larger-than-life celebrity. To go about this, his plan was to create a theater that put on daily performances that anyone could go to. He contacted a colleague, Togasaki Tomonobu, to put his plan into motion. Togasaki went around Tokyo trying to find a venue for the theater, but no one would rent him their space. He eventually found a suitable place. It wasn't a performance venue, it was an unused storage area on the 8th floor of Akihabara's Don Quijote, a discount supermarket chain. Akimoto found the idea of putting it in Akihabara interesting, so he told Togasaki to go ahead and rent the space. There they constructed the Akihabara48 theater. To say it’s less-than-ideal as a performance venue is an understatement. The first thing you notice when you walk in the theater is this: it’s tiny. It’s 6 rows of seats, with standing room in the back. The second thing you notice is that there are two massive load-bearing pillars that block the stage. A large portion of the audience, perhaps most of the audience, can’t see center stage.
Akimoto put out ads in magazines and posters around Tokyo looking for people who wanted to join. After auditions were finished, 24 members were selected and announced on October 30th. After 5 weeks of training, and four members dropping out, opening night came on December 8th. AKB48’s 20 members performed their first stage, a setlist of 14 songs. There were 7 fans in the audience. These 20 members, which would later be known as Team A, contained two members central to this story: Watanabe Shiho and Komatani Hitomi.
Nine days after opening night of the theater, AKB48 performed at their first outside venue. A motorcycle-enthusiast who became known to the community as “Rider” was in attendance. He was friends with one of the original 7 fans, and was initially reluctant to go to the performance, as he was convinced he’d fall head-first into being an AKB otaku. He was right. He attended his first theater performance a few days later. Nowadays, you have to apply to a notoriously difficult-to-win lottery to get a ticket to the theater, but back then they couldn’t fill the theater so you simply queued up and bought a ticket in the morning. AKB performed every afternoon, and three times a day on the weekend. Rider would show-up every day in his motorcycle, with a change of work clothes and otaku gear, buy a ticket, greet the members as they showed-up, and attend the performance.
The typical set-up to being an AKB fan is this: you have one member you support, known as an oshimen. However, Rider fell for two girls, the aforementioned Watanabe and Komatani. He watched from the same spot for every performance, despite it being a bad seat and most of the other seats being open, because it gave the best view of Watanabe and Komatani’s positions. He became well-known to his two oshimen, attending their performances every day, going to handshake events, and waiting around to greet them as they arrived. He baffled other fans, as it’s unusual to support two members completely equally. On the performance on Valentine’s Day, each member of the audience got to pick a piece of chocolate hand-made by a member. He chose Watanabe’s, to which Komatani said “分かります” in a sad voice. “I understand.” After that, he avoided activities that made him choose between the two. In April, he attended his 100th theater performance, which made him eligible to get the MVP award given to top fans, and get a picture with his favorite member. He told them he’d rather not accept the award than have to pick which one he gets a picture with. They made an exception and let him get a picture with both members.
On June 16th, Rider went with friends as always and bought a ticket for the performance at noon. They had planned to get lunch together, but he said he was feeling a little nauseated, and told his friends to get lunch without him. They returned two hours later to find him collapsed on the floor in the theater. He had suffered a brain hemorrhage and was rushed to the hospital. At first things were looking alright, but he suffered another hemorrhage a few days later and went into a coma. On June 30th, Togasaki, then the theater manager, showed up to the hospital with an undated ticket that Rider could use any time once he was better, and a recorded message from both Watanabe and Komatani. Rider passed the next day. He was 32 years old. Togasaki told Rider’s friends that he would attend his wake. Togasaki did attend, and he brought two guests: Watanabe and Komatani.
August 8th 2006 was the opening day of Team A’s third stage, a setlist of new songs. Rider’s friends were, of course, in the audience. The 7th song of the set starts, and 7 members dressed in colorful motorcycle girl outfits come out. They’re followed by Watanabe and Komatani, who walk to the front of the stage, wearing the same outfit in white. The friends knew exactly what this song would be about. Here is a performance of the song at the theater, to which I have added English subtitles. (My first time subbing something, boy is it a time-consuming process! The Japanese subs were already there luckily.) After the song finished, they announced it was titled “Rider”, and the audience roared.
Team A performed their third stage until January 25th. Watanabe and Komatani graduated in 2007 and 2008, respectively. This led to a big question. Is it right for other members to perform the song? It is, after all, an experience exclusively of those two members. AKB holds a yearly Request Hour concert, in which fans vote for their favorite songs, and the top 100 are performed in concert. In 2008 and 2009, "Rider" ranked in. Both years, Watanabe and Komatani returned to sing it. However, the issue would come up again. In 2011, NMB48 (Namba, Osaka) started to perform a revival of Team A's 3rd stage, and in 2014 JKT48 (Jakarta, Indonesia) did the same. Fans were torn, but Rider's friends, the ones previously mentioned in this post, maintain that Rider would've wanted it to be continued to be performed.
On December 8th 2015, AKB48 had a special 10th anniversary event. The entrance ticket was AKB48’s 2nd anniversary photobook, 2000 copies of which were sold in January 2008. The target audience was “legend fans”, fans who had been there since the beginning, as the event featured many long-graduated members. There in the front row was an empty reserved seat with the nameplate “Rider.”