AKB48 is a Japanese idol girl group formed on December 8, 2005. As of 2024, the group consists of 42 members, including 29 official members and 13 trainees. [1] [2]
The member lineup often changes as members graduate from the group and are replaced by members promoted from trainee status. Monica Hesse of The Washington Post describes the AKB48 audition process as " American Idol -esque". [3]
The group has publicized special events for choosing the promotional and recording lineup for some of its singles. [4] In 2009, the concept of sōsenkyo (総選挙, "general elections") was introduced. [5] To obtain a ballot, voters have to buy the group's latest "election single", [6] or sign up for the official paid fanclub. The members who receive the most votes will get to participate in the recording of AKB48's next single, [5] and are heavily promoted. [7] The highest voted member earns the right to be the center performer during the group's live performances. [4] [6]
Narumi Kuranoo is the current leader or "general manager" of AKB48 and all of its sister groups. [8] The results from AKB48's annual general elections from 2009–2018 are included.
Members are listed by order below as they appear on the official website's roster as of September 3,2024 [update] . [2]
Denotes elections that the member did not take part in | |
N/A | Denotes elections the member took part in but did not rank |
Denotes ranking between #81 and #100 |
Name | Birth date (age) | Election rank | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 [9] | 2 [10] | 3 [11] | 4 [12] | 5 [13] | 6 [14] | 7 [15] | 8 [16] | 9 [17] | 10 [18] | ||
Saho Iwatate (岩立 沙穂, Iwatate Saho) | October 4, 1994 | N/A | N/A | 66 | N/A | 51 | 42 | 22 | |||
Yuiri Murayama (村山 彩希, Murayama Yuiri) | June 15, 1997 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||
Seina Fukuoka (福岡 聖菜, Fukuoka Seina) | August 1, 2000 | N/A | N/A | 97 | 32 | 31 | |||||
Mion Mukaichi (向井地 美音, Mukaichi Mion) | January 29, 1998 | N/A | 44 | 13 | 17 | 13 | |||||
Yui Oguri (小栗 有以, Oguri Yui) | December 26, 2001 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 51 | 25 | |||||
Narumi Kuranō (倉野尾 成美, Kuranō Narumi) | November 8, 2000 | N/A | N/A | 34 | 30 | 49 | |||||
Hiyuka Sakagawa (坂川 陽香, Sakagawa Hiyuka) | October 7, 2006 | ||||||||||
Miu Shitao (下尾 みう, Shitao Miu) | April 3, 2001 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||||
Ayane Takahashi (高橋 彩音, Takahashi Ayane) | December 30, 1997 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||||
Remi Tokunaga (徳永 羚海, Tokunaga Remi) | October 1, 2006 | ||||||||||
Serika Nagano (永野 芹佳, Nagano Serika) | March 27, 2001 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 67 | 104 | |||||
Haruna Hashimoto (橋本 陽菜, Hashimoto Haruna) | May 25, 2000 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 109 | |||||
Erii Chiba (千葉 恵里, Chiba Erii) | October 27, 2003 | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||||||
Kurumi Suzuki (鈴木 くるみ, Suzuki Kurumi) | September 2, 2004 | N/A | N/A | ||||||||
Manaka Taguchi (田口 愛佳, Taguchi Manaka) | December 12, 2003 | N/A | N/A | ||||||||
Ayami Nagatomo (長友 彩海, Nagatomo Ayami) | November 2, 2000 | N/A | N/A | ||||||||
Orin Muto (武藤 小麟, Mutō Orin) | July 22, 2000 | 55 | N/A | ||||||||
Mizuki Yamauchi (山内 瑞葵, Yamauchi Mizuki) | September 20, 2001 | N/A | 92 | ||||||||
Maho Omori (大盛 真歩, Omori Maho) | December 5, 1999 | N/A | |||||||||
Yuki Ōta (太田 有紀, Ōta Yuki) | March 27, 2004 | ||||||||||
Kokone Kohama (小濱 心音, Kohama Kokone) | February 12, 2007 | ||||||||||
Airi Satō (佐藤 綺星, Satō Airi) | June 24, 2004 | ||||||||||
Eriko Hashimoto (橋本 恵理子, Hashimoto Eriko) | April 16, 2006 | ||||||||||
Nozomi Hatakeyama (畠山 希美, Hatakeyama Nozomi) | January 25, 2008 | ||||||||||
Yuki Hirata (平田 侑希, Hirata Yuki) | September 3, 2002 | ||||||||||
Moka Hotei (布袋 百椛, Hotei Moka) | December 1, 2004 | ||||||||||
Mayū Masai (正鋳 真優, Masai Mayū) | March 1, 2005 | ||||||||||
Miyū Mizushima (水島 美結, Mizushima Miyū) | November 12, 2003 | ||||||||||
Sora Yamazaki (山﨑 空, Yamazaki Sora) | May 13, 2004 |
Trainees (研究生, kenkyūsei) are members who have entered the group but have not been assigned or promoted to a fixed team. Currently the trainees are 18th generation-members who were introduced on April 9, 2023, and 19th generation-members who were introduced on March 17, 2024.
Name | Birth date (age) |
---|---|
Yuna Akiyama (秋山 由奈, Akiyama Yuna) | December 12, 2005 |
Sae Arai (新井 彩永, Arai Sae) | October 5, 2005 |
Kasumi Kudō (工藤 華純, Kudō Kasumi) | June 15, 2005 |
Hinano Kubo (久保 姫菜乃, Kubo Hinano) | February 2, 2006 |
Yumemi Sako (迫 由芽実, Sako Yumemi) | February 5, 2006 |
Kohina Narita (成田 香姫奈, Narita Kohina) | March 3, 2004 |
Azuki Yagi (八木 愛月, Yagi Azuki) | March 22, 2005 |
Yui Yamaguchi (山口 結愛, Yamaguchi Yui) | March 8, 2009 |
Momoka Ito (伊藤 百花, Ito Momoka) | December 6, 2003 |
Kairi Okumoto (奧本 カイリ, Okumoto Kairi) | January 2, 2007 |
Yui Kawamura (川村 結衣, Kawamura Yui) | June 18, 2006 |
Sari Shiratori (白鳥 沙怜, Shiratori Sari) | September 10, 2010 |
Mei Hanada (花田 藍衣, Hanada Mei) | June 5, 2005 |
AKB48 is a Japanese idol musical girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48 has sold more records than any other female musical act in Japanese history. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with its own theater and performing daily so fans could always see them live. This "Idols You Can Meet" concept includes teams which can rotate performances and perform simultaneously at several events and "handshake" events, where fans can meet group members. Akimoto has expanded the AKB48 concept to several girl groups within Japan, and internationally in Mainland China, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines and Malaysia.
Yuki Kashiwagi is a Japanese singer. She was a member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48, NMB48 and NGT48. She auditioned for AKB48 on December 3, 2006, and was a member of AKB48's Team B. She was previously the captain of Team B before she was replaced by Ayaka Umeda as the captain. She was also a member of AKB48 sub-group French Kiss. Her talent agency is Watanabe Productions. Her nickname is Yukirin.
Ayaka Kikuchi is a Japanese singer, actress, former model and a former member of idol group AKB48. She was fired after it was revealed that she broke the "boyfriends prohibited" policy of her management agency. She was a member of Team B and had returned to AKB48 as one of the seventh generation AKB48 Research Students, later Team K and finally Team A.
SKE48 is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. SKE48 is named after the Sakae district in Nagoya of Aichi Prefecture, where the group is based. The group performs at SKE48 Theater on 2F of Sunshine Sakae, a shopping center in Sakae, Nagoya. Avex Group is its current official label. The group has sold nearly 11 million CDs in Japan.
Miho Miyazaki is a Japanese singer, actress and former member of the idol girl group AKB48 where she was active in Team A. She also participated in the Korean-Japanese show Produce 48.
Ayaka Umeda is a former Japanese idol and singer from the girl group NMB48, in which she is the co-captain of Team BII. She was also a member of the AKB48 and its subunit DiVA.
Rino Sashihara is a Japanese tarento, singer, producer and actress. She is best known as a former member of idol groups HKT48, AKB48 and STU48, and was the theater manager for HKT48 and STU48. She was also a member of AKB48's unit Not Yet and is the producer of the idol groups =Love, ≠Me and ≒Joy.
Mayu Watanabe is a Japanese former singer and actress. Watanabe started her career as a member of the idol girl group AKB48 under Team B. In the annual AKB48 General Elections event, she had consistently been voted by fans to rank among the group's top members. She has released five solo singles, many of which have peaked in the top ten in the Oricon charts, and one solo album. She left the group on the last day of 2017 and on the first day of 2018 and pursued as an acting career until her retirement from the entertainment industry in June 2020.
NMB48 is a Japanese idol group that debuted in 2011 as the second sister group to AKB48, produced by Yasushi Akimoto. NMB48 is named after the Namba district in Osaka city of Osaka Prefecture, where the group is based. The group performs at the NMB48 Theater, which is located in the basement of the Yes-Namba Building in Namba, Osaka. The group has sold over 9 million CDs in Japan.
Amina Sato is a Japanese voice actress and a former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. In AKB48, she was originally a fourth generation trainee, then in Team A, in Team B, and finally in Team K. Amina Sato was also a member of a pop group named No Name, which consisted of several AKB48 members voice acting in the animation series AKB0048.
HKT48 is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. HKT48 is named after the Hakata-ku, Fukuoka city of Fukuoka Prefecture, where Akimoto originally intended to base the group. The group currently performs at City Bank HKT48 Theater in Fukuoka and has sold nearly 4 million copies of CDs in Japan.
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Anna Iriyama is a Japanese actress and YouTuber active in Japan and Mexico. She is a former member of the Japanese idol group AKB48, in which she was a member of Team A. She is represented by the talent agency Ohta Production. She was part of the cast for the telenovela Like and lived in Mexico from 2018 to 2019.
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Kaori Matsumura is a Japanese tarento who is a former member of SKE48's Team KII.
Nao Furuhata is a former member of the Japanese idol girl group SKE48. She is a former member of SKE48's Team KII, and a former member of AKB48.
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