AKB48 and its sister groups can be an intimidating part of the idol world to learn about. Sure, you may vaguely know about the group’s work, the general idea of their concept as ‘Idols you can meet’ and their top members, but with just that little bit of information it may seem really difficult to get into every nook and cranny of the idol world of groups with too many members to name in one breath.

That’s where this post comes in.  Right here, you will hopefully learn enough about AKB48 to understand the concept of the group, their history, and maybe a taste of their music–specifically some of their lesser-known gems.  Keep in mind this isn’t a pimp post. I’m not telling you that you should look into this group; this is just a guide-book to AKB48 for those of you who are willing to take the plunge.

Let’s begin with a trip down memory lane.

Where were you on December 8, 2005? Me? I was probably counting down the days til Christmas on another boring day of 8th grade. As for 20 girls in Tokyo’s Akihabara District, they were nervously waiting for their theater debut. They were the founding members of famous music producer Akimoto Yasushi’s newest group, Akihabara48. Some of the girls may have been wondering about the four who stopped coming to lessons, others might be reviewing the lyrics or choreography to the first set of songs, and most were probably feeling nauseous and definitely nervous, but at 7:00pm the overture started playing and girls filed on stage for their first peformance in the newly built Akihabara48 theater on the 8th floor of the Don Quixote department store. There were 72 people in the audience of the 250 seat theater. Most of them were recognizable to the girls or the staff– family, friends and members of the press served as a large portion of the group’s first audience. On that day, only 7 tickets were sold.

After the groups first performance, they continued performing almost every day. Day after day they performed to very few people. Maeda Atsuko recalls several performances where the girls performing outnumbered the number of people in the audience. Some of the girls were on the verge of quitting, most were in tears after every performance. Soon enough, their producer announced auditions for the 2nd generation of the group. How would they be able to function with that many girls and so few fans? It seemed hopeless. But somehow, Akimoto was going to work his magic.

At the beginning of 2006, the group prepared for their first single, Sakura no Hanabiratachi. The song was a fan favourite from their stage performances and was being released just in time for graduation season, a time when songs with themes like Sakuhana were most popular. They were also fortunate enough that the songs included in the single were insert songs for dramas and variety shows. As they prepared for the release day, they saw an increase in the number of attendants to the theater. The hype created by the 2nd generation auditions had increased the fanbase, ever so slightly. They hadn’t quite reached full capacity yet, but they were getting closer. Then the release day happened. AKB48 had hit it bigger than expected; Sakura no Hanabiratachi charted at 10 on the weekly oricon charts. As it was released on an indies label, this was a big deal and garnered some attention for the group.

Two months later, AKB48′s 2nd generation made its debut as a second team of girls: Team K. Earlier, one of the original members of the group, Usami Yuki, graduated with aspirations to become a model. The group had also admitted another member as an addition to the first group, Shinoda Mariko. She had been popular with AKB’s fans despite only having worked in a cafe, and the fans organized a petition to add her into the group after she had missed the original audition.

At Team K’s first performance, they finally reached their long awaited goal of a full theater. The numbers dropped significantly afterwards, but the having a full theater kept the group going. Team A started its second stage, and the group continued gaining fans. In June, 2006, AKB48 released its 2nd indies single, also a popular song from their first stage: Skirt, Hirari.

This song introduced the concept of selected members for AKB singles, now called senbatsu by fans. The seven members selected to sing the single version of the song were called the ‘SukaHira7′ by fans and were meant to be the central members of the group. Team A’s 2nd stage made a few changes to this formula by replacing Narita Risa with new addition Shinoda Mariko, but the other 6 members maintained a central position in the group.

At the end of 2006, the group announced its 3rd generation audition as well as released its 1st major label single, Aitakatta. This was once again a popular song from a stage show, but instead of using only members of Team A or a few members overall, it used a selection of members from both teams. This single did not chart as well as their first indies single, but remains a fan favourite and is often performed in the theater for milestone performances and at every concert.

Around this time, AKB48 had its first hall concert and they were regularly performing to larger and larger crowds. At the end of their first concert, it was announced that the groups would be shuffled into two permanent groups: Baragumi and Yurigumi, rather than the current Team A and Team K. The announcement was shocking for fans and the girls, but was never realized.

It was also announced around this time that four of the original members from Team A: Hirajima Natsumi, Urano Kazumi, Masuyama Kayano and Watanabe Shiho would be transferred to a new team, Team B. However, just before the end of Team A’s third stage, Orii Ayumi announced she would be leaving the group and Masuyama remained with Team A.

On December 8th, 2006, AKB48′s first anniversary, 18 girls debuted on stage with the three original Team A members as ‘Team B’.

On April 8th, 2007, Team B made its long awaited Theater debut. Of the 21 girls that had stood on stage just 5 months earlier as the members of the new team, only 16 remained. AKB48 had finally reached its goal of 48 members, 16 in each team.

2007 saw single after single being released, all as fan favourites from stage shows. Each single featured a slightly different lineup of girls, and saw some girls enter and leave the selection throughout the year. By the end of the year, however, AKB still hadn’t made any splashes with the public, so for the group’s 4th single for the year (of 5), it was announced that for AKB’s next concert the fans would get to pick the setlist. Every copy contained a ballot on which you could vote for your favourite song, and the top 100 songs were featured in a four day concert event in January, 2008. This practice has become an annual event.

In the summer of 2007, A shocking announcement was made that had not been anticipated after the announcement of Baragumi and Yurigumi at the end of 2006. It was announced that for the newest stage show in the theater, Team A and K would be shuffled into ‘Himawari Gumi,’ and two different casts made up of members of both teams performed the same stage throughout the end of 2007 and into 2008. Himawari-gumi 1st and 2nd stages were also a milestone for the group because they were 16 song shows, rather than the 15 song shows that had been performed previously. Himawari-gumi’s 2nd stage also saw a departure from the classic seifuku in their costumes and took on a more general idol theme.

At the time, the girls were uncertain of the future of the group: were the himawari groups permanent? Nothing was certain until the end of the group’s 2nd stage as Himawari-gumi: It was announced that Team A would be reviving its 4th stage and Team K would be starting their 4th.

In May 2007, another change took place in the lineup of AKB48: AKB48 SEED was announced. Now referred to as Kenkyuusei (Research Students), they acted as trainees for the group and filled in for absent members (rather than members of other teams taking their place). Because their status within the group was unknown, many of the 18 4th generation girls withdrew or graduated from the group before getting a proper theater debut, but after Watanabe Shiho graduated from Team B after Team B’s first stage, it was finally realized what the purpose of the Kenkyuusei was: They were to replace graduated members. Saeki Mika became the first girl added to a team to replace a graduated member after she was promoted to Team B.

When New Years rolled around, AKB48 was on the list for the Kouhaku Utagassen, an important New Years event where the top names in music appear and perform before audiences as big as 40% of TV viewers.

In February 2008, Team B started performing their first original stage at the theater. They also released their last single on DefStar Records: Sakura no Hanabiratachi 2008. The reason it was their last single is no dispute, but it is disputed as to what actually happened: The single was supposed to contain one of 48 randomly chosen posters. Anyone who could collect all 48 posts would gain access to a special festival held by the girls. Under one of Japan’s anti-monopoly laws this was illegal and the event was dropped, and soon after AKB48′s contract with DefStar Records was dropped and they were without a record label for a good part of 2008.

Throughout the summer of 2008, AKB48′s future was uncertain. Because they weren’t on a record label, they were unable to release music, but despite all this, Akimoto Yasushi had already set up auditions for a new 48 group: SKE48, based in Sakae in Nagoya. Soon, the light at the end of the tunnel was visible: AKB signed to King Records and had plans to release a new single, Oogoe Diamond, in October. Like the previous year, it would include ballots for a four day 100 song concert event in January 2009.

Oogoe Diamond was a success, reaching 3 on the oricon charts and selling 48,000 copies in its first week. With the budget provided by King Records (a much larger record label than DefStar), it became possible for the group to begin holding nationwide handshake events. In every single, a ticket was provided which would grant you access to an event (one ticket per handshake). These kinds of marketing plans led to higher sales for AKB48.

2008 was also a year of loss for AKB48: During the summer, when releases were uncertain from AKB48, popular Team B member Kikuchi Ayaka suddenly stopped performing, and recently promoted Sashihara Rino began taking her place during stage performances. Suddenly, in the beginning of August, it was revealed that Kikuchi’s contract with AKB48 was terminated. Another member of Team B, Inoue Naru, also graduated suddenly at this time, as well as fellow B member Matsuoka Yuki announcing that she would graduate at the end of Team B’s 3rd stage. It was also announced that 5 original Team A members: Komatani Hitomi, Ohe Tomomi, Tojima Hana and original SukaHira 7 members Narita Risa and Nakanishi Rina, would be graduating at the end of the Team A 4th stage revival.

Another big change for the group was the new center of the group: Until that point, Takahashi Minami, Maeda Atsuko and Kojima Haruna had shared the center position of the group in some way. For Oogoe Diamond, Matsui Jurina, a complete unknown from SKE48 was thrust to the center position of the song and was the only member appearing on the cover.

As 2009 began, AKB48 began to change. The first single release for the year was 10nen Zakura, a graduation song. The major thing that set it apart from past singles was that it was not a song featured in the group’s stage shows. From this point on, all singles by the group were original songs. The single sold over 100,000, becoming the first song from the group to do so.

The second single release from AKB48 in 2009 was Namida Surprise!, a song which ended up becoming a theme for the year to some AKB fans. It was at this point that it was announced that the first ‘AKB48 General Election’ would be taking place. Every first press copy of the single would contain a ballot with which you could vote for your favourite member who, and the winner of this election would be the center of the next single.  It was at this point that ‘senbatsu’ became a term used to describe members selected for AKB48 singles. The 13th single, Iiwake Maybe, was the first to feature Under Girls, a group of girls who were secondary to the Senbatsu elite. They got their own original song and music video as well. Under Girls is now a staple for all AKB48 releases.

At the end of summer, 2009, AKB48 held its biggest concert up to that point: AKB104 at the Nippon Budoukan. After three concerts and just before the end of the last performance, AKB48′s theater manager made an appearance on stage. He announced the captains for the three teams, a form of leadership which had not existed in AKB48 before that point (at AKB48′s first TV appearance they even defiantly told the hosts of Music Fighter that they had no leader). He also announced new teams which would take effect in October 2009. The announcement was devastating for many of the girls. Sato Amina and Kasai Tomomi fainted on stage and Watanabe Mayu was seen crying while holding a photo of Ota Aika, who had missed the concert due to sickness.

The following single was RIVER, and introduced a new concept: Theater Girls. This was the last group of girls in terms of popularity and they covered a theater favourite song, Hikoukigumo. RIVER became AKB48′s first #1 hit on the Oricon charts

2010 welcomed newfound fame for AKB48–they were now a household name in Japan. They capitalized on this by planning release after release and scheduled their 2nd best-of album to be released, Kamikyokutachi. The year was filled with releases, each topping the last, from their graduation choir piece Sakura no Shiori, to their summer single Ponytail to Shushu, which contained the ballots for the 2010 Senbatsu General Election. It was also during this time that AKB48 had a three concert event at Yokohama Arena, the next step up in large venues for AKB to perform in. Their concerts included a theme that relied on their drama, Majisuka Gakuen.

In March 2010, AKB48′s new teams finally made their long awaited debut. Despite being scheduled to premiere in October 2009, the official word about new stages for the new teams wasn’t made until the beginning of 2010. Team K debuted their new stage in March, titled “RESET”, an obvious reference to the new direction AKB48 was taking with new members and new dynamics. Team B followed in May with “Theater no Megami,” of which the title song refers to the importance of the theater to AKB48, and finally Team A premiered their new stage in July, “Mokugekisha,” which included many songs with heavy lyrics, to show that AKB48 was not abandoning its controversial past.

When the results were in for the 2nd senbatsu election, a resounding shock was sent through the AKB48 fandom: Longtime center and ‘face’ of AKB48, Maeda Atsuko, was in 2nd place. Despite a lead in the preliminary results, Oshima Yuko from Team K made her push into the front spot. It was around this time that Akimoto also announced his plans to continue expanding the …48 group franchise, and NMB48 began auditions in Osaka.

At AKB48′s summer concert, it was announced that for AKB48′s 19th single, which was to be released in December, the participating members would be chosen by a janken (rock-paper-scissors) tournament. The event ended in the victory of 5th generation member Uchida Mayumi, who had never been in AKB48′s senbatsu before.

At the end of the event, AKB48′s newest Music video was debuted: Beginner. The video contained the shocking video game deaths of several members and was the buzz of Japanese media in the weeks following and up to the release, when it was announced that the video would be censored and only released on cell phones. Beginner followed to become the best selling single of 2010 and AKB48′s first million seller.

AKB48′s 5th anniversary was met with a surprise announcement. Set in the theater, many of the graduated members made an appearance and they had a special performance. However, at the end of the performance, Takahashi Minami (now considered the Captain of AKB48 by many) was given a letter to read: All 9th generation members who remained in AKB48 were now official members without teams, meaning that they could not be eliminated by Kenkyuusei selection.

2011 began without a hitch: Their first single was another graduation single and sold over 1 million copies in its first week.

They were scheduled to perform at Yokohama Arena for 5 performances over three days at the end of March in a concert called “Takamina ni Tsuiteikimasu” (We follow Takamina). Before this could happen, as you probably know, the devastating earthquake happened in Japan. AKB48′s followup to the disaster was to cancel their concert and begin everything they could to conserve energy and donate to disaster victims. They began the Dareka no Tame ni project, named after the title song of Team A’s 3rd stage and announced that they would sell the goods from the Takamina ni Tsuiteikimasu concerts for charity, with all the profits going to disaster relief. They also announced that their 2nd single for the year as well as first original album, Everyday, Katyusha and Koko ni Ita Koto respectively would have a portion of the profits donated to the Japanese red cross. Stage shows since March have been at half energy and the theater was closed for several weeks after the event.

AKB itself, however, did not stop moving because of the event: Their single Everyday, Katyusha became another million seller and their third senbatsu election was announced: Maeda Atsuko had reclaimed her 1st place position in a single called Flying Get, due to be released August of this year. They also have another concert at the end of July at Seibu Dome, their largest venue yet and first dome concert.

Over the last five and a half years AKB48 went from an idol group bigger than their fanbase to one of the biggest idol groups in history. While they still haven’t quite beat their predecessors, Onyanko Club of Morning Musume from their golden eras, it is clear that AKB48 will continue to ride this wave, with new members and new groups sprouting all over.

Hopefully this will be a good guide for those of you who want to learn more about AKB48′s past. I’m also planning on writing a guide to every official member AKB48 has ever had, as well as a guide to their stages, some quirks about the group as well as a glossary and release guide. Look forward to it! :D

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