AKB48

AKB48 (A.K.B. Forty-Eight) are a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (Akiba) area in Tokyo. The group has expanded since 2005 to include over 130 members as of December 2015, aged from early teens to mid-20s. 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[9] and "handshake" events, where fans can meet group members. AKB48 expanded concept to several sister groups in China, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines with upcoming groups announced for South Korea, India and Vietnam, which makes it the largest idol group in Asia.

In 2012, their sales reached $226 million. AKB48 has been characterized as a social phenomenon. As of June 2018, the group has sold over 56 million records, including over 6 million albums. AKB48 is the highest selling musical act in Japan in terms of singles sold.The group is split into several teams, reducing its members' workload (since the theater's near-daily performance is by only one team) and enabling AKB48 to perform simultaneously in several places. Team A represents freedom; Team B is idol-like, with cute costumes, and Team K has a strong, powerful image. New members are called trainees who are understudies for the group, performing occasionally in the theater as a team.

The group members' ages range from early teens to over 20, and they are selected from regular auditions.Members are not allowed to date, and must be well-behaved;any violation of these restrictions is to be punished, possibly by expulsion from the group.