On December 30th, the annual music awards show,�"The 54th Kagayaku! Japan Record Awards" was held, and announced that AKB48's "Manatsu no Sounds good!" (written by Akimoto Yasushi, composed and arranged by Inoue Yoshimasa) has received the grand prize "Japan Record Award." This is the second consecutive year for AKB48 to receive the award since they won the award with "Flying Get" last year.

Winning the "Japan Record Award" successively has been�achieved�by Hosokawa Takashi (1982 ~ 1983), Nakamori Akina (1985 ~ 1986), Amuro Namie (1996 ~ 1997), Hamasaki Ayumi (2001 ~ 2003), and EXILE (2008 ~ 2010), thus AKB48 is the first female group to accomplish it.

The general manager of AKB48 groups, Takahashi Minami shed tears, and said, "I am truly happy. Last year, we were desperate to grab the award, but his year, we felt like we must win it as the second chapter for AKB48 has begun. I am proud that we were able to get this award when there are so many great artists here."

Watanabe Mayu also commented, "As Maeda-san graduated, we, the ones who are left, need to make AKB....", she then had to stop right there, as she could not hold herself, but cry. She continued tearfully, "I am very happy. While being proud of this, I would like to continue trying our best. Though we felt some pressure,�receiving�the award will make us gain confidence, and I hope it will bring another good accomplishment."

Check out the photos from the ceremony below! (You can check other winners & nominees on our previous post here.)

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Source & Image: Sanspo