On March 27th AKB48 held a performance for the “National Cherry Blossom Festival” in Washington DC. This year marks the 100th year that Tokyo sent cherry blossom trees to the United States. The girls performed various songs including their cherry blossom associated hit song, “Sakura no Hanabiratachi”. Reportedly, around 1,100 fans came to watch the girls perform.
The venue was …
The latest issue of weekly tabloid ‘Shukan Bunshun‘, which will officially hit news stands on March 29th, is going to reveal an alleged relationship between AKB48’s Itano Tomomi and EXILE’s Takahiro. The first photographs of the article already made it onto the web, and quickly became a hot topic on various bulletin boards and Twitter.
Shukan Bunshun has not only received …
AKB48’s producer Akimoto Yasushi announced on Google+ that he received an email from Shueisha and it has been decided that Kashiwagi Yuki’s new photobook “Yu, Yu, Yukirin…” will be released on April 19th.
Kashiwagi’s photobook will have shots of her as a bunny girl and photos of the star in a sand bath. The cover of the photobook …
"Bokura ga Ita" / "Doraemon" / "Sherlock Holmes"
"Bokura ga Ita" / "Doraemon" / "Sherlock Holmes"
“Ultraman Saga” featuring AKB48 fights its way into the top 10, while “Doraemon” remains an unbeatable force.
The anime “Doraemon” unlocked the achievement for topping the box office chart for the fourth consecutive weekend. Its weekend revenue only dropped by 17.7% compared to the previous weekend. The number of viewers adds up to …
L to R: Hirata Rina, Miyazawa Sae, Takajo Aki
L to R: Hirata Rina, Miyazawa Sae, Takajo Aki
On March 26th, various members of AKB48 arrived in Washington DC and paid a visit to Thomson Elementary School participating in a cultural exchange with the school children. The group is visiting to show their gratitude for all the support received after the Tohoku Earthquake. AKB48 displayed various “energetic” pop culture …
After the sudden announcement of her graduation from AKB48, Maeda Atsuko took to her blog while in Hong Kong on March 27th. The blog entry was titled “Feelings” and she expressed her feelings regarding her upcoming graduation.
Check out the translation of her entry below.
Good morning everyone
I’m in Hong Kong right now
These days sure are going by fast
I’ve been …
Actress Gouriki Ayame (19) was a presenter for the ‘3rd Magazine Awards’ on March 26th. The awards were chosen based on votes from Magazine editor-in-chiefs and bookstore employees. Gouriki commented, “I really love magazines. I want to continue appearing in fashion magazines, and I would like to produce a furisode (long-sleeved kimono) sometime in the future.”
Gouriki was …
On March 26th, AKB48’s Itano Tomomi attended a press conference for the beach sandal brand, ‘Bubbleflop‘, as their new image character.
Earlier it was reported that fellow member Maeda Atsuko would be graduating from the group. Itano revealed, “She asked for my advice beforehand.”
She continued, “She thought about things her own way, and this is the …
L to R: Masuda Yuka, Maeda Atsuko, Nakagawa Haruka
Maeda Atsuko’s graduation announcement was the biggest surprise in AKB48’s history and the chatter over it didn’t settle down even well into the night.
On March 26th, Maeda went to Hong Kong to attend the 40th anniversary event of Japan-China friendly relations “Genki na Nihon Tenjikai”, in which …
Popular idol group AKB48 has been chosen as the newest CM character for Nissin’s ‘Cup Noodle‘!
On March 27th, footage from the CM shoot will be available for viewing via Nissin’s official Facebook page and Google+ account.
The CM’s theme is “REAL”, and it will focus on AKB48’s day-to-day life. It will feature off-shots from the group’s recording …
With spring starting and graduations taking place throughout Japan, it was only a matter of time before Oricon released their “2012 Sakura Song Ranking”. 500 men and women in their teens and 20s were asked which ‘sakura song’ was their favorite. The survey was taken from March 8th to March 13th.
Check out the results below!
[2012 Sakura Song Ranking]
1. Sakura (vocal …
AKB48’s “4th General Election” will be held on June 6th at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. The election was announced on March 25th at AKB48’s concert at Saitama Super Arena. This election will allow fans to vote for the senbatsu members in AKB48’s 27th single. This will be the 4th consecutive election since 2009.
This time AKB48 and their sister groups …
Now that the cast and plot of the new AKB48 anime ‘AKB0048‘ has been revealed, it was only a matter of time before the first preview was released. The preview takes us to a land where idols are banned and the reincarnated idol group AKB0048 rises up as illegal idols as they take on the light and spirit …
On March 25th, Maeda Atsuko has announced that she will be graduating from AKB48. This announcement was made during the encore on the final day of AKB48’s concert at Saitama Super Arena, “Gyoumurenraku. Tanomuzo, Katayama Bucho! in Saitama Super Arena.”
Maeda stated while crying, “I took the audition to enter AKB48 when I was 14 years old, which was a big decision …
On March 24th, AKB48 producer Akimoto Yasushi announced through Google+ that he will soon be creating ‘Team 8′.
Following ‘Team A’, ‘Team K’, ‘Team B’, and ‘Team 4′, ‘Team 8′ will be the 5th team from AKB48.
During the 2nd night of AKB48’s Saitama Super Arena concert, there was a surprise announcement that 5 Research Students have been promoted to …
