JKT48 7th Single [Papan Penanda Isi Hati] Released & Pajama Drive Revival

JKT48 have released their 7th single [Papan Penanda Isi Hati] on 27th August 2014. The release time shares the same date with AKB48's version of the song [Kokoro no Placard] just like [Koisuru Fortune Cookie] last year.

Subunit DiVA to Restart Activities and then Disband

AKB48's subunit DiVA has announced that they will disband at the end of the year. But before the disbandment the group will restart activities for a while. For this final activities former DiVA member Masuda Yuka will return to the group and the 'i' in the name will be changed to capital letters so that they will perform as [DIVA] from now on.

A new single, their first in two and a half years, will be released on October 8th. The release of DIVA's first and last album as well as a final live event are also planned.

AKB48 Is Looking for a Part-Time Member

Once again AKB48 is looking for a new member but this time following a new concept. On August 10th it was announced that AKB48 wants to recruit a new part-time member. This member will work for 1000 Yen per hour and will participate in the usual AKB48 activities like TV shows, CM, handshake events etc as Baito AKB member. This new project is part of the AKB48 Group campaign for the part-time information site Baitoru.

Application time already started and will go on until September 10th. The final audition round is planned for late September. As with Otona AKB, the Baito AKB member will only be a temporary one until February 2015, but with the option of a contract renewal for another three months. Applicants have to be at least junior high students.

Apart from the salary complete social insurance, transportation and food allowance as well as costumes will be provided.

Official BaitoAKB homepage: http://campaign.baitoru.com/baito-akb/

AKB48 Janken Tournament Preliminary Round Winners

On August 8th, the AKB48 Group held preliminaries to determine participants for the janken tournament. All Team A, K, B and 4 members (including concurrent members) participate automatically but Team 8 members, Kenkyuusei and sister group members had to win preliminary janken rounds to participate.

The winners are:
Team 8 (3 participants): Ota Nao (Kyoto), Gyouten Yurina (Kagawa), Honda Hitomi (Tochigi)
AKB48 Kenkyuusei (1): Iino Miyabi
SKE48 (8):  Arai Yuki, Ishida Anna, Uchiyama Mikoto, Ego Yuna, Kato Tomoko, Goudo Saki, Takatsuka Natsuki, Takagi Yumana
NMB48 (7): Azuma Yuki, Ishizuka Akari, Okita Ayaka, Kinoshita Haruna, Kono Saki, Yabushita Shu, Watanabe Miyuki
HKT48 (5): Ueki Nao, Umemoto Izumi, Okada Kanna, Kumazawa Serina, Matsuoka Natsumi

AKB48 Team 8 Makes Theater Debut

On August 5, AKB48's Team 8 made its theater debut in the AKB48 theater. 16 out of the 47 members were selected to perform the Shonichi show, a remake of AKB48's very first stage [Party ga Hajimaru yo]. The setlist can be found below.

Team 8 was first revealed to the public in April. Since then they have held several local events in various parts of Japan. Following the AKB48 theater debut they also tour the other 48 Group theaters with changing performing members.

Recently Team 8 member Okubora Chinatsu, the Gifu representative, graduated but a replacement has already been selected: Hattori Yuna (13) was revealed as new Gifu member at the end of July.


AKB48 Team 8 1st Stage [Party ga Hajimaru yo]
Performing Members: Mougi Kasumi (Fukushima), Yoshikawa Nanase (Chiba), Sato Shiori (Niigata), Nakano Ikumi (Tottori), Abe Mei (Shimane), Tani Yuuri (Hiroshima), Shitao Miu (Yamaguchi), Hamamatsu Riona (Tokushima),  Gyouten Yurina (Kagawa), Takaoka Kaoru (Ehime), Fukuchi Rena (Saga), Iwasaki Moeka (Nagasaki), Kuranoo Narumi (Kumamoto), Yoshino Miyu (Oita), Shimoaoki Karin (Kagoshima), Miyazato Rira (Okinawa)

M01 - Party ga Hajimaru yo
M02 - Dear My Teacher
M03 - Dokuringo wo Tabesasete
-----MC-----
M04 - Skirt, Hirari (Kuranoo Narumi, Takaoka Kaoru, Tani Yuuri, Nakano Ikumi, Mougi Kasumi)
M05 - Classmate  (Abe Mei, Gyouten Yurina, Shitao Miu, Miyazato Rira, Yoshino Miyu)
M06 - Anata to Christmas Eve (Shimoaoki Karin, Hamamatsu Riona)
M07 - Kiss wa Dame yo (Iwasaki Moeka, Sato Shiori, Fukuchi Rena)
M08 - Hoshi no Ondo (Kuranoo Narumi, Nakano Ikumi, Mougi Kasumi, Yoshikawa Nanase)
-----MC-----
M09 - Sakura no Hanabiratachi
M10 - Aozora no Soba ni Ite

-----ENCORE-----
EN1 - AKB48
EN2 - Skirt, Hirari
EN3 - Sakura no Hanabiratachi
EN4 - AKB48 Team 8 Special Medley (Iiwake Maybe ~ Ponytail to Shushu ~Labrador Retriever ~ Koi Suru Juuden Prius)
EN5 - Kokoro no Placard

AKB48 Janken Tournament Winner To Make Solo Debut

AKB48 will hold a Janken Tournament this year as well, on September 17. This will be the fifth Janken tournament for AKB48 but this time there is a new reward: the tournament winner will make a solo debut! If a member wins who already debuted as solo act she will get a solo concert in addition to the new solo single.

Those who rank #2~#16 at the tournament will participate in the winner single's coupling songs and the respective music videos.

The preliminary rounds for the tournament will be held on August 8 during the AKB48 Natsu Matsuri (summer festival) and the tournament pairings will be determined during a handshake event on the following day.

HKT48 4th Single and Additional National Tour Concerts Announced

During a handshake event on August 3, HKT48 announced the release of their 4th single. The single will go on sale on September 24th. Further details will come out on a later date.


Also, HKT48 will hold a national tour this fall. A few concerts had already been announced before but now additional venues were revealed. Concerts in Taiwan and Hong Kong are planned as well but dates have not been set yet. The full tour schedule is:

09/21 Ishikawa Prefecture, Honda no Mori Hall
09/28 Iwate Prefecture, Iwate Prefectural Hall
10/04 Niigata Prefecture, Niigata Terusa
10/11 Yamagat Prefecture, Yamagin Hall (Yamagata Prefectural Hall)
10/18 Tokushima Prefecture, Naruto Bunka Kaikan
11/01 Ibaraki Prefecture, Yuki Shimin Bunka Center Across Big Hall
11/16 Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokosuka Arts Theatre Big Hall
11/18 Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka Sunpalace
12/23 Hiroshima Prefecture, Aster Plaza Big Hall

Dates unknown: Taiwan, Hong Kong

Two SKE48 Kenkyuusei Promoted

During a special SKE48 live show on August 4, two Kenkyuusei promotions were announced: Inuzuka Asana and Noguchi Yume were both promoted to Team S.

Inuzuka Asana is a 4th Generation member who already joined in fall 2010. She was a Kenkyuusei for almost four years and the last 4th generation Kenkyuusei left unpromoted.

Noguchi Yume is a 6th generation member. She joined SKE48 in early 2013. She is the sixth 6th gneration member who got promoted.

SKE48 15th Single [Bukiyou Taiyou] First Week Sales

SKE48's 15th single [Bukiyou Taiyou] has finished its first week and once again SKE48 took the first rank in the Oricon Weekly Charts. The single sold 324,076 in week one.

The previous single [Mirai to wa?] already had lower sales (first week: 397,874) than other recent SKE48 singles but [Bukiyou Taiyou]'s are even lower by more than 70,000 copies. But theater version sales rounds are still not all finished so sales are hard to compare.

Soundscan sales have gone down as well but not as much as total sales: SKE48 ranked on #2, #5, #6 and #7 with a total of 102,722 copies sold (previous single 118,750).

AKB48 37th Single [Kokoro no Placard] Tracklist+Covers

AKB48's 37th single [Kokoro no Placard] will be released on August 27th. Covers and tracklist for this single which features the elected members from this year's election can be found below.

The main song [Kokoro no Placard] is centered by election winner Watanabe Mayu who also gets two solo covers. Apart from the election-related songs, the single also contains the song [Sailor Zombie] the title song for the drama of the same name, the Papico CM song [Oshiete Mommy] with Tsukamoto Mariko and Team 8's first own song [47 no Suteki na Machi e].

AKB48 37th Single
Kokoro no Placard
心のプラカード
27th August 2014

Type A Limited 1,524yen

Type A Regular 1,524yen

[CD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (Senbatsu)
02. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (Undergirls)
03. Hito-Natsu no Hankouki  (Next Girls)
04. Kokoro no Placard (short version)
05. Kokoro no Placard (off vocal)
06. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (off vocal)
07. Hito-Natsu no Hankouki (off vocal)
[DVD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (MV)
02. Kokoro no Placard (choreography video Type A)
03. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (MV)
04. Hito-Natsu no Hankouki (MV)

Type B Limited 1,524yen

Type B Regular 1,524yen

[CD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (Senbatsu)
02. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (Undergirls)
03. Seikaku ga Warui Onna no Ko  (Future Girls)
04. Kokoro no Placard (short version)
05. Kokoro no Placard (off vocal)
06. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (off vocal)
07. Seikaku ga Warui Onna no Ko (off vocal)
[DVD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (MV)
02. Kokoro no Placard (choreography video Type B)
03. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (MV)
04. Seikaku ga Warui Onna no Ko (MV)

Type C Limited 1,524yen

Type C Regular 1,524yen

[CD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (Senbatsu)
02. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (Undergirls)
03. Chewing Gum no Aji ga Naku Naru made  (Upcoming Girls)
04. Kokoro no Placard (short version)
05. Kokoro no Placard (off vocal)
06. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (off vocal)
07. Chewing Gum no Aji ga Naku Naru made (off vocal)
[DVD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (MV)
02. Kokoro no Placard (choreography video Type C)
03. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (MV)
04. Chewing Gum no Aji ga Naku Naru made (MV)

Type D Limited 1,524yen

Type D Regular 1,524yen

[CD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (Senbatsu)
02. Sailor Zombie (Milk Planet)
03. Oshiete Mommy
04. Kokoro no Placard (short version)
05. Kokoro no Placard (off vocal)
06. Sailor Zombie (off vocal)
07. Oshiete Mommy (off vocal)
[DVD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (MV)
02. Kokoro no Placard (choreography video Type D)
03. Sailor Zombie (MV)
04. Oshiete Mommy (MV)

Theater Version 952yen

[CD]
01. Kokoro no Placard (Senbatsu)
02. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (Undergirls)
03. 47 no Suteki na Machi e  (Team 8)
04. Kokoro no Placard (short version)
05. Kokoro no Placard (off vocal)
06. Dareka ga Nageta Ball (off vocal)
07. 47 no Suteki na Machi e (off vocal)

For Senbatsu, Undergirls, Next Girls, Future Girls, Upcoming Girls line-up please see the election results post.

Sailor Zombie - Milk Planet
Team A: Iwata Karen
Team K: Yokoyama Yui
Team B: Watanabe Mayu

Oshiete Mommy
Team A: Kawaei Rina, Shimazaki Haruka
Team K: Kojima Mako
Team B: Owada Nana, Watanabe Mayu
Otona AKB48: Tsukamoto Mariko

NMB48 2nd Album [Sekai no Chuushin wa Osaka ya~ Namba Jichiku~] Tracklist and Covers

NMB48 will release its 2nd album on August 13th. The album is titled [Sekai no Chuushin wa Osaka ya~Namba Jichiku~] ("The center of the world is Osaka~Autonomous region Namba/Namba Territory~").

It will be released in 4 types: N, M, B and Theater version. The record contains all singles since [Bokura no Eureka], several couplings and new songs, for example songs for the new teams and the album's main song [Ibiza Girl]. DVDs included in types N, M  and B not only contain music videos but also theater shows, the NMB48 Request Hour and bonus videos.



NMB48 2nd Album
Sekai no Chuushin wa Osaka ya~Namba Jichiku~
世界の中心は大阪や〜なんば自治区〜
13 August 2014

Bold: New Songs

Type N 3,500yen	[CD] 01. Ibiza Girl 02. Bokura no Eureka 03. Kamonegikkusu 04. Takane no Ringo 05.  "Seito Techou no Shashin wa Ki ni Haitte Inai" no Housoku 06. Densha wo Oriru (Team N) 07. Okuba (Shirogumi) 08. Doshaburi Seishun no Naka de (Shirogumi) 09. Prom no Koibito (Shirogumi) 10. Dakishimetai Kedo (Yamamoto Sayaka) 11. Isshukan, Zenbu ga Getsuyoubi nara II no ni 12. Sunglasses to Uchiakebanashi (Kenkyuusei) 13. Toki wa Katarihajimeru 14. Kamonegikkusu <Remo-Con REMIX> 15. Kimi to Deatte Boku wa Kawatta [DVD] (Disc A) 01. Ibiza Girl (MV) 02. Ibiza Girl (MV Dancing Version) 03. Densha wo Oriru (MV) 04. Ibiza Girl Special Footage: ~Kotani Riho wa Sky Diving ni Chousen!~(Kotani Riho tries Skydiving) 05. Koko ni Datte Tenshi wa Iru- Team N Theater Show (2014.3.25) (Disc B) 01. NMB48 Request Hour Setlist Best 50 2014 (#50~#34) 02. Oshaberi-gumi 2 (Talk Group 2) (First Part) 03. Hajimete no Burari Hitori Tabi  (First Idle Journey alone) (Ota Yuuri ver.)
Type M 3,500yen	[CD] 01. Ibiza Girl 02. Bokura no Eureka 03. Kamonegikkusu 04. Takane no Ringo 05.  "Seito Techou no Shashin wa Ki ni Haitte Inai" no Housoku 06. Natsu no Saiminjutsu (Team M) 07. Hinadan de wa Boku no Miryoku wa Ikinainda (Namba Teppoutai Sono San) 08. Omowase Kousen (Akagumi) 09. Yama e Ikou (Namba Teppoutai Sono Go) 10. Peak 11. Isshukan, Zenbu ga Getsuyoubi nara II no ni 12. Sunglasses to Uchiakebanashi (Kenkyuusei) 13. Toki wa Katarihajimeru 14. Kamonegikkusu <Remo-Con REMIX> 15. Kimi to Deatte Boku wa Kawatta [DVD] (Disc A) 01. Ibiza Girl (MV) 02. Ibiza Girl (MV Dancing Version) 03. Natsu no Saiminjutsu (MV) 04. Ibiza Girl Special Footage: ~Kotani Riho wa Sky Diving ni Chousen!~(Kotani Riho tries Skydiving) 05. Idol no Yoake- Team M Theater Show (2014.4.1) (Disc B) 01. NMB48 Request Hour Setlist Best 50 2014 (#33~#17) 02. Oshaberi-gumi 2 (Talk Group 2) (Second Part) 03. Hajimete no Burari Hitori Tabi  (First Idle Journey alone) (Shiroma Miru ver.)
Type B 3,500yen	[CD] 01. Ibiza Girl 02. Bokura no Eureka 03. Kamonegikkusu 04. Takane no Ringo 05.  "Seito Techou no Shashin wa Ki ni Haitte Inai" no Housoku 06. Kimi ni Yarareta (Team BII) 07. Mou Hadashi ni wa Narenai (Namba Teppoutai Sono Yon) 08. Yaban na Softcream (Akagumi) 09. Mizukiri (Akagumi) 10. Heart no Dokusenken 11. Isshukan, Zenbu ga Getsuyoubi nara II no ni 12. Sunglasses to Uchiakebanashi (Kenkyuusei) 13. Toki wa Katarihajimeru 14. Kamonegikkusu <Remo-Con REMIX> 15. Kimi to Deatte Boku wa Kawatta [DVD] (Disc A) 01. Ibiza Girl (MV) 02. Ibiza Girl (MV Dancing Version) 03. Kimi ni Yarareta (MV) 04. Ibiza Girl Special Footage: ~Kotani Riho wa Sky Diving ni Chousen!~(Kotani Riho tries Skydiving) 05. Tadaima Renaichuu - Team BII Theater Show (2014.3.24) (Disc B) 01. NMB48 Request Hour Setlist Best 50 2014 (#16~#1) 02. NMB48 feat. Yoshimoto Shinkigeki Vol.9
Theater Version 1,886 yen	[CD] 01. Ibiza Girl 02. Bokura no Eureka 03. Kamonegikkusu 04. Takane no Ringo 05.  "Seito Techou no Shashin wa Ki ni Haitte Inai" no Housoku 06. Souzou no Shijin (Kenykuusei) 07. Todokanasou de Todoku Mono 08. Sunglasses to Uchiakebanashi (Kenkyuusei) 09. Kasa wa Iranai 10. Toki wa Katarihajimeru 11. Isshukan, Zenbu ga Getsuyoubi nara II no ni 12. Sayanee 13. Kamonegikkusu <Remo-Con REMIX> 14. Kimi to Deatte Boku wa Kawatta