AKB48 and NMB48 win Japan Gold Disc Awards

Last Friday on January 27th, the winners of the 26th Japan Gold Disc Awards was announced. Hosted by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, the awards given are based on actual single and album sales numbers. Unsurprisingly, many of the awards went to AKB48. They were awarded a total of 10 awards from 6 categories, including the top "Artist of the Year" award. They also monopolized the "Single of the Year" category with all 5 of their singles. Below are the categories that AKB48 won in. Artist of the Year: Japanese: AKB48 International: Lady Gaga Top 5 Albums (Japanese): Beautiful...

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SKE48 8th Single [Kataomoi Finally] 1st Week Sales

SKE48's 8th single [Kataomoi Finally] completed it's first week on the charts, placing 1st in the weekly chart and selling just under 500,000 copies. The exact sales number is 495,809 copies sold, just a little more than 4k more to reach 500k. But if you include today's (tuesday) sales of 5,918 copies, Kataomoi Finally has passed the 500k mark! It's unfortunate that it couldn't happen in the first week though. For most of the week, Kataomoi Finally's sales closely mirrored that of their previous single Oki Doki. The big changer come on Friday, when they sold 90k copies all of a sudden....

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AKB48 Goes Danso in Commercial for Haruyama

AKB48 was recently chosen as the image character for Haruyama Trading's new "Full Freshers Campaign". Haruyama is a Japanese menswear clothing company, specializing in business suits. The commercial, titled "Handsome men's slim", hopes to attract the "freshers generation" that will enter Japan's workforce soon. Official website: http://otokomae-slim.jp/ (scheduled to open on February 1st) The members chosen to participate in the commercial are: Oshima Yuko, Kashiwagi Yuki, Kitahara Rie, Kojima Haruna, Sashihara Rino, Shinoda Mariko, Takajo Aki, Takahashi Minami,...

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SDN48's Final Single Titled [Makeoshimi Congratulation]

Details about SDN48's 5th single has been revealed. Titled [Makeoshimi Congratulation], it will be SDN48's last single before they graduate on March 31st. The release date is March 7th, 2012. Unlike their previous 4 singles which have a sexy theme, Makeoshimi Congratulation will be SDN48's first and last idol type song. It is about the feelings of a person whose ex-lover gets married; "the 'I' in the song wishes nothing but the best for the ex-lover, to the point where 'I' feel a deep sense of regret" The single covers will also reflect the idol theme and graduation season, and...

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Because You Were There For Me: Hirajima Natsumi

Hirajima Natsumi's interview article from the Shukan Asahi's interview series [Anata ga Ite Kureta kara]. Because of her resignation from AKB48 last weekend, I set this translation to top priority. Yonezawa Rumi does not have an interview article though. In this article, Hirajima talks about the difficulties she encountered as a celebrity in a normal high school, and her close friend "Y-chan". A Very Important Friend I Met In A "Normal" High School Translated by Bernard For me, there exists a life that is very different from AKB. It is the life I experienced as a high school student...

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Yonezawa Rumi and Hirajima Natsumi Scandals

So as you all have heard by now, Yonezawa Rumi and Hirajima Natsumi was caught in a scandal last weekend and subsequently both of them withdrew from AKB48. The previous post regarding this was the announcement. Here we will go into detail about the scandal. DISCLAIMER: most, if not all, of the information came from 2ch, so please take everything with a grain of salt So this all started when someone on 2ch posted a thread with the title "I found something incredible" which eventually lead to Yonezawa's private mixi account exposed. According to 2ch posters,...

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[Singapore] 28 January AKB48 Concert Set List + Impressions

AKB48 performed their 6th stage concert in at the AKB48 Singapore Theater in Singapore last night. Here's the concert set list, as well as my thoughts about the concert below. AKB48 Singapore Theater VOL. 11 AKB48 6th Stage in Singapore 28 January 2012 (Saturday) Team A: Katayama Haruka, Kuramochi Asuka, Nakata Chisato, Nakaya Sayaka, Matsubara Natsumi. Team K: Uchida Mayumi, Umeda Ayaka, Tanabe Miku, Nito Moeno, Nonaka Misato Team B: Sato Amina, Sato Natsuki, Suzuki Shiori, Suzuki Mariya, Masuda Yuka * Yonezawa Rumi did not participate in the concert M00 - Overture M01 - Everyday, Kachuusha M02...

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Yonezawa Rumi and Hirajima Natsumi leaves AKB48

Yonezawa Rumi of Team K and Hirajima Natsumi of Team B will be quitting AKB48 with immediate effect. Japanese fans uncovered a scandal involving Yonezawa's use of a private twitter which also led to the discovery of Hirajima's private twitter. Tweets and photos from their accounts showed that both have been in relationships during their time in AKB48. In less than 24 hours since the news began to spread online, the decision was swiftly made that both would be leaving AKB48. The official statement is that both requested to quit. Both Yonezawa and Hirajima's Google Plus accounts attracted a substantial amount of hate messages which may have led to this swift decision. The blog post from theater manager Togasaki came at the wee hours of the morning which shows how serious this is. This is...

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The Next Big Push: Mitsumune Kaoru?

Last night, Shinoda Mariko posted the above image on her Google+ and blog. It's a behind-the-scenes shot from one of AKB48's new CMs. In the picture are (right to left) Itano Tomomi, Maeda Atsuko, Shinoda Mariko, Kojima Haruna and 13th generation Kenkyuusei member Mitsumune Kaoru. Blog Link: http://blog.mariko-shinoda.net/article/248706869.html The details of the CM are still secret, but it will feature those above 5 members. Also in line from her is a solo gravure shoot and will even be on the cover of the magazine! Is Mitsumune Kaoru the next Komori Mika or Yokoyama Yui?...

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All 109 Google+ Heyakko Will Get Their Own Profiles

Good news for you Gugutasu (Google+) users! All "Heyakko" members will now have their own Google+ profiles! Previously, Google+'s age policy restricted it to being used only by AKB48, SK4E48, NMB48 and HKT48 members over 18-years-old. All the underaged members (13-18) could still use Google+ however, but only through a "Heyakko" (kids room) account. But this was quite troublesome as there are about 40+ underaged members in AKB48 all sharing the Heyakko account. This meant that if you wanted to find a post from a particular member, you had to go through the endless scrolling of doom. But...

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Because You Were There for Me: Watanabe Mayu

From Shukan Asahi's interview series, Watanabe Mayu talks about her mother. Looks like robots have feelings too!~ The Text That Got Back My Bond with My Mother Translated by mammothb I passed the AKB audition when I was in year 6 of elementary school. During that time, I was close to being a shut-in. In school, I was the "ghost" in class, and when I return home, I immediately watch anime on my computer and draw various illustrations, I was fully into the 2D world. Even when we are having meals together as a family, I didn't talk to them...... I continued living this way for...

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Watanabe Mayu Solo Single [Synchro Tokimeki] Covers Revealed

Another late post delayed by Chinese New Year. More backlog expected tonight. The cover art for Watanabe Mayu's debut single [Synchro Tokimeki] has been revealed! The single will come in four different versions: three limited and one regular. See the covers below. As per the style on her solo website, the covers are really lovely and girly!  They feature Mayuyu in four different styles: "Idol Mayuyu", "Stylish Mayuyu", "Natural Mayuyu" and "Usa Shijimi". The last version features her as the 38-year-old teacher who she plays in her drama Sabadoru. By the way, Synchro Tokimeki is...

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NMB48 3rd Single [Junjou U-19] updates

Some updates regarding NMB48's upcoming 3rd single [Junjou U-19]. It's pronounced "junjou under nineteen" by the way. Earlier in the month we posted the incomplete tracklist for Junjou U-19. Well now the full tracklist has already been released, revealing the 2 untitled songs. Track 2 is titled [Baatari GO!] and it will be sung by the Undergirls. Undergirls - Baatari GO! (場当たりGO！) Team N: Shinohara Kanna, Yamaguchi Yuuki Team M: Ota Riona, Kawakami Rena, Kodakari Yuuka, Takano Yui, Tanigawa Airi, Hikawa Ayame, Fujita Runa, Mita Mao, Murakami Ayaka, Murase Sae,...

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NMB48 Team M Announced, Shimada Rena Captain

NMB48's Team M was formed this evening, January 26th. The 16 member of Team M are as follows. NMB48 Team M <1st gen> Ota Riona Kawakami Rena Kinoshita Momoka Hikawa Ayame Yamagishi Natsumi <2nd gen> Kodakari Yuuka Shimada Rena Jo Eriko Takano Yui Tanigawa Airi Fujita Runa Mita Mao Murakami Ayaka Murase Sae Yagura Fuuko Yogi Keira Congratulations to all the girls who made it into Team M! The captain of Team M has also been announced. As expected, she is Shimada Rena. Now her promotion to Captain of 2nd Gen Kenkyuusei earlier this month totally doesn't make sense at all. Of the...

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NMB48's Yoshida Akari Returns from Suspension

On January 24th's Team N show at the NMB48 Theater, the voting results for Yoshida Akari's return to the group was finally revealed. Yoshida Akari Approve: 6,821 Disapprove: 873 Yoshida Akari has got more than 50% approved votes, and can now return to NMB48! Congratulations! She has already started practices and will return to the stage on mid-February. Akarin voluntarily suspended herself from NMB48 activities on September last year, together with Matsuda Shiori. At least that's what the official blog says, Whether there a another reason for the suspension is not known. Some people...

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SKE48 8th Single [Kataomoi Finally] 1st Day Sales

Sorry for the lack of updates, been really busy with Chinese New Year festivities. SKE48's 8th single [Kataomoi Finally] hit the charts today, landing in the #1 position in Oricon and selling 285,467 copies on it's first sales day! Ranking in 2nd and 3rd respectively are Kim Hyun Joong's [KISS KISS / Lucky Guy] with 71,821 copies sold, and Morning Musume's [Pyoko Pyoko Ultra] with 11,074 copies sold. Sales are good and there's a nice big gap so SKE48 is guaranteed to take the top spot for the 1st week sales charts too. But comparing Kataomoi Finally's first day sales to that of...

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[AKB48 Unit Matsuri] Concert Setlist

AKB48's Unit Matsuri Concert took place today (January 23rd) at the Tokyo Dome City Hall. The Unit Matsuri (Unit Festival) was created this year in response to the large number of subunit songs taking up a big number of positions at the Request Hour 2011 concert last year. And it seems to have worked! Looking at the set list of Request Hour 2012, a good number of old stage songs definitely wouldn't have ranked if not for this. A total of 33 songs was performed today, including a few shuffles. Here's the set list. AKB48 Unit Matsuri AKBユニット祭り Date: 23 January 2012 Venue:...

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AKB48 25th Single [GIVE ME FIVE] Covers + Baby Blossom

Yesterday on January 22nd at the AKB48 Request hour 2012 concert, you saw AKB48 perform a live band version of their upcoming 25th single [GIVE ME FIVE!]. The band, created just for GIVE ME FIVE! , is named [Baby Blossom]. Except for a few, most of them do not have prior experience playing instruments. They have been training in secret for the past 5 months to prepare for their first performance yesterday Lead Guitar: Takahashi Minami Rhythm Guitar: Maeda Atsuko Bass: Oshima Yuko Drum: Kashiwagi Yuki Keyboards: Kojima Haruna, Watanabe Mayu Trumpets: Yokoyama Yui, Matsui Rena Trombone: Sashihara...

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