AKB48

AKB48 is a  Japanese female idol group.They are the most famous idol group in Japan.
AKB means Akihabara which is  a major shopping area for electronic, computer, anime, and otaku goods, including new and used items.
Akihabara is also known as holy ground of otaku.

AKB48 has their own theater in Akihabara.It called AKB48 theater.
AKB48 do their concert at AKB48 theater every day.

Akihabara is AKB48's home town, so many otaku become a loyal supporter of AKB48.

AKB48 is a Japanese female idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto.

The pop group has achieved enormous popularity in Japan.^[1] It is also one of the highest-earning musical acts in the world, with 2011 record sales of over $200 million in Japan alone.^[2] Its twelve latest consecutive singles topped the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. In 2010, "Beginner" and "Heavy Rotation" placed, respectively, 1st and 2nd in the list of Japan's best selling singles for the year,^[3] while in 2011 AKB48 occupied the whole top 5 of the Oricon Yearly Singles Chart.^[4] The band has sold over ten million records.^[5] More precisely, with 11,787,000 CD single sales by January 6, 2012 according to Oricon, AKB48 holds the record for most singles sold in Japan by a female group.^[6]

AKB48 is named after Akihabara (Akiba for short), the area in Tokyo where the group's own theater is located. Tne idea of AKB48's producer Yasushi Akimoto was to create a girl group that, unlike a regular pop group, that gives occasional concerts and that is mostly seen on TV, would have its own theater and perform there on a daily basis; the fans would always be able to go and see the girls live. Presently, AKB48 still performs at the theater every day,^[7] although, due to great demand, tickets are now distributed only via a lottery

AKB48 holds the Guinness World Record for being the world's "largest pop group".^[8][9] Currently, it consists of four subgroups: Team A, Team K, Team B, and Team 4 with 16 members each, summing up to a total of 64 girls.^[10] There is also a number of aspiring members, who are called "kenkyūsei" ("trainees").^[11] The member lineup often changes; when girls get older, they "graduate" from the group, while new members are cast through regularly held auditions.^[1] Having several teams not only allows the group to reduce the load on its members, since a daily concert at the theater is given by only one team, but also gives AKB48 opportunity to perform in several places and even countries simultaneously.

Yasushi Akimoto is also expanding his theater-based idol group concept to other cities and, since recently, countries. He has formed SKE48 (based at a theater in the Sakae area of Nagoya), SDN48 (intended to have a more mature image), NMB48,^[11]HKT48, JKT48 (based in Jakarta, Indonesia). Another of his recent creations, Nogizaka46, was announced as an official rival for AKB48.

Given the large number of members in the group, AKB48 uses various selection methods to determine the member lineup who will participate in the recording of a single. Each year, one single's member lineup is determined by fans who vote for their favorite members in so-called "general elections", and one is decided in a rock-paper-scissors tournament. The members of the sister groups are also eligible. The popularity of AKB48 is so huge that in the last election the number of votes cast exceeded 1 million and the single "Everyday, Katyusha", that contained a voting card for the election, set a new Japanese all-time record for weekly sales of a CD single.^[12]