AKB48 is a Japanese idol group formed in 2005 with the concept of "idols you can meet" in mind.While their home base is the AKB48 theatre in Akihabara, Tokyo, having such a large number of members in one group allows them to hold performances and fan meetings every day across Japan, often simultaneously.AKB48 has expanded through Japan and the world, spawning five Japanese sister groups based in different cities, three rival groups, and several overseas sister groups in Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan, China, and Malaysia.This carrd is designed to help you get started with AKB48 and contains information on their members, music, performances, other content and history in association with 48directory.Click on the links above to navigate to each section!

Members

The number 48 does not stand for the number of members in the group!
There are currently 45 members in AKB48 and hundreds more in their various sister groups.A member’s charm is often in their approachability and relatability; they are the girl next door or your little sister or daughter. They aren't perfect, but you can be there to watch them grow from debut into confident performers.No, you don't have to learn every single member, but it is possible!New members join AKB48 after auditions as part of a new generation either chosen by management or by the members themselves (draft generations). These members spend a certain amount of time as a trainee or kenkyuusei before being promoted to a team. Currently AKB48 has 16 kenkyuusei members.Members can choose to graduate at any time and this is typically accompanied by a farewell performance at the theatre. More popular members may also have a graduation ceremony at a concert. Being part of AKB48 is often seen more as a stepping stone into the entertainment industry rather than a final destination in itself. While graduation can be sad, it is also something to be congratulated, as hopefully the idol in question is moving towards their next dream.

Iwatate Saho

(Sahhoo)

Mukaichi Mion

(Miion)

Takahashi Ayane

(Ayane)

Suzuki Kurumi

(Kururun)

Yamauchi Mizuki

(Zukky)

  • Born September 20th, 2001.

  • Joined as part of 16th gen in 2016.

  • Lightstick colours are pink and yellow.

  • Was a child actor who performed in musicals including The Lion King (as young Nala) and learnt tap dance and ballet.

  • Wants to become a wizard by the age of 30.

  • Is aiming for #1 if there's ever another senbatsu election.

  • Daughter of a longtime AKB48 fan who became a fan herself in 2011.

  • Centre for Neko allergy, Monica yoake da, Shitsuren arigatou, and also appears in Idol nanka janakattara, and more!

  • Current theatre units are Boku to Juliet to jet coaster, Himawari, Taboo no iro, and Lollipop.

Ota Yuki

(Yukitan)

Hirata Yuki

(Yuki)

Yamazaki Sora

(Sorara)

Kubo Hinano

(Chanhina)

Yamaguchi Yui

(Yuichi)

Shiratori Sari

(Sarii)

  • Born September 10th, 2010.

  • Joined as part of 19th gen in 2024.

  • Lightstick colours are dark pink and white.

  • Admires Oguri Yui and would like to meet graduated member Miyawaki Sakura.

  • Her special skills are tennis and basketball.

  • Her hobby is calligraphy.

  • Appears in Yumemite gomen.

  • Current theatre units are Kaze no machibuse, 7ji 12fun no hatsukoi, Junai no crescendo, and Romance kakurenbo.

Maruyama Hinata

(Maruchan)

  • Born July 11th, 2008.

  • Joined as part of 20th gen in 2024.

Murayama Yuiri

(Yuirii)

Oguri Yui

(yuiyui)

Nagano Serika

(SERIKA)

Taguchi Manaka

(Manaka)

Omori Maho

(Mahopyon)

  • Born December 5th, 1999.

  • Joined as part of draft 3rd gen in 2018.

  • Lightstick colours are light pink and white.

  • Big idol fan before joining AKB48 who went to a lot of AKB48 events and was a fan of Komiyama Haruka and Watanabe Miyuki.

  • Loves anime and manga, to the point where she spends her entire income and has taken out loans to buy more merchandise.

  • Her anime goods cover her entire bedroom, including her bed.

  • Her special skill is sleeping a lot after eating.

  • Centre for Omoide my friend, and also appears in Hisashiburi no lip gloss, Idol nanka janakattara, Colorcon wink, Pin to kita, and more!

  • Current theatre unit is Kusaimono darake and Lollipop.

Sato Airi

(Aichan)

Hotei Moka

(Hotechan)

Akiyama Yuna

(Yunachan)

Sako Yumemi

(Yumemin)

Ito Momoka

(Itomomo)

  • Born December 6th, 2003.

  • Joined as part of 19th gen in 2024.

  • Lightstick colours are light pink and light pink.

  • The oldest member of 19th gen.

  • Former member of the idol group Always Thankyou under the name Kitano Nana.

  • Her special skills are dancing, long-distance running, and playing the flute.

  • Her hobbies are rakugo and reading.

  • Centre for Pin to kita, and also appears in Yumemite gomen.

  • Current theatre units are Furimukizama no kiss, 7ji 12fun no hatsukoi, Faint, and Romance kakurenbo.

Hanada Mei

(Meimei)

Komiyama Haruka

(Komiharu)

Kuranoo Narumi

(Naru)

Hashimoto Haruna

(Harupyon)

Nagatomo Ayami

(Ayamin)

Tokunaga Remi

(Remitan)

Hashimoto Eriko

(Erichan)

Masai Mayuu

(Mayuuchan)

Arai Sae

(Saechan)

Narita Kohina

(Kohi)

  • Born March 3rd, 2004.

  • Joined as part of 18th gen in 2023.

  • Lightstick colours are purple and yellow.

  • Has an average score of 95 at karaoke and in her opinion loves singing the most out of all the 18th gen members.

  • Wants to become someone who can support others with her music.

  • Her hobbies are listening to music and writing lyrics.

  • Understands some Korean from watching Kdramas.

  • Likes to spoil the youngest member of 18th gen, Yamaguchi Yui.

  • Appears in Ano natsu no bouhatei, Do the dance!, Hoshi ga kienai uchi ni, Yumemite gomen, and more!

  • Current theatre units are Kusaimono darake, Furimukizama no kiss, Haru ga kuru made, Faint, and Stoic na bigaku.

Okumoto Kairi

(Kairi)

  • Born January 27th, 2007.

  • Joined as part of 19th gen in 2024.

  • Lightstick colours are light blue and blue.

  • Admires Kuranoo Narumi and would like to meet graduated member Kawaei Rina.

  • Her special skill is playing piano.

  • Her hobbies are playing electric guitar, playing games, and listening to music.

  • Appears in Yumemite gomen.

  • Current theatre units are Haru ga kuru made, Faint, and Romance kakurenbo.

Oga Saki

(Saachan)

  • Born May 16th, 2006.

  • Joined as part of 20th gen in 2024.

  • Tallest member of AKB48.

Fukuoka Seina

(Seichan)

Shitao Miu

(Miu)

Chiba Erii

(Erii)

Muto Orin

(Orin)

  • Born July 22nd, 2000.

  • Joined as part of 16th gen in 2016.

  • Lightstick colours are light blue and dark pink.

  • Her name is derived from ‘Olympic’ because she was born in the year of the Sydney Olympics.

  • Special skill is full contact karate.

  • Is currently in graduate school after studying marketing at Seijo University.

  • Her future dream is to become a Pokemon master.

  • Younger sister of former AKB48 member Muto Tomu.

  • Appears in Jibuntachi no koi ni kagitte and Shuuden no yoru.

  • Current theatre units are Boku to Juliet to jet coaster, Itoshisa no defense, Make otoko, and Christmas ring.

Sakagawa Hiyuka

(Hiyuka)

Hatakeyama Nozomi

(Nonchan)

Mizushima Miyuu

(Mizumin)

Kudo Kasumi

(Kasumin)

Yagi Azuki

(Azu)

Kawamura Yui

(Kawayui)

  • Born June 18th, 2006.

  • Joined as part of 19th gen in 2024.

  • Lightstick colours are red and purple.

  • Admires Oguri Yui and would like to meet graduated member Yabuki Nako.

  • Her special skill is the Y-balance yoga pose.

  • Her hobbies are watching idols and eating sweets.

  • Appears in Yumemite gomen.

  • Current theatre units are Kaze no machibuse, 7ji 12fun no hatsukoi, Junai no crescendo, Bye bye bye, and Romance kakurenbo.

Kondo Saki

(Kosaki)

  • Born February 23rd, 2012.

  • Joined as part of 20th gen in 2024.

  • Youngest member of AKB48

Music

There are three major types of AKB48 songs within their discography.Stage songs come from original theatre set lists. These original set lists were produced mostly in the early days when the theatre was the main focus of the group. In 2013, the studio versions of these songs were finally released.Two indie and 64 major label singles have been released. Several versions of each single are produced, each with different b-sides or coupling songs. Up until 2009, singles and coupling songs were mostly taken from stage set lists that were already being performed.There are also nine studio albums containing recent singles, coupling songs and new songs. There are also three Team Surprise stages, which are collections of singles released for Pachinko ad campaigns.Members chosen for each song can be sourced from AKB48 or from any of their sister groups. Those chosen to be part of the single a-side are known as senbatsu. For the most part senbatsu are chosen by management. However, for some singles, senbatsu has been chosen by fan elections (sousenkyo) and by paper-scissors-rock tournaments (janken). Since 2021, releases have all been AKB48 only without sister group involvement.You can find every AKB48 music video along with information on which members are participating at 48Directory.To get you started, I've made three Spotify playlists with different themes!

Cool and fierce songs to inspire a battle or an adventure into the mysterious woods of another world.Songs for a party. First raucously bounce off all the walls and then later maybe things will get a bit sexy?Classic idol songs filled with love, longing and the wind blowing through your hair as you run down that hillside.

Performances

Theatre

The theatre is my favourite part of AKB48 (this may be because I stan all the flop members who don’t get as much variety or concert time).You can check out the theatre schedule and line-ups at AKB48’s website, at akiha, or using my line-up spreadsheets (for recent stages).These spreadsheets have information on who is performing what stage, and can let you easily find every date a particular member has performed. There are links to watch performances, and the folder also contains colour-coded lyrics.If you can't decide on a stage to watch, I would recommend the 5000th theatre performance, a revival of my favourite stage "Pajama Drive" with some of my favourite girls. 48Directory also has many other setlist options to watch!Theatre LODs (live on demand performances) at DMM.com for a subscription fee. You can subscribe to DMM using a VPN and paypal using these instructions.Alternatively, links to stream and download LODs can be found on my spreadsheets. Because.. you know.. it can get expensive.

Concerts

Concerts are a great way to introduce yourself to AKB48 performances (although they do tend to focus more on popular members and include sister group members).You can download and stream concerts from places like 48directory, aidoru-online, and oshimen48.If you're not sure where to start and want to focus more on the current AKB48, I suggest starting with their 2021 solo concert.If you don't care about all of the members having graduated already and want to see AKB48 at its "peak", then try 2012 Tokyo Dome or 2013 Group Rinji Soukai.A list of all of their concerts can be found on Stage48.If you're happy to pay for content you can also access almost all of AKB48's concerts on their very own streaming site eizo, which costs 1078 yen a month. I'm able to access this without using a vpn and with my own debit card, but I can't promise that this is the case for every country.

Other things to watch

Documentaries

AKB48 has several documentaries that are a great place to start getting to know about the system and history of the group. You can stream them with English subtitles here.

Dramas

AKB48 have produced several live action dramas featuring the members in the main cast. Check them out at here. You can also find links to their anime and manga series on the 48directory home page.

Variety

A great place to start for AKB variety is AKBingo!. You can stream it here. If there are dead links, you can find raw episodes and soft subs here.However, AKBingo ended in 2019 and you might be more interested in seeing content from newer members. In that case, try episodes of AKBingo! Neo and AKB48 no Daigyakushuu found on 48directory's variety page.And here's a masterlist of other subbed content for AKB48 and their sister groups.Please be aware that some of these variety shows do not stand up to modern standards of being a decent person and you will at times encounter sexism, racism, transphobia, homophobia, fatphobia, sexual harassment, and sexualisation of minors, particularly in older episodes. The subbing team for AKBingo! up to episode 65 also makes some horrible comments about the members and some guests that you may wish to avoid.