Two years ago, around the time the Democratic Party of Japan’s brief spell in power was coming to a close, I met with two colleagues—one a noted political scholar and chancellor of a public university ...

Idol pop phenomenon AKB48 hit the news in two very different ways over the past few months. The first was a vicious and unexpected attack on group members Kawaei Rina and Iriyama Anna at a May 25 meet ...

Top Japanese girl band AKB48 have released a single created using AI, after it proved more popular with fans than a rival song written by famed J-pop producer Yasushi Akimoto. As part of a songwriting ...

J-pop girl group AKB48 hit the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, on Sunday (April 1) for their first solo headlining concert in two years. By Billboard Japan J ...

Japanese idol group AKB48’s popularity is so phenomenal that it even has politicians lobbying for concerts in their country. The mega group isn’t so hot in South Korea though, where their own idol ...

AKB48's "Sustainable" debuts at No. 1 on the latest Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Sept. 16 to 22, marking this year's best first-week sales for a single with 1,628,184 copies sold. By Billboard Japan ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 30 Jul - KLP48, the new Kuala Lumpur-based sister group of Japanese idol group AKB48, has unveiled its first-generation members.

With 48 full-status performers plus a roster of “trainee” junior members who are periodically rotated into the main group, AKB48 is essentially the immortal hydra of the idol industry, but soon it’s ...

For more than half her life, while other members came and went, Yuki Kashiwagi has been an effervescent presence of the hugely popular AKB48 group. But she will finally move on to a new stage in life ...

It’s a weekday evening in Tokyo and high-octane J-pop bounces off the walls of a crowded club. On stage, 18 teenage girls wearing pink pyjamas and fixed smiles rattle through a series of synchronised ...

A Japanese all-girl pop group is causing controversy as Olympic officials debate whether to let them perform on stage in 2020. AKB48 – which has about 140 rotating members ranging from their teens to ...