AKB48 is probably the most popular idol-music group at the moment in Japan. They started in 2005 performing every week in a small venue in Akihabara; little by little fans started to increase and this year they reached the number one position in the national sales ranking with the song Sakura no Shiori:
The name of the group, AKB48, comes from the fact that there are 48 girls in the group in total. Because the number of girls is very high they are organized in subgroups of 16 girls; each of them has an idol-girl leader. The members of the team rotate, once they become famous they become independent, and they become actresses or simply they appear on TV shows just showing off their beautiful smile. When some girls move on to other things, new positions open up in the group and they welcome new members; the system is similar to that of the legendary group Morning Musume.
Minami Takahashi, leader of the subgroup A of AKB48.
Sayaka Akimoto, leader of the subgroup B of AKB48.
Yuki Kashiwagi, leader of the subgroup C of AKB48.
