Yasushi Akimoto, founder and producer of the famous Japanese idol group AKB48, announced the plans to form a sister group in the Philippines.
According to Akimoto, there’s a lot of J-Pop fans in the Philippines, thus making it a good place to spread the idol culture. He has already created the international groups JKT48 in Jakarta, Indonesia, and SNH48 in China.
AKB48 is Japan’s most popular female idol group, with hit songs like “Koi Suru Fortune Cookie,” “Sayonara Crawl,” “Manatsu no Sounds Good,” “Everyday Katyusha,” “Beginner,” “River,” and “Heavy Rotation. “ It is considered one of the highest-earning musical acts in the world with 2011 record sales of over $200 million in Japan.
As an idol group, AKB48 is more accessible to fans since they perform at the exclusive AKB48 Theater almost every day. Its female members are usually in their early teens to mid-20s.
Akimoto also plans to form the Niigata-based idol group NGT48, the fifth 48 group after AKB48, SKE48, NMB48, and HKT48. From these groups, he plans to draw members and create Japan48 before the start of the 2020 Summer Olympics.