



On August 26th, Maeda Atsuko gave a speech to her fans�during the encore of AKB48's final day at their Tokyo Dome concert, 'AKB48 in TOKYO DOME ~1830m no Yume~'.



Maeda tried to hold back tears while receiving an "Acchan" and "Atsuko" call from the crowd of 48,000 people.�She raised and lowered her microphone a number of times before slowly beginning her speech.



Below is a translated speech from Maeda:



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"I was shy ever since I was small. Whenever someone talked to me, I would immediately hide behind my mom. It's a mystery that a person like me can stand in front of 48,000 people right now. I'm full of happiness.



Honestly, I'm very sad. However, it's the path I've decided for myself. I would like to take a step forward from here.



To everyone who has supported someone like me as a member of AKB48 until now, thank you very very much.



(Maeda keeps her head lowered during a minute of Acchan call.)



Please continue to support AKB48 in the future. I'm really a fortunate person to be able to start my journey with so much people supproting me from behind. AKB48 was my entire youth."

Maeda Atsuko's graduation concert will be held on August 27th at AKB48 Theater in Akihabara. The concert will also broadcast live via YouTube and Google+ so don't miss out!Source + Image: Oricon