‘Let me introduce you to the band…’ Just some of the many members of AKB48 (Picture: EPA)

In the video for their latest single, Labrador Retriever, the members of Japanese girl band AKB48 frolic on a beach in their bikinis while a hungry dog eats their ice cream.

The accompanying music is bubble gum pop so bubbly that the bubble bursts – it’s a relentless exercise in how-to-be-twee that makes One Direction’s Best Song Ever sound like, well, the best song ever.

Needless to say, Labrador Retriever sold almost 1.5m copies. On the day it was released. In the weird world of AKB48, it was just another mad 24 hours at the office.

But within a few days, things took a rather more sinister turn when two members of the band were attacked during a meet and greet with fans by a man wielding a saw.




Rina Kawaei, 19, and Anna Iriyama, 18, sustained cuts to their hands and heads in the incident last week in the Japanese city of Takizawa. The attacker, a 24-year-old man, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

MORE: Man attacks Japanese girl group AKB48 with saw

These ‘handshake events’, where fans get the chance to meet their idols, are a critical part of AKB48’s success. And there are quite a few idols to meet. If you multiplied Girls Aloud by 28, dressed them in even skimpier clothes and forbid them from having any husbands, you might end up with something like AKB48.

It has 140 members on an evolving roster, divided into a number of ‘teams’ that allow the brand to be a ubiquitous presence throughout Japan and beyond: AKB48 also has ‘sister’ groups in China and Indonesia.

As a result of its moveable membership, there is an AKB48 gig almost every day in the band’s own theatre in Akihabara, the Toyko district which gave the group its name (the ‘48’ comes from the size of the original line-up in 2005).

The band are one of the biggest names in the Japanese idol group genre, which includes bands such as Momoiro Clover Z and Morning Musume. One of the reasons why Labrador Retriever has been such a success – although AKB48 tracks regularly break through the million mark – is because it is an ‘election’ single. These releases contain a ballot paper that allows fans to vote for which band members they want to see appear on the next single.

The other way of selecting the line-up is inspired by the playground: each year, the many AKB48 members dress up in costumes and take part in a rock-paper-scissors competition. A bit like The X Factor then, only fun.

VIDEO: AKB48 – LABRADOR RETRIEVER

But behind the success and the outward sense of silliness, questions are being asked about AKB48’s meteoric rise to the top and the methods that have made it happen.

‘AKB48 is a triumph of marketing in a business that’s designed to make money,’ said Paul Browne, founder of British website J-Pop Go. ‘When potential members of idol groups such as AKB48 are recruited, they have to sign a contract that excludes things that typically include dating, drinking and smoking. The argument is that the premise of many idol outfits, which involves the perception of being pure, only works if the members are excluded from these activities.



‘There’s an expectation in Japan that the idols fulfil a fantasy image of being pure, thus any sexual or romantic aspects to the members would tarnish that perception.

‘The recent scandal involving One Direction allegedly smoking a joint gives an idea of how these incidents can affect a Western act. The culture in Japan, however, makes these incidents much more serious.’

While there has been something of a ‘So what?’ attitude in Britain to recent footage that appeared to show two members of One Direction smoking a joint, J-Pop stars are judged by different standards.

When Minami Minegishi, 21, an original AKB48 member, was pictured in a tabloid newspaper leaving the flat of a Japanese boy band star at the beginning of last year, she was demoted from Team B to the group’s trainee programme. In what appeared to be an act of contrition, she shaved her head and apologised to fans for what she called her ‘thoughtless behaviour’.

While banning members from relationships, the creator and producer of the group, Yasushi Akimoto, has simultaneously been criticised for sexualising his charges.

One of AKB48’s most famous songs is 2010 hit Heavy Rotation. Its accompanying video depicts the group having a pillow fight in their underwear, kissing each other and taking a bath. The clip has 104m views on YouTube.

Being in AKB48 brings fame and experienced members are eventually allowed to ‘graduate’ to a solo career, but it comes at a price, according to Random J, a London-based J-Pop blogger.


‘AKB48 are marketed to such an extent, both collectively and individually, that you wonder how any of these girls could ever become a normal member of society again,’ he said.

‘It’s extreme and invasive. The level of control over the group doesn’t seem to put the girls’ best interests at heart. If this was the case, then their management would be more conscious of some of the outfits they perform in, the overtly sexual songs they sometimes sing and their gruelling schedules, given that some of the girls in the group are still in their early teens.

‘Because of the group being based in Akihabara, an area which attracts many men and is known for its fetishisation of maid outfits and schoolgirl uniforms, it definitely raises the question of appropriation.’

AKB48 members Rina Kawaei, left, and Anna Iriyama leave hospital after being attacked last month (Picture: Reuters)

He said a large section of AKB48 fans are men who believe they could be in a relationship with their favourite band member. When Minegishi showed she may not be available, it broke an unspoken bond.

‘These rules put a huge amount of pressure on these girls and the price they have to pay for their fame and the sacrifices they are made to make for that is too high,’ said Random J.

‘Minami shaving her head wasn’t something she was made to do by her management. More worryingly, it was something she felt she had to do to repent for what she had done.

‘There is still an ongoing issue with gender equality and the ideals that some young girls are raised and groomed with in Japan. For Minami to feel the need to apologise and publicly shame herself as penance for something which was her own personal right and prerogative spoke volumes.’


While controversial, the AKB model works financially because it allows the fans to have their say in the make-up of their favourite group.

‘It makes the members of the group seem tangible on one hand, yet unattainable on the other,’ said Random J. However, he warned: ‘It’s a dangerous line to tread.’