AKB48

33⅓ Japan #4

by Patrick W. Galbraith, Jason G. Karlin

Since its formation as a girl group in 2005, AKB48 has become a phenomenal success and institution in Japan. Having originally recruited fans with photocopied fliers and daily performances in the Akihabara area of Tokyo, AKB48 now saturates Japan. Its members--nearly 800 of them, including five sister groups and four so-called "rival groups" across Japan, as well as six sister groups in other Asian cities--appear in print, broadcast, online, and social media; in advertisements and on products; at home and on the train; on- and off-screen.

AKB48's multi-platform omnipresence is characteristic of "idols," whose intimate relationship to fans and appeals to them for support have made the group dominant on the Oricon Yearly Singles Chart in the 2010s; they hold several records, including most consecutive million-selling singles sold in Japan. A unique business model relentlessly monetizes fans' affections through meet-and-greet events and elections, which maximize CD sales, and their saturated presence in the media. At a time when affect is more important than ever in economic, political, and social theory, this book explores the intersection of idols and affect in contemporary Japan and beyond.

Genres: Music, Japan, Sociology

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2019

About the author

Patrick W. Galbraith earned a PhD in Information Studies from the University of Tokyo, and is currently pursuing a second PhD in Cultural Anthropology at Duke University. He is the author of The Otaku Encyclopedia (Kodansha, 2009), Tokyo Realtime: Akihabara (White Rabbit Press, 2010), Otaku Spaces (Chin Music Press, 2012) and The Moe Manifesto (Tuttle, 2014), as well as the co-editor of Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture (Palgrave, 2012) and Debating Otaku in Contemporary Japan (Bloomsbury, 2015).

Reviews

[Jason Fetters · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting look at AKB48, a massively popular all girl group in Japan that dominates the charts and causes fans to buy multiple CDs. This is quintessential reading for the Jpop or general music fan out there. Authors Patrick Galbraith and Jason G. Karlin give you a detailed history of idol singers in Japan from humble beginnings in the early 70's to global soft power queens of today.
AKB48, through a effective business model, has managed to dominate the music charts by offering fans the opportunity to vote in elections for his or her favorite idols within AKB48. Each CD comes with an insert that gives you one vote so you can really show how much you love your idol by buying more votes. This creates a connection between the fan and idol that is a billion yen industry.
ABK48 functions in a similar way to Latin boy band Menudo. Older members when they reach a certain point get replaced by younger members so the group can continue on.
It is a fascinating success story that is being copied in other parts of Asia with girl groups on the rise in China, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. For young girls who dreamed of being idols across Asia, it is now a reality that anyone can do. You just have to be cute.
So if you are interested in a serious look at the music industry in Japan and want to learn more, this is the best book to start at.

[ann]

some notes:
- didn’t expect a book about jpop idols to have so many adorno/horkheimer quotes lol
- now i can explain my general dislike for akb48’s music via the quote “the intertextuality of idols as dense carriers of meaning in a particular media-commodity system does not always translate to appreciation of their performances elsewhere…”
- why has no one written a 33 1/3 about kpop in the exact style of this book (or generally)

[Owen Hatherley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of the Japan series in the new regional 33 1/3 books, this is on a ruthlessly marketed and managed J-Pop Idol Group. Very academic but also very strange and intriguing - but the break from the usual record-only format to a general discussion of the group a mistake, imo, dragging this lurid stuff too far into the dry world of "Popular Music Studies".