Glossary

Groups

48 Group, also known as 48G or ALL48

AKB48 Group

(Main article: AKB48 Group)
AKB48 Group (AKB48グループ) AKB48 and its national and international sister groups: SKE48, NMB48, HKT48, NGT48, STU48, JKT48, BNK48, MNL48, AKB48 Team SH, AKB48 Team TP and CGM48. Also known as AKB48G.

Sakamichi Series

(Main article: Sakamichi Series)
Sakamichi Series (坂道シリーズ) Nogizaka46 and its sister groups Sakurazaka46, Hinatazaka46, and Yoshimotozaka46.

SNH48 Group

(Main article: SNH48 Group)
SNH48 Group (SNH48グループ) SNH48 and its sister groups: GNZ48, BEJ48 and CKG48. Also known as SNH48G.

Teams

(Main article: Team)

Fans

Wota

Wotas are fans of idol groups.

Oshimen

The word Oshimen (推しメン) comes from "oshiteru member" ("The member you support"). It's the term used to describe a fan's favorite member. Even though oshimen generally refers to only one member, many fans have more than one oshimen per group (The favorite member among the oshimen is usually referred as Kami-oshi). Sometimes fans change their oshimen (Oshihen).

Oshi

The term Oshi (推し) applies to fans. For example, if a fan's oshimen is Yokoyama Yui, he is a Yui-oshi. Another example is the song "Team B Oshi" (Team B Fan).

DD and MD

DD is short for "Daredemo Daisuki" ("I love anyone"). It's a term used for fans that like many members in a group.

MD is short for "Minna Daisuki" ("I love everyone"). It's a term used for fans that like all the members in a group.

Hako-oshi

Hako-oshi (箱推し) refers to a fan who supports an entire group rather than a single oshimen from that group.

Light Stick

Light Sticks (サイリウム Psyllium), also called Penlights are used by wota at concerts. They are short plastic rods that glow in the dark. Fans wave them during performances, sometimes in unison, in order to show support for the members.

Usually, a Team or Group's official color is also their light stick color. For example, supporters of Team A wave pink light sticks, since Team A's official color is pink.

All members of 46 Groups and some members of 48 Groups also have established individual light stick color combinations, e.g. yellow x pink for Oguri Yui.

Members

Captain/Leader

(Main article: Captain)
Captain or Leader describes a member that is the authority (and many times the representative) of a certain team and sometimes group.

General Manager refers to a member that is the authority of a whole group, and has closer ties to management.

In Thailand, a General Manager is more similar to what is considered a Theater Manager in that they are more closely tied in to production; and a group captain is more similar to the role of the Japanese General Manager.

Example: Mukaichi Mion is the general manager (soukantoku) of AKB48 and other Japanese sister groups. Izuta Rina is the general manager (shihainin) of CGM48 and Aom is the captain (soukantoku) of CGM48.

Regular Member

Regular Member is a way to refer to members of any 48 Group that have been promoted to be fully-fledged members but without any association with a team, generation, or unit.

As of November 2023, AKB48 is the only group referring to its members as "Regular Members" (正規メンバー, seiki membā). From January 2021 to January 2022, NMB48 also differentiated between 'Regular Members' and 'Kenkyuusei' (see below) as it had temporarily disbanded Team N, Team M, and Team BII. JKT48 also differentiates between 'Members' (Anggot) and Trainees (see below), although doesn't use the word 'regular' in any of its official terminology. Other groups refer to their promoted members either by team or generation.

Example: Arai Sae is an AKB48 Kenkyuusei. Aoumi Hinano is a member of SKE48's Team S. Ishida Chiho is a member of STU48's 1st Generation.

Kenkyuusei, Trainee, Kenshusei, Academy and Understudy

(Main article: Kenkyuusei, Trainee, Kenshusei, Academy and Understudy)

Kenkyuusei it's also known as Research Students (研究生) or Trainee or Academy. When girls enter the group, they work as a kenkyuusei until they are promoted to a team. Kenkyuusei receive many of the same perks as promoted members do, but their appearances are usually limited. They usually only perform during the kenkyuusei-only theater shows and as understudies for promoted members when need be.

Center

(Main article: Center)
Center (センター） describes a member that is on the center position in the formation of the members

Kami 7/Top 7

(Main article: Kami 7)
Kami 7 (God 7) describes the 7 most popular members among ALL48 groups

Concurrent Position/Kennin

(Main article: Concurrent Positions)
A concurrent position (兼任, Kennin) is a position where a member of a group hold two member positions in two different groups and two different teams

Transferred Members

(Main article: Transferred Members)
Transference of members can occur when a member of a group is transferred to another sister group, ceasing to hold a position in their original group and team

Support Members

(Main article: Support Member)
A Support Member is a full member of a group who perform in Kenkyuusei Stages, to fill in empty spots and to support the Kenkyuusei. Support Members also sometimes perform in sister groups whose teams are not yet complete.

Graduation

(Main article: Graduation)
Graduation (卒業, Sotsugyou) refers to when a member that leaves their respective group

Hiatus

(Main article: Hiatus)

Hiatus is a category of members who temporarily ceased their activities from the group due to academic problems, physical problems, contractual problems or personal reasons. Some members are on hiatus due to activities in other groups from survivals shows.

SNH48 Group refers their hiatus members as Zàn xiū (暂休) members. They are usually considered as unofficial graduates due to their contractual obligation that either needs to be finished or terminated. In some cases, Zan xiu members could return to the group without being demoted to trainee or IDOLS Ft (e.g. Yang Ye).

Love Ban and rules

(Main article: Love Ban and rules)
Love Ban (恋愛禁止条例 Ren'ai kinshi jōrei), formerly also referred to as the "Golden Rule", is an often unwritten rule for idols to not have any kind of relationship whatsoever while they are part of the group. Some members have been fired, sanctioned or criticised by fans because of this rule. Some examples include Minegishi Minami, Sashihara Rino, Xie LeiLei and etc.

Fans' opinion on this rule varies across countries, gender and age, and can be rather controversial. More traditional and conservative fans consider the love ban as an absolute rule that must be followed and warrants punishment if broken. Fans with a less traditional view often consider the love ban an infringement on an idol's rights as a human being to seek and enjoy human intimacy.

Theater

(Main article: Theater)

Stages

(Main article: Stage)

Events

Hanashikai

A Hanashikai (話し会 - Talk Meeting) is the name for every AKB48 group single and album release, where fans get to meet the members and talk to them.

Currently (as of November 2023), each group holds their own events, in contrast to the pre-pandemic "Akushukai" (see below) where all Japanese 48 Groups would come together to participate.

There are two types of Hanashikai, Real (リアル) and Online (オンライン).

Real Hanashikai

In a Real Hanashikai (リアル話し会), fans can meet their favorite member of any 48 or 46 Group in real life in a large city somewhere in Japan. You get to speak with individual members for which you have purchased tickets. Fans may be able to swap their tickets for other members if the other member has enough capacity to meet more fans (i.e. the queue isn't too long).

The tickets to the Online Hanashikai can be purchased on designated websites (example: AKB48's Online Shop or, for most 46 Groups, the "forTUNE Music" website) alongside the "Official Shop Limited Edition" (for 48 Groups) or "Regular Edition" (for 46 Groups).

Online Hanashikai

In an Online Hanashikai (オンライン話し会), fans can meet their favorite member of any 48 or 46 Group via an app or website. Some groups use the same app, such as "WithLive Meet & Greet" or "forTUNE Meet," but some groups have their own application or website. These apps/website usually use a virtual queue system on the day of the event and fans usually get to see what their position in the queue is roughly 24 hours or more before the start time. Most (though not all) apps/websites require an ID check where staff cross-checks the provided ID (passport, Japanese driver's license, etc.) with the person in front of the phone camera/webcam. After the ID check, fans are assigned another spot in the queue and can see a timer until it is their turn to speak to the member. Screen-recording or filming the experience is prohibited and may result in future bans.

The tickets to the Online Hanashikai can be purchased on designated websites (example: AKB48's Online Shop or, for most 46 Groups, the "forTUNE Music" website) alongside the "Official Shop Limited Edition" (for 48 Groups) or "Regular Edition" (for 46 Groups).

For Online Hanashikai, fans are also able to win one of three additional prizes, namely 1-Shot, 2-Shot or Sign Kai.

1-Shot

1-Shot (１ショット, often abbreviated as 1S) is a special prize for certain participants of Online Hanashikai. The member for which the fan has purchased a hanashikai ticket will strike a pose and the fan will later receive a digital photo. The fan can request the pose and the photo will become available digitally right after the session via the same platform as the talk session itself.

The prize can be obtained by participating in a digital slot machine, which becomes available approximately one week before the event itself, and closes the day before. The exact number of winners is unknown, but it estimated to be about 10 winners per 1-hour slot.

2-Shot

2-Shot (２ショット, often abbreviated as 2S and formerly also known as Shamekai (写メ会)) is a special prize for certain participants of Online Hanashikai. Fans get to take a photo together with the member for which they have purchased a Hanashikai ticket. The fan can request the pose and the photo will become available digitally right after the session via the same platform as the talk session itself.

The prize can be obtained by participating in a digital slot machine, which becomes available approximately one week before the event itself, and closes the day before. The exact number of winners is unknown, but it estimated to be about 10 winners per 1-hour slot.

During the days of akushukai (see below), shamekai involved the participation of all members of AKB48 and its sister groups. For this event, fans were able to take a picture with their favorite members. Tickets were included on albums which were usually more expensive than singles. For security reasons, fans were not allowed to touch the member and, after the Iwate Incident a table was added between the two persons.

Sign Kai

Sign Kai (サイン会 - Autograph Meeting) is a special prize for certain participants of Online Hanashikai. Fans would received a signed card with a message from the member for which they have purchased a Hanashikai ticket. The fan can request what it should say on the card and will receive a physical card in the post a few weeks after the event.

The prize can be obtained by participating in a digital slot machine, which becomes available approximately one week before the event itself, and closes the day before. The exact number of winners is unknown, but it estimated to be about 10 winners per 1-hour slot.

Meguri

Meguri (ミーグリ, pronounced 'meeguri') is the same as a Hanashikai event, but the term mostly used for Nogizaka46, Sakurazaka46 and Hinatazaka46. It is short for 'Meet & Greet' (ミートアンドグリート).

Akushukai

An Akushukai (握手会 - Handshake Event) was the name for an event held for every AKB48 group single and album release, where fans get to meet the members and shake hands with them.

The event started in December 16, 2005, after a problem with a equipment and later became a tradition from the group. After the Iwate Incident in 2014 the event suffered several changes to improve security. After the COVID-19 pandemic, Handshake Events were replaced by Talk Meetings (see above) so fans were still able to meet their favorite members without exposing neither members or fans to the possibility of contracting the virus.

There are two types of Akushukai, Zenkoku and Kobetsu.

Zenkoku

Zenkoku Akushukai involved a group of around 20 AKB48 group members participating in a handshake event in a large city somewhere in Japan. You could shake hands with all of the members in that certain row you chose, instead of an individual member. There was also a mini-live event at these events.

The tickets to the Zenkoku Akushukai came with the Limited-Edition copies of singles.

Kobetsu

Kobetsu Akushukai (also known as Dai Akushukai (大握手会), or Large Handshake Event), are events in which all members of AKB48 and its sister groups were present. In this setting, fans got approximately 10 seconds per ticket to spend with a specific member. Fans were allowed to combine tickets to spend multiple minutes talking to the girl.

The tickets to the Kobetsu Akushukai came with the Theater Edition copies of singles. However, you had to apply online and pre-order these copies via a website called Chara-Ani once the handshake applications opened. This was usually about 1 month before the release date.

Senbatsu Election

(Main article: Senbatsu Election)

Janken Tournament

(Main article: Janken Tournament)

Request Hour

(Main article: Request Hour)

Draft Kaigi

(Main article: Draft Kaigi)

Team Shuffle

(Main article: Team Shuffle)

Management

Akimoto Yasushi

(Main article: Akimoto Yasushi)
Akimoto Yasushi (秋元康) is the producer and lyricist from the AKB48 Group and Sakamichi Series.

Wang ZiJie

(Main article: Wang ZiJie)
Wang ZiJie (王子杰) is the producer and chairman from the SNH48 Group.

Theater Manager

Each 48 Group has it's own theater manager or manager:

• AKB48: **
• SKE48: Saito Makiko
• NMB48: Kaneko Takeshi
• HKT48: **
• NGT48: **
• STU48: **
• JKT48: Melody Nurramdhani Laksani
• BNK48: Saowani Kanjanaolarnsiri (Pim)
• MNL48: Paulo Kurosawa
• AKB48 Team TP: Eric Chen
• CGM48: Izuta Rina

Some groups don't use the theater manager system, but they have a spokesperson:

• AKB48 Team SH: Kaki48
• SNH48: Yezong
• BEJ48: **
• GNZ48: Zhou Ma
• CKG48: **
• CGT48: Chen WenZe

DH

(Main article: DH)
DH Co., Ltd. (株式会社DH) is the main agency group and management of AKB48.

Zest, Inc.

Zest, Inc. is the main agency group and management of SKE48.

Showtitle

Showtitle is the main agency group and management of NMB48.

Mercury, Inc.

Mercury, Inc. is the main agency group and management of HKT48.

Flora Co., Ltd.

Flora Co., Ltd. is the main agency group and management of NGT48.

STU

STU is the main agency group and management of STU48.

Superball

Superball is the main agency group and management that oversees all overseas sister groups.

dentsuXentertainment

dentsuXentertainment (formerly JKT48 Project) is the main agency group and management of JKT48.

iAM

iAM (formerly BNK48 Office) is the main agency group and management of BNK48 and CGM48. This agency is part of the Yoshimoto Entertainment Thailand.

Hallohallo Entertainment Inc.

Hallohallo Entertainment Inc. (HHE) is the main agency group and management of MNL48.

Shanghai Shangyue Culture Development Co., Ltd.

Shanghai Shangyue Culture Development Co., Ltd. (上海尚越文化發展有限公司) is the main agency group and management of AKB48 Team SH.

Muses & Nymph Entertainment

Muses & Nymph Entertainment (阿克斯娛樂有限公司) is the main agency group and management of AKB48 Team TP.

YAG Entertainment

YAG Entertainment was the main agency group and management of SGO48.

YKBK 48 Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

YKBK 48 Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. was the main agency group and management of DEL48 and MUB48.

Nogizaka46 LLC

Nogizaka46 LLC (乃木坂46合同会社) is the main agency group and management of Nogizaka46.

Seed & Flower LLC

Seed & Flower LLC (Seed & Flower合同会社) is the main agency group and management of Sakurazaka46 and Hinatazaka46.

STAR48

(Main article: STAR48)
STAR48 (絲芭文化傳媒有限公司) is the main agency group and management of SNH48, BEJ48, GNZ48 and CKG48.

See also

• FAQ
• Sakamichi Series Terms
• SNH48 Group Terms