Glossary

Fans

Wota

Wotas are fans of Japanese 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.
In SKE48, each member has her own light stick color combination. For example, Matsui Jurina has asked her fans to wave one orange and one green light stick for her. Some members of other 48 groups also have established light stick color combinations.

Members

Captain/Leader

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

Kenkyuusei/Research Students/Trainee

Kenkyuusei it's also known as Research Students (研究生) or Trainee. 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. The term may refer to:

• AKB48 Kenkyuusei
• SKE48 Kenkyuusei
• NMB48 Kenkyuusei
• HKT48 Kenkyuusei
• NGT48 Kenkyuusei
• JKT48 Kenkyuusei
• SNH48 Kenkyuusei
• Nogizaka46 Kenkyuusei

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

(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

Graduation

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

Stages

Teams

(Main article: Team)

Team Shuffle

Team Shuffles occur when teams exchange several of its members. Currently four major Team Shuffles occurred:

• 2009 Team Shuffle
• Tokyo Dome Team Shuffle
• AKB48 Group Daisokaku Matsuri
• AKB48 Spring Shuffle 2015

Team Shuffles in sister groups include:

• SKE48 Team Shuffle
• HKT48 Team Shuffle
• SNH48 Team Shuffle

Small exchanges, such as Yamada Nana being transferred to Team M and Urano Kazumi, Watanabe Shiho and Hirajima Natsumi being transferred to Team B, are also team shuffles.

Shonichi

Opening show of a stage

Senshuuraku

Closing show of a stage

Support Member

(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.

Events

Akushukai

An Akushukai (握手会 - Handshake Event), are events held for every AKB48 group single 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.

There are two types of Akushukai, Zenkoku and Kobetsu

Zenkoku

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

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

Kobetsu

Kobetsu Akushukai (also known as Dai-Akushukai), are events in which all members of AKB48 and it's sister groups are present. In this setting, fans get approximately 10 seconds per ticket to spend with a specific member. Fans are allowed to combine tickets to spend multiple minutes talking to the girl.

The tickets to the Kobetsu Akushukai come with the Theater-Edition copies of singles. However, you have to apply online and pre-order these copies via Chara-Ani when the handshake applications open. This is usually about 1 month before the release date.

Shamekai

Shamekai (Also known as 2-Shot events) have the participation of all members of AKB48 and it's sister groups. On this events, fans are able to take a picture with their favorite members. Tickets are included on albums, that are usually more expensive than singles. For security reasons, fans are not able to touch the member and, after the Iwate Incident a table was added between the two persons.

Senbatsu Election

(Main article: Senbatsu Election)

Janken Tournament

(Main article: Janken Tournament)

Request Hour

(Main article: Request Hour)

Draft Kaigi

(Main article: Draft Kaigi)

Management

Akimoto Yasushi

(Main article: Akimoto Yasushi)
Akimoto Yasushi (秋元康) is the producer and lyricist from ALL48, Nogizaka46 and Keyakizaka46

Theater Manager

Each ALL48 Group has it's own theater manager:

• AKB48 Group: Kayano Shinobu
• AKB48: Shiba Tomoya
• SKE48: Yuasa Hiroshi
• NMB48: Kaneko Takeshi
• HKT48: Ozaki Atsushi and Sashihara Rino
• NGT48: Imamura Etsuro
• JKT48: Jiro Inao (as well as General Manager along with Melody Nurramdhani Laksani)
• SNH48: Fan Yibai

AKS

(Main article: AKS)
AKS (株式会社AKS) is the main agency group and management of AKB48, SKE48 and HKT48.

Yoshimoto Kyogyo

Yoshimoto Kyogyo is the main agency group and management of NMB48.

JKT48 Project

JKT48 Project is the main agency group and management of JKT48.

STAR48

STAR48 is the main agency group and management of SNH48, BEJ48 and GNZ48

Dentsu

Dentsu is the company in charge of AKB48's advertising