AKB48

AKB48 is a Japanese all-female idol group based in, , where they have their own theater in Don Quixote. The group, established in 2005, is produced by Akimoto Yasushi and signed under, originally from DefSTAR RECORDS/Sony Music Japan. Currently the group consists of five teams: Team A, Team K, Team B, Team 4 and Team 8. In addition, the group also has trainees called Kenkyuusei, and an international transference team, Team Kaigai. They hold the record for highest overall single sales for a female group on the Oricon charts and also hold the Guinness World Record for world's "largest pop group".

The group also has five sub-units (several have been retired): No Sleeves, established in 2008, Watarirouka Hashiritai 7, established in 2009, French Kiss, established in 2010, and Not yet and DiVA, both established in 2011. Iwasa Misaki, Watanabe Mayu, Kashiwagi Yuki, Takahashi Minami, Fujita Nana and also the former members Kuramochi Asuka, Itano Tomomi, Kasai Tomomi, Maeda Atsuko, Oshima Mai, Ono Erena and Hayano Kaoru have debuted as soloists.

Non-Japanese sister groups

 * BNK48 (Thai Sister Group)
 * JKT48 (Indonesian Sister Group)
 * MNL48 (Filipino Sister Group)
 * SNH48 (Chinese Sister Group)
 * TPE48 (Taiwanese Sister Group)