Next “general election” of new AKB48 members slated for Okinawa

The 9th “general election” of new members for the hugely popular girls’ pop group “AKB48” is scheduled for Chura Sun Beach in Toyosaki Seaside Park on Jun. 17th. The event will be held in Okinawa for the first time and 80 new candidate members for the group will be selected, among whom 16 will be picked up for the recording of the group’s new single.

In addition to the Tokyo Metropolitan area, a similar “election” was held in 2015 in Fukuoka that is the hometown of the AKB48 sister group “HKT48”, and in 2016 in Niigata, the hometown of “NG48”. In the 8th election held last year, Rino Sashihara of HKT48 got 243,011 votes to win the first prize for the 2nd consecutive year.

The time for public to vote is from May 30 to June 16, and the new single will go on sale in August.

Yui Yokoyama, the general manager of the pop group said, “As the next election will be held on Okinawa, it sounds like a festival, but it’s also a battle. I hope the weather cooperates and it will be sunny on the election day!”

18:22 28 Mar , 2024