The key award of Billboard Japan Artist of the Year went to AKB48, the smash-hit, all-girl unit which is made up of 48 members, while Avril Lavigne snagged a Top Pop Artist award.

according to http://twittermusictrends.com/daily . It’s certain to be pretty different by the time you see this post. Interesting idea! Drake Adele Rick Ross Coldplay Lil Wayne ADULT. David Guetta Chris Brown Beyoncé Lady Gaga AKB48 Bruno Mars Jay-Z Kanye West Perry">Katy Perry Eminem Pitbull Maroon 5 The Beatles Taylor Swift Wale Nicki Minaj Michael Jackson LMFAO Queen L'Arc~en~Ciel Usher Linkin Park Jason Mraz mclusky サカナクション Type O Negative Skrillex Avicii Wiz Khalifa Young Jeezy Trey Songz Kiss T.I. Flo Rida Super Junior Paramore Avril Lavigne Mr.Children Justin Bieber Tyga Perfume The ...

AKB48’s first international sister group is born in Jakarta, Indonesia!     AKB48, the popular idol group, announced on September 11th at the handshake meeting of the theatrical release of their new song, "Flying Get," held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, that JKT48, their first...

Japan The Beats: Kuusoku by David Morris on 08-09-2011 Thanks to a mix of language barriers and cultural stereotypes, most 'heads think Japanese hip-hop is derivative, silly, or downright racist. But the emerging Japanese underground is pumping out excellent, innovative tracks that deserve to be heard around the world. Japan The Beats highlights the best of these releases and tells the stories behind them. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Japanese culture in the 21st century, it’s that the good stuff is hard to find. If you just turn on the TV or radio, or walk ...

Hiya! I write this as I watch the Wimbledon Men’s Final, I know nothing about tennis but it seems like the right thing to be doing since it’s on. So far, I have surmised it seems to involve a lot of screaming, sweating and hard work for the occasional smattering of applause and that Andy Murray’s not involved. So really it’s very much like writing this column (except for the bit about Andy. He likes to proof read and decide on the pictures).   Everyone and their granny loves a bit of AKB48 , don’t they? Well ...

Here's some news that will reinforce your preconceived idea that Japan is a land of pop culture that is basically insane: There is a group called AKB48, and they have the Guinness record for being the "largest pop group" because they have over 50 members. And recently, the group just announced the arrival of their 58th member, Eguchi Aimi, who secured endorsement deals and was on the cover of magazines all around the country last month.   But here's where shit gets nuts: Aimi is computer generated, made up of parts of other singers in AKB48. Seriously. Watch the ...

Guardian : A member of a famous Japanese girl group has been revealed to be computer generated. AKB48 – who hold the Guinness record for being the “world’s largest pop group” – introduced their 58th member Eguchi Aimi in early June. She made appearances on the cover of the glossy Japanese music magazine Weekly Playboy, and scored an endorsement deal with a popular snack food. However, a video uploaded to YouTube shows that Eguchi is actually a composite of six other members of AKB48, created by a computer… Read and comment. From guardian.co.uk.

The Japanese pop group AKB48 was already quite weird, as they were actually formed of four different all girl teams who played multiple gigs each day. This hasn’t stopped them getting eight number ones, and being vastly popular. But recently they pulled a stunt when they introduced their newest member ‘Eguchi Aimi’, because she wasn’t even a real person. Instead she was a computer creation which blended together some of the existing girls. There’s a video showing how they did it below (but it does play their music). As publicity stunts go, it’s a successful one ...

Japanese music fans were shocked to learn that the lead singer of their favourite band AKB48 isn't real. Although her official biography states that Aimi Eguchi is a 16-year-old from Saitama, north of Tokyo, in fact her face is a composite of the facial features of six other band members. In Japan, the band is popular with adults and children alike, and their popularity doesn't seem to have dimmed since the ruse was revealed. To see how she was created, check out this video Source Link:  ABC News Attached Image(s):  Aimi Eguchi

Eguchi Aimi era la reciente adición del grupo japonés AKB48. De 16 años, la cantante oriental llegó a la agrupación [...]

Daily Mail : To her thousands of fans she was the perfect pop star. But scratch beneath the coiffed hair and delicate features of Japanese singing sensation Aimi Eguchi and all was not well. The sickly-sweet pop idol had actually been computer generated from composite pictures of six of the most attractive members of the band AKB48. Her high-pitched voice merely an auto-tuned actor’s. Fans who followed the supposedly 16-year-old star in the Japanese girl group have been shocked by the revaluation. Earlier this year Aimi joined the musical group AKB48 which has become a musical sensation in Japan. The ...

Billboard Japan held its second annual Music Awards in central Tokyo. Taking top honors this year were Exile, AKB48, Kana Nishino, Sid and Nana Mizuki. American musicians Chakah Kahn, Debbie Gibson and Nick Carter performed.

This is AKB48, the band with 48 members (many of them DEFINITELY NOT 18), and this song was all I heard all fucking summer. Shit is POPULAR, y’all. 18 million YouTube views & primetime TV popular. And it’s still probably not safe for work.

fullsize Weekly Chart (22nd September) on Recochoku, the biggest mobile JPOP music shop http://recochoku.jp/ http://recochoku.jp/recochoku_ranking/weekly_full.html No.1 Kumi Koda - Sukide Sukide Sukide http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdp8wSNn9C4 No.2 Exile - motto tsuyoku http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0TSrlig76c No.3 KG - donnani hanaretemo duet with AZU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHx5lXLzH0k No.4 UVERworld - Qualia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PunbjpY3xFs No.5 Hilcrhyme - Traveling Machine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqZA9CanTfY No.6 JUJU - First Love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d18rOcR1AtE No.7 ...

fullsize Weekly Chart (September 17) on Recochoku, the biggest mobile JPOP music shop http://recochoku.jp/ http://recochoku.jp/recochoku_ranking/weekly_full.html No.1 Exile - motto tsuyoku http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0TSrlig76c No.2 Kana Nishino - if http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3wOCZOrXIk No.3 NO DOUBT FLASH - dakishimete x dakishimeta No.4 Houkago Teatime - U&I; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngWWZn8aH1s No.5 Love - kataomoi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unxz9jwBqFU No.6 Superfly - Wildflower http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5_S_fKj-fg No.7 WEAVER - bokurano eien; nando umarekawattemo tewotsunagitaidakeno aidakara http://www.youtube ...