Two years ago, around the time the Democratic Party of Japan’s brief spell in power was coming to a close, I met with two colleagues—one a noted political scholar and chancellor of a public university ...

It’s a weekday evening in Tokyo and high-octane J-pop bounces off the walls of a crowded club. On stage, 18 teenage girls wearing pink pyjamas and fixed smiles rattle through a series of synchronised ...

The AKB48 Request Hour Setlist Best 100 2009 (AKB48 リクエストアワー セットリストベスト100 2009) was held from January 18 to January 21, 2009 at Shibuya AX. Fans made their voices heard by voting for their favorite ...

A man who slashed two teenage singers in the popular Japanese female pop group AKB48 last year was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison, a news report said. Satoru Umeta pleaded guilty… By ...

TOKYO—Pop quiz: What act sold a million copies of its last three singles the first day of release? Not Lady Gaga. AKB48 is a 92-member girl band from Japan whose one song has garnered some 56 million ...

A new era is born.