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Newspapers: AKB48 to Perform at New York in September
posted on by Egan Loo
The Sankei Sports, Sports Nippon, and Asahi Shimbun newspapers are all reporting that the AKB48 female idol group will be performing at New York in September and Cannes, France in October. 16 of the 48 members are currently performing in Paris for Japan Expo 2009. The group is split into 16-member A, K, and B teams, which stand for the three syllables of the "Akiba" otaku shopping district of Tokyo.
The group performed theme songs for the Deltora Quest and ICE anime projects. The contemporary artist and occasional anime creator Takashi Murakami illustrated the jacket for the AKB48 idol group's June 24 single, "Namida Surprise!" In return, AKB48 producer Yasushi Akimoto wrote the lyrics for the "First Love" tie-in song for Murakami's "Superflat First Love" anime short. Akimoto collaborated with manga artist Natsuo Kume on the AKB48 Sprout online manga (pictured at right) about the members of Team B. AKB sang at the Kōhaku Uta Gassen television event on New Year's Eve 2007, and joined Japanese Prime Minister Tarō Asō for cherry-blossom viewing this part April.
Source: Tokyograph
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