AKB48 win top award at Japan Record Awards
Jan. 1, 2013	06:38 am JST	 Jan. 1, 2013 | 07:10 am JST
Mega-popular all-girl idol group AKB48 won the top prize in 2012 for the second year running at the 54th annual Japan Record Awards ceremony.
AKB48 picked up the gong for their single "Manatsu no Sounds Good!" at the New National Theater in Tokyo on Sunday night. The win followed their success in 2011 with "Flying Get."
AKB48 member Minami Takahashi took the stage to accept the award. "I'm really pleased. Last year I had a strong desire to win this award. This year I thought, 'We have to win'," she said tearfully, according to Nikkan Sports.
"There was a lot of pressure on us since Atsuko Maeda left, but this has given me the desire to carry on," said 18-year-old colleague Mayu Watanabe.
© Japan Today
paulinusa
Jan. 1, 2013	08:00 am JST
'We have to win'," she said tearfully, according to Nikkan Sports."
"There was a lot of pressure on us..."
Sounds like real drama queen stuff here.
Christhian Mora
Sales are sales after all. No matter if they sold all that CDs as trading card packs. No matter that more than the half of those CDs never will be played.
They have a sure 2013 price if they keep the compulsive Idol Otakus happy with Hand shake tickest and photos in each release.
Maybe they should recive a price from the National Association of Photographers of Japan for saling all that photos too.
tapi0ca
legends in their own collective minds.
Jan. 1, 2013	01:33 pm JST
I have to wonder who exactly was the competition they were up against - for the last two years?
shirokuma2011
It's amazing, really, that 23 of the top 25-selling singles in Japan in 2012, as measured by Oricon, were either from AKB48 or one of their affiliated groups, or from one Johnny's band or another.
Congratulations on your new award AKB48!
Vienna1sausage
It is Japanese culture!
haha...come on guys, this has nothing to do with music
sighclops
such talented "musicians"
randomenigma
or from one Johnny's band or another
So basically your entire comment now lacks any information whatsoever. Thanks for that.
basroil
Clear sign that the Japanese record industry is becoming increasingly irrelevant. AKB groups, feminine boy groups, and not a single song that has made it big outside Japan. Time's ripe to stop catering to the record companies and managers of these groups and bring back real innovation in music (or at least put a few more Mr Children type groups on the boards)
Good thing they don't allow K-pop in the mix or they'd be quadrupled within a month. But as Basroil has said, given that little girls in lingerie only sell in Japan, what big hits has Japan had internationally in the last while? I was watching a Mad Men episode the other day where Sakamoto Kyu's "Ue O Muite Aruko" played, and that seems about the last one -- and that was the 60's when it peaked in the US (a brilliant song, by the way, and I totally respect the man).
Plug Gangnam Style in and watch AKB wither faster than if they aged years beyond their childhood.
Foxie
Excellent! I am so happy that my TV is broken now.
Clear sign that the Japanese record industry is becoming increasingly irrelevant
AKB are an idol group, sure as hell they are popular among otakus - the main source of CD buyers. But don't mistake them for real Jpop singers. Can name a few: Beni, Tiara, Namie Amuro, Exile, etc ... Japanese record companies don't promote their music to outside world, and yet Jpop is well-known enough among us non-Japanese. Honestly I feel itchy every time someone badmouthing something they have no clues of.
Good thing they don't allow K-pop in the mix or they'd be quadrupled within a month
Hohohoh, Kpop is , with the exception of BoA and some DBSK, these days. And would you stop mentioning that gangbang style in every AKB article? I regretted ever clicking that *** clip on Youtube.
AKB are an idol group, sure as hell they are popular among otakus - the main source of CD buyers. But don't mistake them for real Jpop singers. Can name a few: Beni, Tiara, Namie Amuro, Exile, etc ... Japanese record companies don't promote their music to outside world, and yet Jpop is well-known enough among us non-Japanese. Honestly I feel itchy every time someone badmouthing something they have no clues of. Good thing they don't allow K-pop in the mix or they'd be quadrupled within a month Hohohoh, Kpop is , with the exception of BoA and some DBSK, these days. And would you stop mentioning that gangbang style in every AKB article? I regretted ever clicking that *** clip on Youtube. odjebi
tkoind2
I have to say that AKB48 is the vacuous fluff every contrived. It is 100% pure marketing by someone very intelligent and creative about getting rich. The music is child like and fluffy. The quality of the singing is dreadful. The songs are jingles more than actual songs. And that is before we even talk about the terrifying pseudo-kiddie porn aspects this band has for its legions of 30-40s men.
While all countries have their mindless pop, the omnipresence of AKB this and that in Japanese society is shameful. This is a country that has created great arts over her history. Now, sadly, we are left with the empty pink plastic world of pop music that is no more meaningful or creative than the endless pro-active TV commercials on TV.
Come on Japan, you can do better than this. You have before and you can again. Kick the Kawaii habit and reward some of the really talented artists who make songs that mean something and really show the nation's creativity. Stop rewarding vacuous marketing. This insipid fluff is crap and the AKB movement is one of the worst possible examples of meaningless pop music.
Ranger_Miffy2
I'll start the new year by going completely against type and agreeing wholeheartedly with tkoind2. Had to turn off the TV Dec. 31st from the onslaught of the AKB.
Knox Harrington
Whoah, where would Japan be without AKB? Does anybody actually care or is it just because they are force-fed to everyone we even know who they are?
AKB songs are not creative enough or any creative appeal to gain international audience. It sounds the same and looks the same. The melody is boring and lacks appeal. The lyrics are not really emotional or appealing. Nowadays, AKB do not write their own songs. Most of the Japanese pop artists look to child like and lack originality.
As long as it stays confined to Japan and doesnt annoy the rest of the world its ok.
This is not a very innovative time in the history of the music industry anywhere in the world so I don't get why there is so much mudslinging here towards AKB48 and the Japanese music industry in general. Perhaps it is just frustration from the fact that 70 & 80's music is still better than most of what is being put out today. The most popular song in the world right now is from a middle aged guy riding an imaginary pony and speaking a language that 99% of the people listening to it do not understand. The song is basically a joke - yet given the lack of any better alternatives that is what is most demanded by the listening public.
AKB48 is a Japanese idol group. They do not claim to be giving you Beethoven or the three tenors. J-pop promises to give you cute girls and catchy popular music - nothing else. Idol music is exactly what it has always been in Japan - just bigger. People shouldn't expect innovation or groundbreaking artists in the world of pop music. Otherwise, it wouldn't be pop music. Stop whining and put your headphones on and go back to listening to your old Beattles and Elvis tunes.
WolfpackJan. 03, 2013 - 10:58AM JST People shouldn't expect innovation or groundbreaking artists in the world of pop music. Otherwise, it wouldn't be pop music.
Why not? Many in the U.S. that were in the teens and early 20's had great careers with their talent, such as Christina Aguilera, Destiny Child with Beyonce Knowles, Pink, Alicia Keyes, Kelly Clarkson, Rihanna, Taylor Swift... Can't say the same with the Japanese artist who were teen idols.
@sfjp330:
Why not? Many in the U.S. that were in the teens and early 20's had great careers with their talent, such as Christina Aguilera, Destiny Child with Beyonce Knowles, Pink, Alicia Keyes, Kelly Clarkson, Rihanna, Taylor Swift...
Why not? Because the vast majority of "pop" music has very little lasting significance. Whether it is the US artists mentioned or AKB48, none of them will have much meaning 50 or 100 years from now. It's nothing against them. They have all become successful and are making a good living at it. They just don't make music that is very significant or lasting. It's just pop. Every once in a while you will get an Elvis or Beattles - but they are far and few between. AKB48 is kicking butt in the Japanese market - the sales prove it. 10 years from now it will be someone else. That's the nature of the genre.
Aristoman
I'm sorry, but I didn't know that Japan records award is a Photography and otaku competetion. But this is what is happening in Japan. Simular case is that NHK received international award for covering nuclear crises. I was laughing a week.
CrisGerSan
congrats on the win you all deserve it.
Jan. 10, 2013	05:13 am JST
Wolfpack Jan. 05, 2013 - 01:29PM JST Why not? Because the vast majority of "pop" music has very little lasting significance. Whether it is the US artists mentioned or AKB48, none of them will have much meaning 50 or 100 years from now.
If that is true, can you tell me any U.S. non-pop artist from 1910, 1920 or 1930 that still has a lasting effect? Why don't you ask any young people if they know any non-pop performers from those eras, 50-100 years ago, that they still listen to. What do you listen to from the 1920's?
Pabeangi Tenri Sessu
I'm sorry friend but if you see them struggle 7 years ago so I feel they deserved to win. If you do not believe just search at the youtube word "kin sma akb48" then you will understand the appropriateness of their
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