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AKB Members Celebrate Surprise Announce With Fans At Shanghai Fan Meet Up Event

  April 23, 2012
We’ll be welcoming new overseas AKB48 family this year. AKS announsed the kick start of SNH48 project, the idol group based in Shanghai, at Fan Meet Up event at Shanghai Mart, Shanghai. This project marked the birth of their 7nd (3rd overseas) groups. (AKB, SKE, SDN, HKT, TPE, JKT)

When Kojiharu, Wakana Natori, Maria Abe, Rina Kawaei and Shihori Suzuki pushed the button on stage, big screen announced the big surprise “SNH48 項目 正式■◆(稼働)”.

 

Following Jakarta and Taipei, the birth place of AKB’s new group is Shanghai, the epi-center of growing China. AKB has gradually built bond with their fans through previous 2 fan meeting in Shanghai, gaining more than 200 thousands fans registered in their China’s official BBS forum. Their rising popularity in China was the strong tailwind for the project. Members of AKB also held mini-concerts as a part of the celebration event for 40th year anniversary of normalization of diplomatic relationship between China and Japan (in alphabet order), in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.

As 2 thousands fans gathered in the venue to welcome their girls were making joyful chants to the announce, Kojiharu looking moved said “I hadn’t yet heard about this project. So… I’m so surprised! I’m glad we will have our sister in Shanghai. I’m looking forward to having more opportunity to visit China (as we will have tight relationship with China).”

SNH48 will be produced by AKB’s general producer AkiP, run by AKB48-officialy-licensed company “SNH48 management”. They are planning to set up SNH’s exclusive theatre in Shanghai and now site-selecting phase with several candidate places.

This was almost 2 years long project for AKB. They once announced a project “上海48” in fall of 2011, but since it was hard to materialize entertainment business in China, the project been virtually suspended, while Jakarta and Taipai welcomed their own groups.

Shanghai has been the focal point of AKB’s overseas strategy (which is headed by Dentsu), along with Singapore and Hong Kong, and was chosen for very first place to have AKb’s official shop in main land China.

As of today, AKB has 4 official stores(Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei and now in Shanghai), 2 cafes(Taipei and Singapore), 1 thatre(Singapore) and 1 museum(Hong Kong) overseas.

AKB Hong Kong
AKB Taiwan
AKB Singapore
AKB Shanghai


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