Using the word "band" in the traditional sense to describe AKB48 would be a serious understatement. The Tokyo-based group, which is comprised of 58 all-female Japanese singers, is both a massively ambitious project--due to its sheer size alone--and a testament to the swirling, sensory overload appeal of J-Pop music. Spearheaded by television producer Yasushi Akimoto, AKB48 was pieced together via a series of auditions that saw tens of thousands of girls trying out to make the cut. The members are divided into four teams (Team A, Team K, Team B, Team 4) and perform everyday in their home theater in the Akihabara district of Tokyo. Shows are full of the group's saccharine pop music, multiple wardrobe changes and choreographed dancing--all blown out to extreme proportions in customary J-Pop style.
