Yasushi Akimoto
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese television writer, lyricist
, record producer
, professor
and vice president at Kyoto University of Art and Design. He also created some of Japan's top idol
groups, Onyanko Club
and the AKB48
franchise.
.
Akimoto started as a lyricist with The Alfee
in 1981; he has written lyrics
for various artists such as Kinki Kids
, Tunnels
, Onyanko Club
, AKB48
, SKE48
and SDN48
. He also wrote Hibari Misora
's last single during her lifetime, "Kawa no Nagare no Yō ni
", and Jero
's debut single "Umi Yuki".
Akimoto is planning to launch a Taiwan
version of AKB48 in summer 2011. The group is temporarily named Taiwan48 or TPE48
. Although in February, there were reports that TPE48 would debut summer of 2011, but there had been no further development since until this announcement, but there are plans to hold auditions for TPE48 in early 2012 and to debut as early as Summer 2012.
He also is working on debuting an Indonesian version of AKB48 called JKT48
. Auditions were held on October 8 and 9, 2011 and the official members will be announced early November.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese television writer, lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
, record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
and vice president at Kyoto University of Art and Design. He also created some of Japan's top idol
Japanese idol
In Japanese culture, are media personalities in their teens and early twenties who are considered particularly attractive or cute and who will, for a period ranging from several months to a few years, regularly appear in the mass media, e.g...
groups, Onyanko Club
Onyanko Club
was a large all-girl Japanese pop idol group in the 1980s. The group gave a new approach to the idol formula with its 52 official members and three unofficial members...
and the AKB48
AKB48
AKB48 is a Japanese female idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto.The group has achieved enormous popularity in Japan. Its ten latest consecutive singles topped the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart...
franchise.
Career
When Akimoto became a television writer in high school. He produced many television programs such as UtabanUtaban
was a long running Japanese music variety show, broadcast weekly from October 15, 1996 until March 23, 2010 on TBS. The name of the show is an abbreviation of , meaning "music program"...
.
Akimoto started as a lyricist with The Alfee
The Alfee
The Alfee is a popular Japanese musical group composed of Masaru Sakurai , Kōnosuke Sakazaki and Toshihiko Takamizawa...
in 1981; he has written lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
for various artists such as Kinki Kids
KinKi Kids
is a Japanese duo consisting of Koichi Domoto and Tsuyoshi Domoto under the talent agency Johnny & Associates. Although the members share the same surname, the only relation they have to each other is that they both hail from the Kinki region, hence the duo's name....
, Tunnels
Tunnels (owarai)
The are an owarai duo with a long history composed of Tokyo born and . Both of them attended where Ishibashi, the taller of the two, participated in baseball, and Kinashi participated in soccer....
, Onyanko Club
Onyanko Club
was a large all-girl Japanese pop idol group in the 1980s. The group gave a new approach to the idol formula with its 52 official members and three unofficial members...
, AKB48
AKB48
AKB48 is a Japanese female idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto.The group has achieved enormous popularity in Japan. Its ten latest consecutive singles topped the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart...
, SKE48
SKE48
SKE48 is an all-female Japanese theater/idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. The audition was held during the summer and debuted in October 2008. SKE48 performs in the newly built studio in the renovated Sunshine Sakae in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, every Saturday...
and SDN48
SDN48
SDN48 is a Japanese idol girl group, created and produced by Yasushi Akimoto. SDN48 was created based on an "adult idol" concept. Former AKB48 member Kayo Noro was chosen as the captain of the group...
. He also wrote Hibari Misora
Hibari Misora
was an award-winning Japanese enka singer and actress. and was the first woman in Japan to receive the People's Honour Award, which was awarded posthumously for her notable contributions to the music industry. Misora recorded 1,200 songs, and sold 68 million records. After she died, consumer demand...
's last single during her lifetime, "Kawa no Nagare no Yō ni
Kawa no nagare no yo ni
is the last single recorded by Japanese enka singer Hibari Misora, as she died soon after its release. It was composed by Akira Mitake, with lyrics by Yasushi Akimoto. It was voted the greatest Japanese song of all time during a national poll in 1997 by NHK, with more than 10 million votes...
", and Jero
Jero
Jerome Charles White, Jr. , better known by his stage name , is an enka singer of African-American and Japanese descent. He is the first black enka singer in Japanese music history.- Biography :...
's debut single "Umi Yuki".
Akimoto is planning to launch a Taiwan
Taiwanese pop
Taiwanese pop is a popular music genre sung in the Taiwanese language . It is referred to as Tai-pop and known in South- setback during the years of Martial Law in Taiwan...
version of AKB48 in summer 2011. The group is temporarily named Taiwan48 or TPE48
TPE48
Akimoto is planning to launch a Taiwan version of AKB48 in summer 2011. The group is temporarily named Taiwan48 or TPE48. Although in February, there were reports that TPE48 would debut summer of 2011, but there had been no further development since until this announcement, but there are plans to...
. Although in February, there were reports that TPE48 would debut summer of 2011, but there had been no further development since until this announcement, but there are plans to hold auditions for TPE48 in early 2012 and to debut as early as Summer 2012.
He also is working on debuting an Indonesian version of AKB48 called JKT48
JKT48
JKT48 is an Indonesian girl group. It is the first AKB48 sister group outside of Japan, and it will be based in Jakarta. The group will adopt AKB48's "idols you can meet” concept, and its overall producer will also be Yasushi Akimoto.-History:...
. Auditions were held on October 8 and 9, 2011 and the official members will be announced early November.