Osaka-based AKB48 spin-off group NMB48, produced by AKB48 creator Yasushi Akimoto, regularly performs in Namba, Osaka, to capitalize on the popularity of AKB48. Sixteen members of NMB48 were promoted to Team N on March 10, 2011.

The group’s owner, Kyoraku Yoshimoto Holdings Co, has announced that Team N, led by 18-year-old Sayaka Yamamoto, will perform at a show that has never been done by any of the franchise’s other groups, Sports Nippon reported Monday.

The group’s owners also announced that Nagoya-based SKE48 and Fukuoka-based HKT48 have also been sub-divided into teams that will give similar performances following Team N’s original show debut. Yamamoto told reporters, “I want to do a show the likes of which no-one has ever seen before.”

The as-yet-untitled Team N show is scheduled to take place on Aug 19.

Japan Today

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  Mirai Hayashi at Jul. 03, 2012 - 07:59AM JST

  can't keep up...too many of these stupid untalented girl/boy bands

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  bass4funk at Jul. 03, 2012 - 09:17AM JST

  I totally agree. Let's hope this fad will fade away real soon!

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  Ewan Huzarmy at Jul. 03, 2012 - 09:31AM JST

  I hate this formula .... three letters, two numbers and thirteen squeaky voiced teens.

  I hope this fad comes to an end too, but it's highly unlikely as the $hit factory keeps churning out these idols.

  When any real band calls it a day, that's it , but groups like these with changeable members is a marketing man's wet dream !

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  Hugh B Hayve at Jul. 03, 2012 - 10:05AM JST

  Awesome news! I hope this means that Aki-P wrote new stages for SKE and HTK also.

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  Wakarimasen at Jul. 03, 2012 - 10:15AM JST

  NMB are not teens but 20's. Not that it makes much difference. My missis leaves j tv on while taking a nap on sunday afternoons and they have hours of the various AKB, NMD or whatever combo's doing the most inane rubbish. It is almost hypnotic.

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  billyshears at Jul. 03, 2012 - 12:19PM JST

  Reveals the power of TV. Put any old crap on television often enough and it will have a great chance of becoming popular. Of course, entertainment executives can milk this fact to the max in Japan as the manufactured success of highly lucrative entities largely devoid of quality talent such as SMAP, Arashi and AKB 48 are relentlessly given air time on TV commercials, variety shows and dramas.

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  Mirai Hayashi at Jul. 03, 2012 - 12:50PM JST

  Reveals the power of TV. Put any old crap on television often enough and it will have a great chance of becoming popular. Of course, entertainment executives can milk this fact to the max in Japan as the manufactured success of highly lucrative entities largely devoid of quality talent such as SMAP, Arashi and AKB 48 are relentlessly given air time on TV commercials, variety shows and dramas.

  More accurately, it revels the degradation and the dumbing down of society. With the young population increasingly choosing to play with dolls, watching underage girls sing and dance on TV, and spending gobs of cash to participate in pointless popularity contests (a.k.a. elections) rather than getting an education, or a real job. This is one of the reason why the Japanese population is on the decline. People are getting so engulfed in this media propagated crap, and fantasizing of little girls whom they'll probably never meet, instead of getting into REAL relationships and procreating.

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  smithinjapan at Jul. 03, 2012 - 03:18PM JST

  “I want to do a show the likes of which no-one has ever seen before.”

  Ummm... it's a spin-off group, for which there are at least three other spin-offs. Suggesting that no one will have seen anything like it is ridiculous.

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  Thunderbird2 at Jul. 03, 2012 - 06:25PM JST

  The group's 'owner'? Sounds like slavery.

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  shinhiyata at Jul. 03, 2012 - 10:05PM JST

  Sayaka Yamamoto is HOT !!! All you haters are jealous of this gorgeous young woman - with an albeit modest amount of vocal talent. She seems to genuinely enjoy performing. OK, it's not Broadway. But who cares. She's HOT !!!

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  cattzs at Jul. 04, 2012 - 01:28AM JST

  This fad needs to die.

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  my2sense at Jul. 04, 2012 - 07:10AM JST

  Sayaka Yamamoto is HOT !!! All you haters are jealous of this gorgeous young woman - with an albeit modest amount of vocal talent. She seems to genuinely enjoy performing. OK, it's not Broadway. But who cares. She's HOT !!!

  jesus lol....

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  smithinjapan at Jul. 04, 2012 - 06:12PM JST

  shinhiyata: She's cute, but no cuter than your average Japanese walking down the street. Although of course we're dealing with companies that want to sell sex, and a nation that LOVES to buy it if it's underage, so they dress her up in junior highschool outfits and parade her around like they do AKB48 children in lingerie and talk about heavy rotation -- it'll in the end appeal to middle-aged ojisan.

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  lrodriguezsosa at Jul. 04, 2012 - 07:35PM JST

  For an such "untalented" girl band, there is quite a following of theirs whereabouts. Some love them, others love to hate them. But everyone is paying attention. ;-)

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  lrodriguezsosa at Jul. 04, 2012 - 07:41PM JST

  Lets be honest, Yasushi Akimoto is a genius. A lot of western acts would love to be under his wing!

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  smithinjapan at Jul. 05, 2012 - 12:24AM JST

  irodriguezsoza: "But everyone is paying attention. ;-)"

  And probably no one but a small child or middle-aged perve could name all the spinoffs and the three sizes of their crew.

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  basroil at Jul. 05, 2012 - 08:11AM JST

  These groups are starting to sound like reference codes for some archive. Next we know there'll be something like JKL48-G3/5 or something. What ever happened to real bands and singers with (japanified) real names?

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  CrazyJoe at Jul. 05, 2012 - 01:22PM JST

  Who gives a s*** about these groups anyway?

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  Wolfpack at Jul. 07, 2012 - 10:56AM JST

  ^ A lot of scrawny geeks - that's who...