I don't owe him a damn thing. He has my MasterCard on file. :doh:I think, one of these days, I'll start having my paycheck direct deposited into his bank account. XD
Yeah, he doesn't really need AKB, but maybe he likes the whole cute girls prancing around dealYes! He's like some James Bond villain. It's will not be enough to have a harem of 'normal' women surround him 24/7. His girls must be nurtured over time and lust over by other men/wota before they can even be in the same room with him...
Maybe one day we'll see him pose with just flowers covering his junk..Nah. That's more of Tsunku's thing.
AKB48 producer wins Shin Watanabe Award
Wed, March 3, 2010 (12:08am EST)
The 5th Shin Watanabe Award, given every year to recognize a producer's contributions to the entertainment industry, was formally presented on Tuesday. This year's honoree was lyricist/director/producer Yasushi Akimoto (53), who created the idol group AKB48.
AKB48 has become tremendously popular not only in Japan, but also overseas as well. Last year, the group held performances in Paris and New York.
So Aki-P won an award (http://www.sanspo.com/geino/news/100303/gnj1003030509011-n1.htm).Quote from: http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-5865AKB48 producer wins Shin Watanabe Award
Wed, March 3, 2010 (12:08am EST)
The 5th Shin Watanabe Award, given every year to recognize a producer's contributions to the entertainment industry, was formally presented on Tuesday. This year's honoree was lyricist/director/producer Yasushi Akimoto (53), who created the idol group AKB48.
AKB48 has become tremendously popular not only in Japan, but also overseas as well. Last year, the group held performances in Paris and New York.
He definitely deserves it, you only have to look at his myriad of works.
Happy 56th Birthday, AKI-P! :bow:
JAPANESE IDOL GROUP AKB48 FOUNDER YASUSHI AKIMOTO ON CNN’S TALK ASIA
The renowned music producer, lyricist, television writer and university professor shares his secret to success and responds to critics
Yasushi Akimoto, the producer of Japanese idol phenomenon AKB48, sits down with ‘Talk Asia' this week for an in-depth interview. Akimoto shares with Anna Coren what inspired him to start the group and his plans to expand his pop empire, even though the band already holds a Guinness World Record for the world's largest pop group. Talk Asia also goes backstage at the AKB48 theatre in Tokyo to meet some of the stars, plus travels to Jakarta to follow the auditions of ‘JKT48', a new spinoff sister group being formed in Indonesia. Akimoto also responds to criticism that some of his lyrics are too suggestive to be sung by young girls.
Please find excerpts from the interview with Yasushi Akimoto below. The full interview transcript will be available upon request after the first airing of the show.
‘CNN's Talk Asia' must be credited for any use of this material.
ON THE FORMATION OF AKB48
YASUSHI AKIMOTO, PRODUCER: None of the girls have strong personalities, but once they get together, they bring about chemical reactions. In other words, all the girls are quite ordinary but when they get together, and each one comes into the picture, you can see their charm. So, I thought that's interesting.
AKIMOTO: Because the girls are really cute, the attraction for some people is that they imagine them as their girlfriends or their idols. Girls who are around the same age as the AKB girls try to become like them and work really hard towards that. With the older generations, it's not that they are striving to realize their dreams like AKB, but they want to cheer the girls on.
ON COMPARING AKB48 WITH TALENT SHOWS IN THE WEST
AKIMOTO: I think we can't stack up against the strength of entertainment in the West. It is very difficult to find talents of that level of singing, acting and dancing in Japan. Praising their [American Idols'] talents and buying their CDs are a form of entertainment, but AKB is not the case. It is about people who want to apply for American Idol but are not very good at singing. They want to dance on Broadway but [are] not really good at it. We show the process of their growth, that they are trying and making efforts, which is different from the West. I don't think we can win if we compete on their turf.
ON EXPANDING THE AKB48 BRAND
AKIMOTO: Because news of AKB48 has spread by way of our website, people say they want to see the performances live, that's why we created new teams with people who were born in Nagoya and Osaka. Kids in those areas can audition as well.
AKIMOTO: People in Indonesia were interested in AKB48. That is why we decided to try it in Jakarta. Kids watched AKB on the internet and they want to do the same, but they don't know whether they have talent. Also it's difficult [for them] to go to Japan to audition.
ON RESPONDING TO CRITICISM ABOUT HIS LYRICS
AKIMOTO: I was often asked how someone like me who is over 50 can write songs for young kids. I remember what it was like when I was a teenager. When I look back, there were sexual things and other things around that interested me. I change them to be not dirty, but more romantic in my lyrics.
AKIMOTO: Unless I take up the issues the girls are facing, as a songwriter, the issues won't get addressed. There are kids out there who want to take off their school uniforms and misbehave, and I am depicting realities in their lives in which they wonder whether it's ok to think that way. I'm not forcing them. I'm picturing their private lives partly based on my imagination or newspaper articles or TV news. I watch what their generation is doing, the issues of bullying, suicides and sugar-daddy traps and turning them to my song themes.
ON AKB48'S ROLE IN JAPAN'S EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI RELIEF OPERATION
AKIMOTO: Japan is in pain and AKB48 wants to spread energy to everyone, first and foremost. And of course, we would like to continue our support activities. Among other things, I would like to send a message with AKB48 that you can make your dreams come true. I would like to deliver this message not only to Japan but also to people all over the world. Dreams do come true, but how it is realized might be more or less than what you had expected.
Highlights of Yasushi Akimoto's interview with ‘Talk Asia' will be available online at www.cnn.com/talkasia (http://www.cnn.com/talkasia).
一通りの食べ歩きを経験し、グルメサイトや情報誌レベルの情報に飽き足らない30代以上の男女がターゲット。日本全国を隈なく飛び回る秋元氏が、絶対の自信をもってお薦めするその土地で一番居心地がいい宿と一番の美味。日本有数のハイクオリティ誌『メルセデスマガジン』で連載され大好評を博した、とっておきの情報を特別に公開します。
Worlds collide.
(http://i.imgur.com/gDjwxl.jpg)
Source: http://ameblo.jp/tsunku-blog/image-11421696639-12319020512.html (http://ameblo.jp/tsunku-blog/image-11421696639-12319020512.html)
Random YouTube browsing somehow lead me to this clip from 2010.
秋元康とつんく♂の対談 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa7S88ybfUY#ws)
Backup -
秋元康とつんく♂の対談 —在线播放—优酷网,视频高清在线观看 (http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTA4MDYzNTcy)
It was announced that the total number of sales for singles which were written by lyricist Akimoto Yasushi has reached a whopping 68,591,000 copies, which made him the most commercially successful lyricist in Japan.
After including the sales from the latest Oricon weekly ranking, Akimoto surpassed late lyricist Aku Yu’s record of 68,319,000 copies by 272,000 copies.
Akimoto has written the lyrics for many artists such as Onyanko Club, Tunnels, the late Misora Hibari, and in recent years, he’s known for contributing lyrics for AKB48, SKE48, NMB48 and more. Reportedly, Akimoto wrote the lyrics for 506 singles so far, and among all the singles he wrote, the best selling single was AKB48’s 26th single “Manatsu no Sounds good!” (released in May 2012) which sold 1,822,000 copies in total. Moreover, about 30% (19,987,000 copies) of his total sales have come from songs he wrote for AKB48.
Akimoto left the comment, “Thank you. Even after getting No.1 in sales, I still can’t hold a candle to other great senior lyricists, but taking this (record) is very encouraging, I would like to continue to devote myself.”
Akimoto made his debut as a lyricist with “Kotoba ni Shitakunai Tenki” (The coupling track for THE ALFEE’s single ‘Toori Ame‘) in October of 1981. His first chart topping single was Kikuchi Momoko’s “Sotsugyou” (released in February 1985), and a total of 87 singles which Akimoto contributed the lyrics, have topped the chart ever since. 87 chart topping singles is also a record for lyricists, number 2 is Inaba Koshi with 52 singles.
Below is the list of TOP 5 lyricists with their total number of single sales (the parentheses show the best selling singles from the lyricist).
=====
1. Akimoto Yasushi…68,591,000 copies (AKB48 ‘Manatsu no Sounds good!’ 1,822,000 copies)
2. Aku Yu…68,319,000 copies (Pink Lady ‘UFO’ 1,554,000 copies)
3. Matsumoto Takashi…49,838,000 copies (KinKi Kids ‘Glass no Shounen’ 1,792,000 copies)
4. Komuro Tetsuya…42,224,000 copies (Amuro Namie ‘CAN YOU CELEBRATE?’ 2,296,000 copies)
5. Inaba Koshi…37,594,000 copies (B’z ‘Ai no Mama ni Wagamama ni Boku wa Kimi dake wo Kizutsukenai’ 2,021,000 copies)
Akimoto Yasushi: Next is New York- http://akb48-daily.blogspot.ca/2015/02/akimoto-yasushi-next-is-new-york.html (http://akb48-daily.blogspot.ca/2015/02/akimoto-yasushi-next-is-new-york.html)
AKB48 producer Akimoto Yasushi and TeamB member Nozawa Rena had a conversation on 755 at 24 February 2015, and Akimoto Yasushi mentioned his next target is New York.
Nozawa Rena: Mr. Akimoto, I am Nozawa Rena who is transferred to Team B from JKT. Jakata's Collaboration LIVE, I am really happy. Thank you very much for such of LIVE project. The LIVE was very high, and fulfilled the dream of LIVE in Jakarta. Thank you very much indeed. I will keep going as 48G overseas representative.
Akimoto Yasushi: Thank you for your hard work. I heard Jakarta's concert is very good, thank you very much. Because next is New York, therefore keep going.
Akimoto Yasushi original 755 post:
http://7gogo.jp/lp/0lwsnpA3SdaWkVIvojdMdG==/5889 (http://7gogo.jp/lp/0lwsnpA3SdaWkVIvojdMdG==/5889)
Early AKB48 members celebrate Akimoto Yasushi's 57th birthday- http://www.tokyohive.com/article/2015/05/early-akb48-members-celebrate-akimoto-yasushis-57th-birthday
May 20, 2015
The early members of AKB48 recently celebrated general producer Akimoto Yasushi's 57th birthday.
On May 18, former member Maeda Atsuko updated her Twitter with a photo of Akimoto holding a birthday cake while being surrounded by Maeda, Takahashi Minami, Kojima Haruna, Minegishi Minami, and Shinoda Mariko. She wrote, "Akimoto-san's birthday party. Happy Birthday. We were finally able to get together."
Shinoda, who is another former member, also updated her official Instagram account with a group shot. "At the suggestion of AtsuMina, we celebrated Akimoto-sensei's birthday," she said.
Fans were excited to see the early members reunite and left comments such as, "AKB family," "It's been so long. It's making me cry," and "the early members are the best!"
Source: Model Press (http://mdpr.jp/news/detail/1487982)