Japan’s largest girl idol group AKB 48 held their ninth annual election on Saturday to choose new leading members to perform an upcoming new single.
In total 322 members from AKB 48 and its five sister units across Japan competed at the ‘AKB48 49th Single General Election’ for 16 places to participate in making the group’s 49th single, which is to be released in August.
Attracting 3.4 million votes, this year’s election has become the group’s most popular to date.
Votes for the competing members were cast by fans in advance, a way of showing their dedication to their favourite members.
Yuka Ogino, an 18-year-old newcomer to NGT 48, surprised her fans by coming in fifth place.
Rino Sashihara, a 24-year-old member of sister group HKT 48, gained 246,376 votes and won the right to be the main performer for the upcoming new song.