AKB48 (エーケービー フォーティエイト) is an all-female Japanese theater/idol group. AKB48 currently consists of 120 members divided into five teams: Team A, Team K, Team B, Team 4 and the Toyota-sponsored Team 8. There are also Kenkyusei members or trainees who usually substitute for missing members. Each team contains a range from 12-18 members. Unlike other idol groups in Japan, AKB48 are theatre-based and have their own theatre in Akihabara (a district in Tokyo, Japan) where they perform once every weekday, and twice on both Saturday and Sunday. The theatre is set up on the 8th floor of Don Quixote.

As of 2017, they have 49 single releases, which have mostly sold over 1 million copies each. In June 2017, AKB48 reached 50 million single sales, and over 6 million album sales. They became the first female group to win Japan prestigious Record Award in 2011 for their song Flying Get. They also became the first artist to win 4 awards at Billboard Japan award, best artist, top pop act, best single of the year, best single sales of the year.