generasia:Featured article for 2017 week 41
Nogizaka46
Nogizaka46 (乃木坂46) is a Japanese pop idol group produced by Akimoto Yasushi. They were first introduced as AKB48's "official rivals". They were named after the location of the SME Nogizaka Building, which houses Sony Music Japan's office. Their producer Yasushi Akimoto also said that the number "46" was chosen as a direct challenge to AKB48.
On February 22, 2012, Nogizaka46 made their debut with the single "Guruguru Curtain". It ranked second on the Oricon chart and sold 136,309 copies in the first week. On November 9, 2016, Nogizaka46 released their 16th single "Sayonara no Imi". It reached number one on the Oricon weekly single chart, selling 827,717 copies in the first week and it was the group's first Million single certified by RIAJ.
Their 19th single "Itsuka Dekiru Kara Kyou Dekiru" is released this week on October 11th.
