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generasia:Featured article for 2022 week 38

NMB48 promoting "Suki da Mushi" (2022)

NMB48

NMB48 is a Japanese idol group that debuted in 2011 as the second sister group to AKB48, produced by Akimoto Yasushi. NMB48 is named after the Namba district in Osaka city of Osaka Prefecture, where the group is based. The group performs at the NMB48 Theater, which is located in the basement of the Yes-Namba Building in Namba, Osaka. The group has sold over 9 million CDs in Japan.

NMB48 officially became active on October 9, 2010. They made their debut performance at their theater on New Year's Day 2011, and released their debut single, "Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo" on July 20, 2011. During its debut week, the single sold a total of about 218,000 copies, making it the best-selling debut single of a girl group on the Oricon weekly charts, and made NMB48 the second girl group after PASSPO☆ to reach #1 with a debut single.

All of NMB48's first three singles topped the Oricon charts in their first week. Subsequently, they became be the first female artists in the Oricon chart's 45-year history to top the ranking with three consecutive songs. Up until then, Yakushimaru Hiroko and Sawajiri Erika each held the highest record for consecutively topping the charts with their two first singles. They are also the very first female artists who've sold over 200,000 copies in the first week for their three consecutive singles.

Their 27th single, "Suki da Mushi," is released this week on September 21st.