Live4MusiC

JAPANESE idol girl group AKB48 have committed to performing in Singapore every month at *SCAPE. The 61-member group recently launched their first South East Asia concept store in Singapore on May 14.

Debuting in 2005, the AKB48 girls are known for their cute schoolgirl image and position themselves as 'idols you can meet everyday'. They earned a place in the Guinness World Records last year as the 'pop group with the greatest number of members', with 48 of them. AKB48 has since recruited more girls to join its ranks, and now comprises of 61 girls aged between 12 and 24.

They perform live at their own Akihabara theatre-cum-shop in Tokyo almost daily, and now they are exporting the whole AKB48 experience to Singapore. They kicked things off with their first concert at their so-called Singapore Theatre on May 14.

More than 500 fans turned up from as early as 8.30am that day to meet three of the AKB48 girls - Misaki Iwasa, Mika Komori and Miho Miyazaki - who were there to launch their concept store.

Merchandise such as pens, photo books and musical mugs are available at the store, which will also include a world's first AKB48 cafe, due to open in June.