is a Japanese

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, lyricist, and television writer, best known for creating and producing some of Japan's top idol groups, Onyanko Club and the AKB48 franchise. Total sales of the singles he has written exceed 100 million copies, making him the best-selling lyricist in Japan.

Career

Akimoto created the ''Chakushin Ari'' (''One Missed Call'') horror franchise, which began with his novel of the same name and was first brought to film in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

before being remade by Hollywood in 2008. He wrote both the novel and the screen adaptation for '' One Missed Call: Final''. Akimoto became a television writer in high school, he has produced many television programs, such as ''

Utaban was a Japanese music variety show, broadcast weekly from October 15, 1996 until March 23, 2010 on TBS. The name of the show is an abbreviation of , meaning "music program". A special version of the show, running for two hours, was occasionally ai ...

''. Akimoto started as a lyricist with The Alfee in 1981; he has written

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer ...

for various artists such as Kinki Kids, Tunnels, Onyanko Club, AKB48,

SKE48 SKE48 (S.K.E. Forty-eight) is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. SKE48 is named after the Sakae district in Nagoya of Aichi Prefecture, where the group is based. The group performs at SKE48 Theater on 2F of Sunshine Sakae, a ...

, SDN48, NMB48, HKT48, NGT48, STU48, Nogizaka46 and Keyakizaka46. He also wrote Hibari Misora's last single during her lifetime, " Kawa no Nagare no Yō ni", and

Jero Jerome Charles White Jr. (born September 4, 1981), better known by his stage name , is an American enka singer of African-American and Japanese descent who is the first black enka singer in Japanese music history. In 2018, Jero announced that ...

's debut single "Umi Yuki". He debuted the 1st international sister group of AKB48 called JKT48. Auditions were held on October 8 and 9, 2011 and the official members were announced early November. And the 2nd international sister group of AKB48 called SNH48 was announced in October, 2012. On June, 2016 it was announced that SNH48 and its sister groups became fully independent from AKB48 having BEJ48, GNZ48, SHY48 and CKG48 as SNH48's Local Sister Groups which formed an alliance known as SNH48 Group or Star48. The 3rd international sister group of AKB48 called BNK48 was announced on February 12, 2017. The 4th international sister group of AKB48 called TPE48 was announced on February 4, 2018. And MNL48 the 5th international sister group of AKB48, the 1st generation members were officially announced on April 28, 2018. Also on the same year,

MUM48 , or AKB48 sister groups, shortened to 48 Group, 48g, refers to the sister groups of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. Based on the same concept "idols you can meet", it currently consists of 5 sister groups in locations across Japan and 7 ...

, AKB48 Team SH and SGO48 were formed too as 6th, 7th and 8th overseas sister groups respectively. Akimoto also got involved in female professional wrestling, introducing wrestler Cutie Suzuki. In 2007 he became a professor and vice president at Kyoto University of Art and Design. On March 17, 2014, it was announced that Akimoto was named a member of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Committee and was put in charge of producing the opening ceremony along with photographer Mika Ninagawa who has previously produced music videos for AKB48, including 2010's Heavy Rotation and 2013's Sayonara Crawl. A petition against his appointment has been created due his representing the "decline" of the Japanese entertainment industry, with 11,000 signatures as of March 23. He also contributed in forming a South Korean girl group Iz*One with collaboration between AKS and Mnet. In 2016, Japanese idol girl group multimedia project between Yasushi Akimoto, Aniplex, and Sony Music Records called 22/7 was formed. The project is described as "idols who transcend dimensions." The members consist of voice actresses who provide the voice and motion capture for their characters, as well as perform as a musical group. In 2017, Akimoto co-founded the

$4.50 Theater Company The is a Japanese theater company established in 2017 by two Japanese producers Yasushi Akimoto and Max Matsuura of Avex. It is operated by Avex AY Factory, LLC, a subsidiary of Avex. History The name of the company was taken from the tot ...

, in cooperation with the entertainment company Avex Inc. As of 2019, Akimoto is no longer part of the

AKS Aks or AKS may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Aks'' (2001 film), a 2001 Indian Hindi supernatural thriller * ''Aks'' (2018 film), a 2018 Pakistani horror film * ''Aks'' (album), released by Lucky Ali in 2000 * ''Aks'' (TV series), a 20 ...

management and is involved only as the creative producer of AKB48 Groups. On September, 2022, OVERSE announces the launch of its new idol group project, it will be a new kind of idol group with blockchain and metaverse concepts, and names Akimoto Yasushi as the idol group's general producer.

Criticism

Akimoto has been criticized in the past for song lyrics that some consider to have misogynistic undertones. Specifically, the 2016 HKT48 song " Einstein yori Dianna Agron" was seen as an insult to women's intelligence.

Personal life

Akimoto married Onyanko Club member Mamiko Takai in 1988.

Awards

* 2008: 41st

Japan Lyricist Awards is an annual set of awards sponsored by the Japan Lyricists Association, Japan Lyricists' Association. Awarded since 1968. Over the years the award ceremony has been produced by NHK General TV, NHK and Nippon Television, NTV and now, since the 27 ...

— Grand Prix (for the song "Umiyuki", performed by

) * 2009: 51st Japan Record Award Special Award *2011: 16th The AMD Award — Grand Prize * 2012: 54th Japan Record Award — Lyricist Award. 45th Japan Cable Award, Special Award. * 2017: 19th Mnet Asian Music Awards — Inspired Achievement * 2022: Medal with Purple Ribbon

References

External links