Atsuko Maeda

Atsuko Maeda (前田 敦子) is a Japanese actress and singer.

She is a former member of the idol girl group AKB48, and was one of the most prominent members in the group at the time, regarded as the group's "absolute ace", "immovable center", and the "Face of AKB."

It was announced that she would co-star with Tony Leung Chiu-wai in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's film 1905.

Later that year, AKB48 employed a rock-paper-scissors tournament to determine the top spot of AKB48's 19th major single "Chance no Junban".

At age 14, she became a member of AKB48's first group, Team A, which was composed of 24 girls and debuted on December 8, 2005.

In 2007, Maeda played a supporting role in the film Ashita no Watashi no Tsukurikata, which was her debut as an actress.

In 2009, Maeda won the first edition of AKB48's annual general elections, which are described as a popularity contest.

Maeda also won the group's third general election held in 2011.

Maeda was one of the members who sang on every AKB48 title track since the group's inception.

Her streak of A-side appearances ended in 2011, when she lost to Team K captain Sayaka Akimoto at a rock-paper-scissors tournament which determined the featured members for the group's 24th single "Ue kara Mariko".

On April 23, 2011, Maeda announced that she would make her solo debut with her debut single "Flower", released on June 22.

It was met with commercial success in Japan, debuting at number 1 on the Oricon Charts with first week sales of 176,967 copies.

She starred in the 2011 film Moshidora and appeared in Nobuhiro Yamashita's 2012 film Kueki Ressha.

After graduating from AKB48 on August 27, 2012, Maeda has since then continued with a solo singing and acting career.

Maeda was born in Ichikawa, Chiba.

On March 25, 2012, during an AKB48 Concert at the Saitama Super Arena, Maeda announced that she would leave the group.

This caused a large buzz in the Japanese news, and spawned a rumor (later proved false) that a student from University of Tokyo had committed suicide over the announcement.

AKB48 later announced that Maeda would leave after the Tokyo Dome concerts; For her final performance, there were 229,096 requests filed for seat tickets.

Her farewell performance and ceremony occurred on August 27 at the AKB48 theater, and was streamed live on YouTube.

The follow-up single "Kimi wa Boku Da", released in June 2012, was Maeda's last solo single while still a member of AKB48.

It debuted at number two on the Oricon charts and reached number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.

As a result, she was the headlined performer for the group's 13th single, "Iiwake Maybe".

The following year, she placed second overall, but still had a significant choreography position in the lineup for "Heavy Rotation".

On June 15, 2013, at AKB48's handshake event held at Makuhari Messe, AKB48 announced that Maeda would appear as a special guest at the group's summer concert series at the Sapporo Dome on July 31.

There, she performed her third single, "Time Machine Nante Iranai" (タイムマシンなんていらない), which was later released on September 18.

It was selected to be the theme song for the live-action adaptation of Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo (Yamada and the Seven Witches).

Maeda described the song as "cheerful and fun" and hoped it would liven up the show.

"Time Machine Nante Iranai" eventually peaked at number one on the Oricon Daily charts, and number two on the Oricon Weekly chart.

On Billboard's Japan Hot 100, it debuted at number one and stayed there for just the week of September 30.

She also starred in Hideo Nakata's 2013 horror film The Complex.

In 2013, Maeda starred in a series of 30-second station ID videos for ''Music On!

TV'' where she played Tamako, a Tokyo University graduate who does not find a job and lives at home where she just eats and sleeps, over the course of the four seasons.

This became a TV drama special, and was developed into a full-fledged film, Tamako in Moratorium, the last of which was planned for a theater release in November 2013.

Maeda starred in the film Seventh Code, in which she plays a Japanese woman in Russia who is trying to track down a guy she previously met.

Maeda's 4th single "Seventh Code" was released on March 5, 2014.

It was used as the theme song of the movie "Seventh Code" in which Maeda herself starred.

It debuted at number 4 on the Oricon charts and reached number three on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.

Maeda placed 15th, which secured her a spot on title track.

On December 12, 2015, it was announced that Maeda's first album would be released later the next year.

Eventually, the album was set to be released on June 22, 2016.