Team

Teams (Japanese: チーム) are what are used to separate members of all 48 Group. By using 'Teams', members can be categorized more easily. Also, instead of the entire group performing a theater show, only one team is assigned to perform. This allows fans to focus on a certain group of members and give the girls days off.

Teams are named after the letters used in their group's name, except for AKB48 Team 4 and Team 8.

Each Team has their own captain, who may or may not be the Center of the Team. Traditionally, teams had 16 members, but since the Tokyo Dome Team Shuffle, there is no limit to the amount of members that can be on a team.

Also each team has their representative color. Usually, the first team represents its sister's group color for an example like AKB48 Team A, that team uses "Pink" color (same as the color of AKB48's logo).

A team has its own activity, such as has recording for Single/Album/Setlist Studio Recording for its team, doing a event/concert for its team, doing a setlist by a team, and etc. But, usually they still can interact with another member in another team (Senbatsu, concert, Himawarigumi, and etc). Himawarigumi is a term for a group which is formed by some members in a team that usually doing a stage rather than for another activity. The same goes for Yurigumi and Baragumi.

Sometimes, there are special groups made within the 48g, such as single coupling song groups. An example of this is Team PB or Team YJ. These teams were only temporary and for marketing purposes, the members within them stayed part of their original teams as well. Other temporary teams, such as Team Undecided and Team Unknown, are used when a member is transferred or promoted, but there either is no team spot available, or they haven't been assigned to a team yet. Kenkyuusei (they are the unders for promoted members) are sometimes referred to as Team Kenkyuusei, but is not official.