The female idol group AKB48 announced during its “Unit Single Sōdatsu Janken Taikai” event in Kobe on Monday that it will spawn STU48, a new sister unit based in the Setouchi region.
STU48 is the sixth domestic sister group in the AKB48 franchise.
The new group will represent seven prefectures: Yamaguchi, Hiroshima, Ehime, Okayama, Hyogo, Kagawa, and Tokushima.
Outside Japan, there are JKT48 in Indonesia’s Jakarta and SNH48 in China’s Shanghai, with additional sister groups announced for Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines.