Rino Sashihara
On April 23 AKB48 announced the creation of its third overseas sister group, SNH48, based in Shanghai. It was announced on June 17 that Rino Sashihara would be transferred to HKT48 in July as a "restart" because of an alleged scandal involving her ex-boyfriend. On June 24 AKB48 announced the promotion of six trainees from the 10th and 11th generations and its third rock-paper-scissors tournament (scheduled for September 18) to determine the lineup for the group's 29th single, "Eien Pressure".