Yasushi Akimoto
On July 10, 2010, AKB48 first announced that they would be forming a second sister national group, based in Namba. NMB48 officially became active on October 9, 2010. Yasushi Akimoto announced that the group would have 26 trainees for the first generation. These members made their first appearance at the "AKB48 Tokyo Autumn Festival".