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The original was posted on /r/hobbydrama by /u/Inquilinus on 2025-05-24 19:17:15+00:00.

Warning: description of violent acts and mental health issues.

On May 25th, 2014, AKB48 members Kawaei Rina and Iriyama Anna were attacked by a man wielding a handsaw at a handshake event in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. They had to be rushed to the hospital with severe injuries. This event had long-lasting impacts on both the members’ careers and the group as a whole. Before we start, I’ll give a primer:

AKB48: AKB48 is an idol group founded in 2005 by Akimoto Yasushi. The concept was “idols you can meet”, with a theater where they perform every day. AKB48 has a large number of members as each theater performance is conducted by a team of 16 members, and there are multiple teams alternating on different days. AKB48 also founded sister groups throughout Japan with their own members, teams, and setlists and who perform at their own theater. Akimoto Yasushi writes the lyrics for all of the songs for AKB48 and its sister groups. Members are added in numbered generations.

Theater: the AKB48 theater is a tiny venue on the 8th floor of Akihabara’s Don Quijote, a discount supermarket chain. It has 6 rows of benches and standing room in the back, with a total capacity of 250 people. There are also two massive pillars that block the stage for most of the audience. AKB48 has been performing there almost uninterrupted since December 2005. They’ve performed roughly 6600 shows there at time of writing. The members are divided into teams, with the classic teams being Team A, Team K, and Team B, (with Team 4 added later) and the teams perform their own setlists, known as stages.

Senbatsu: the members chosen to participate in a single. While the size of the senbatsu varies, it’s generally around 16 members. Considering AKB48 (and it’s sister groups) has hundreds of members, it’s often seen as the ultimate goal of many members to enter into the senbatsu. It features members who are the most popular, or are being pushed by management to become popular. Usually, AKB48 singles were a kind of “all star” lineup with the top members of each sister group being selected (the sister group’s singles would feature a lineup of just their own members) alongside the top AKB48 members. The frontwoman for the single is called the center.

Graduation: when a member leaves the group, it’s typically a graduation. They announce graduation publicly, then graduate a few months later. They have a graduation performance at the theater as their last activity. Sometimes members withdraw or are terminated, which is not considered a graduation. This has only happened a couple of times, typically for criminal behavior.

General Election: In 2009, AKB48 started the General Election, where fans could vote for the senbatsu of a single once a year. Due to the huge number of members, many fans would complain to the management that they were choosing the wrong members for the senbatsu. So, AKB48 created the General Election. The single preceding the Election would contain a voting ticket. For each CD you bought, you received a vote that you could put towards your favorite member. The members who received the most votes would be in the senbatsu, with the one who received the most being the center. Initially, it was the top 21 members, but was later reduced to the top 16.

Handshake Events

Handshake events are one of the most important events that AKB48 holds. AKB48 accidentally created the concept of a handshake event only a week after they began in December of 2005. After selling tickets to that day’s theater show, the sound system suddenly broke down right before the show. Thinking fast, the management decided that instead of a theater show, they’d have a meet-and-greet session where you shake the hands of the members and have a conversation with them. This was highly successful and instantly became a staple of AKB48 fandom.

Personally, I think calling them a “handshake event” is a little misleading. While you are indeed shaking their hand, the point of the event is to have a conversation with the member. Handshake events are extremely important for connecting the members with their fans. It’s a short (or long, depending on the fan’s budget) conversation with the fan’s favorite member. This is how the members learn about their fans: their names, their life, their opinions. It truly encapsulates the idea of “idols you can meet.”

There are two types of handshake events: individual handshakes and national handshakes. Individual handshakes are the more famous of the two, and typically what people mean when they say “handshake event.” Individual handshakes work like this: you apply for a lottery on a specific day and a specific timeslot. Say, you apply for May 30th for the 5th timeslot, from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM. The lottery is tied to the most recently-released single. You get 10 seconds for each single you buy. So, if you apply for 3 singles for that day/slot (and win the lottery), you get to have a 30-second conversation with the member during that time. More popular members have more slots. Depending on the member, these slots sell out extremely quickly.

National handshakes, on the other hand, are much simpler, but less personable. For national handshakes, you just need to buy a single from anywhere; there is no lottery. Instead of an individual conversation, you choose a lane to go down and briefly chat with the members of that lane. More popular members will have a lane to themselves; less popular members will be grouped in lanes of 3-5+ members. It’s a lot easier because you don’t have to do anything except buy a single anywhere, but it’s not the private conversation of an individual handshake. National handshakes take place in smaller venues across the country, while individual handshakes are in massive venues in big cities.

Handshake events are the lifeblood of AKB48, and at its peak, handshake events were held almost every week. It’s a highly successful model, and many (perhaps most) other idol groups have adopted it as a regular event.

Iriyama Anna and Kawaei Rina

Iriyama Anna joined AKB48 with the 10th generation in March of 2010. Kawaei Rina joined with the 11th generation that October. They were both promoted to Team 4 rather quickly. They were young, standout members that were poised to be the next popular members of AKB48. By the time they were hitting their stride, AKB48 was at its peak, and the original members (who had joined in 2005-2006) were starting to graduate. By 2012, both Anna and Rina were regular senbatsu members, often appearing in singles. They were also centering much-beloved B-sides, with Rina centering Tsugi no Season and Anna centering Eien Yori Tsuzuku You ni.

They had an even bigger break in early 2013. The comedy show Mechaike, which was one of the biggest shows in Japan, had AKB48 on for a surprise special. The selected members (who were top members of AKB48 and its sister groups) were to take an academic test. It would determine the smartest and dumbest members of AKB48. The seven dumbest members were to form a new group called BKA48 (Baka48). The questions would test their knowledge of math, science, social studies, Japanese, and English. Both Kawaei Rina and Iriyama Anna were among the members selected for this program.

Rina was the breakout star of the show. It quickly became obvious that she was ill-equipped to answer questions from any of the subjects, often providing hilarious answers. She was last place by a huge margin and became the center of BKA48. They got their own song, Haste and Waste, centered by Rina. Coincidentally, Anna got first place amongst the members, scoring particularly high in math.

Instantly, Rina entered into the pop culture zeitgeist and became a popular figure. She was frequently on variety shows because it was guaranteed that she would say something baffling. Anna also grew more popular, with a reputation for being intelligent and a “cool beauty”, a dignified and beautiful woman. They also did fairly well in the General Election, with Rina ranking #25 and Anna #30 that year. They were the next generation, ready to take the reins from their legendary precursors.

The Attack

In May of 2014, AKB48 was promoting their latest single and holding their standard individual and national handshake events. On May 25th, they were scheduled to have a national handshake event in rural Iwate Prefecture. The members were divided up into lanes, and Anna and Rina happened to be in the same lane. Rina was the 1st member, followed by Anna.

In the middle of the event, a 24-year-old man entered into their lane and pulled a folding handsaw out of his bag. First, he struck a staff member, then he slashed at Rina. She put up her hand to defend herself, and then ducked down. After she ducked, he moved onto Anna and struck her as well. He was then apprehended by other staff members.

There was a panic in the event room. Fans and members both fled. 1st generation Takahashi Minami looked into the lane and she saw splatterings of blood on the wall. After she ran to a safe location, she called Akimoto, the founder of the group, and told him: “AKB48 is over.” Anna and Rina were rushed to the hospital, where they underwent surgery. Both had broke…

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