TOKYO: Thousands of fans of Japanese girl group AKB48 gathered yesterday for the results of a ballot on which member will lead the band for the next year amid tight security after two members were attacked by a man wielding
a saw.
Organisers were to announce results of the popularity vote late yesterday at a football stadium in Tokyo as some 300 members were running for the top spot.
Fans finished voting by Friday for the girl they want to lead the collective for the next year, using ballot slips only available with the purchase of their latest single.
The annual vote was overshadowed by last month’s attack on two teenage members at one of the band’s regular meet-the-fans events in Iwate, northern Japan.
“People are gathering as we opened the gates as scheduled,” a stadium official said, adding that he had not received any reports of any trouble at the venue.
Organisers doubled the number of guards to search people entering the stadium and set up metal detectors at the gates.
Rina Kawaei, 19, and Anna Iriyama, 18, suffered broken bones in their right hands and received cuts on their arms and heads after a man attacked them with 50-centimetre saw.
AFP
