Janken Taikai (じゃんけん大会) was first announced by Togasaki Tomonobu during the third day of the Surprise wa Arimasen concert. He announced that the Senbatsu members for AKB48's 19th Single were going to be selected by a rock paper scissors tournament to be held at Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. All the 48 members from AKB48 and 4 previously-selected Kenkyuusei were randomly shuffled during the concert to decide the order of the matches. The winner of the tournament would become the center of the single.
Members[]
- 19th Single Senbatsu Janken Taikai - All promoted AKB48 members and 4 Kenkyuuseis.
- 24th Single Senbatsu Janken Taikai - All promoted AKB48 members, 4 Kenkyuuseis, 5 SKE48 members, 5 NMB48 members.
- 29th Single Senbatsu Janken Taikai - All promoted AKB48 members, 1 Kenkyuusei, 8 SKE48 members, 6 NMB48 members, 3 HKT48 members.
- 34th Single Senbatsu Janken Taikai - All promoted AKB48 members, 4 Kenkyuuseis, 8 SKE48 members, 8 NMB48 members, 3 HKT48 members.
- 2014 Janken Tournament - All promoted AKB48 members, 1 Kenkyuusei, 3 AKB48 Team 8 members, 8 SKE48 members, 7 NMB48 members, 5 HKT48 members.
- 2015 Janken Tournament - All promoted AKB48 members, 1 Kenkyuusei, 6 AKB48 Team 8 members, 7 SKE48 members, 7 NMB48 members, 5 HKT48 members, 1 NGT48 member.
- 2016 Janken Tournament - All promoted AKB48 members, 1 Kenkyuusei, 7 AKB48 Team 8 members, 7 SKE48 members, 7 NMB48 members, 6 HKT48 members, 2 NGT48 members, 1 JKT48 member.
- AKB48 Group Unit Janken Tournament 2017 - 45 AKB48 members, 32 SKE48 members, 30 NMB48 members, 20 HKT48 members, 12 NGT48 members, 18 STU48 members.
- AKB48 Group 2nd Unit Janken Tournament - 44 AKB48 members, 19 SKE48 members, 24 NMB48 members, 19 HKT48 members, 23 NGT48 members, 10 STU48 members.
Results[]
AKB48 Janken Tournament[]
- 19th Single Senbatsu Janken Taikai (Top 16 would form Senbatsu for new AKB48 single with the winner being the center)
- 52 members participating
- Winner (Center for Chance no Junban): Uchida Mayumi
- First senbatsu of Sato Sumire, Maeda Ami, Uchida Mayumi, Tanabe Miku, Nakatsuka Tomomi, Matsui Sakiko, Ishida Haruka and Chikano Rina
- First senbatsu without Takahashi Minami and Itano Tomomi
- 24th Single Senbatsu Janken Taikai (Top 16 would form Senbatsu for new AKB48 single with the winner being the center)
- 68 members participating
- Winner (Center for Ue Kara Mariko): Shinoda Mariko
- First senbatsu of Oya Shizuka, Yamauchi Suzuran, Kobayashi Marina, Kuwabara Mizuki, Yamaguchi Yuuki and Hikawa Ayame
- First senbatsu without Maeda Atsuko
- 29th Single Senbatsu Janken Taikai (Top 16 would form Senbatsu for new AKB48 single with the winner being the center)
- 86 members participating
- Winner (Center for Eien Pressure): Shimazaki Haruka
- First senbatsu of Nakata Chisato, Nakamura Mariko and Ueno Kasumi
- First senbatsu without Kojima Haruna
- 34th Single Senbatsu Janken Taikai (Top 16 would form Senbatsu for new AKB48 single with the winner being the center)
- 86 members participating
- Winner (Center for Suzukake Nanchara): Matsui Jurina
- First senbatsu of Sasaki Yukari, Tano Yuka, Hirata Rina, Oba Mina, Natori Wakana, Tsuchiyasu Mizuki, Yumoto Ami, Furuhata Nao, Uno Mizuki and Kamieda Emika
- 2014 Janken Tournament (Winner would earn a solo debut with members ranked #2 through #16 appearing on the coupling song + MV.)
- 113 members participating
- Winner (Opportunity for a solo debut): Watanabe Miyuki
- 2015 Janken Tournament (Winner would earn a solo debut with members ranked #2 through #16 appearing on the coupling song + MV.)
- 111 members participating
- Winner (Opportunity for a solo debut): Fujita Nana
- 2016 Janken Tournament (Top 7 would form a new subunit with members ranked #8 through #14 appearing on the coupling song + MV.)
- 97 members participating
- Winner (Center for new unit Jankenmin): Tanabe Miku
- Additional unit members: Komiyama Haruka, Shibuya Nagisa, Takeuchi Saki, Nozawa Rena, Fukuoka Seina, Yumoto Ami
- AKB48 Group Unit Janken Tournament 2017 (Winning unit would earn a solo debut with runners-up each having a coupling song.)
- 157 members (48 units) participating
- Winner (Opportunity for a solo debut): fairy w!nk (Aramaki Misaki, Unjo Hirona)
- Runners-up: FuuSae, Kiss no Tempura, Shirai Kotono
- AKB48 Group 2nd Unit Janken Tournament (Winning unit would earn a solo debut with runner-up having a coupling song.)
- 139 members (48 units) participating
- Winner (Opportunity for a solo debut): Fortune cherry (Tada Kyoka, Matsuda Yumi)
- Runner-up: 2ki
JKT48 Janken Tournament[]
- JKT48 Janken Competition 2016 (Top 16 would form Senbatsu for new JKT48 single with the winner being the center)
- 54 members participating
- Winner (Center for LOVE TRIP): Sinka Juliani
- First Senbatsu of Sinka Juliani, Ni Made Ayu Vania Aurellia and Feni Fitriyanti
- First Senbatsu without Jessica Veranda, Melody Nurramdhani Laksani, Nabilah Ratna Ayu Azalia, and Shania Junianatha
AKB48 Team TP Tournament[]
- AKB48 Team TP 1st Janken Tournament (Top 12 would form Senbatsu for a coupling song with the winner being the center)
- 35 members participating
- Winner (Center for Chance no Junban): Zhou Jia-yu
- First center position of Zhou Jia-yu
- AKB48 Team TP 2nd Janken Tournament (Top 12 would form Senbatsu for a coupling song with the winner being the center)
- 35 members participating
- Winner (Center for TBA): TBA
BNK48 Janken Tournament[]
- BNK48 Janken Tournament 2020 (Top 16 would form Senbatsu for new BNK48 album with the winner being the center)
- BNK48 Janken Tournament 2023 (Top 16 would form Senbatsu for new BNK48 album with the winner being the center)
- 74 members participating
- Winner (Center for Gingham Check): Angel
- First BNK48 album Senbatsu with a CGM48 member as the center
- First Senbatsu of Yayee
- First album Senbatsu of Miori, Patt, and Phukkhom
- First BNK48 Senbatsu of Angel, Kaiwan, Meen, Nenie and Nana
- First BNK48 album Senbatsu of Champoo
- First album Senbatsu without Cherprang
AKB48 Team SH Tournament[]
- AKB48 Team SH Janken Tournament 2021 (Top 16 would form Senbatsu for a coupling song with the winner being the center)
- 39 members participating
- Winner (Center for Chance no Junban): Chen JiaYi
- First center position of Chen JiaYi
SNH48 Janken Tournament[]
- SNH48 1st Janken Tournament (Top 16 would form Senbatsu for a coupling song with the winner being the center)
- Winner (Center for Chance no Junban): Chen GuanHui
- SNH48 2nd Janken Tournament (Top 16 would form Senbatsu for a coupling song with the winner being the center)
- Winner (Center for Xiao Tuanyuan): Chen YunLing
Costumes[]
For the costumes, the girls are permitted to wear whatever they want. This later became an important part of the event, with several TV shows and magazines specials focusing only on the costumes used on the events. This costumes vary from clothes used on theater performances to regular clothing and cosplay.
Mini-Live Concert[]
On 19th Single Senbatsu Janken Taikai the mini-live concert was performed after the Tournament, with the first performance and PV exhibition of Beginner (and also 5 other songs from AKB48 and SDN48). This also happened on the 24th Single Senbatsu Janken Taikai, this time before the beginning of the tournament, with the first performance of Kaze wa Fuiteiru. On the 29th Single Senbatsu Janken Taikai, UZA was performed for the first time. On the 34th Single Senbatsu Janken Taikai, Heart Ereki was performed for the first time.