is a fictional Japanese singer. As a collaboration between the Japanese girl group

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol musical girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48 has sold more records than any other female musical act in Japanese history. AK ...

and confectionery company

Ezaki Glico , commonly known as Glico, is a Japanese multinational food processing company headquartered in Nishiyodogawa-ku, Osaka. It does business across 30 countries, in North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe. Overview Ezaki Glico's primary busin ...

, she was created and featured in June 2011 as a promotional model for Glico's Ice no Mi ice cream product. Eguchi is a CGI composite of various features of seven members from AKB48."AKB 48 newest member Aimi Eguchi is a 'virtual idol
.

Channel NewsAsia CNA (an initialism of Channel NewsAsia) is a Singapore-based multinational news channel owned by Mediacorp, the country's state-owned media conglomerate. The network is broadcast in Singapore on free-to-air terrestrial television and Mediacorp ...

. June 20, 2011.

History

Eguchi was announced as the group's newest member in June 2011. According to an official profile she was 16 years old, born on February 11, 1995, and from Saitama, north of

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. She was featured in the Japanese magazine ''

Weekly Playboy , also known as or ''WPB'', is a Japanese weekly magazine published by Shueisha since 1966. Although the magazine publishes a variety of news and special interest articles, columns, celebrity interviews, and manga, it is considered an adult maga ...

'', and appeared in a television commercial for the confectionery company,

. Suspicions arose amongst AKB48 fans and on June 19, 2011, Glico finally admitted that Eguchi was a fake created by the company, disappointing many fans. , she is no longer listed on the official website as a trainee. - list is subject to change from graduations and transfers Yukari Sasaki, the member who voiced (and in concerts, portrayed) Eguchi, also eventually departed from the group in early 2024.

CGI contributors

Atsuko Maeda is a Japanese actress and singer. She is a former member of the idol girl group AKB48, and was one of the most prominent members in the group at the time, regarded as the group's "absolute ace", "immovable center", and the "Face of AKB." After ...

(eyes) *

Tomomi Itano is a Japanese recording artist, songwriter, dancer, model, and actress. She is a former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. She was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. In 2011 she debuted solo with a single titled " Dear J", which wa ...

(nose) *

Mariko Shinoda is a Japanese singer, actress, fashion model, and former member of the Japanese idol group AKB48, in which she was the captain of Team A. Career In October 2005, she auditioned for AKB48's first generation roster but failed the audition. Shor ...

(mouth) *

Yuko Oshima is a Japanese actress and former member of idol girl group AKB48, of which she was the captain of Team K. She was also a member of the AKB48 subunit Not Yet. In addition to the singles that involved the rock-paper-scissors tournaments, she sa ...

(hair/body) *

Minami Takahashi is a Japanese idol, singer, tarento and a former member of the Japanese girl idol group AKB48. She is in Team A of AKB48. She became the first of AKB48 and its sister groups. In an interview with Nippon Television in June 2010, AKB48 produc ...

(outline) *

Mayu Watanabe is a Japanese former singer and actress. Watanabe started her career as a member of the idol girl group AKB48 under Team B. In the annual AKB48 General Elections event, she had consistently been voted by fans to rank among the group's top membe ...

(eyebrows)

References

External links

Aimi Eguchi
in ''Weekly Playboy'' 2011 in Japan 2011 hoaxes AKB48 Animated characters Fictional characters introduced in 2011 Fictional musicians Fictional Japanese people Hoaxes in Japan Nonexistent people used in hoaxes {{Animation-char-stub