The logo of the group, because like AKB48, getting a picture will be quite hard.
The third sister group of AKB48. Like the other sister groups, it currently has 47 members, which are split into two teams: Team H, Team KIV and a group of trainees.The group currently performs in its theatre at the Hawks Town Mall in Hakata in Fukuoka, Japan.
HKT48 provides examples of the following tropes:
- Alice Allusion: In the "12 Byou" PV.
- The Band Minus the Face: In late 2018-early 2019, several prominent members left the group: Sakura Miyawaki and Nako Yabuki left for IZ*ONE (they returned in 2021 as planned, but Sakura announced her graduation not long after and joined Le Sserafim the next year), and Rino Sashihara took the occasion of the Japanese emperor succession to also graduate. In addition to that, Haruka Kodama was still in hiatus since late 2017 with little to no information made public (and eventually also left in 2019).
- Beauty Is Best: "Einstein yori Dianna Agron" (Einstein < Dianna Agron), which is a song about how they'd rather focus on being a beauty (Agron) than a genius (Einstein). Ironically, the song mentions Glee, in which Agron's character is an Academic Alpha Bitch; Agron herself is also quite involved in various social causes."More than Einstein, Dianna Agron matters/ More than test marks, I care about the size of my eyes"
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: All of their songs are bubblegum pop and love-themed... except the rock-inspired "Shekarashika!", used for the Majisuka Gakuen 0 series.
- But Not Too Foreign: Anna Murashige's mother is Russian. Emiri Yamashita's is Filipina.
- Career-Ending Injury: Haruka Kodama went into hiatus in late 2017 and disappeared from all social media, leading fans to speculate that her work on Tofu Pro Wrestling drama earlier that year had left her with an injury, especially since she seemed to have gained a lot of weight (allegedly due to medication) the last time she appeared. She reappeared in 2019, with her figure having returned to normal, only to announce her graduation and transition into an acting career. However, she revealed in 2021 that she's actually living with bipolar disorder.
- Cherry Blossom Girl: Sakura Miyawaki, of course. Her catchphrase includes "In everybody's hearts, Sakura blooms!"
- Cover Version: Their stages are mostly covers of their sister groups' stages, since they do not have their own original stages yet. They have also released a version of AKB's "Kimi no koto ga suki dakara" in Hakata dialect.
- During their Spring 2013 concert tour and for their first solo concert in Sapporo Super Dome they included units of covers of songs by other idol groups including Morning Musume and Onyanko Club.
- Crossover: Haruppi held concurrent positions with AKB48's teams A and K, while Mio and Sakura were concurrent with AKB's Teams 4 and A respectively.
- Kawaii Ko: Their first single is basically this.
- Magical Girl: In "Sakura minna de tabeta" the girls appear to have some sort of magic abilities.
- Mistaken for Staff: There was a minor incident in early 2019 when STU48's Marina Otani mistook Natsumi Tanaka as a staff member. In AKBingo!, the character dr. Parutaro also recommended that she became a staff member.
- Mother Russia Makes You Strong: Anna Murashige is quite proud of her Russian heritage, and as a variety member, she's loud and strong, both physically and mentally.I'm backed by Putin!
- Pink Means Feminine: Everything is pink in "Hatsukoi Butterfly": the outfits, the stage...
- School Uniforms are the New Black: As seen in "Melon Juice".
- Silly Love Song: "Hatsukoi Butterfly" is about a little kid whose first love is a friend of her sister.
- Smash Sisters: Nako Yabuki and Miku Tanaka (NakoMiku) are treated like one item. Miku didn't take it too well that Nako had to leave the group for 2.5 years in 2018 due to her commitment to the Produce48 group IZ*ONE.
- Speech Impediment: Haruka Kodama has a pretty noticeable lisp.
- Team Mom: Rino Sashihara's official title is theater manager, and she's also their mentor figure and most prominent member.
- Vanity Is Feminine: Yui Kojina became associated with mirrors ever since she checked herself on stage right before delivering her 2015 Election acceptance speech. She pulled the same stunt the next year, but what most people remember was that she immediately ran off the stage after her speech because she needed to use the restroom.
- Variety Show: They have two: "HaKaTa Hyakkaten" and "HKT48 no Odekake".
- In 2018, they got HKTBINGO, a spinoff of the long-running AKBingo!. The theme of the show was comedy, and members were given lessons and training to compete in a national female comedians competition.
- Vehicular Theme Naming:
- Sakura Miyawaki and Haruka Kodama were the Shinkansens, since they share their names with the bullet trains Sakura and Kodama.
- For their 14th single, the group was split into the Tsubame and Mizuho teams, also named after bullet trains.
