Aitakatta
single by AKB48
"Aitakatta" (会いたかった; "I Missed You") is Japanese idol group AKB48's third single, and the first major single released through DefSTAR Records, on 25 October 2006.
Regarded as the signature song of AKB48, the song has continued to be AKB48's most recognizable tune among the public. It was also the theme song for the AKB48 TV show AKBingo! until 2016.
Promotion
With support from DefStar Records, the song has played a major role in causing the public to take notice of AKB48, as it has been frequently used as an introductory song when AKB48 appears on TV programs as guests, including the 58th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen. It is also the theme song of their own TV late night show, AKBingo!, which has been broadcast since 2008.
The girls took a trip down to Tateyama, Chiba to film the video clip, with the main dance scenes set at the cliff of the Sunosaki Lighthouse.
Each first pressing CD included a DVD, including Aitakatta's video clip and "AKB48 History: Major Debut e no Kiseki" (AKB48 History 〜メジャーデビューへの軌跡〜, AKB48 History ~Path to their Major Debut~), as well as following premiums.
Original Trading Cards (one of 3 different designs)
Limited-time online-only video ConnecteD CD edition (recorded special private video originally distributed as online-only)
The ultimate right of application (any one of followings:Application must be received by 22 November 2006))
Award A: Invitation to "Special Christmas Party 2006" raging with AKB48 Members!" (AKB48メンバーと盛り上がる!「スペシャル・クリスマスパーティー2006」ご招待) 100 pairs (200 persons)
Award K: Invitation to AKB48 year-end routine "General clean-up of AKB48 Theater 2006" (AKB48年末恒例 「AKB48劇場大掃除大会2006」ご招待) 50 pairs (100 persons)
Award B: Private movies of 20 Senbatsu members of "Aitakatta" recorded on a DVD (「会いたかった」選抜メンバー20名によるプライベート映像(DVD)) 300 persons
Reception
The single charted for six weeks in the top 200, with the highest rank at #12 in 2006, coming back in the top 200 in 2010 and charting since the second week of September 2010. "Aitakatta" sold 25,544 copies, during the first 6 weeks charted on Oricon.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Aitakatta” is single by AKB48. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Aitakatta, single and AKB48, not as a finished interpretation.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1189258. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2006, 2016, 2008 and 2010.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Aitakatta” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.