Deciphering Melody’s Captaincy

As previously announced during the second show of JKT48’s second anniversary concert, Team J member Melody Nurramdhani Laksani was elevated to the position of JKT48 captain effective December 21, 2013. No doubt this was an announcement few, if any, expected. Given that JKT48 already had a solid team captain line-up in Devi Kinal Putri (Team J) and Shinta Naomi (Team KIII), many believed the member leadership was well-defined.

The captain’s position is perhaps the most admired among 48 sister groups. It is different from the center’s position which is the most coveted. Members do not naturally want to become captains. One is always too modest to take up a leadership position. The center shines in the limelight, often because the captain is there to bring everyone together to support her. A shakeup in this power structure can either go well or poorly depending on how it is executed.

Kinal was announced as Team J’s captain on December 23, 2012, nearly one year prior to the date of the second anniversary concert. Naomi was announced as Team KIII’s captain on July 3, 2013. Up to and in the months following the announcement of Naomi’s captaincy, it was always assumed that Kinal served as the de facto captain of JKT48. Her consultation session with Trainees in the Love JKT48 2013 guide book further reinforced this general perception among fans.

Captains of 48 sister groups are undoubtedly often compared to the captain of all captains—Minami Takahashi. When she served as Team A captain in the three years of 2009–2012, many also saw Takahashi as the de facto captain of all of AKB48 until she was given de jure status at the Tokyo Dome concert. Furthermore, captains of the flagship teams of SKE48 (Team S) and NMB48 (Team N) also serve as captains of their respective groups in their entirety. Following precedence, fans assumed the same would apply to JKT48.

I hold the view that the announcement of Melody’s captaincy is nothing short of a coup d’état; however, it is not without reason.

Although Kinal and Naomi may be effective leaders within their own teams, JKT48 needed someone who is more recognizable to the public eye and can rise to the status that Takahashi has achieved in Japan. Melody’s status as overall center had been diluted with the placement of Haruka Nakagawa as center of “Fortune Cookie in Love”. With the upcoming addition of third generation members, certainly there are also opportunities for both old and new members to show off their potentials as centers.

However, management needed a way to keep Melody relevant, and that is where her captaincy comes in. With the departures of so many members in the span of a few months, observers who do not follow JKT48 as closely may think that the group is falling apart. Anointing Melody as captain assures them that the group has not changed and remains the one many have come to recognize throughout 2013.

Therefore, the purpose of this captaincy is threefold:

1. First, to motivate all members by demonstrating that leadership positions are fluid and may be granted to whomever has demonstrated the skills required for such positions;
2. Second, to provide an exit strategy for the center, that being the center is not necessarily the pinnacle of achievement from which there is no exit but graduation; and
3. Third, to assure fans and observers that although change is the only thing that is constant, the core of the group and its values remain intact; therefore, there should be no case for concern.

The second purpose is perhaps the most important of the three. When put in conjunction with the first, this is what is necessary in organizational succession planning. It prevents the vacuum left behind when an iconic center departs, such as in the case of Atsuko Maeda. If and when Melody decides it is time for her to move on, perhaps JKT48 will have identified potential centers of the future.

As outside observers, none of us truly know what a captain actually does in her role beyond what we have seen on Japanese television of other 48 sister groups. It should be safe to assume that members will take it among themselves to determine what are the appropriate roles in the new power structure. If they can overcome this challenge, they will be ready to take JKT48 into its third year and third generation.