Japanese idol
A Japanese idol (aidoru) is a personality who achieves a widespread popularity and fame in Japan. The term usually refers to girls in their late teens who have the "kawaii" (cute) factor and achieve fame through publicity in the mass media. Japanese idols are predominantly singers and actors, although they are usually not professional in either. They should not be confused with TV personalities (tarento). The idol phenomenon is largely unique to Japan, although it is comparable to Western concepts such as teen idol and celebrity.
The idol phenomenon began during the early seventies. Teenage girls, mostly between 14 and 16, began rising to stardom. One in particular, Momoe Yamaguchi, was a huge superstar until her retirement for marriage in the mid-70s. Idols dominated the pop music scene in the 80s; and this period is known as "Golden Age of Idols in Japan". In a single year, as many as 40 or 50 new idols could appear, only to disappear from the public spotlight shortly afterwards. A few idols from that era, such as Seiko Matsuda, are stil popular with fans, even though she is now past the 30 year old mark. In the 90s, the power of Japanese idols began to wane, as the music industry became domainted by rock musicians and professional singers, as well as other music genres. The Japanese idol phenomenon has had a large impact on popular culture in Hong Kong and Taiwan, especially Cantopop.
In recent years, there have been new developments in the Japanese idol phenomenon. Male idols have begun to appear. Also, in 1997, there appeared Kyoto Date, the first "cyber idol" or "virtual idol". Kyoto Date has a fabricated history, statistics and her own songs.
Female Japanese idols represent the perfect female form in Japanese society. They are symbols of female sexuality and are often evocative of erotica. For this reason they are often idolised by both males and females. Male audiences' infatuations with an idol's good looks are fed with largely meaningless, and often fabricated information about the idol's measurements, favourite colour, food, hobbies, blood type etc. Female audiences are interested in imitating idols, in terms of hair colour, fashion etc. Good examples of this are Ayumi Hamasaki, Noriko Sakai, Ryoko Hirosue and Namie Amuro.
The latter is currently the most popular idol in Japan today, although she is regarded as more sexy and mature than other idols. She began her career in 1992 as a vocalist for the pop group, Super Monkeys, but the group became a flop very soon. Producers liked Amuro, and in 1995, she went solo, enjoying massive success. One of her recent CDs, "Sweet 19 Blues", sold three million copies in advance sales along, and went on to become the best-selling album in the history of Japan.
Dr. Hiroshi Aoyai has proposed that Japanese idols are a modern version of the geisha, a woman whose art is to perform a highly stylised and artifical interpretation of ideal feminine beauty. He also parallels the phenomenon to ritualistic practices in other cultures. As traditional institutions break down as a result of modernization and industrialization, Aoyagi argues that the mass media is fulfilling this function more and more, and that the nationally-known teen idols in Japan are in fact playing the all-important role of performing their culture for their audiences.
Japanese idols
