Japanese idol Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
A Japanese idol (アイドル) (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. It had been used on boys in their teens but this usage disappeared in 1980s and was replaced with Janizu-kei. Japanese idols are predominantly singers and actors, although they are usually not considered 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.
History
The idol phenomenon began during the early seventies and this reflected increasingly materialistic and richer Japanese youths. 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.
It is commonly said 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.
Namie Amuro has been the most popular idol in 1990s, 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. This number has since been eclipsed by Utada Hikaru who is known as the current diva.
A diversification occured in 1990s and instead of few idols vying for popularity, a number of idols with specific characteristics divided the market. In the mid 1990s, idols became much lower aged than previous idols and instead of promoting individual idols, a group of idols became prominent like Speed and Morning Musume. A new group of idols called Net Idols became known in late 1990s and they only appeared on her websites. 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.
Culture
The culture of Japanese idol has changed over years and it is questionable whether past idols would have same amount of success if given the same opportunity today. Most of those called idols have sung songs that would fit J-Pop and they are generally cute if not beautiful.
In 1970s, idols had an aura of mystique that left much of their lifestyles secret. Their public and private life was carefully orchestrated and they always appeared perfect on any situations and seemed to enjoy the upper class living style that most Japanese can only dream about. In reality, however, they were placed under a continuous serveillance by their promotors and were unable to enjoy lifestyle of their peers. Their pay was, while not exactly cheap but were often overworked and even if their songs sold well, most of money went to musicians and writers who wrote them. Fans of an idol actually had a few opportunity to see beyond few minutes on TV or radio and it was difficult to share their interests. Magazines were the best source for informations and many idols had an official fan clubs that periodically mailed what few informations that could be released.
In 1980s, idols became much closer to an average Japanese not because idols gave up appearing to be living like a succesful upper class, but because overall average lifestyle of Japanese improved. While they were still tightly controlled, more of their actual self was allowed to be seen and it was permissible to let out some carefully scripted outbursts. Media often made a campaign with two or more competing idols and held a "competition", like the number of record sold, the number of fans in the official fan club, etc. In the late 1980s, instead of relying on magazines and TV, some started experimenting with new media and technologies like video games with mixed results. The working condition of idols improved and even those with a limited success can live modestly and more money, even though it was hardly enough for actual money they make, was paid to idols themselves.
In 1990s, instead of trying to market idols as someone with completely better characteristic living better than an average person, idols became someone who just happened to have little something to become popular. Where past idols happened to love something sweet and cute, it was now alright for an idol to simply love eating ramen or to display something other than smile. It was also alright for an idol to lament about getting little out of shape or to admit shopping around for a cheaper shop. Idols also became a fixture to countless anime by singing opening or ending songs that have a little meaning to anime itself. Some experimented with seiyu and seiyu themselves became somewhat like an idol becoming increasingly popular. Not entirely succesful even today, some are still involved with the video game industry.
Theory
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.
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