Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture

by Patrick W. Galbraith (Editor), Jason G. Karlin (Editor)

This is the most complete and compelling account of idols and celebrity in Japanese media culture to date. Engaging with the study of media, gender and celebrity, and sensitive to history and the contemporary scene, these interdisciplinary essays cover male and female idols, production and consumption, industrial structures and fan movements.

Genres: Nonfiction, Japan, Music, Academic

254 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Patrick W. Galbraith earned a PhD in Information Studies from the University of Tokyo, and is currently pursuing a second PhD in Cultural Anthropology at Duke University. He is the author of The Otaku Encyclopedia (Kodansha, 2009), Tokyo Realtime: Akihabara (White Rabbit Press, 2010), Otaku Spaces (Chin Music Press, 2012) and The Moe Manifesto (Tuttle, 2014), as well as the co-editor of Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture (Palgrave, 2012) and Debating Otaku in Contemporary Japan (Bloomsbury, 2015).

Reviews

[Yue · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subject is very interesting if you are fan of J-pop or J-culture, but the way it was presented -the way it was written- made it hard to enjoy it at full. It seems like this was the thesis of the author, with lots of quotations from other authors, lots of notes and a conclusion at the end of each chapter. There are plenty of boring facts in full detail. As much curious as I am for virtual idols and old past idols and the gay community rooting for X idol, it dragged a bit. Honestly I am not a fan of girl idols, like AKB48 but I found very interesting the fact that a virtual idol with parts of the AKB48. I did not read it before (since I don't follow the group) and I was surprised and a little bit in awe.

Mostly I've read this for the Johnnys chapter, which was hilarious. Almost all the facts are based on Arashi (90%) and SMAP (10%). The little conversation transcribed between Nino and Ohno was so amusing. I knew they love to fanservice, but I wasn't aware that it was so much. It cracked me up.

So basically this book tells that idols are normal people without a talent (dancing nor singing nor acting) but they have that "something" that is, merely, charisma. We fans know that they are hopeless and we still love them. Since I am into J&A I could relate to most of the text: buying CD/DVD to support the idol, cheering for them even if they can't sing (Nakai), loving their CM and thinking "they are totally like that". It is funny.

Also funny and so over-the-top is how far some fans will go for their idols. As in, buying 10, 20 CDs to make them on the Top Charts! Buying 10, 20 CDs to shake their hands! Now I am constantly wondering if XX idol, just because they are on the top, means they are popular.... Is Arashi really that popular? Or are there enough crazy fans that buy and buy their stuff so their sales numbers are high? I wonder.

If you are a fan, read it. Most facts maybe will sound familiar, since as a fan, you are in that environment. In spite of the bad presentation, it was an interesting book. Some chapters. Others I would have skimmed (I kinda did, the last chapter ^_^)

[Raydhitya Yoseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explains various things about idols in Japan and I learned a lot from this book. Being a collection of essays written by different people, each chapter in the book feels slightly different from one another. I can feel few parts are repeated a few times in different chapters. Each chapter reads like one academic paper thus it contains many references to other readings. The content itself is revealing, but the delivery makes the book a not-so-easy reading.

[fonz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recopilación de ensayos académicos sobre la figura de la aidoru japonesa y su papel central en el mundo de las celebridades, los medios de comunicación de masas, la sociedad de consumo, y, más ampliamente, el capitalismo tardío.

El libro resulta irregular, hay ensayos interesantes, sobre todo aquellos que tratan "la economía del afecto", esa perversa y genial vuelta de tuerca de la sociedad de consumo que convierte a los consumidores en "fans" de una marca o un producto, o esa figura de la aidoru femenina como habitante de un mundo entre lo real y lo ideal, depositaria de los deseos y fantasías del otaku, una figura femenina ideal, pura y a la vez objeto de deseo sexual, que se convierte en el producto de consumo definitivo al que el otaku perseguirá eternamente, consumiendo imágenes que van sustituyéndose unas a otras sin solución de continuidad ni narrativa, sin alcanzar el clímax que convertiría a la idol en algo "real" y que cerraría ese ciclo de consumo sin fin.

Sin embargo otros no resultan tan interesantes, el capítulo sobre la homosexualidad acaba versando sobre Mishima, que no sé muy bien que relación tiene con el mundo de las idol (sé que existen grupos idol gays, pero son un asunto underground y este volumen, desgraciadamente, no se ocupa de la escena de idols más o menos underground que ha florecido desde el 2011) o que la relación entre los grupos de idols masculinos y las fans femeninas de más de treinta años, como estas mujeres vierten en ellos sus aspiraciones de libertad sexual, ruptura con el rol tradicional de la mujer en Japón y su reivindicación como mujeres con deseos por encima de su papel de madres y esposas, ocupe tres ensayos diferentes, que acaban por resultar redundantes.

Igualmente la escritura no es especialmente fluida, nivel académico universitario, a veces me resultaba innecesariamente obtusa (si cada vez que aparece la palabra "intertextual" te atizas un chupito acabas borracho en la página dieciséis). De todos modos es una lectura interesante y rigurosa, sobre todo por la falta de textos serios sobre el fenómeno de las idols en Japón.

"Queremos mucho a los fans. Dejan a sus mujeres y sus hijos en casa para ir a los encuentros con sus idols favoritas; oh, eres tan mona. Luego vuelven a casa y las ponen verdes en 2chan. Los adoramos" - First Summer Uika.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relevant, well-researched, mostly well-written, brings up fascinating ideas about the idol culture. As a new-ish participant in that culture, I learned a lot about both sides of the spectrum.