What do you think?
Rate this book
33⅓ Japan #4
AKB48
Since its formation in 2005, the 130-member, Tokyo-based girl group AKB48 has become a phenomenal success and institution in Japan. Having originally recruited fans through so-called "guerrilla live shows" advertised by photocopied fliers handed out on the street, before graduating to daily performances in a theater in Akihabara, AKB48 now saturates Japan. Its members appear in print, broadcast, online and social media; in advertisements and on products; at home and on the train; on- and off-screen.
Such multi-platform omnipresence is characteristic of the "idol," a heavily produced and promoted performer who is in intimate relation to fans and appeals to them for support. And AKB48's appeals have astonishing results. From 2010 to 2016, the group's singles have occupied the top four or five spots of the Oricon Yearly Singles Chart, and almost all sold over a million copies. They hold the record for most singles sold by a female artist, highest Japanese sales of a single by a female artist, most consecutive million-selling singles sold in Japan, most million-selling singles in Japan and more. At a time when affect is more important than ever in economic, political and social theory, this book is an introduction to idols and the economics of affect in contemporary Japan.
Such multi-platform omnipresence is characteristic of the "idol," a heavily produced and promoted performer who is in intimate relation to fans and appeals to them for support. And AKB48's appeals have astonishing results. From 2010 to 2016, the group's singles have occupied the top four or five spots of the Oricon Yearly Singles Chart, and almost all sold over a million copies. They hold the record for most singles sold by a female artist, highest Japanese sales of a single by a female artist, most consecutive million-selling singles sold in Japan, most million-selling singles in Japan and more. At a time when affect is more important than ever in economic, political and social theory, this book is an introduction to idols and the economics of affect in contemporary Japan.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published October 31, 2019
2 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Patrick W. Galbraith
13 books63 followersPatrick 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).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 7, 2019
An interesting look at AKB48, a massively popular all girl group in Japan that dominates the charts and causes fans to buy multiple CDs. This is quintessential reading for the Jpop or general music fan out there. Authors Patrick Galbraith and Jason G. Karlin give you a detailed history of idol singers in Japan from humble beginnings in the early 70's to global soft power queens of today.
AKB48, through a effective business model, has managed to dominate the music charts by offering fans the opportunity to vote in elections for his or her favorite idols within AKB48. Each CD comes with an insert that gives you one vote so you can really show how much you love your idol by buying more votes. This creates a connection between the fan and idol that is a billion yen industry.
ABK48 functions in a similar way to Latin boy band Menudo. Older members when they reach a certain point get replaced by younger members so the group can continue on.
It is a fascinating success story that is being copied in other parts of Asia with girl groups on the rise in China, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. For young girls who dreamed of being idols across Asia, it is now a reality that anyone can do. You just have to be cute.
So if you are interested in a serious look at the music industry in Japan and want to learn more, this is the best book to start at.
AKB48, through a effective business model, has managed to dominate the music charts by offering fans the opportunity to vote in elections for his or her favorite idols within AKB48. Each CD comes with an insert that gives you one vote so you can really show how much you love your idol by buying more votes. This creates a connection between the fan and idol that is a billion yen industry.
ABK48 functions in a similar way to Latin boy band Menudo. Older members when they reach a certain point get replaced by younger members so the group can continue on.
It is a fascinating success story that is being copied in other parts of Asia with girl groups on the rise in China, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. For young girls who dreamed of being idols across Asia, it is now a reality that anyone can do. You just have to be cute.
So if you are interested in a serious look at the music industry in Japan and want to learn more, this is the best book to start at.
Read
February 24, 2025some notes:
- didn’t expect a book about jpop idols to have so many adorno/horkheimer quotes lol
- now i can explain my general dislike for akb48’s music via the quote “the intertextuality of idols as dense carriers of meaning in a particular media-commodity system does not always translate to appreciation of their performances elsewhere…”
- why has no one written a 33 1/3 about kpop in the exact style of this book (or generally)
- didn’t expect a book about jpop idols to have so many adorno/horkheimer quotes lol
- now i can explain my general dislike for akb48’s music via the quote “the intertextuality of idols as dense carriers of meaning in a particular media-commodity system does not always translate to appreciation of their performances elsewhere…”
- why has no one written a 33 1/3 about kpop in the exact style of this book (or generally)
October 16, 2023
Part of the Japan series in the new regional 33 1/3 books, this is on a ruthlessly marketed and managed J-Pop Idol Group. Very academic but also very strange and intriguing - but the break from the usual record-only format to a general discussion of the group a mistake, imo, dragging this lurid stuff too far into the dry world of "Popular Music Studies".
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews