One of the more interesting aspects of Japan is the effect Japan’s “idol culture” has on everyday life. You can’t turn on the television or go into a CD store without coming into contact with Japan’s various idols, which are also known as “talents” (a generic term for a popular actor/singer/comedian). Whether it’s Yuko Ogura appearing in the new commercial for Georgia Coffee Morning Shot, Harumi Nemoto guest-starring on my son’s favorite show in which people have to live for a month on just $100, or a cardboard cut-out of Aya Ueto selling the latest Panasonic products in an electronics store, the culture of “cuteness” that Japan has refined to an exact art is a major source of pop culture imagery in Japan. The idea of stars being pre-packaged for national consumption is often hard for Westerners to accept, but Japan’s idol world is refreshingly open and honest about how the popularity of top stars is created. Resistance is futile when you live in Japan — no matter how you try to resist, your eyes will lock on to one pretty face or another, and you’ll soon belong to them.
Male idols are big business in Japan, too, and the primary force behind this profitable corner of the industry is Johnny’s Entertainment, the management agency started by Johnny Kitagawa to promote male stars. In the same way that the “Komuro Family” of music producer Tetsuya Komuro — the man responsible for such English lyrics as “Body Feels EXIT” and “Get Chance and Luck” — defined a chunk of the 1990s with singers that he discovered, Johnny’s has created a slew of popular male stars that have universal popularity. The list of Johnny’s-kei (Johnny’s affiliated) JPOP bands include V6, TOKIO, the oddly-named Kinki Kids, a duo who hail from the Kinki region, where Osaka is located, and SMAP, whose lead singer Takuya Kimura is regularly voted the sexiest man in Japan. (He did the voice of Howl in Howl’s Moving Castle, which matches his personality quite well.) The planners at Johnny’s have made careful use of the popularity of yaoi in Japan today, promoting stars that are very close to the image of bishounen (“beautiful boy”) that are especially popular with female fans.
Japan’s in a minor uproar over an incident in which a deranged man with a baseball bat started chasing police officers, who ran for their lives while cameras watched on. Then man then took over their police car and tried to start it before being overpowered and taken away. The comical image of police fleeing the man they’re supposed to capture was very humiliating, and Prime Minister Koizumi criticized the police force openly, asking for a review of all training procedures.
