“Things are generally bad. Decay is universal. Disease lies at the very root of things. If Wagner’s name represents the ruin of music… he is not on that account its cause. All he did was to accelerate the fall, – though we are quite prepared to admit that he did it in a way which makes one recoil with horror from this almost instantaneous decline and fall to the depths.” – F.W. Nietzsche
I: What is AKB48?
AKB48 is a name of the Japanese singer group, consisting solely of “cute, young girls” who are not in any romantic relationship with anyone. The group was established in 2005, and its popularity expanded nation-wide ever since 2008. Its members include 48 girls (in principle), and they sing usually in school uniforms or in bikini. The producer, Yasushi Akimoto, has produced many major idol groups in the past, and this is his latest achievement. The girls in the group range anywhere from 12 years old to 25 years old, and their only requirement for hire is that they must be amateur young girls with no formal experience in singing or dancing. It sounds like a group doomed to fail, yet its speedy success is beyond comprehension. The group consists of inexperienced girls under 18 years old and their promotion videos contain implicit nudity and flirtatious contents. What distinguishes them from merely being a nationally sponsored child porn? What exactly are the social roles played by them? What attracted not only perverted so-called Otaku audience but also enthusiastic female fans? Surely, the orchestrator had a great economic model to work with, but whatever happens to social influences on, in particular, younger girls and boys? AKB48 has firmly substantiated the ‘ideal’ status of perfection for girls in society. Never before has there been any instance where the entrepreneur and the commodities are in unison agreement with the exploitation of the commodities. But does the consent of the exploited with the system make it okay for them to be exploited? Perhaps. But surely it does not justify the tremendous moral lessons – or lack thereof – their system is promoting in the society. Akimoto’s business model and AKB48 girls offer us the paramount example of justified sexual exploitation of (teenage) girls in Japanese society.
This paper will focus on the ethical implications for such a group as AKB48 and its increasingly growing spinoff sister groups in Asia,[1] while occasionally drawing upon Neitzsche’s work on Wagner. The striking similarity of what AKB48 stands for with what Wagner stood for in Germany for Neitzsche is unsettling. This paper does not talk about AKB48 as a successful economic model, but rather AKB48 as a form of moral decline at its worst. In doing so, it will discuss about what AKB48 girls are ignorantly promoting, how AKB48 fans are controlled into thinking of themselves as fans of an idol group[2], Akimoto’s marketing strategies and the blurring of ethical decisions with business ones. It will conclude with the caution against this fast spreading virus into other cultures and the critique of Japan as an amoral nation. But before delving further into the ethics of it, the question needs to be asked: What kind of virus exactly is AKB48?
AKB48 is a project[3] that was launched in 2005. Their primary activities were singing and dancing on the stage in the small theatre in Akihabara[4], Tokyo. The group consisted of indefinite number of girls to begin with – sometimes 16, sometimes 20, increasing as time passed by, creating new sister groups, hiring more girls. It was not until 2007 April, when the number of the girls in the group actually matched the number indicated in its group name – AKB48. This group was first established by the motto of ‘idols you can meet’ and hence they were at first stage singers, where they performed singing/dancing everyday at a specific theater hall. Since their first debut, they took time to shake hands with the fans who came to see them, and exchanged words with them. It soon broke records in selling their CDs in 2008-2009, officially joining the world’s top selling singer groups. Why did they become so popular and successful, especially in this age where people do not buy CDs but instead download them for free? The producer Yasushi Akimoto has produced a number of popular groups in the past, and this is his latest achievement. It is important to note here that it is his achievement – a project – more than anything else. AKB48 is completely political and hierarchical. The members of AKB48 are subject to change depending on how much support they get from their fans. The reason why they have sold so many CDs and hence contributing to its gaining popularity is primarily because when you buy a CD they give you a voting ticket.[5] To decide who is more popular, hence more in demand, they hold an Annual General Election. The aim of this election is to decide which 21 members amongst them all should sing the cover titles of their CDs. Those who got elected are eligible to sing on record in their new releases. The top 12 among them (called Media Senbatsu), moreover, can appear on TV and other media. The top 7 out of them are, furthermore, called God’s Seven, and they serve as the face of AKB48. The girls who could not make it into the top 21 still have their roles to play. The ones who ranked in the 22nd to the 40th are called ‘Under Girls’ and they are still able to sing the coupling songs with the main members.[6] This vote you acquire in exchange for the CD at stores gets you access to support the individual singer in the group, and if a member gets many votes from the fans, then she will be promoted to the higher classes in the group. This ticket is included in the CD once a year. Some fans therefore, in hopes to see their favourite singer on stage or on TV or in the recording, buy 10s and 100s of CDs, the same CDs, to acquire the right to vote so many times.[7] This is not an easy task, however, as CD stores do not carry enough to allow one person to get 100s of CDs. Furthermore, Amazon.co.jp or other Internet stores do not allow anyone to buy more than 1 CD[8] – so what happens is that fans create a countless accounts on Amazon, and buy one CD from each account. One guy actually succeeded in buying 5,500 CDs by doing this, approximately $70,000 worth.[9] Just to vote. Furthermore, this CD not only includes a voting ballot, but also includes the ‘handshaking ticket’ with the singers of their preference. The group has a constant tour all over Japan, and they have formed ‘National Handshake Convention’ and ‘Regional Handshake Convention’ where the singers themselves appear in a large hall and spend their entire day shaking hands with their fans who have the tickets. If you have the ticket, you go to the hall, and exchange that ticket for a number. As has been said, the AKB48 members constantly change due to the nature of the voting system, and top 21 members who recorded the first CD do not necessarily get to sing at the recording for the second CD. Although people who are in the God’s Seven rarely change, changes are constant in the lower groups. So it is more than frequent that the members change each time they sing. Now, this obviously poses a problem for people like us who actually care about songs and music. What is this singing group all about? If fans’ votes determine who is to sing on stage, on TV, and on recordings, there is no reason why the particular members who performed for the first CD to be singing for the second CD, since their popularity is not based on their ability or talents, but merely ‘how cute they look/behave’. The girls in the group are strictly reduced to the simple commodities for the general public. Their songs and lyrics are no better. The messages those songs contain are sexual appeal and flirtations, as their official promotion videos clearly show. One of their latest promotion videos includes 20 or so girls singing on the beach with bikinis on. Completely irrelevant to the songs at all. Another promotion video has a song about how it is okay to be naughty and sexually promiscuous if you are a girl in school – the song’s title is ‘Our school uniforms are getting on our way’, somewhat suggesting that teenage prostitution is commended. Basically the songs says that ‘do whatever you want, if you want an sexual escapade, do it because this is the only time you can be free’ or that how young girls want to be ‘devoured’ sexually. As far as I am concerned, this group does not have to present themselves as singers, but the group could be about farmers or even jugglers. And it would still be a success. Besides, what proper production management in art decides who is to sing on stage by fans’ votes, completely ignoring the individual’s ability to sing? What is more surprising is the fact that last year, in 2010, they once ignored the voting system and decided who was to sing on record by ‘rock-paper-scissors.’
Clearly, this group does not care or trust music. The phrase that Neitzsche said of Wagner appropriately sums up the character of this group: “He weaves kindred sensations into music in order to lend it the character of greatness. He measures itself on others; he first of all gives his listeners intoxicating drinks in order to lead them into believing that it was the music that intoxicated them.”[10] In a similar manner, AKB48 members sing and dance in bikini and school uniforms, appealing to the impression of ‘pureness’ and ‘cuteness’, and lead the audience into thinking that it was the music that made the members pure and cute. Yet it is the world’s fastest growing teen pop singer group. In fact, the political aspect of AKB48 in an entertainment society is clear not only from the fact that AKB48 has the General Election annually in the summer, but also they have what they call a ‘Cabinet’ consisting of those 48 members. Now, they have established its sister group, JKT48, in Indonesia, and it seems the AKB48 fever has spread all over Asia. It does not stop there, and it now has successfully recruited fans in France, Russia and even in the United States. This fast spreading popular culture has somehow captivated Japanese people’s heart[11], consequently lowering the moral standards and painting an ideal picture of what it should mean to be women for young girls. I take this whole movement led by AKB48 and its cognates to be an attack against moral conscience, and just as Wagner was for Neitzsche, AKB48 is a disease, the artist of decadence. Consequently, I wish to propose a paper that acts as a vaccine against the global virus called AKB48.
II: Analysis of the Phenomenon
AKB48 is not an isolated disease – it is the very product of accumulation of ignorance and negligence heretofore performed on ethical education in Japan. Hence, treating AKB48 is not treating a part of the ethical problem seen in Japan, but it is the same as the very act of treating the problem in its entirety. By critiquing this group, I am not attacking an arm of the monster, but I am attacking the monster itself. I have been told that groups like AKB48 are nothing new to the ethical problems under capitalism, and that exploitation happens everywhere and hence there is no reason why I should focus on AKB48 alone, while leaving other issues aside. My belief is that critiquing AKB48 covers all the problems found in social ethics in Japan as well as in the other parts of the world, because AKB48 represents and contains all the issues at their core in it. As this is a paper focusing on the group idol, specifically speaking, the language used in this paper is necessarily the relevant terms when one is speaking about popular culture. But generally speaking, I believe the issues I am dealing with here are seen daily and are manifest in social practices everywhere, and hence this paper is not on popular culture alone but on social ethics particularly in Japan. Specific problems I see with this group are therefore general problems seen in the culture throughout. My paper, then, treats AKB48 both as itself and as the mirror that reflects the present state of ethical standing of Japan.
What is clearly obvious is the sexual exploitation of young girls in popular culture. What is strikingly new in AKB48 is that some of these girls are under 18 years old. Yet, they appear on promotional videos for their new songs semi-naked. Not only are they implicitly sexual but also their performance on their promotional videos is suggestive of pornography. This claim is easily supported if you have seen any of their clips on YouTube. I have in the past referred to three clips in particular – which are of Heavy Rotation[12], of The School Uniform Is Getting in the Way[13], and of Mouth-to-Mouth Chocolate[14] – to make my point that AKB48 is nothing but a nationally sponsored porn group. Let me analyze once more what each song/promotional video is about. If you have not seen their clips, it may be hard to visualize the scenes I will describe, but I believe the contents are explicit enough that what I mean is easily conveyed without a visual guide. Let me begin with the AKB48 song released this fall, Heavy Rotation. The problem with this song is not with the lyrics but rather with its promotional video. The lyrics, though utterly without significance and somewhat incomprehensible, suggests longing for love and adolescent excitement of being in love. The imagery that comes with it, however, does not seem to correspond to the lyrics at all. In fact, no matter how hard you try to make sense out of it, it is impossible to see the artistic significance of depictions of girls kissing each other in underwear, taking a bath with each other, eating sugar and sweets while seemingly helplessly lying on the table (2:20 in). Eating of jello with cherries (2:30, 2:50) is suggestive enough, but what happens at 2:40 in is extremely explicit. One cannot help wondering how she has eaten her jello to get it on all over her face, as if her face is covered with sticky liquid. The number of underaged girls performing in this promotional video is 4: Matsui Jurina (13); Ono Erena (16); Maya Watanabe (16) and Miho Miyazaki (17). The next song we are looking into is called Moth-to-Mouth Chocolate. Asides from its sexually charged title and background, I have absolutely no idea what this song is supposed to be about. The song begins with the phrase, ‘Feed me chocolate mouth to mouth… stuff it in there forcefully,’ and ends with ‘this chocolate is bittersweet, your poison tastes so good, it would be a waste to close my eyes.’ According to one fan site on the Internet (1), the song is teemed with double-meanings in the lyrics on purpose, and the producer/songwriter ,Yasushi Akimoto, is intending this to have a sexual meaning. ‘Betty Blue’ that appears in the lyrics (‘just like Betty Blue, I am a cute girl’) is a character in French movie who “yearns for a better life and quit her last job as a waitress because she was being sexually harassed by her boss.” (2) Again from this same fan website, I found some detailed analysis of the lyrics (what surprises me is that this blogger seems to love this song precisely because of the reason I find it inappropriate). I will let this blogger speak for himself here.
“these lyrics are flawless in challenging a theme as delicate as the boldness of teenage and the first sexual fantasies. Teenage girls have as many of them as anyone else, and the chances of it being a daring high school girl’s fantasy is very high.” The reason why this blogger likes the song is because he thinks it lacks hypocrisy amongst other things, for he says, “I love it nonetheless. If possible, I love it even more for the lack of hypocrisy and the tongue-in-cheek tone of the whole song.”[15] The three girls singing and performing in this song are all underaged at the time of the live event: Aika Ota (14); Yuki Kashiwagi (17) and Natsumi Harajima (16). The last song is ‘Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru (The School Uniform Is Getting in the Way). The approach is different from the other two songs, which focused on more or less ‘innocence’ and ‘fantasy’. This song speaks of ‘many ways of love’ suggesting that it is okay to have an unconventional relationship, i.e. teenage prostitution. Now teenage prostitution is a huge problem in Japan, especially in Tokyo area – Shibuya Ward – which is, incidentally, the same place mentioned in the song. The girls would often not go home and hang out at the game centers until late in the evening, and they go to Karaoke, and when their money runs out, they go home. That’s the standard patterns of high school girls in a big city in Japan. How do they get money? That’s where the ‘compensated dating’ comes in. It is essentially the same thing as prostitution, but here girls make a phone call to a call center or some place like that and leave a message. A guy calls back, and the girl decides how much they will charge, and the rest is up to the men. Naturally, these girls are normally under 18, for they are in high school. In Tokyo city, girls as young as 12 years old would even leave messages to have sex.[16] The lyrics, ‘I want to be loved freely, take me somewhere, to a world I don’t know,’ sounds suspiciously echoing those girls’ curiosity in sexuality. The immediately following lyrics ‘don’t look at me like that, I am just a high school girl’ and ‘I don’t care if anybody is looking at us, kiss me,’ are way too obvious to be defended otherwise. Just after saying ‘you can do whatever you like, I want to experience adult pleasure,’ the phrase continues, ‘even if something (bad) happens, it will all work out.’ This is not just a suggestion, but a commendation to the high school girls out there who are curious but do not have the ‘guts’ to make the step to sleep with someone for money. Towards the end, the image shows of a girl who is allegedly on her way to meet a stranger for sex. She waits in the tunnel, where people are not around. A guy comes, and asks her if she is who he thinks she is, to which she nods. Then, the shot changes to the morning. She looks still the same, somewhat worried, and perhaps showing a sense of regret, but at the very end, the music video ends with her smile, justifying everything that had happened to her, while at the same time reassuring those girls out there that ‘it’s okay’ to do it – as if to say, ‘every girl thinks about it, worries about it, and does it; then she comes out happy.’ The underaged girls in this song are 8 in number: Erena Ono (13); Yuka Matsuda (14); Tomomi Itano (15); Atsuko Maeda (15); Minami Mineguchi (14); Minami Takahashi (15); Tomomi Kasai (16); Sae Miyazawa (16). Finally, as you can see from the above lyrics, their songs have no coherence in conveying messages. One song tells you how love can be exciting and wonderful, while another tells you there are different ways of love and the love in the form of ‘compensated dating’ is totally acceptable, while yet another sings about being dirty “equals” teenageness that you shouldn’t miss while you are young. Expressing contrary opinions among the works may occur, but its artistic significance remains only as long as it reflects the artists’ internal conflicts or when the artists are trying to make a statement with the intended contradiction/contrary. They cannot go back and forth, affirming love on one day and demoralizing it the next day, and go back to adoring love again the day after, and so on. For that is truly a mark of business-mindedness, and shows that AKB48 does not sing for artistic value but only for gaining popularity.
III: Nietzsche’s Wagner and Absence of Morals in Japan
I have thus far sporadically mentioned Nietzsche’s philosophy in order to draw connections with what is happening in the present state of music affairs in Japanese pop-culture with what was happening in Germany in the late 19th century. Some words on Nietzsche’s view on music, hence, may be necessary to see whether the comparison is appropriate and if I may be judged fair to draw upon Nietzsche in speaking of AKB48. The first time Nietzsche met with the German composer, Richard Wagner, was when he was still 23 years old in March of 1868. Amidst the prevalence of Romanticism and German Idealism, a movement led by Hegel and Schelling, Wagner came to acquaint with the philosophy of Schopenhauer, a yet another pessimistic philosopher who “rigorously pointed out the dishonesty of Hegel’s and Schelling’s age, – rigorously, but also unjustly, for he himself, the pessimistic old counterfeiter, was in no way ‘more’ honest than his more famous contemporaries.”[17] Nietzsche saw in Wagner the change of style in his music as Wagner was more and more affected by Schopenhauer and by the German Idealism. Wagner no longer composed subtle and refined music, but now began composing music that was vague and repetitious, loud and mass-appealing. His style of composition in his music adapted itself to the qualities of Hegel’s, that is to say, to the idea that is obscure, uncertain and wonderful. Wagner’s Music as Idea[18] successfully swooped the youthlet, for “among Germans lucidity [was] an objection, a logic a refutation.”[19] In this way, Wagner’s music aimed for effects – that is, “he repeats a thing so often that we become desperate, – that we ultimately believe it.”[20] This observation, word for word, applies to AKB48. For their lyrics are repetitious, both easy for people to remember and easy to stick in mind. Their songs have no specific messages or moral significance to deliver. They use music solely as a slave to educe out the effects of their music. What, then, are these effects? The first effect, which is relatively innocuous is corruption of the taste for good music. This is easily done when the music is heard everywhere you go. Not only AKB48’s music is played in stores and in public, but also their music appears in commercials and on various TV programs. Having succeeded the first phrase, now AKB48 goes on to “stultify and to befoul the stomach,” to use Nietzsche’s words. The specific effect hence is the degeneration of the feeling for rhythm.[21] What AKB48ers call ‘rhythmical’ is what I may call violence to music. This, in turn, leads to the deterioration of the nerves, of sensibility. If you walk around a large city, you will hear AKB48’s songs played everywhere with loud, deafening fury, as if to assert this is music. One may justly wonder, ‘Whatever is happening to our city?’ To which one may respond, ‘It is the disciples of AKB48 in the act of worshipping them.’[22] Yasushi Akimoto famously compared AKB48 as the concentration of calpis[23] liquid, saying that just as the concentration spreads when mixed with water, making the whole water flavourful, if you make something good, i.e. AKB48, it will spread itself all over the world.[24] Perhaps yes, the analogy is adequate except that AKB48 does not spread simply because it is in its mere concentrated form, but only because its form captures the modernity in concentration. AKB48 is nothing but modernity in concentrated form! Through AKB48 “modernity speaks its most intimate language: it conceals neither its good nor its evil: it has thrown off all shame.”[25] Precisely because it is the modernity itself that we are here faced with, it is in a way an inevitable consequence of what we have allowed ourselves to foster for over decades: absence of (moral) philosophy in Japan. In this sense, AKB48 is the artist of decadence in the 21st century Japan, and its fans are typical decadents – they think their corrupted taste is necessary, arrogating to themselves a higher taste. They aim at establishing their depravity as a universal law, as progress, as a fulfillment.[26] Neitzsche speaks of Wagner’s overwhelming popularity to the point that ‘no one guards against him and welcomes him with open arms without questioning his legitimacy’ as a clear sign of decadence. “Instinct is weakened,” he says, “what ought to be eschewed now attracts [them].”[27] AKB48 is needless to say a great corrupter of music, a modern artist par excellence. Just as Wagner’s music did, AKB48 attracts the weak and exhausted; all the necessary elements for corrupting the aesthetic judgment are “combined in the most seductive manner in [their] art, – the three great stimulants of exhausted people: brutality, artificiality and innocence (idiocy).”[28] Is not dominating the pop-music by way of signing contracts with so many different companies brutal? Is not repeatedly sung phrases without context like ‘I love you’ an artificial means to get the ‘exhausted’ attracted? Is not making the underaged girls wear school uniforms and bikinis to sing about love an appeal to innocence? What exactly is different about AKB48 from the advent of decadence Wagner so gracefully orchestrated and Nietzsche so dreadfully feared? What is different, pop culture-wise, in present state Japan from the 19th century Germany? Have we not learned our lessons? “It is easier to compose bad music than good music,” Nietzsche’s Wagner would say, “[b]ut what, if apart from this it were also more profitable, more effective, more convincing, more exalting, more secure” more sexually appealing? Would that not be popular? “Why not rather aim at size, at the sublime, the gigantic, that which moves the masses? – And to repeat, it is easier to be titanic than to be beautiful; we know that…”[29] Hence, it makes sense why Akimoto opted for creating a group consisting of many cute people, more than you can count at first sight. It simply sells. He understood Wagner, and he saw an opportunity in Japanese modern market, for he knew that people in Japan are philosophically uneducated and un-enlightened. He knew we would all be tricked into deceiving ourselves by the same method that once successfully corrupted not only Germany but all over Europe. ‘Japanese people would not notice,’ he would say to his friends, ‘for Wagner did not happen in Japan, and we all know that Japanese people are oblivious and indifferent to history and social philosophy.’ Akimoto rejoices with Wagner, “[people] also require the sublime, the profound, the overwhelming. All these people argue in the same way. ‘He who overthrows us is strong; he who elevates us is godly; he who makes us wonder vaguely is profound.’ – let us make up our mind then, my friends in music: we do want to overthrow them, we do want to elevate them; we do want to make them wonder vaguely. This much still lies within our powers.”[30]
IV: The Genealogy of Japanese Idols
Then, how did we allow moral decadence to grow to the point of corrosion? To begin with, idols first emerged in Japanese popular culture was born in the 1970’s, and the idols were often female singers in their teenage years. As idols, their private lifestyle was always veiled in a mystic aura. This was understandable in the age when televisions were still the main source of information, and information was not as abundantly available as it is now. Perhaps partly because of it, idols could maintain a certain degree of privacy, or purity, and that in turn promoted the idea that idols were something sacred. In this way, idols established and secured the position to be worshipped. There are several points in the history of Japanese Idols that are worth mentioning, as they make it clear when and what went wrong in Japanese pop-culture. I will speak of them concisely so it becomes clear what AKB48 is really about.
The singer who first came to be called an idol was Saori Minami, making her debut in 1971 with the song titled Seventeen. As the title of the song suggests, she herself was seventeen years old, and this was somewhat innovative in that she sang about her own process of growing up, in other words, her song was about growing up. Songs previously had been composed first, and then singers who would sing them were picked. What was new about her song was that she as a person came first and then the composition of the song began only afterwards. The song was written for her and was about her as an immature girl who still had a lot to learn. The character in the song and the singer inevitably overlapped, and such an effect produced somewhat autobiographical song, whose identity shared that of the singer herself. In this way, music came to be used to describe the essence of its singer. Instead of the singer’s promoting music, music promoted the singer. Idols, then, were public figures whose growth process is out there, so anyone can see and share a sense of parenting them without the responsibility of actually parenting a child. Idols are such that they must be young and immature – there must be a place for them to grow up, so fans can play a role of caretakers and see to their adulthood. At the same time, fans who are about the same age as the idols also have reasons to feel affinity with them, since what they sing about are their problems common to all teenagers. When the personalities and images of the individual idols became more important to appeal to the audience than their songs, music became just a tool to promote the idols’ popularity. Necessarily, to gain popularity music must be easily accessible to as many audiences as possible. This ‘appeal to popularity’ aspect of music contributed to the decline of the quality of music. In other words, music of necessity becomes this loud, repetitious music of Wagner that makes us wonder vaguely. Moreover, since the idols are selling not their songs per se but rather themselves to the public, their accidental qualities, such as appearances and choreography, became essential factors to be successful in music industry. One author and a self-claimed idol fan, Shoichi Ota, tells us in his book on idols that “One derives pleasure from looking at idols dance, while imagining himself to be the puppet master of those idols,” and he quotes a film director and a huge idol fan, Shuichi Kaneko, in praise of idol performance that the fact that those idols dance as they are told makes it “virtually refreshing and indeed erotic.”[31] This is indicative of the fact that by this time already, Japanese idols were seen as public objects and fans educed out pleasure not from the music itself but from the sense of control they felt they had over those young idols. In truth, idols were conceived never to “sweat, nor go to the toilet,”[32] and indeed beyond human, yet “we tried to feel ever closer to them when we saw them in swimsuits on a magazine by letting our imagination go wild.”[33] Idols were also expected not to fart and to be virgins, and their answers to the question ‘What is your favourite food?’ always had to be ‘strawberries.’[34] Seeing that idols were primarily women, and seeing that male idols often appealed to their athletic abilities rather than their sexuality, it is obvious at this point that there already established gender specific issues that could be rendered ethically problematic in later years. However, one might argue, as many in fact did including idols themselves, that it is one of the requirement in becoming an idol to be seen as a public, and oftentimes a sexual, object. Being objectified by the public is, in fact, a part of their job. This much is perhaps true in all cultures where idols and celebrities are concerned in the form of entertainment. But what needs to be emphasized here is the fact that female idols and male idols were seen completely differently from one another, and that while the excess of admiration for male idols, i.e. athletic abilities, leads to men’s motivation for being healthy and athletic, the excess of admiration for female idols, i.e. sexuality, leads to a completely different direction. It encourages women to be sexual, as opposed to men’s being athletic.
In brief summary, in 1973 started an audition TV program, ‘Star Tanjo’ (literally, ‘Star is born’), where amateur singers perform on TV program and judges decide who should be the next idols, much like American Idol. The groups called “Pink Ladies” and “Candies” were the ones that represented the music in the 70’s. Although Candies did not come from Star Tanjo, they also originated from TV media. Both groups, however, are similar in that music itself was not of significance to their popularity. Pink Ladies gained popularity with unique choreography and costumes that prompted a sense of sexiness and eroticism.[35] Although it is not probably fair to say that Candies’ popularity was not due to their songs, it seems fair to say that their popularity came from following what was norm in popular music industry of the time, namely, appealing to be cute and singing songs that were made for them to sing. For example, a major hit song of theirs, ‘Toshishita no Otokonoko(The Younger Boy)’ was sung by the college student vocalist in the group, Ran, in an attempt to appease teenage boy fans. This was yet another attempt by the producers to maintain the fans. Although their songs were generally well-received, many of their songs also included sexual themes.[36] The fact that the group suddenly declared “We want to be back to normal girls” in the late 70’s as a reaction against their being puppetized in public shows that what they were doing did not meet the standard of their moral expectation.[37]
In the 80’s, Miho Nakayama made a debut with her song called “C”, whose lyrics talks about a man and a woman on the beach at night, with a phrase like ‘picked (ripe) apple’. This song was actually used for a TV show in which the singer herself starred, and anyone who has seen the show could associate the letter C with sexual activities. At this time, it began to be natural for idols to be sexually more explicit, as is seen from the show Nakayama herself starred in, “Maido Osawagase Shimasu”, where in the first episode she takes off her clothes and gets into a boy’s bed. In reality, a popular song magazine editor, Kajimoto said that in the late 80’s idols were no longer required to be able to sing well. It used to be the case that before any idol could make a debut, she or he had to prove that they could sing, but in recent years with the publication of Momoko Club, which posts pictures of cute girls as potential candidates for new idols, the focus had shifted from hiring someone who could sing to hiring someone who looks cute and amateur.[38] What became more important here was the immaturity of the idols, for that would give them a space to mature up. Fans wanted to see the process of idols’ growing up rather than the completed version, i.e. professionality, in those idols. It was not “whether ‘idols would mature up or not’ that was the issue. For ‘maturing up’ for idols would mean to lose their essence as idols, and if there is that possibility of their losing their essence, it would be a concern for the fans. Therefore, idols whose maturity is nothing but an empty concept are celebrated.”[39] That is to say, stupidity is demanded in idols.
To be fair, there were idol groups who were composed of male singers. The representatives are Tonneruzu in the 80’s and SMAP in the 90’s. Tonneruzu made their debut, perhaps, due to their comical yet serious Japanese folklore (Enka), which is itself a parody of its genre, “Ame no Nishi Azabu”, produced by Yasushi Akimoto.[40] But also for them, it was not their singing ability that made them famous but their comic performance and athletic skills. That the necessity of, or need for, the athletic skills in male idols seem to have been equivalent to the sexual appeal in female idols is also obvious from the success of SMAP. The singer group SMAP, consisting of five male singers, was extremely popular among teenagers as well as people in their 20’s when they became famous, but not many people know what their group name stands for: Sports Music Assemble People.[41] The often repeated criticism against those who criticize female idol groups in Japan is this: “Why can’t girls appeal to their sexuality while men are also appealing to their sexuality in being athletic and sporty, which is what women are sexually attracted to?” I would have ignored such a claim as a stupid argument had I not been frequently accused of discriminating women by criticizing their sexual appeal while admitting sexual appeal done by men. That those who use this argument is almost exclusively male is besides the point. True, both girls and boys may be appealing to their sexuality, but as I stated above, what ‘sexuality’ means for female idols and male idols is radically different. Female idols are selling ‘sexual images’ by appealing to their sexuality while male idols are promoting ‘athletic-ness’ or ‘health’. Sexuality appealed by female idols leads to ultimately submission of women to men, consequently objectification of the female idols, but sexuality appealed by male idols does not lead to such a consequence. By appealing to their sexuality, male idols are not obviously seen as sexual objects whom you can ‘control’. As a piece of strikingly conclusive evidence, male idols are not asked to pose naked for magazines or their ‘sexual parts’ are not emphasized or required for them to be famous in the way female idols are required. That female idols more and more came to be sexually objectified is obvious from the fact that since the late 80’s, female idols required to have large breasts to be famous.[42] So much so that the female idols with large breasts were simply referred to as ‘huge tits’[43] in the industry. This word came to be used to refer to both idols and porn actresses in the 80’s.[44] Shinobu Horie, Fumie Hosokawa and Rie Miyazawa became famous largely due to their physical, i.e. sexual, appearance.[45] Also starting in the late 80’s, Chisato Moritaka recognized herself as a sexual idol destined to be watched.[46] This is confirmed by the fact that “her costume for her song ‘Seventeen’ had super-short skirt, and her panty had her initial ‘M’ knowing that her underwear would be visible during her dance.”[47] In these ways, it is obvious that there is a huge difference in the style and purpose of ‘sexual appeal’ between female idols and male idols. They may both appeal to their ‘sexuality’, but however the word sounds the same, its meaning and its implication differs vastly.
The fans began to develop in their ‘collecting’ habits in the 80’s as well, as the VCR became popular at home. Fans were known to have taped and collected footages of their favourite idols as their possession, and by doing so, their psychological desire to ‘own’ the idols came to be satisfied.[48] These people came to be known as Otaku at around this time.[49] There is a strong negative connotation attached to the word Otaku in Japan. The reason for this comes from one serial kidnappings and killings of young girls committed by Tsutomu Miyazaki through ’88 to ’89.[50]
In the 90’s came the era of group teen idols – Morning Musume, followed by O-Nyanko Club in the 80’s, produced by Yasushi Akimoto, consisted of five members, soon recruiting three more members, totaling eight at the very beginning of their career.[51] This trend for having many members in a group came to be seen as a successful model in music industry, as AKB48 later clearly shows. One reason for why this is the case is that if there are many members who look cute, even though ‘cuteness’ is a subjective judgment, there would be at least one girl whom you will like. While it has the capacity to deal with the various needs of fans, their individual ability is almost nil.[52] Morning Musume, however, kept recruiting its members and repeated ‘graduation’ of its members and welcomed newcomers to the group. In 2001, the group established its sister group, Mini-Moni (Mini-Morning Musume) with their first song, “Mini-Moni. Janken-Pyon.”[53] In addition to the requirements for female idols of ‘youth’ and ‘cuteness’, ‘manipulation’ may be added to the category. Fans loved to see them acting childishly and immaturely, so they could feel like they were the caretakers of the idols. This is to say that the fans wanted to have a certain degree of control over them. That this is so is obvious since fans collect taped footages of their favourite idols, like to see them fail so they can teach, and wish them to wear costumes that are suggestive of subordination – though this becomes increasingly obvious with AKB48, the elements were already there in the early 00’. Naturally, the fans or Otaku were not completely satisfied with the idols whose costumes were usually decided by producers and whose behaviors were somewhat scripted. This gave a rise to the popularity of the artificial idols, that is, three-dimensional anime characters and two-dimensional characters in computer games. These characters allow fans and Otaku to control what they will do. The more realistic the technology became, the more fans’ needs were satisfied. This comes to fruition in the case of Aimi Eguchi, the 3D-created AKB48 member. Yet, there is still this sense of emptiness in dealing with non-actual persons only. With group idols, fans surely were able to ‘own’ the idols as if they were theirs to possess, but they did not yet possess the total control of their idols. With the anime characters and computer games, they had the access to the complete control over the girls, but they lacked the sense of ‘owning’ them as persons. AKB48 came to be born out of such a strong desire of fans to grow with, control and own idols. It is the ultimate commodity; its structure allows fans to consume perpetually. It is an everlasting source of immaturity, a perpetual child, a virus – it survives by consuming its hosts. What is different from a usual virus is the fact that the hosts themselves are welcoming of the virus’ invasion into their system. The hosts educe out pleasure and enjoy a sort of personal reign over the idols whose inherent quality is nothing but submissiveness and manipulability, a puppet par excellence. In this way, a virus has evolved into something subsistent that meets no resistance from its hosts – no, even worse, it has made the hosts addicted to it, by establishing some kind of sadomasochistic relationship with them. Fans become sadists in that they become absolute in the face of the idols, where idols become masochists in so far as they are the willing receptacles of that exertion of powers by the absolutes.
V: AKB48 and Their Social Influence, and Its Cognate: SDN48
AKB48 was born in the continuation of, and according to, the tradition of Japanese Idols in popular culture. It is an embodiment of such a tradition; it represents everything that is bad in the ‘development’ of music industry in Japan. Of course, not all idols have perpetuated the type of styles that is the subject of my criticism. Even though the Japanese Idols began to be seen overtly sexualized since the 80’s, female singer-idols such as Ryoko Hirosue or SPEED in the 90’s were respectful and professional in their performance. But it is unfortunate that there was a clear genre established in Japanese Idology, if I may coin the word, that dedicated itself to the promotion of sexual appearances as primary element required in female idols. And the new century saw an explicit approval by the nation of Japan to encourage such acts as teenage prostitution and male dominance in the name of music. This is made explicitly evident by the new group, deriving from AKB48, named SDN48. Before we discuss what SDN48 is, let us conduct a simple thought-experiment, and try to see what kinds of inferences could be drawn simply by looking at the name SDN48 and what we already know about it. First, we know that it is a sister group of, or at least a group derived from, AKB48. The name of it also indicates way to clearly. For what purpose does it serve for this group to have a name similar to already famous national iconic group, AKB48? It is evident that the producers of this cognate group had in mind the popularity and national approval of AKB48, and by association with it, tried to make the group as popular as the one whose name is borrowed from, i.e. AKB48. For if it did not seek to gain popularity, its name does not have to be composed of three alphabets followed by two-digit numbers. This is especially the case when this new group does not even have 48 members, like its sister groups. It is easily established that SDN48 is trying to achieve the same degree of popularity by having the similar name and belonging to the similar concept as AKB48 – i.e. singer idols you can come to meet. It is natural that the group will be easily registered to people’s minds since not only AKB48 but also NMB48, SKE48 and JKT48 are now in place. What exactly is SDN48 then? It is a singer group consisting of older female singers[54], and is produced by Yasushi Akimoto as well. It differs from other “48” groups in that SDN48 is marketed especially for adult audience. By adult audience, I mean that people under 18 years of age cannot legally go see them. Now, one may wonder, ‘Whatever has possessed Akimoto to create such a group?’ After all, it is a singer group and it aims to be nationally recognized as legit. The answer, sadly though, is easy enough and it is practiced universally in the world of entertainment industry: sex sells. Now, I have no criticism against performance hinting at sexuality by consenting adults, free from social or economical pressure into doing what they would otherwise not do. What I object here is the very fact that this adult-only group uses the AKB48 brand in its group name and activities. For those girls who are in their 20’s have less chance to be hired for such nationally famous brand as AKB48 members, surely if AKB48’s sister groups are hiring primarily women in their 20’s, they would be happy to join such groups. In other words, these girls are likely not to have an appetite for joining an ‘adult’ singer group had it not been for the name SDN48. Akimoto used the brand name as a merely decoy to lure his preys into his nest. Also by naming the group similar to AKB48, he has successfully blurred the distinction between young girls in sexually explicit performance and younger girls in the similar situations. SDN48 is now seen as a mere continuation of AKB48. AKB48 is, so to speak, a practice ground for more sexually explicit performance already prepared for the girls as they graduate from AKB48. Clearly, this sends a message to people in their teenage years, or even younger, that women in SDN48 are the mature version of girls in AKB48. That is to say, SDN48 is seen on the same spectrum as AKB48. Seeing how popular AKB48 is among teenage girls, the possible influences in social and gender roles are significant. When girls in elementary school are literally worshipping the girls in AKB48 during the lunch break at school, there is a reason to draw a conclusion that girls idolize AKB48 members and wish to be like them. By the time they are sixteen, having seen the boys mesmerized and addicted to the performances by AKB48ers, girls have no choice but begin forming a concept of beauty and gender-value in accordance with the standards set by AKB48. As a result, their standard set of social aspirations begin to liken to those of AKB48’s – to a moral indifference. Here, the resemblance to Wagner is striking in that AKB48’s music is “an appeal to inartistic people; all means are welcomed which help towards obtaining an effect,” indeed, “[i]t is calculated not to produce an artistic effect but an effect upon the nerves in general,”[55] that is to say, upon corrupting the sense of morals.
VI: Akimoto’s Business Model and the Mechanics of Group Idols
We have now discussed about this group in terms of the argument that it is merely and purely an expression of art[56], and have hopefully established that such an argument simply does not hold and is in fact nothing but an excuse to promote promiscuity among teenage girls. But there is another type of argument that is often heard from the fans, and that is an argument from AKB48 as a successful business model. Now, these groups of people primarily argue two points:
1) It is a fair and clever way of running a business on Akimoto’s part in this capitalistic society, and as long as we live in capitalism there is nothing wrong about selling a group like AKB48 by putting incentives, i.e. voting ballots, in the CD to make the sale, even if it means making fans buy more than one CDs of the same cover in order for them to get some kind of influence over the voting results.
2) We live in a democratic society, and the business model of AKB48 truly accords with and hence is commendable since consumers have the right to decide who should be the leader of the group. Furthermore, the ‘exploited’ themselves enjoy what they do in AKB48, and they are not abused in any way during the production of making music. It is in this sense, the business of AKB48 model is more ethically conducted than any other corporate business.
Let me respond to both arguments in conjunction. It is true that capitalism assumes and approves, very much so, of the profits by the products produced. The very act of including ‘tokens’ that can be exchanged for a prize in the products is actually permissible and is done almost universally. So what is the problem? The problem is in the every fact that the products they are selling have to do with human beings. It is not the music CDs that those fans who buy multiple copies of the same CDs. If that were the case, it would be absurd – for why do they need more than one CD if they wish to listen to the music itself? The fans are clearing buying CDs not for the sake of music but for the sake of idols, i.e. human beings as commodities. Besides, by applying the voting system into the business model, the ‘fundamental right’ of human beings declared by the concepts such as freedom and liberty has been capitalized. Capitalism, make no mistake, is not a political regime – it is an economic model. That is why capitalism and democracy can co-exist. Such that an economic model should not ever override a political regime, for then, it will not be a democracy anymore, but a sort of aristocracy where few rich people have the exclusive right and the money rules absolutely.[57] That the right to vote has been transferred from the realm of politics into that of economy is also obvious by the very words Yuko Oshima said at the 3rd General Election: “For us, the number of votes represent everyone’s love.”[58] As the fans also seem to agree with her, ‘vote’ is ‘love’. Then, how can they justify buying with money that love as right? Are they not simply saying that love can be bought with money? How is this ‘touching’ in any way, as there were tears hearing at her these words in the crowd? If they were not crying because they witnessed the moment when love was finally overtly monetized, then I do not know why they were crying. This was truly an inhumane moment in history. Furthermore, just because the exploited are okay with being exploited does not make the exploitation itself okay either. For instance, suppose there is a female sex-worker who has decided to do the job she does by her own choice, by her own will and by her own initiative. I am in no position to say that what she is doing is wrong, and I certainly cannot force her into doing something else, i.e. something other than what she truly wishes to do. If this were the case with AKB48, and if indeed, those 14-year-old girls understand what they are doing, consent with them being sexually exposed and depicted and approve willingly and happy about being sexually exploited, for that particular instance, I have nothing to say about it, since in such a circumstance, they truly believe they are doing what they love and taking it away from them would certainly make them sad and it would be an imposition of my own views about what is right and what is wrong on them. However, I do have problems when they do it in a group, on TV, and I have an especial problem with those girls (and boys as well, though as has been stated above, the emphasis is not on sexual appeal in the case of boys) if they are idol figures or celebrities who prey on the by-standers for their popularity, or for their happiness. Because then, it would not just be an issue of individual decision – the responsibility for being famous and popular must come with it. There is something vastly different about an individual sex-worker selling herself by her own will on a street and a group of national iconic idols being sexually explicit on mass media. For one thing, the sex-worker would not likely to have followers or people who admire the way she works, and if there was, it would be restricted to few people who already share the similar views as hers. But the national iconic idols are different. They will have followers, admirers and kid who wish to grow up like them. Now, this is no longer just a personal freedom of choice – it comes with responsibility. Although I do not condemn the individual AKB48 girls for wanting to do what they do, I solemnly condemn them exposing themselves to the public, implicitly imposing their standard of ‘beauty’, for instance, onto the minds of the young public.
Now, let us see more in detail what this AKB48 strategies and its business model are. This will give us an insight as to how on earth this group made a successful debut and still maintains its reign over not only the music industry but also the popular culture in Japan. This debut was possible probably because the already profitable economic model was further used to sell real human sexuality. Some of the evidence of it is shown in a number of instances, as AKB48 not only spent effort on songs but also on wearing bikinis on Playboy magazine on August 20th, 2007. In 2009, the top ranking members in AKB48 appeared in bikinis just after the 2nd General (Senbatsu) Election, selling over 100,000 copies. Moreover, in the book named “AKB48 FASHION BOOK Wagamama Girlfriend ~ Oshare Princess wo Sagase! ~”, the girls appeared in underwear.[59] In addition, the rule that AKB48 members are not allowed to fall in love and have a relationship with someone is a clear indication to keep their sexuality ‘pure’, establishing a so-called “cult of virgins” in fans’ mind.[60] There is also the fact that a group idol has at least two advantages compared to sole singers. One is to be able to use not-so-talented singers in the group. Because there are many people singing with them, their poor singing skills would not stand out and meanwhile they can use this group singing activity as a practice ground for improving their skills. Also true is that fans can choose their favourite singers out of many, so there more likely is to be fans for each singer. Another advantage is, for the producers, it is easy to create more varieties of events or stage effects that it can easily take in the fans so fans share the sense of belonging to the same activities with the singers.[61] Another reason why AKB48 became successful in the music industry is probably due to its appeal to live performances. For one reason, in this digitalized age, people are now able to download music for free, and consequently by focusing on the live performances, AKB48 was able to create and provide a unique spatio-temporal experience for the fans. Such experience are, needless to say, impossible to ‘download’ that groups that put importance on sharing of the physical space with the fans came to be valued significantly.[62] For another reason, even though live performances have made them famous, CDs still must be sold in order for them to keep growing and maintain success in the music industry. By including the right to the human contact with the girls into the products, Akimoto succeeded in making them buy the CDs. In other words, he did not care about selling of the music as a refined intellectual stimulation, but only about selling the CDs as opposed to music. What used to be an aesthetic entertainment became a mere material commodity.
But there seems to be due to a much deeper structural foundation that rendered AKB48 successful. Here, I would like to focus primarily on two essential components as discussed by Ryoichi Murayama in his book, “5 Secrets for AKB48’s Success.” Because AKB48 is a group consisting of a large number of people, it is naturally hard for fans to get connected unless there are some members who stand out in the group enough so that people would think of ‘this girl’ or ‘that girl’ when they hear the word AKB48. In other words, the group needed the face(s) of AKB48. As Akimoto himself says, Yuko Oshima would be a good candidate since she has professional attitudes towards her job. There was also a choice of Minami Takahashi as the leader, since she has “a talent for leadership.”[63] The reason why he chose Atsuko Maeda, fourteen years old, in the end was because she was an ordinary girl with no specific talent. Especially because of her ordinary quality, many would dislike to see her as the leader of the group. However, it is also true that many others support her because of her youth and immaturity that leave her a space for further growth. This personality of hers, i.e. shyness, difficulty to make speech in front of others, and unskilled at singing, allowed there to be both fans and nay-sayers, creating the opposition from both sides producing a synergy that keeps the popularity sustained.[64] Another fundamental key aspect of AKB48’s success has to do with its business model based on, or at least that closely resembles with, the psychological development called ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ by American psychologist, Abraham Maslow. There, he discusses five stages of needs humans experience. These are, from below, 1) physiological needs, 2) needs for safety, 3) needs for love and belonging, 4) needs for esteem, and lastly 5) needs for self-actualization.[65] The first two stages of needs are basic needs that every human being seeks for; namely, food, reproduction, sleep, homeostasis belong to the physiological needs, and needs for safety includes security of body, morality, family, and health. Once these are fulfilled, we will move onto the social needs that are yet to be satisfied. Needs for love and belonging is primarily relationship among friends and partners, the next comes needs for esteem, which promotes confidence, achievement and respect for and by the others. The last stage of needs is for self-actualization. Here, we strive to better ourselves, by exercising moral judgments and problem solving, etc… and living according to this stage is, as Maslow says, the ideal state for human beings.[66] These social stages of hierarchy of needs are adequately represented as the divisions within AKB48. These divisions are, as stated earlier, respectively, Media Senbatsu (ranked 1st ~ 12th), Senbatsu Members (ranked 13th ~ 21st), and Under Girls (ranked 22nd ~ 40th). The reason why there are so many singers in a group is, as stated above, so fans can have options and producers can have a variety of projects. But if there was only the first group, Media Senbatsu, to aim for, with over 150 members in AKB48, SKE48 and NMB48, the newly auditioned members would have almost no chance of making themselves famous. Simply, there would be no motivation or incentive. So by creating this hierarchical system of promotion within the group, it generates a sense of autonomous corporation. Murayama thinks that the new members aim for getting into the 40th – to be chosen as Under Girls members would mean that they are recognized by the others and hence obtain a sense of belonging to the social phenomenon called AKB48. Having won that seat, they now aim for Senbatsu Members. Senbatsu Members differ from Under Girls in that the former performs publicly and get much attention, whereas the latter are often not publicized as much. At this stage, Senbatsu Members recognize themselves as loved by the fans and establish self-confidence. This is equivalent to the Maslow’s system of the needs for esteem. Now all that is left is to attain the votes to get themselves into the top 12th within the group. This stage mirrors the Maslow’s last stage: needs for self-actualization.[67]
Lastly, Murayama points out that there are four essential elements needed in idols to succeed, and as he says, AKB48 is equipped with all of them. Those elements are as follows: 1) Idols as virgins; 2) Performance; 3) Ordinary quality; and 4) Idols performing in the basements.[68] Now, we have discussed that idols have traditionally been seen as ‘virgins’ or ‘someone who does not fart or sweat’. Although this element was outdated in the 90’s and 00’s, AKB48’s prohibition of having a romantic relationship of the members strongly suggests that its aim is to keep them, as it were, ‘pure’. Second, their performance would not be high if by performance is meant the ability to sing. But here, it is best to take it to mean that they dance in bikinis and sing naked in the bath and similar effects count as performance. It is a cheap shot, and nothing artistic about it, but it has a high level of performance in the sense that fans are attracted to it. Their ordinary qualities mean simply how amateur they are. What is asked here is exactly the kind of concept found in pornography and adult videos, i.e. the-girl-next-door element. Nothing new, base strategy to make noise and get people to listen to them. The last category may sound weird for those of us who are not familiar with the idology, or idolography, but idols normally begin from singing and dancing in a cheaply rented basement of a building at first, and then gradually they advance out to public. AKB48 still performs in basements as actors that this aspect has some significance to the hardcore fans.
Perhaps, I will end this paper with Nietzsche’s philosophy, for he says of a musician more and more “becoming an actor, his art is developing ever more and more into a talent for telling lies,” as Akimoto himself concedes in the interview with CNN that what they sing about is not necessarily what they want to do.[69] AKB48 is also resembling to the actors in recent years in that it produces a series of powerful scenes with all kinds of clever nonsense in between only to approve its work according to the quality of its final effect.[70] Its group’s expansion overseas also suggests the kind of dictatorship – you can almost hear them say, everything AKB48 can do, “no one will ever be able to do after [them], no one has ever done before [them], and no one must ever do after [them],” AKB48 is indeed godly.[71] They infect us with their popular appeal, and the increasing popularity of AKB48 proves one thing: “that in declining civilizations, wherever the mob is allowed to decide, genuineness becomes superfluous, prejudicial, unfavourable.” Perhaps their unceasing popularity is also due to the fact that it is so easy to imitate them, for they imitate themselves again and again – mannerism is so choreographed that it is chaotic, and this performance with nothing to say is alarming.[72] And this alarming danger reaches its climax when combined with the rhythmic paradox and abuse, which is governed by no artistic laws of form, only aiming at effect and nothing more. Indeed, their music aims at expressiveness at all cost and music becomes a servant, a slave to attitudes – this is the end…[73] We need to guard ourselves against such decadence in art and morals. If groups like AKB48 are allowed to continue to roam, Japanese popular culture will have no future but forever carry the notions like perverted and degrading to women. It will always be equated with sick-minded, as has lately often been so conceived as from other cultures and countries. We cannot blame them for conceiving Japanese pop-culture as such. Perhaps it is high time that we realized how amoral Japan has been.
[1] Most notably, SKE48, NMB48, HKT48, SDN48, JKT48 (Indonesia).
[2] Nietzsche, The Case of Wagner, etc…
[3] AKB48 was awarded for the best ‘Good Design Award’ in 2010. This was the first time since its foundation in 1957 the award was given to a person/group. See “5 Secrets for AKB48’s Success”, Ryoichi Murayama.
[4] The name “AKB” comes from the acronym for Akihabara city where the group originated, and “48” designates the number of official members in the group, though its number did not reach 48 until later.
[5] Only one single every year contains a voting ticket. In addition, all CDs contain a ticket for handshake convention.
[6] Ryoichi Murayama, “5 Secrets for AKB48’s Success”, 93.
[7] This is not a democratic system, as the supporters of the group say, since the richer you are the more votes you have. This is a classic capitalist system.
[8] This is in case of the CDs that contain the said voting ticket.
[10] Nietzsche, Selected Aphorisms 48, p.64.
[11] Contrast with what Neitzsche says of Wagner: “The fact that people in Germany deceives themselves concerning Wangner does not surprise me. The reverse would surprise me… But people should also deceive themselves concerning in Paris! Where people are scarcely anything else than psychologists. And in Saint Petersburg! Where things are divined, which even Paris has no idea of.”
[16] For those who are interested to find more about this, visit wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enjo_kōsai
[17] Nietzsche, The Case of Wagner, 21.
[18] This is undoubtedly a reference to Hegel’s substantial unity. See The Philosophy of History by Hegel as well as his Phenomenology of Spirit for those who are interested.
[19] Nietzsche, The Case of Wagner.
[20] Ibid., 1
[21] Ibid.
[22] Ibid., 28
[23] Calpis is a soft drink beverage in Japan, made from diluting a concentrated sweetener with water. See Wikipedia article at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calpis
[24] Murayama, 5 Secrets for AKB48’s Success, 80.
[25] Neitzsche, Case of Wagner, preface.
[26] Ibid., 8.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Ibid., 9.
[29] Ibid., 10
[30] Ibid.
[31] Shuichi Ota, “Idol Shinkaron”, 30-31. Translation mime.
[32] Shinshi Okajima, Yasuhiro Okada, “Group Idol Shinkaron”, 66.
[33] Ota, “Idol Shinkaron,” 13
[34] Murayama, “5 Secrets for AKB48’s Success”, 121.
[35] Ota, “Idol Shinkaron”, 66-67. One particularly famous one is probably the commercial for Nissin U.F.O. Yakisoba.
[36] Ibid. 96. For example, “Yasashii Akuma (Sweet Little Devil)” and “Un, deux, trios”
[37] Ibid., 77.
[38] Ibid., 133.
[39] Ibid.,136. Italics mine.
[40] Ibid., 142-143.
[41] Ibid., 170. That this is a so-called Japan-glish, Japanese-English, is obvious from the fact that it makes no sense.
[42] Ibid., 232.
[43] Ibid., 232. “Kyo-nyu,” in Japanese.
[44] Ibid., 229.
[45] Okajima and Okada, “Group Idol Shinkaron”, 69.
[46] Ota, “Idol Shinkaron,” 156.
[47] Ibid.
[48] Ibid., 166.
[49] Ibid., 167.
[50] Okajima and Okada, “Group Idol Shinkaron,” 81. He is also known as The Otaku Murderer. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_Miyazaki
[51] For more info on this group, see Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulmus_rubra
[52] Ibid., 80-81.
[53] Ota, “Idol Shinkaron,” 220. ‘Janken’ means ‘rock-paper-scissors’, and ‘pyon’ is suffixed to produce a childish effect.
[54] Average age of the group members is 24, according to the official website, as of Jan. 2012. http://sdn48.co.jp/ See also Murayama, “5 Secrets for AKB48’s Success”, 59.
[55] Neitzsche, The Case of Wagner, 63. Aphorisms 44-45.
[56] That this is a standard view held by the fans as well as by the producer himself is obvious from the recent interview of CNN with Akimoto on AKB48. http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/international/2012/01/16/talkasia-pop-exploit-teenage-girls.cnn
[57] Perhaps, readers may think that ‘we do live in such a society’, but that is not true. Perhaps it is true that we do not have as much democratic rights as we should or some rich people do have overriding powers politically speaking, but the very fact that there can be oppositions and protests can happen and reported on the news is a clear evidence that we live in a society where democracy is still very much alive. Aristocracy in the sense I am talking of is a very crude society where the poor has absolutely no rights whatsoever to any of the decision making, as is obvious from history around the world.
[58] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-pL_78r-P8 See also Murayama, “5 Secrets for AKB48’s Success”, 98.
[59] Okajima and Okada, “Group Idol Shinkaron”, 35, 38.
[60] Murayama, “5 Secrets for AKB48’s Success”, 132.
[61] Okajima and Okada, “Group Idol Shinkaron”, 58.
[62] Ibid., 99.
[63] Murayama, “5 Secrets for AKB48’s Success”, 25.
[64] Ibid., 23-28.
[65] Ibid., 95.
[66] Ibid., 96.
[67] Ibid., 97.
[68] Ibid., 130.
[69] http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/international/2012/01/16/talkasia-pop-exploit-teenage-girls.cnn
[70] Neitzsche, “The Case of Wagner”, 17-18.
[71] Ibid., 20.
[72] Ibid., 64, 67.
[73] Ibid., 40.
Brilliant! Can’t wait for the next part. I’ll try my best to translate.
You’re obsessed. Seek help.
Wow, this some serious butthurt. Relax! (And seek help.)
guys, what’s up with these ‘seek help’ comments? is that how people respond to when they can’t think of anything to say these days? you need to state your reasons for why you think it’s a ‘butthurt’ and why you think i need to ‘relax’ as well as why you think help is needed. All of these are opinions without points – I could just say similar things and tell you that ‘you are an idiot to think that!’ but you wouldn’t take it seriously unless I give you why I think you are an idiot, right? you guys just have to get better at communicating.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_picking_(fallacy)
“[…] is corruption of the taste for good music.”
So, good music has a universal standard that everyone agrees on?
Just because _you_ don’t like it doesn’t mean that it is inferior to all other music.
“[…]for he knew that people in Japan are philosophically uneducated and un-enlightened.
The whole country? Really?
You specifically attack AKB48 for risqué lyrics and clothes even though they are not the first, last or only (girl)band with this.
This reads entirely like an opinion piece by someone who is butthurt that people like things that he/she thinks that they should not like. Because it’s baaad. Like it’s some kind of fact that pop culture phenomenon A is way superior to pop culture phenomenon B.
Spiffigt;
Okay, granted the first point you make is in fact debatable. Whether good music has a universal standard or not is actually hard to determine (this is more a field of philosophy of aesthetics). I actually don’t think Wagner’s music as an entertainment piece is bad without qualification (I believe that’s what you are referring to, correct?). I was taking Wagner’s music as Neitzsche had taken it – i.e., it was appealing to the mass, with its Christainized theme, that is, moral of Christ and the Bible is depicted, without question what it is that was making the music so popular. It was not Wagner himself speaking, it was him borrowing from something else that was not a part of him/music. In these senses, I think AKB48 does resemble a lot – because it seems obviously evident that people are not going for the songs or quality of the music – the fact that people can choose who is to sing by popularity contest attests that. I thin people get too carried away that they do not ask if these count as sexual exploitations or whether this is the responsible form of art. I meant that when I spoke ‘corruption of taste for music’ because it blinds them and no longer makes them pay attention to the songs but to the idols (which is okay) who are singing in bikinis or half-naked in bathtubs (which is debatable) who are underaged (which is not okay, I don’t think).
The second point you made – good point. That’s actually one of my weakest arguments in this essay. There is no way I can prove that Japanese people as a whole is utterly ignorant and that the producer were counting on the possibility that nobody would object to him. That point was actually an unfair, rather provoking, exaggeration on my part. It was, nevertheless, intentionally provoking in that I wanted people from Japan to actually argue against me on that point. (well, writing this in English may not be helping, but the ethical/intellectual indifference in Japan is a general feeling I have felt all in my life, living in Japan. So I concede, that was not necessarily a fair opinion/argument.
The third point you made, though, is puzzling, since I do talk about other girlsband group from the 80’s and 90’s as well, in this same article. I criticize them as paving a way for groups like AKB48 to get wildly popular. You didn’t read that part?
You must well know that I am not just attacking this because I like A better than B. For instance, I am not promoting any other groups. I don’t have much to say, in fact, I would not have even written anything about idol groups had it not been for AKB48. I think they went beyond what can be accepted in International community. As you might have seen, CNN also interviewed the producer because there was a large concern here in the West as well as in Japan. So, while I see why you might get frustrated reading my article, I don’t understand why you don’t see this particular group as ‘over-doing’ it, so to speak.
Why it`s OBVIOUS that you are butthurt?
Because you make several articles to bash one group and its fans.
If you made articles criticising the musical industry nowadays, I COULD give you some credits. AKB is nothing new or revolutionary. They are doing the same that THOUSANDS of other artists do. If you focus only in “japanese idol groups”, there are dozens of groups with similar patterns.
So why the hell you picked AKB and bash just this group, constantly, through all these months? To have more pageviews, since its the most famous nowadays? That`s the only excuse I can figure…
Prince Michkin;
Okay, I understand you have a problem with my picking one particular group, but don’t you see why I choose *this* particular group? As opposed to other idol groups? Please think about that. I am not picking a random group and attacking them for no reason. I pick a particular group for specific reasons raised in my articles. Also, I don’t know if you read what I wrote, but I do criticize the music industry (the way it is done in japan, at least), and not just one group. I am attacking anything that I think to be related to promotion of this kind of group as unacceptable. And just because thousands others do it, doesn’t make it right or admissible. As I wrote, AKB48 is the paramount result, the end product of the moral decadence. In that respect, I am attacking this biggest ‘monster’, if I may, rather than attacking those groups who imitate them. Also the reason why I felt the need to write this recent article is because I wanted to draw connections from the past popular music history in Japan, and see where we went wrong. There is a saying ‘if you can’t make it good, make it big; if you can’t make it big, make it red.’ A famous saying that applies to most aesthetic forms of art. That’s what Wagner did for Nietzsche, and that’s what AKB48 is doing now. Clearly, music aspect from their performance is lacking. If they are so good at singing, why do they have to wear bikinis and sing half-naked? Does it make sense to you? If you really understand music and love what music stands for, you’d see obvious problems with this strategy, right?
Anyways, can you name one or two groups that you think I should be attacking instead of AKB48? If you can name a group that has even more powerful influence on the mass population as effectively as AKB48, obviously it must have been my negligence to overlook that. But if you can’t name one, then you are arguing with empty concepts.
Of course I can name several groups or artists that, as you say, have to mask their lack of musical value with their looks. We can start with the most successfull idol group until the rise of AKB, Morning Musume. We can pass through Lady Gaga and the K-Pop groups like Kara, that the japanese adore. And what about other western counterparts, that are way more famous than AKB, like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Spice Girls…
C`mon, don`t tell me you are not attacking one particular group because you wrote five lines in the middle of the article talking about the musical industry. If you really wanted to talk about a bigger problem, you wouldn`t put AKB in the title of all the articles. Again, I have to say that the only excuse for doing this is to draw more attention to the article. Not talking about this controversial method of publicity, but to my eyes, you loose credibility by doing this.
First off, I did talk about morning musume. Second, this is not just about AKB48 or music industry in the world – I am specifically writing about this to address the issues that have been unquestioned and undealt with in Japan for a couple of decades. I treat it as a specifically Japanese problem.
I suppose you could view my intentions for putting AKB48 in the titles as attention grabbing. I suppose that’s not necessarily wrong – I do want people to recognize what is ethically acceptable and what is not – I feel AKB48, by calling themselves a cabinet and having handshake conventions and so on, has done much damage to the social ethics than bring good to society.
My problem here is specific to the social morality in Japan – not anywhere else. And Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera are fair concern, but they are still different in scope in that these are more or less individual singers or groups of singers conceived in a traditional sense. With AKB48, though, it’s high hierarchical, institutionalized (as it were), and a social phenomenon rather than a popular culture ‘fever’. And this social phenomenon is targeting the young, the rich and the pervert alike, confusing and mixing the cute-sexy-pornography distinction. So inevitably some people will come to believe they are synonymous. That’s a problem – a social problem. People have the sense of wanting to belong to that group, and this desire makes them not think whether what is being depicted/how it is being depicted are reasonable or acceptable. Not to you per se, but to people in general who live in the general atmosphere where their promotions are being seen as normal and nothing less sexual than any other. You as an adult may think this is just an entertainment – that’s fine, but my concern is what this will have on the minds of younger generations who grow up exposed to AKB48 and its cognates groups all the time. Ordinary adults may know the difference – what is sensational about this group, but kids who grow up with this won’t. And they think that’s how people should behave. Britney Spears and the like are inevitable in entertainment industry – AKB48 too is in a way inevitable, seeing how Japanese idols have been in the past. But this omnipresence and ubiquitousness of the groups – just because they are so many of them – is mind-numbing. You don’t really have to choose to watch AKB48 nowadays, as is the case with Britney Spears and others, but they are there in front of you. I believe this is depriving a lot of intellectual activity off from those kids to think whether what is depicted is appropriate. Adults may see them as mere entertainment but kids see them as truth/reality. That’s the danger I am speaking of here with a reference to its being a virus.
I have a strict school schedule and work part time so coming back to my room and seeing this at the end of my day makes me smile.
A few points:
1. These girls are not being exploited. They know what they are doing, get money for it and the worst they have to endure is a few morons throwing tickets in their face. Noone is forcing them to endure it and they get paid for which makes this a regular job. Also they can quit anytime they want.
If you have worked before you know that at a workplace you have to endure a lot more crap than this on a daily basis.
2. Prostitution won’t go away no matter how much you whine about it. It’s the oldest “profession”. As long as female sexuality is valued over its male counterpart and as long as there are lazy and slutty girls who are willing to choose this easy form of earning benefits (eg money, promotion, forcing their husband/boyfriends to do something) regardless of their age, it won’t go away.
3. Actually if you care about this crap you should be thankful to Akimoto. Why? Because he raises awareness. If you know anything about Japan then you are aware that ppl like to avoid problems, act like they do not exist. By bringing the problem into focus Akimoto is doing you a favor because he allows (or forces) society to face the problem head on. He doesn’t judge (you know that thing you liberals like to preach about but never actually refrain from doing it themselves) but only shows the phenomenon as it is. If you want to tackle it you need to have parents watch it together with kids a and have it explained why it’s bad. This is the job of parents and not Akimoto’s. He did his part and created an opportunity to talk about it.
4. You shouldn’t make these problems out to be specifically japanese bc that’s bullshit and will only make you sound racist. (yes you can be racist towards your own country).
5. What about Johnny’s idols? They are just as much objectified as their female counterparts. What about regular models all around the world? They are also working using their bodies. What about actors?
6. Why does everything have to be intellectually stimulating? Haven’t you had the feeling after a long day of work that your brain is ready to explode and the last thing you want/need is more “heavy” stuff? At those times you need easy and light entertainment, precisely what idols are for. Have you ever thought why some idol shows are late at night? (other than the fact that some aren’t meant to be viewed by minors) Because lots of salary man come home late at night and are exhausted and need something to relax to. That’s when they turn on shows like idol chin for example and just relax. Women have the bullshit korean dramas and the korean actors to swoon at. (this is again an objectification that you obviously have no problem with). So why can’t salary man have similar kind of entertainment?
7. Are you aware that AKB and sister groups have hundreds of songs and you only focused on 3? Have you even heard more than 10 of their songs? If you had you’d know that the sexual innuendos are not nearly as prevalent as you make them out to be.
I could go on and on about why your writing is flawed but frankly I can’t be arsed anymore.
Have a nice day.
Ready2;
Clearly it shows you have not read what I wrote but only read parts of it or skimmed through it. Whenever you criticize something, you need to know if the points you are trying to make have already been dealt with, in this case, in my article. I will respond to you if you have something to say that I have not yet dealt with, but all the issues you talked about are already in my articles.
No you did not address any of my points. You just chose the easy way out hoping that we did not read your rambling and thus can escape from having to actually address them.
You sir proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that you are not worth the time.
Good day.
No, you really did not read my articles – I will just copy & paste my response from the article where it deals with your issues:
1. “Furthermore, just because the exploited are okay with being exploited does not make the exploitation itself okay either. For instance, suppose there is a female sex-worker who has decided to do the job she does by her own choice, by her own will and by her own initiative. I am in no position to say that what she is doing is wrong, and I certainly cannot force her into doing something else, i.e. something other than what she truly wishes to do. If this were the case with AKB48, and if indeed, those 14-year-old girls understand what they are doing, consent with them being sexually exposed and depicted and approve willingly and happy about being sexually exploited, for that particular instance, I have nothing to say about it, since in such a circumstance, they truly believe they are doing what they love and taking it away from them would certainly make them sad and it would be an imposition of my own views about what is right and what is wrong on them. However, I do have problems when they do it in a group, on TV, and I have an especial problem with those girls (and boys as well, though as has been stated above, the emphasis is not on sexual appeal in the case of boys) if they are idol figures or celebrities who prey on the by-standers for their popularity, or for their happiness.”
2. ‘Prostitution won’t go away’? Sure, I am not arguing for elimination of prostitution – I am arguing against the promotion of compensated dating by teenage girls in national media. So you are missing the point.
3. You said, “He did his part and created an opportunity to talk about it.” — that’s why I am talking about it. Got any problems with that?
4. It is specifically about Japanese – again, this essay is an argument for why Japan is specifically different from other cultures in this respect; the fact that you didn’t get that proves you didn’t read any of my articles.
5. “However, one might argue, as many in fact did including idols themselves, that it is one of the requirement in becoming an idol to be seen as a public, and oftentimes a sexual, object. Being objectified by the public is, in fact, a part of their job. This much is perhaps true in all cultures where idols and celebrities are concerned in the form of entertainment. But what needs to be emphasized here is the fact that female idols and male idols were seen completely differently from one another, and that while the excess of admiration for male idols, i.e. athletic abilities, leads to men’s motivation for being healthy and athletic, the excess of admiration for female idols, i.e. sexuality, leads to a completely different direction. It encourages women to be sexual, as opposed to men’s being athletic.”
6. The same as above; because the there is something fundamentally different about watching a korean TV drama with no nudity and watching a 14 years old singing in half-naked to ‘relax’.
7. Are you serious? I am not just talking about the songs – I am talking about their form of performance, which include songs, costumes, and promotions of certain other things.
Stop accusing people for not responding to criticism because they cannot answer – before doing that, make very sure you have read the opposing arguments.
How weird apparently I cannot post a reply. Tried it several times but it’s not showing. What a shitty blog engine is this?
It keeps saying
“Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!”
Even though I cannot see my comment…
try posting not as a reply to me but as a reply to this article?
Again not showing. Does it have a limit on character count?
So let’s try a shorter reply then…
1. “Furthermore, just because the exploited are okay with being exploited does not make the exploitation itself okay either.”
And I’m saying they are NOT exploited. They cannot be okay with being exploited if they are not exploited to begin with. All your long wall of text supposedly replying to my 1st point is thus irrelevant because I argued your starting premise. They are NOT EXPLOITED so they cannot be okay with it either.
2. “I am not arguing for elimination of prostitution – I am arguing against the promotion of compensated dating by teenage girls in national media.”
Since it won’t go away you can argue against the media showing it all you want but that way you are only achieving in masking the problem and not facing it. If you don’t allow the media to show it that won’t make the phenomenon disappear.
3. “that’s why I am talking about it. Got any problems with that?”
Yes I have a problem with it because you don’t give credit where it’s due. Thank the man that he created the opportunity for you to cry about it and don’t blame the man for opening your eyes.
1. Okay, so that’s where we disagree. I think they are exploited and it is possible to get exploited without being conscious about it – actually, that’s how exploitation work. But if you don’t agree so strongly about it, I respectfully disagree with you, and that’s that.
2. Elementary school kids and junior high school kids are obsessed with AKB48 in many regions in Japan. Hearing 13 year old girls saying ‘I want to be pretty like them’ is the concern I have here. Like John Stuart Mill says, if someone wants to be a prostitute, that’s none of my business, but they have to seek to find the places to go to become a prostitute. It should not be publicly available all the time, day and night.
3. So what’s next. First you thank him, and that’s it? No questions asked? That sounds like a religion to me. You just thank God (or whoever the leader is), and never question his authority? Sure, his marketing strategy allowed me to address this issue, which I have had for a long time about this aspect of Japanese society, but you are saying I should just shut up, even if I disagree and thank him, period? It sounds like you are saying ‘he allowed us to talk about this issue, so don’t talk about it’. Doesn’t make sense.
2. So wanting to be pretty like them means they want to be a prostitute. Interesting deduction to say the least. Just because he shows those kind of stuff doesn’t mean he condones it and it certainly doesn’t mean the kids don’t know about it already.
3. Uhm where did I say you cannot talk about it? All I am saying is that you should be thankful for him for showing the problem to society SO PPL CAN START DISCUSSING ABOUT IT. Since AKB are big they cannot be ignored so the themes they pick up will be talked about which should be a good thing for you. If you, a nobody (pardon me but that’s the truth), brings up these kind of problems, ppl could just dismiss them with a simple “lol those things are just urban legends” or whatever. But when a figure of authority raises questions then ppl listen. And that’s when you can have a debate about how to deal with said problems. You shouldn’t blame him for holding a mirror in front of you.
This is ridiculous. Why do I have to cut my responses? Your reply was way longer and yet it allowed to be posted and I have to keep truncating mine.
4. “again, this essay is an argument for why Japan is specifically different from other cultures in this respect; the fact that you didn’t get that proves you didn’t read any of my articles.”
And I’m saying Japan is NOT different. Don’t let your hatred towards your supposedly own country blind you. Japan is not that different. The same kind of “problems” exist in other countries too. Your ignorance about them won’t change that.
5. This is the most vague part of your “paper” actually. First of define objectification. How is women drooling over a Johnny’s idol different from a wota drooling over an akb idol? It’s irrelevant what was the part in their appearance that resulted in the sexual pleasure of the viewer.
First off – stop quibbling about the webpage – it’s not like I made it or have control over it. Deal with it.
4. Okay, if you think that, again, I respectfully disagree.
5. I think it is relevant in what way people see them as – as sexual objects or as role models, as a fictional character or as pop-idols? With AKB48, and others since the end of 80’s, there is not clear boundary between sexuality and idols when it comes to female idols. That’s how I feel about the general attitudes (which becomes quite obvious when you get on the train – most regular trains, or when you go to bookstores – all the idol magazines are not different from Stars magazine or People magazine. This fact is obvious from the fact that in bookstores, they put idol magazines right beside or in the same area as porn magazines – also this is true at convenience stores). By objectification, I mean what is generally meant, i.e. to see people as mere objects for enjoyment. I do not, as I said, particularly have a problem with objectification in general, that is in the area of popular entertainment, since being a celebrity is a sort of assent to objectification. But I have a problem when girls like 14 years olds are sexually portrayed, i.e. sexually objectified, for mostly male viewing audience. I see AKB48 as a slippery slope type of argument in that ‘if objectification is granted as a star, then a different form of objectification, i.e. sexual, should also be okay,in so far as it is still an objectification. Also women drooling over Johnny’s idols and men drooling over AKB48 members are essentially different – I don’t see how you don’t see that. One is placed under the category of pornography while the other is under entertainment. One is promoting teenage promiscuity while the other is again simply entertainment with some morals to tell (in the case of Korean shows).
But, that being said, if any of you misunderstands me as saying I criticize ALL the AKB48 fans, that would be a mistake. I am criticizing the general attitudes of the society towards the acceptance or tolerance of this sort of promotion. If you as an individual fan just likes the group for general entertainment in the same way as someone may see Johnny’s idols as an entertainment, then I have no problem with that. I am not attacking the individuals here, I am attacking the social attitude regarding things like this in Japan.
(responding to your second set of criticism)
2. That’s not what I am saying – though if it is easily mistaken that I am saying ‘all girls wanting to look pretty like AKB48 want to be prostitute’ or some line of argument, that’s not what I am saying. I am not criticizing the individuals in general, but general attitudes that AKB48 creates about social attitudes. Clearly, many girls do feel like they should be more sexy if they want to get attention – the standard of what is sexy has been raised way too high by AKB48 groups. The kind of social pressure, or social imposition of what women in early teenage girls should do, that this group is promoting has a devastating influence on the general public and moral attitudes of the country. This is a reflection of the indifference to voicing ethical problems in Japanese society; I believe AKB48 as a phenomenon is a social problem and a mirror of what Japanese social morality has come to.
3. Okay, then stop talking about how I should not talk about blaming the guy; the guy who made this happen is a large part of this problem. So I do say what he did wrong or why what he did has a bad influence on Japanese (pop) culture. After all, he is the guy who made this happen – how can you talk about this problem without talking about the source of the problem?
But who are you to decide what’s too sexy for girls? How can you possibly know what is too much and what is acceptable? To me it seems like you have a set of values and you expect everyone to follow them. What if the majority don’t think like you? Then your norm becomes the deviation.
So you are blaming Akimoto for showing girls dressed and acting in a sexy manner that is above your tolerance. But what if the majority don’t agree with you? What if girls don’t agree with you? Should they just follow your ethical and moral codes because you think so? Did you do a survey asking young girls if they think society and peers expect them to dress in a more sexy way than they would normally like to? Do you have proof that this is the opinion of the majority of young girls? If not then I don’t see what moral grounds you have to demand japanese society to change.
Are you seriously saying that? Do you honestly conceive no problems whatsoever with this group or other ‘abnormal’ aspect of Japanese culture?
Japan is positively known for many things, but it is also negatively known for its Hentai-stic child pornographic attitude and its tolerance. Do you know watch news at all? Or are you saying that news does not AT ALL reflect on a majority? Tell me, instead of keep criticizing what I should or should not say, what is your opinion on child pornography? If you think it’s morally permissible to expose children to pornography and that they are not exploited because they get paid enough, then I have nothing to say to you, and clearly, by any standard that is not what humans take to be normal or acceptable. (I’m obviously drawing the evident connection to AKB48’s apparent promotion of child pornography, which is one of the major criticisms against AKB48 in the International community.)
First of all, dude chill. What kind of a philosopher are you if you can’t even do an argument in a calm manner. Also what kind of an intellect would result to attacking the person instead of the argument? Don’t try to assume things about me because you’ll be wrong. I have studied at a university in Japan and majored in japanology so I know about japanese culture. Don’t try to lecture me. Furthermore I have talked about akb with university students and know full well that girls like akb because they are cute, have cool dresses, use vivid colors and they make songs easy to sing at karaoke bars. All the while most univ student guys don’t care about akb period. The ones I’ve talked to all thought they were too girly. If you indeed are japanese and live in Japan you would know that japan as a whole think of AKB as cute as opposed to sexy.
Also none of that child prostitution crap comes up as serious argument against them because it’s just the imagination of sick minds. Don’t go back on our argument again because we already agreed to disagree about akb exploiting the girls. Also said I don’t agree that akb condones child pornography. So stop reusing arguments.
Also don’t try to turn my arguments over and use them against me because I’m not the one who is judging and trying to force my opinion as facts onto others but YOU. You have explaining to do about what grounds you have to demand change and not ME.
BTW you trying to demonize AKB and trying to portray them as a virus is pretty pathetic in the light of all the things they’ve done after the Touhoku Earthquake. Did you know how many millions of Yen they donated and how many tours they did in the areas to cheer ppl up? I know because I was there. I was in Sendai when the earthquake struck and I was in the area through all the aftershocks.
also, using the same argument as yours, who are you to say your standard, i.e. not my standard, is right and is the majority of opinions? Did you actually conduct a survey and the majority agreed with you that I am writing something that does not reflect the moral standard? If not, then I don’t see what moral grounds you have to demand Japanese society to stay as it is.
Besides, I have lived in Japan – this is a general feeling we have; this attitudes towards women in society, particularly in Japan. (I say particularly, because that’s the setting we grew up) Is it not pretentious of you to assume you know much better about what Japanese people actually feel in their daily dealings? You only know Japan from what’s on TV or what’s reported, right? This is not just AKB48 I ‘m talking about – AKB48 stands for something much much larger. It’s the reflection of the last 20-30 years of male dominant way of thinking of things *in* society in Japan. Unless you don’t get that – that is why I took time to explain the genealogy of Japanese Idols – and if you only think I am just writing about AKB48 because I personally don’t like them, you would never understand what this article is about.
Dude I’m not the one saying my standard is right. It’s you. You are the one saying AKB is immoral and unethical and not me. For you to say that one must assume you think you are morally superior to them. Hence my question. What makes you think you are morally superior and what makes you think your standard is the standard of the majority? All you do is state opinions as facts but that won’t do. You have to back them up with research, surveys etc.
Ready2;
Good. Okay, you have a point there. I am sorry. It sounded like you were arguing/disagreeing for the sake of arguing/disagreeing without having any of your own point to make. And I am sorry about making an assumption about you – that was very un-philosophic of me.
I do want to know, though, what you think of this group. Do you really see no problems? Or do you think if there are problems they are so minor that they don’t need to be addressed? What I don’t understand is if you know so much about the group, why do you find my arguments so repulsive? And don’t you think the kind of influence they are producing (sure, ‘cute’ rather than ‘sexy’ but AKB48 is unlike other previously popular idol groups who were ‘cute’ – I feel Nietzsche’s phrase: the first innocuous effect relatively innocuous of it is the corruption of their taste, really resonates what AKB48 is doing – cuteness here is overlapping with sexiness; AKB48 is making the boundary ambiguous) is harmful to the minds of people rather than doing good? Also another reason why I attack the producer is because of its marketing strategy – while AKB48 did donate a lot of money and did contribute to the people and area of Touhoku Earthquake, at the same time, people who are ‘forced’ into buying the identical CDs for handshake conventions, etc…, are economically depressed. Their marketing strategy is preying on those who become obsessed – in a very similar way to drug addiction or virus does (they get to those who are vulnerable and devour the life out of them).
But again, I cannot stress this enough, I am not only singlehandedly picking out AKB48 and attacking them as who they are, so to speak. I am attacking what they represent. I do praise their raising money for the victims of the earthquake; I am not attacking that. But just because they do once in a while things that are socially admirable does not mean they are off the hook with the other things they may be producing. AKB48 is the mirror of modernity of Japanese culture. Their appearances everywhere is slowly but surely affecting the minds of the young people – just as any popular culture tends to do. I believe AKB48 has transgressed that border where people (women and girls) become mere commodities and objects rather than ‘people’ with dignity and worthy of respect.
I thought I explained why I think this group is morally condemnable in my essays. If you don’t agree with me on this, that’s fine. I am not forcing anyone to agree with me. I am just laying out what I feel/think about this phenomenon, and hoping people would share the similar views. But if you don’t, then I have no desire to try to convert you into something you don’t believe in. If you have thought about this so much, then that’s all I want you to do. If you still disagree, fine. But why are you trying to convince me that I am wrong on basically all points? You cannot possibly believe there is no problems with the AKB48 phenomenon, can you? I mean, have you been talking to others around you? I have a good friend of mine (Japanese; living in Japan) who is a AKB48 fan and he buys AKB48 items and has been to handshake conventions, etc… But he is able to distinguish the immorality they bring into the society from benefits they bring into the society – for those people I have no issues whatsoever if they like AKB48 or anything else. What I have problems or what I am addressing here is the raising of awareness that groups like them can numb you and make you into believing that it really is normal. AKB48 or popular culture is setting a standard for everyone – and they went to raise it too high (or too low, intellectually speaking) this time. That’s what I am objecting against. Many people do not see the kinds of effect – mixed effects of good and bad – and confuse them and say ‘it’s normal’. I am trying to say that people do need to recognize what is morally reprehensible about them and what is not.
Also one more thing, it seems you are saying that the burden of proof lies with me and not you. And you seem to think I am forcing my opinions onto you – don’t get defensive. If you have already thought about the implications this group has, and you still choose to cheer for them, overlooking their immoral attitudes (towards music, towards people and towards society), then you are free to do so. Besides, I am not talking about scientific facts here – in whcih case I do need a concrete evidence to support my thesis, but here I am dealing with ethical issues – perceptions. Such that you cannot produce scientific evidence that is either true or false. This is a practical science, not a theoretical science. It deals with particulars, not with universals. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me; I just raise issues that are obvious social concerns for Japan to deal with. And Akimoto did not “open” my eyes – my eyes have been open, I just was not concerned enough to publicly critisize any groups until AKB48. Another problem I have with you is that you seem to think we have to be thankful for Akimoto for raising this issue. Are you serious? Do you have to be thankful to the criminals whenever crimes are committed that catch people’s attention? AKB48 did make it possible for me to address this larger issue with Japanese society but there is no need for me to be ‘thankful’ to the guy who is responsible. You say some good things but your reasoning is oftentimes wicked. Do you or do you know see any problems with groups like AKB48? Or are you just here to argue for the same of argument? Further, what any other moral grounds do I need to give other than simply ‘it is derogatory to women and girls’ and that ‘it portraits gender skewed view of what ‘beauty’ is’? What is your point?
You still don’t get what I’m talking about it seems. When I say you need to back what you are talking about I mean claims like this: “it is derogatory to women and girls”. This is not a fact this is how YOU feel. So what I am saying is let the concerned decide. Since you are not a woman (I presume) you should survey girls and ask them if they actually feel that akb is bad for them. Do they feel that akb objectifies them and if so is it problematic for them? Until you do that you’re just using your assumptions to give foundation to your claims. That is not enough in my opinion. You need more than that.
When you say “obvious social concerns” again I have qualms with your “obvious” claim. There may or may not be social concerns but they are certainly not obvious. I guess my problem with what you say is how you present it as undeniable and indisputable even though it’s far from it. As long as you see things in black and white your writing will always divide people and you will be met with hostility.
As long as you portray AKB and Akimoto as the ultimate evil we will just not take you seriously. When you compare Akimoto to actual criminals we’ll just laugh at you. I’m sorry but this is the truth. You cannot exaggerate to your heart’s content. Well you can but you won’t be taken seriously and I doubt this is what you want.
If you want my opinion about the group I’ll tell you. I don’t care about their PVs or about their music. I only care about their appearances on tv shows because I find them entertaining. I don’t think they are objectified because I think about them as a kind of actors because they all portray characters. There are sexy characters, moe characters, funny characters, sporty characters etc. I enjoy how they portray themselves and how they react to different scenarios. I like to see how they deal with batsu games and how they try to accomplish different tasks etc.
I guess I just see idols differently than you. After the earthquake they said a key point imo: they always talked about how the only thing they can do to help is to make people smile, to cheer others up. This is what they are good at in my opinion and this is how ppl not biased against them react when they see them on tv. Their naivety, their energy, their pureness (god forbid I wrote that down. don’t start on that I know all too well they are not pure but at least they try to portray themselves as such which is in this world imo a feat in itself and quiet refreshing), their positiveness recharges the viewer after a long and tiring day.
No matter what you say you’ll just never convince me that they are the enemies of morality, the “neo-virus” of Japan. Even if I can concede they can put pressure on regular girls you are just over the line with your hyperboles. They are no worse than all those women magazines showing all the skinny models as figures for regular girls to look up to.
Okay, point taken. You made a good argument there. I guess at this point, people I can appeal to are the people who already share my concerns.
Just two things I want to ask you for clarification, if I may. 1) You say that I need to take actual surveys from the girls whether it is problematic or they find it derogatory. I would agree, but as I said earlier, the nature of exploitation is such that these people are not themselves often aware of the implications or exploitations they are under. So, by necessity, asking those who are exploited or the target of exploitation if they think they are being exploited is like asking people who are ignorant about what they are ignorant of if they are ignorant, to use the old Platonic argument. Is it not irrational to ask for this kind of proof when dealing with issues like this? 2) You say that people like me should be thankful to the guy who made this discussion possible, and in response, I brought up criminals committing crimes. But in any context, *ASSUMING* that what AKB48 brought to society is bad influence, assuming that were the case (I know that I need to first prove that), would you still think we should be thankful to him, the guy who made this group? If this assumption is taken for granted, then the analogy to criminals is not really inappropriate – certainly nothing to be laughed at. When someone, say, blows up a building, and because of that, cautionary measure has been taken since then, would you be thankful to the one who blew up the building? When someone stalks you, and because of that, you begin to be actively engaged in prevention of stalking , for instance, would you be thankful to the stalker?
To someone who thinks and believes AKB48 is a bad influence, like me, this analogy of criminals do not seek so out of reason. Of course, people like you might find it ridiculous and unfounded. I just don’t understand why you can say things like ‘you should be thankful to him’ to people whose opinions are contrary to yours. That comment can only be accepted by those who share your view points, but you can never convince people like me to be thankful to the guy who is responsible for, what we believe to be, moral decadence.
Please define “Pornography” (in your own words).
More specifically, please define “Child Pornography”.
1. I don’t really agree with the analogy there. It’s more like asking of the ignorant if they knew about this or that and if they didn’t then do they think it’s a problem. But even this is not a close enough analogy for my liking.
Basically in my definition for them to be exploited they need to be treated unfairly and they need to be put through things that are detrimental in some way. If they cannot notice anything negative then they are either not exploited or the exploitation’s level is so low I don’t see how that would justify you treating it as a menace.
2. But you assuming is exactly the problem here. It’s like guilty until proven otherwise. Since you haven’t proven yet that what they are doing is so harmful to women I don’t think it’s fair that you already sentenced him so to speak. Again the blowing up analogy is not valid in my opinion. That doesn’t need to be proven it’s a fact. The guy blew up something, he’s a criminal but you only assume what Akimoto’s doing is problematic and yet you already are convinced he’s just as bad. Again if someone’s stalking he’s already committing the crime. Not the case with Akimoto until you proved that what he did is really bad influence.
I can say ppl should be thankful to him because a) what he did is not proven to be vile yet, b) it already proved it’s value by raising questions which is a fact since here we are discussing it.
His bad intentions are yet to be proven but the benefits are palpable.
Okay, I see. So it seems we do disagree on quite many things, e.g. definitions, but your comments have been valuable, and I should keep them in mind. You’ve certainly raised many good points, and thank you for the discussions.
Well I’m glad if I could shed some light on the thinking of the “other side” and especially if you’ll take some parts of it into consideration in the future.
Have a nice day.
Hello! I must say i’m so happy to have found your site! I though I was the only one who was thinking this about AKB48 and its negative effecs on society! it just astonish me that their so popular and their so degrading towords women, men and society and since their so popular with not just otaku but with kids this is gonna leave an impression on them for the rest of their lives. AKB48 is telling girls this is the ideal of feminity young, thin, light skin,big eyes and its sad thats the only form of body image you see in AKB48 and it also teaches boys this is the ideal of a female, and how to treat them that women are less then them!
what makes me also so angry is the people claming oo this is just media pop group why complain? hello we are living in a world today that media is in full control! I was born in 91 and sadly guess where most of my peers learn life, sex, love, politics, body image it is inn media, music, and movies and its a disease controling people with out them even knowing it. I really really beilve this huge of effect of AKB48 is doing alot of harm to japan culturally and to the next generation watching them, this is actually gonna set women and men behind in terms of equality and life. It;s very very sad to see this happening, but im happy your here and others speaking out agasin’t it
Hello Vivien;
Thank you for your comment; surprisingly, you are the first to say something positive about this article. 🙂 So I appreciate your comment. I agree with you – the media have a lot to do with this exploitation in general. People, including myself, are often oblivious to how much our attitudes and thinking are formed by the media – you can see the proof of it from the threads of the comments on this post. It’s a conceptual system we live in, and when this system is disturbed, there always are people who get seriously offended and become defensive about their beliefs. However, what they say, at least some of it, prove to be strong arguments, and in order to appeal to them, I need to make this case more philosophical. This specific post of AKB48 as a virus is not a philosophic piece – it’s written to appeal to people without formal training in philosophy, such that a lot of what I write is not strongly supported by solid reasoning and examples. This is enough to bring out public awareness for those of us who have strong objections to (some of) what media are doing to the society, but apparently not enough to defeat arguments from those whose mind has been set before even reading this post. I thought I would stop writing, but after several points made by my opponents, I feel I need to write one more article on this, which is more philosophical in nature, and systematic as well as descriptive, as opposed to ‘mere opinions’.
It won’t be a while until I complete it, since I have other things to do too, but I am hoping to complete by this summer. There really is no guarantee but please do keep coming back to my blog once in a while to see if I have updated something. You should be able to click on ‘AKB48’ in the categories that appear on the right column to see if there is a newer post easily. Thank you again for your comment.
Issei
Bravo! I completely agree with you. You elaborate the problem very well. Your arguments are strikingly strong. You see through the veil, just as expected from a philosopher.
I have problem with your way to saying what you said. Too long and somewhat redundant. But, well, you have the ‘academic paper’ tag on it, so I guess it’s justified. It’s also what makes your writing so elaborative, though. Do you actually publish this in academic societies, like university or some sort?
There’s a problem once you began to say things like like decadence of art, music, and morality. Those things are getting unclear each day. In case you haven’t realize, the popular culture is the epitome of the decadence of art and music. Before the rise of popular culture, we have high art and classical music as our aesthetics entertainment (in the western view, of course). However, for the last fifty years, the ‘low culture’ is rising and has become a popular culture (rock ‘n roll, the beatles, woodstock, anime). Nothing strange about it. The ‘high’ art and music are difficult to grasp anyway. That’s why today we have the term ‘high art/music/culture’ and ‘popular art/music/culture’. Each one has their own places, their own territory. If you want to enjoy the ‘real’ aesthetic pleasure, go to art gallery or classical music concert. If you want to have some cheap entertainment, just watch TV. However, I do agree that some popular culture products are actually good and not all that kitschy, others are not only cheap but also degrading. This is the gray area you’re trying to get in, am I right?
Now, the problem of morality. What’s the standard? How can we say one thing is right and other is wrong? Should we look back to Kantian ethics? Religion? Traditional values? Or scientific studies that give us understanding one thing may cause undesired consequences? Or maybe simply the moral compass inside us?
Also, I think this case of AKB48 applies to many other kinds of popular music idols, be it a person, a small, or large group. I would like to hear your opinion about Korean girlbands. They are obviously flirtuous. Their music is catchy, but just as cheap as other pop music. You enjoy them ultimately by ‘seeing’ not ‘listening’. However, they are actually talented. They can actually sing, dance, and some of them, act. Unlike AKB48 that sell ordinary qualities, Korean girlbands are really the dream girls. Worth to mention, I heard most of them had plastic surgery. What do you think about that?
Lasly, from my point of view, you’re an idealist and somewhat conservative, and I meant that in a good way. Sorry for the long response, possibly bad English, and have a good day 🙂
Thank you for your comment. I’ll try to answer your questions now;
As for the definition of art, well, there is a long tradition in philosophy of aesthetics what counts as art, but generally speaking, I am calling an art decadent if it goes against the original sense in which the word was used – τεχνη – that is, skill; art; talent. Such that this word, “art”, has to do with production, not production of any meaningless things or that which deteriorates the current state of condition, but that which improves it. Art has strived to achieve this end for the entire history – whenever there was a deviation from it, those ‘arts’ have been criticized. For instance, Wagner’s music was, for Nietztsche, not art per se. Although it is a classical music, and you might want to classify it as a ‘high art’, but Nietzsche could not see it as an art. Why? Because it embodied ‘unenlightenment’ and promoted audience to accept rather than question what is told to be the case in the operas. His music precisely did the opposite of what art should do by definition – that is, it deprived people of the will to question or doubt – which was for Nietzsche, too ‘Christian’ in the sense that the music has the authoritative power and anyone who disagrees with Wagner was deemed ‘conservative’ or ‘nay-sayers’ and looked at pejoratively. What Nietzsche was saying is that before we jump into conclusion that those people who say bad things about Wagner’s music are ‘wrong’ to criticize, we should stop and ask ourselves, ‘what is it that this form of art is doing to the whole society?’
Enlightenment is, as you are probably aware, nothing but the ability to call norms into questions and ask ourselves if it is what we take it to be, and if it does harm or not. Well, I’m paraphrasing largely here, but that’s what Kant says in ‘What is Enlightenment?’ in 1794.
In that sense, popular culture is just this: the lack of, or privation of, enlightenment. I think this is an inevitable consequence of capitalistic society, and I am okay with it most of the time. Just as Nietztsche says, ‘decay is universal’, right? As long as it is an entertainment period, I’m fine with it. My problem is that when this form of entertainment preys on specific groups of people or gender. You seem to use ‘conservative’ to mean anyone who does not go as far as freedom allows us to, but I don’t agree with that statement. For example, by your definition, if a whole society agrees to humiliate women in public, and if you try ti disagree, you would be a conservative. I don’t that’s what conservative means. Also the word conservative changes over time too. In the midst of globalization, if you insist on speaking only one language or stay in one country even if you have a chance to learn or visit another country, that would be a conservative point of view. If you hold onto the views held 2 or 3 generations before at present moment, even though there is much benefit to be had with the present system, then you would be a conservative, because you are holding onto the view ‘just because’ that’s how you or your parents grew up. But what I am saying here with AKB48 is nothing new. In the International communities, when more and more people are defending the rights of women and try to reconsider the role of women in society, Japan seems to be still in the mindset of women being subordinate to men in society. I think AKB48 is a proof of that (though, I believe a lot of my readers may not be satisfied with this; for those who are not convinced, please wait for my next article on AKB48, where I will try to make it clear what I mean by this).
As for standard of morality, I don’t think there is a specific standard you can point to. I am an Aristotelian on this that I believe ethics is about particulars not universals. You cannot have, for instance, utilitarian calculus or categorical imperative that admit of no exception. So it’s not like I am saying ‘whenever women show off their skins, it should be censored.’ That’s not what I am saying at all. AKB48 embodies much larger issues socially inherent in Japanese culture for a long time. I am attacking that – or at least I am trying to articulate what it is. Well, for the moment, without much success. So, I do need to write another piece of article which deals specifically with philosophical consequences of allowing such groups as AKB48 to continue to prosper. So please be patient, and look forward to my next piece on AKB48. 🙂
About Korean idols, I really cannot tell you, since I am not in the culture and do not know what social implications it has on people in Korea, as much as I do in Japan. If they are following the trend of Japanese pop-culture, and they have no other reasons for doing what they do, then I would advise people to be aware of the messages that could be sent to general populace. Art, as I said, has to do with productive production. And if it’s an entertainment, as opposed to art, then it should not exploit one gender over another or underage girls. That would be my view.
I hope I answered all your questions. Thank you again for reading my posts and commenting on it. I will have to work on not being redundant next time. 😉
Issei
Why can’t girls appeal to their sexuality while men are also appealing to their sexuality in being athletic and sporty, which is what women are sexually attracted to?”<= thankyou! I just despise it when ppl complain about double standards like this. Though I only read 3/4 of this essay, I agree with you. Groups like snsd aren't that great at singing (one of them is really good, 4 of them are pretty good while the others I can guarantee are better than at least 90% of akb48 members and definitely all of sdn48 members (that gee cover was horrendous). Anyways, my point is, snsd, who as a whole would not be considered strong in the singing department is highly regarded in Japan for their singing and dancing. Just how much did Jpop idols like akb48 lower the bar?
Kudos (tardily) to you, Issei, for taking on this issue.
Re girl’s sexual expression vs. men’s: It’s important always to remember the existing power imbalance between men and women, and especially between men and girls, before positing some false equivalency between the two. Men’s sexuality as expressed towards women usually carries an implicit threat of potential coercion or worse (whether or not any particular man is a coercer or not, and many, perhaps even most, are not) which flows from the existing (patriarchal to some degree at least) social context. We men do not have the benefit of the doubt, thanks to the sexist power structure into which we’ve all been born. (Part of the problem if you’re not part of the solution, etc.)
Girls’ sexuality does not have this same aspect (leaving aside the extremely rare cases of false accusations of rape or other cold-blooded uses of sex for manipulation, the latter, in any case, often being a pragmatic response by females to the reality of their opportunities for effective agency being blocked by mens’ sexist attitudes. Watch a few episodes of Mad Men, e.g., for illustrations of this male privilege and female accommodation of and adaptation to it, in an era in the USA that was much like the way mainstream Japanese society still is, as far as I can tell.)
i’m agree with ready2… sorry issei, 🙂
Don’t be sorry – you are free to agree or disagree with anyone. Ready2 does make some good points, though I fundamentally disagree with him. But that just means I didn’t make it clear enough what I meant to argue in this article. I’ll have to argue better next time.
I strongly disagree with ready2. It was very apparent that he enjoys AKB48. Yes, his thinking is fundamentally different. “What makes you think you are morally superior and what makes you think your standard is the standard of the majority? All you do is state opinions as facts but that won’t do. You have to back them up with research, surveys etc.” According to this statement, his foundation is public thought. But I would challenge that as a “group-think fallacy.” What happened when all the scientists gave permission for takeoff of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986? They were all convinced that it was safe, yet they were wrong. Or what about the discovery of the Coelacanth or soft tissue in a Tyrannosaur bone? Did these not upset the world of paleontology? His foundation lacks something deep, true and necessary for all of us, and I hope you’ll listen to this too, isseicreekphilosophy , for while I agree with you on almost everything you’ve said regarding AKB48, I wonder about your foundation as well. The foundation I submit to you is this: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and father of Jesus Christ, the God of the whole earth, the God of the universe. This is my foundation. This God of whom I am telling you said “You shall not commit adultery.” And Jesus Christ, says “Truly I say to you, anyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Many will disagree with it and mock it, but it is true. Anyone who encourages or else takes part in public sexual appeal is wrong, because God said so (not me!). Contrary to what the world teaches, God wants people to enjoy sexual appeal in private within His ordinance of marriage. I’m glad that isseicreekphilosophy chose AKB48, because it is currently the most popular of these groups and yes, will draw more attention. Do I hate the girls or even Akimoto himself? Do I say that everything they are doing is wrong? Am I claiming to be better than everyone? No, no, no! It is their shameless, immodest, damaging approach to sexuality that I despise. As a mere human being, I feel the attractive force of the sexual appeal they exert and have decided to fight rather than give in.
Hi! I totally support your article. I really dislike AKB48. I feel a wrong sense of moral promoting music like that. AKB48 is just using sexuality to “cover” up horrible music (i don’t think akb48 can sing either). This is clearly my personal opinion through feelings but I can’t help feeling so wrong for the moral of japanese women…. Its just my natural instinct as a woman myself. Imagine a boy band promoting the same way as AKB48. I’ll bet its all the same for both sexes.
By the way, what do you think about nude art? Are nude arts and promoting music with body exposure like what AKB48 does are similar/same? In terms of controversy or whatsoever. As you know, music, art, theatrical film etc, are all definition/forms of the arts. You can choose to ignore the second paragraph if it is not answerable towards your job profession. I apologizes in advance. Maybe nude art has nothing to do with AKB48 who is just promoting the wrong way.
Hello Rae rae;
Thank you for your comment. I think your feelings are most authoritative barometer for what is ethical and what is not – if some people disagree, then you will have to be able to support your feelings by argument, but essentially, morality derives its origin from feelings, unlike mathematical formulae that require rational arguments first and foremost. A lot of people don’t seem to realize that, who are criticizing my articles. They seem to think, like any business model and economic calculations, morality has to be addressed in universals, i.e. by rationality only. It does irritate me to see those people opine with conviction that they are right, especially since what has happened n the history – all those slavery and racism were solely based on rational arguments – in fact, slavery was a necessary aspect in society if it were to prosper and survive. Slavery was the most rational conclusion in growing city-states in ancient Greece, for instance. (This is obviously true, since slavery doesn’t require you to pay them, and you can use the slaves however you want, so there is no economical output while the supplies and products are being multiplied; of course it is good for the city’s development, rationally speaking, but it’s plain wrong.)
Perhaps because of the prevailing materialism in the living attitudes in the Western societies, people came to think of ethics also in terms of rationalistic terms, which is a categorical mistake. But those who are making that mistake are like those who live under one form of economic system (like in pre-Marxism era) who cannot think outside their system. It’s a whole lot of work to try to make this kind of change in societies because of that.
Now, answering to your question, nude arts are somewhat different. First though, I’d like to make a distinction between nude arts and pornography. These two are radically different things, and to talk about pornography is a very tricky thing and I am not qualified to be able to talk about it. (though I do make it clear that pornography as a result of sex trafficking and child pornography and the like are clearly wrong without qualification) With regard ti the AKB48 as a form of pornography, however, I do hold the view that any pornography is without qualification, i.e. no matter what, wrong if it is done on a social level, especially if it is done to promote it as ‘innocent’ and lure people who would otherwise not do pornography into the industry. Again, I invoke John Stuart Mill, and say that pornography itself is permissible, but it has to be located in a place such that one has to painstakingly undergo research to find it. It is certainly not okay to promote it on a broadcasting network in day through night.
Now, as for nude arts, the problem hinges on the definition of what one takes an art to mean. But I think it’s agreeable to say, at least, that even women who are opposed to pornography find nude female body (as well as male body) beautiful and aesthetic. Many prominent painters in the past have drawn nude female bodies and these painting are displayed at nationally founded museums, and nobody really complains about it. Rather, teachers take students in a field trip to see those paintings as a form of art class. (of course, they don’t go to museums just to see the nude female body paintings and nothing else.) “If done properly,” I believe nude arts in general are completely acceptable. But what this ‘if done properly’ means is a complex matter with which I cannot speak with any authority.
I hope this answers your question.
Issei
brilliant! i totally agree how nonsense akb is and their music!
and in fact AKB have about 60 pv (bikini pv only 4 songs).
bikini pv = always summer season (year 1 time)
flying get is record awards 2011.
AKB fans are not only otaku.
Genius.
Really enjoyed reading your article. I remembered my first introduction to AKB48 via a friend’s recommendation. I remembered having my bottom glued upon the chair while staring blankly at my laptop’s screen, losing all coherent thoughts and could only respond with a single, “Er-” to my friend’s “How is it?” I remembered going to lectures after that with the lyric ‘I love you baby baby baby’ and images of cute girls in bikinis (With me being a girl, I think it was pretty perverse on my part) played unceasingly at the back of my mind.
Experimentally, I searched their other songs. Astonishingly enough, the same effect happened. It’s funny, because neither of their songs or PVs are particular to my taste. Then, your article mentioned virus, and I had to chuckle at that. Their songs’ appeals (I’m not saying about bad or good music) are literally injecting my brain like a virus, and believe me, it became quite frustrating after some times.
I have many opinions on the matter, but that’s not what I’m going to ramble about. Instead, I’m going to imagine myself as Akimoto. True, the thoughts and reactions are probably 99% still mine but, hey, I’m trying. Akimoto-Me, browsing the Internet (let’s bare the possibility that it would be quite impossible for the real Akimoto to browse the Internet reading some random blogs) and find this article. After reading it, Akimoto-Me is simply amused; silently applauding himself for his masterpiece project and the fact that this kind of article would only pass as ‘ridiculous’ or ‘paranoid’ to majority of people (I noticed few had suggested you to ‘seek help’. I had ‘seek help’ by the way, to hard-core metal rock. The only effect I got was my ears’ probable future doom, while AKB48’s songs was still gloriously latched inside my mind). ‘Muhahaha!’ Akimoto-Me’s musing, ‘Keep talking, my boy, keep talking.’ Laughing. ‘This is so entertaining. Power’s so much fun, hahaha. Keep talking. No one’s actually listening anyway.’
Okay, that was 100% me.
My point? You’ve pointed out pretty solid arguments, but toads (or frogs?) will only realize they are being boiled after it is too late. I’m a toad (or frog; whichever that is correct), I realized that a long time ago. I know many bad things happen around me but not until one poked me in the eye had I really swallowed its true meaning. Many people are probably toads/frogs too. In fact, I think this world’s filled with were-toads/were-frogs. So for those who are not were-toads/were-frogs (You perhaps?) don’t stop with the poking. We need a lot of poking. Seriously. One of the most extraordinary ability of were-toads/were-frogs is thinking that we are right even if evidences are blaring the truth in front of our flared nostrils.
Ganbarou!
(I’m positively bookmarking your blog. I find your other articles on Witchcraft quite some readings.)
Awesome blog.
Thanks a ton Issei.
Got sum reason
I would like to bring up one point: competition is non-existent.
I’ve listen to the songs, see the dance of other Japanese female idols. In my opinion, they are extremely unsatisfying and extremely unappealing.
I think the reason is that Japanese musicians and Japanese music companies look down on the idol genre.
– they refuse to compose good songs for female idols
– they refuse to write good lyrics for female idols
– they refuse to design good choreography for female idols
– they refuse to design good looking outfits for female idols
These Japanese musicians think that by composing a good song and give it to female idols, this means they are betraying their human integrity and selling their souls to the devil.
In the end, all female Japanese idols sing bad songs with bad lyrics, have badly designed choreography, wear ugly outfits, so they pose no threat to AKB48.
AKB48 reigns over Japan, because competition is non-existence.
you don’t make sense at all…
What do you mean I don’t make sense?
My point is: AKB48 is popular not because AKB48 is good, but because the competition is weak and is unable to put up a good fight.
If other female idols improve their shortcomings (song, dance, lyrics, outfit), then AKB48 will face a tough competition. AKB48 won’t easily sell millions if the competition is tough.
However the music companies that own the other idol groups aren’t interested in promoting them, aren’t interested in making them into popular and successful idol group. They don’t get good songs, instead they get disappointing songs. This results in the outcome that all other Japanese female idols seriously lack in competitiveness, they are too weak to compete with AKB48 face to face.
Okay, while I don’t disagree that the competition is almost nil, the reason why I thought you didn’t make sense was because you say AKB48 is not good but popular because other groups are so bad. This, however, still seems to say that AKB48 is better than others in some ways, so essentially you are saying AKB48 is the best among the existing groups. If the competition is non-existent, by definition, there should be no winner or better groups (imagine like a communist resume, where everyone’s work is distributed to everyone evenly), but it is a fact that AKB48 is more popular than other groups. By this fact, it follows there is a competition and AKB48 is responding to the demands of the public better than any other groups.
I don’t think you can say that music companies *refuse* to compose good songs, write good lyrics, design choreography/outfits, etc… Refusing necessarily presupposes an active will/intent and ability to be able to do the otherwise. Are they asked to write good songs but refusing to do so? I hardly doubt that’s the case. I think they simply aren’t artistic enough to write good songs.
I don’t understand where the ‘devil’ metaphor comes from. I hardly believe they are capable of composing good songs, period. It’s not that they can but won’t because the singers are women – it’s just that they don’t care about composing good songs as long as they make money.
I don’t think you can say ‘all female Japanese idols are…’ or anything that is explicitly universal. I’m sure some female idols sing well and some male idols sing badly. The problem with AKB48 is not whether they sing good songs or thing sing poorly, but what they are marketing as and what its consequences are to the society. I would still have problems with AKB48 even if they sing well or dance well as long as they use sexist images of women to tell the society what women should be like.
P.S. I don’t see why outfit should matter in singers or idols. They should be promoting personality/characters, and not their fashion styles.Because if you are indeed idolizing their clothes/fashion, you don’t really care about whatever songs they sing, etc… You would be guilty of sexism if you would not say the same thing with the male idols. When judging male idols’ performances, would you also judge their attires?
I generally liked your attention to detail, but with two comments.
1) I think your device of falling back to some ‘ideal music’ is a bit of a stretch when talking about pop music. Some percentage of pop music has always been about the look and the clothes and the idol worship. Plato’s ‘ideal music’ doesn’t worry about outfits and cuteness, but pop music always did (the Beatles, David Bowie, Kiss, Marilyn Manson, the Spice Girls, the list is nearly endless). My point, AKB48 is just an extension of that. Today, Nietzsche might exclaim “Music is Dead”, huggging the head of Justin Beiber like Raskolnikov’s dream. But in fact, this was always how it worked…the Japanese are just perfecting the model with AKB48 et al, folding and refolding the metal of a fine edged pop blade. Now you explore much of this, but whenever you try to revert to the argument of “good music” it rings a bit shrill or maybe tone deaf on your part. This is idol worship….singing badly can actually add to the cuteness or advance the intrigue as such. Just my opinion.
2) A recent news article pointed out that woman have been the most effective spies in the history of mossad and cia. The article claims that woman have a much easier time to control their egos to achieve their goals. Although your arguments of amorality are true in an obvious sense, would it have been more interesting to explore more of the empowered (and mostly amoral) behavior that comes with being a world dominating idol group? There is a wealth of angles here, from Freud to Lacan and Adorno that would have been interesting here. If I were to write a fiction about AKB48, I would make them spies working for an intelligence agency that was developing massive maind control, not as harmless victims.
Hello Grailotsu;
Thank you for your comment. And yea I agree with you. I do think popular music is not aiming at creating a ‘good’ music, and I do agree that Japanese pop music is just an extension of what has been done in the history of popular culture, simply perfecting the art, as you might put it. That said, I think there are subtleties that escape our attentions as well. First, in likening AKB48 to what Nietzsche criticized, I thought it appropriate since Wagner’s music was a form of poplar culture at the time. It had the same essential qualities as the ‘modern’ pop culture would have – appeal to the mass, familiarizing some ideas (Christian ethics in Wagner’s case, mindless-fluff in AKB48’s car, etc) and creating a new music while distancing itself away from the music proper. Hence, we have now popular music that is immune to any sort of criticism that was normal to traditional music. To the extent that no one now thinks these two are the same, and therefore you can talk about pop music and classical music as belonging to completely different genera. Of course, this is fine for our modern perspective – in fact pop music is what interests us and vivifies our soul, so to speak. I too enjoy pop music and if there was only classical music, I would be sad. But, that is not to say, I accept everything that comes with the pop music – it keep evolving, adding new sorts of elements to it. Some are harmless and fun, while others could have large social implications. I think it’s important to see these and distinguish as well as keep criticizing the new elements so people know that ‘something new’ has been added to the pop music. A person who have lived since the 70’s may not have noticed a sudden break from the music in the 70’s and 80’s (for instance the music in ’78 and that in ’81 so something), just like we don’t recognize in our growth what has been added everyday, but looking at a mirror 5 years apart, we clearly see some significant changes in our figures. In the same way, we see clear changes and lowering of censorship in a way in pop music when looking at it 10 years, 20 years apart. This is what I wanted to show, hence delving into the genealogy of idols here. Now, to say that this is an extension of the same culture 30 years ago is quite accurate, and you can also say they are perfecting the art, yes. But this perfection is, I don’t think, not the same as, say, perfecting the art of painting or perfecting the art of cooking, etc. The perfection for pop music/culture is ultimately to engulf the audience and making them like what it wants them to like without questioning. This, I felt, is very much resembling the ‘Christian art’, at least Catholicism if not Protestantism. And I thought this was very much similar to what Nietzsche was criticizing with Wagner’s music. I am not here to ‘categorically’ deny or critique pop music/culture – I am writing this to question some of the aspects, and if you (general ‘you’ here) having questioned and still chose to like it or support it or disagree with me, then I have no business to meddle with you any longer. But I believe the path pop music is taking has come to the inevitable path that any money monger arts would necessarily arrive at. And I wished to pom forth some questions.
As for your second comment, I strongly suggest that you read another article of mine that was posted in August this year. Your second comment does come up quite often, in fact this has been the defence the pop culture has been putting up since the 90’s. To appropriately deal with this issue, one needs to step out of the domain of popular culture and look at the social implications and the driving principle behind it. This necessarily involves feminism philosophy and sociology. https://isseicreekphilosophy.wordpress.com/2012/08/10/critique-of-sexism-in-japan-enlightened-sexism-and-akb48/
I would very like to know how you think of my article – it would be nice if you could read it and give me your thought on this. Thank you for reading such a long essay!
Yours,
Issei
I look forward to reading this second article….but first this in response…
I understand your moral concerns are valid, but the idea of “victim” seems…and this is the wrong word but i’ll use it anyway, somehow -sentimental. One gets the sense that we are too far along the road of broken hegemonies to rescue those Christian values you are looking at in your rear view mirror as we drive away. I’m not casting morality on a funeral pyre, I’m simply trying to look at this in a different way. I’m recalling that scene in AKB48’s TV series Majisuka Gakuen, when the Sanshou Sisters are offended by the word “friend” as an outdated and corny concept (yet friendship does seem to prevail). Instead of victim, I wonder how you would view this topic if we replaced the notion of “victim” with the word “soldier”. Isn’t the age of the soldiers of von Clausewitz already behind us, replaced by “Enemy Combatants”? And yet it is the von Clausewitz “soldier” that comes to mind with AKB48.
An interesting contrast to the Japanese pop model (and the social implications and underlying root cause) represented by AKB48 would be to look at the Korean pop model, as exemplified by Girls’ Generation, through the lenses of espionage (both state and corporate) and psychological warfare.
As you may know, Girls’ Generation is a Korean group (now exported into China and Japan – infiltrating, if I may) that is a product of a different but similar process. Korea’s Ministry of Culture would never permit a video of Girls’ Generation wearing bikini’s, yet much of the sexualization exists in a muted form. More like a waitress using her sexiness to get tips then prostitution on the slippery slope of sexualized commerce. Also, the production company SM Entertainment, goes by the motto “The future of culture technology”. As AKB48 is mostly popular in Japan, Girls’ Generation is an export, even conquering the Japanese market. Both China and Japan have had backlashes against this Korean Wave which has spread throughout Asia and even to America and Europe (I was in Suvarnabhumi earlier this year the same day Girls’ Generation arrived for a concert and they had to close down part of the airport because of the mob that had come to greet them).
Given Korean/Japanese relations and tensions over the past century, one cannot overlook another aspect of this, a weaponized aspect, at least in a metaphorical sense. In a way, Korea is infiltrating the Japanese market by exporting Girls’ Generation, with pop sensibilities sanctioned by a foreign ministry of culture, inserting a “culture technology” into a foreign nation, with the goals of profit, as well as cultivating the addiction to kpop. Wouldn’t it be interesting if their version of the virus had a moral aspect, taking over the amoral market.
But I ramble…
i admire you for having the patience and endurance to reply to all those bashing comments. nuff said.
greetings from a dedicated reader from germany (^^)v
Haha, thank you. 🙂 Yea I am writing and keeping this blog to generate discussions and at the same time see if the opponents have anything convincing to say. So I think it’s important for me to abide by that spirit. 🙂
Also: get a life. Really.
There was a period of time where I liked about AKB48, here’s my thought:
Yasushi Akimoto san is an intelligent businessman, he did an excellent job in market trend study, which explains why in a short span of only 7 years, this jpop group of his topped Japan’s oricon chart.
Heavy rotation wasn’t really what i liked about, it was Namida Surprise, Flying Get, Beginner that really attracted me. Although I hate to admit, at that period of time, these songs were really really good.
Strangely though, I never liked AKB48 girls in bikini/lingerie outfits, idk why but it’s a major turnoff for me,
There is however a flaw in business model, the system where members are graduated and rotated. There are currently very strong members in AKB48 that had set the bar really high, these senior members contributed pretty much a lot to the group, if they were to be “graduated”, then in a matter of time, this group will fall because new members couldn’t reach that level (something I’ve noticed). I’m pretty certain Akimoto-san knows about this, but by then he would be enjoying his luxurious time with his wife.
I do agree with some of the points you’ve stated there, however i believed you need to give concrete evidences to support your stand. AKB48’s fans are not just otaku tbh (looking at the sales record), they include families, kids, teenage girls, and even young ladies. These people who supported them, some of them were the victims from the recent disaster in Japan which AKB48 girls had given donations to.
Avhanche,
Thank you for your message. Below are my replies…
Yasushi Akimoto san is an intelligent businessman, he did an excellent job in market trend study, which explains why in a short span of only 7 years, this jpop group of his topped Japan’s oricon chart.
I do not deny that he is a successful businessman – this is not my point. What you seem to suggest here is that being a good businessman will justify whatever ethical violation such a man may transgress. My argument lies in this point. He clearly lacks in exercising business ethics, and arguing against me by saying that ‘but he brought lots of economical benefit to the society’ is a mute point.
There is however a flaw in business model, the system where members are graduated and rotated.
Again, I am not talking about the economic/business model.
they include families, kids, teenage girls, and even young ladies. These people who supported them, some of them were the victims from the recent disaster in Japan which AKB48 girls had given donations to.
This too is a frequently repeated objection. Since I have elaborated on this point so many times in my previous postings, I will answer briefly. First, just because families and girls support AKB48, AKB48 is a good group socially and morally is like saying people watch pornography, and it brings in economical benefit, so pornography is socially and morally a good thing. Such a point is only looking at the consumers and from the point of view of the consumers, but not from the point of view of the exploited, which is what I have a problem with. Second, just because AKB48 did something good socially, donating money, for example, does not cancel out what backward gender role it is playing in the society. Further, I am not criticizing the members themselves as they are the victims as well. I am criticizing the exploiters, i.e. the producers and Akimoto, specifically, as someone who only see girls as commodities to be exploited. If you argue ‘AKB48 gave lots of support for the tsunami victims’, fine, but I ask, ‘Did Akimoto do the same?’
Hello. I wouldn’t deny the fact that I’m a fan of AKB48. I’m only 17. But the point is, I don’t like them just because of those sexy PV or photos (though I must say they do look pretty and sexy blah blah and that’s one attribute that makes me like this group) but I can also claim that: I listen to their music much more than looking at their faces, body, thigh,…. all day. What I want to say is, whatever it is, it always have two side. Good side and bad side. You are older than me so I’m sure you know that even more than me. I must admit I didnt read throughout your article but from those comments below, I can see part of your opinion. What I don’t like about my very own idols are:
– First of all, 14 years old girl go dancing and blah blah. I’m sure you must have included this in the article, too. I’m agree with that.
– Secondly, so many girls keep joining this group. I heard they even abandon their school, their education,…that’s not a good sign. Though, you know, in life, we do whatever we want, choose what path that we think it will be the best for us. But still, what’s bad about this is the trend is being TOO POPULAR. That makes me bored. I personally like the old AKB much more than its nowaday. However, recuiting more members, may just be the only way for them to exist, to continue years after years. It’s been 7 years since the group debuted. 7 YEARS! About 1/10 of a person’s life. I couldn’t argue that.
– Thirdly, some of their performance and sometimes, dramatic stories among the group. Those dramatic stories really make me feel somewhat “fake” about those girl emotion, even though they are truth (some are fake, I think. Just some of those) Sometimes it makes me feel ridiculous. But still, I can’t do anything. The group isn’t owned by me. I’m not even a Japanese. So I’m powerless.
And the performance, of course not all of them are good. Many are poorly done. The choreography, singing, especially those which are done by new member (they are new, afterall), but some of the choreography are really bad. Looks just like that of a kid song =.=
– Lastly, the fake talking. Well, they are people in showbiz, that’s what they have to do. That’s their JOB, afterall.
But putting those aside, what I feel good about this group is:
– Their music. Though some of the songs nowaday are pretty boring. But as I said, I listen to their music much more than watching their PV or photos. Many of their songs contains much emotion, friendship, feeling, and such. I really like those type of songs. Those songs make me feel touch, relaxed, and feel good about life. They have lighten up many people’s life. I saw that with my own eys. Two person, enjoyed their life much more after they know of this group. AKB48 is doing a good thing.
– I really like it when they hold those charity event for the people who are surfering from the earthquake and tsunami aftermatch. They are doing a good thing, for the second times.
– Their looks. Of course.
– Their friendship and will. You must admit that you would be SUPER dissapointed and want to let go so much if your first performance, or anything you do publicly, get attention of only 10 people. Not to mention they are a group.
So, to sum this up, (I didn’t think someone like me will write this much, in English ._.) they cause some bad effects to the young generation, of course. I can say that ALL OF THE PEOPLE IN THE SHOWBIZ are. That’s a fact. Entertanment, money, trigger bad things in human.
Those sexy pics and PV, I don’t like it if the audience is a pervert. However, on the others hand, those are the beauty of women. The pure, fresh beauty, the attractive, energetic looking of women. Not that I’m a pervert, or just a 17 boy or something but I like that …attribute of women. I’m a man, so I’m gonna treasure those thing of women. Feel it. That isn’t all bad.
But showing some skin to hook some fishes is showbiz nowaday, can’t deny.
Causing bad behaviors in younger generation? That’s maybe true. But not all. Not if you guide them to the right way, so that they can still entertain but at the same time, grow up well and be a good person. I don’t know much about this. I’m still too young but I think that opinion of yours isn’t completely right.
And finally, maybe the worse thing about them, is that they have triggered some “fan”. I don’t know what’s wrong with some young people nowaday but they are so …..crazy. “Crazy fan”. They praise their idols too much, as if their idols are god or something, while forgeting their own life. That the worse thing about AKB, or the showbiz nowaday that I can think of.
And their good points? They are doing a good thing. Not a crime. Chasing their dream, encouraging people to chase their dream, bring good image of Japanese to foreigner. They are helping people in disaster area, encouraging young people that are going to have a test tomorrow, or going to have their first job. To me, and I’m sure to many of their fan, too, they are a present, a spiritual present to our soul, to teenagers like me, who have just begins their lives, stretch their wings to fly out of their parents arms.
Thank you for reading. I hope you will read throughout the article and reconsider your opinion at some point. I’m an English user but I’m originally from Vietnam and is currently studying English. So if there are mistakes in my comments, pardon me.
Sincerly,
A fan, but not a crazy fan of AKB
Hello,
Thank you for your comments! Yes, I agree with you – I think you have analyzed your reasons for and against this group as well as a general attitude towards show business well. It is always well to try to understand why you like what you like (or why you don’t like what you don’t like). I have nothing against the fans who think about the various social implications that this group brings about, and if they still like them/their songs after having considered or at least being aware of the potential problems of such groups while disagreeing with the exploitative nature of it, then that’s a much more mature way of engaging with the community than many others who think ‘AKB48 is good because I like them.’ I also have nothing against the AKB48 members themselves, as they are the objects, products and victims of this commercialization and enlightened sexism that the society perpetuates.
I do not deny that they have done very many good things to inspire people and have helped to make people good. As you put it, “They are doing a good thing. Not a crime. Chasing their dream, encouraging people to chase their dream.” But this is only true if you are talking about the members themselves by ‘they’, and not referring to the whole entertainment – the concept of femininity, exploitative methods as well as the conditions put on the ‘innocent’ members of the group, who follow whatever rules imposed upon them because they think it’s normal.
What Akimoto and the male adults are doing is to normalize the concept of exploitation – young girls are now more accepting to be the objects rather than subjects. Sure, as a man, perhaps you might want to appreciate the ‘female beauty/youth’ that they display, but what influence would such a view of women, i.e. how we see women as, have on the girls? As you said, ‘Those sexy pics and PV, I don’t like it if the audience is a pervert. However, on the others hand, those are the beauty of women. The pure, fresh beauty, the attractive, energetic looking of women. Not that I’m a pervert, or just a 17 boy or something but I like that …attribute of women. I’m a man, so I’m gonna treasure those thing of women. Feel it. That isn’t all bad.’
I am not saying it’s bad to have feelings of attraction. It’s normal for a man to be attracted to pretty/sexy women however they may be superficial. It’s also natural for a woman to want to think of them as role models, as they represent fame, beauty and freedom. But the price girls are paying for it is too high, historically speaking. Girls attain enormous popularity at the cost of autonomy. Popular culture, particularly of idol culture, is ethically backward in thinking and attitudes. As such, all people who are involved in such enterprise as well as those who are the substructure of their success must be aware that there is an exploitation going on, and that is a fact. No amount of economic benefit or feelings of satisfaction people get from them should ignore that. In ethics and moral issues, there is no negotiation or compromise. What is being violated is violated, and it must be recognized as such.
AKB48 should get all the praise and good recognition for what they have done for those who were in need of their lively support, but they should also get all blames and criticisms where they are due. Their good deeds should not ‘cover up’ or ‘justify’ their reason for existence. But you seem to know that, already. 🙂 Anyways, I agree with you that you have mixed feelings about this, and I think it’s good that you are thinking about it. As all I want to do is for people to be aware of the issues and keep thinking about those issues.
If you are saying that you like their music and what those girls do for charity, etc, but you don’t like the way they do business, then, I am more or less saying that’s fine. But notice the ‘they’ in the first part of the sentence and the ‘they’ in the second part are referring to different people.
Thank you for replying me. Now I have completely understood your opinion 🙂
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