Idols You Can Meet: AKB48 and a New Trend in Japan’s Music Industry

YUYA KIUCHI

Introduction

KB48, A JAPANESE IDOL GROUP WITH OVER 130 YOUNG FEMALE singers, presents a new trend in the entertainment industry. A It is a trend that is seemingly more democratic, but that cre- ates and takes advantage of passionate and sometimes obsessive fans in a unique way. More significantly, it is the trend in which musical talents matter less than the group’s manipulative image of purity that discounts the individuality of singers, quiets them, and even exposes them to psychological and physical danger for the success of the group. The group reflects problematic gender dynamics in which women’s sexuality is both idolized and exploited. Members of AKB48 are constantly evaluated by fans through pop- ularity voting. The winner of the process, also known as the general election, earns the middle front-row spot to appear on TV and in con- certs. The group sells merchandise that also serves as a medium for popularity voting, creating a massive marketing machine. In other instances, CDs come with a ticket for a special invitation-only event. Such an event where fans may be able to shake hands with or talk to a singer not only gives fans a sense of privilege but also reminds AKB48 members that their career is directly connected to these core fans. Furthermore, despite the mass popularity of certain singers, new singers join and old ones quit frequently. Group members are also split into subgroups so that AKB48 can be at multiple locations at

The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 50, No. 1, 2017 © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 30 Idols You Can Meet 31 the same time. All of these tactics feed the popularity of the group. Although similar business strategies existed before AKB48, the group has been unprecedentedly successful in taking advantage of them to the point that the Japanese music industry is fearful that individuals’ musical talent is least important to create celebrities out of singers. The success of AKB48 is worth noting partly because the musical group became the savior of Japan’s music industry, which, along with the United States and other industrial societies, had suffered a decline in CD sales. In the early 2010s, however, AKB48 helped reverse this trend and enabled Japan to surpass the United States as the largest music market in the world (Yasu). In 2011 and 2012, AKB48 was ranked as one of the top 10 hit “products” in Japan by the interna- tional marketing agency Dentsu (Kannan). The success of the group, however, beckons a set of questions about what it means to be a part of the group that Satoshi Hamano and Yuka Ieizumi have separately characterized as religion-like. In the group, singers compete against each other for popularity. While being a member of AKB48 can very well help the career of some singers, the process relies on capitalizing the sexuality of the group’s young singers. AKB48 has also exposed singers to both physical and psychological threats. Being expected to be pure, AKB48 singers rarely, if at all, voice their own ideas and opinions, nor are they allowed to date. AKB48 is a complex environment for singers. On the one hand, their individuality is not only recognized but also encouraged. Although many fans support AKB48 as a group, many also have a favorite singer whom they follow and support more than others. In other words, AKB48 grows thanks to fans who support specific, indi- vidual singers. For AKB48, the consumerist behaviors of such fans are more pronounced than with other musical groups. From fan voting to fan support in online games, individual popularity is constantly translated into intragroup hierarchy. The hierarchy is then made visible through the locations each singer is assigned on the stage, the songs she sings, and, essentially, every activity she is assigned as a member of AKB48. On the other hand, singers are often seen to be utilized as a part of a larger business plan. Because the group is so big and complex, individuals can easily become a fungible component of a larger system. This has become apparent in the high turnovers and transfers between AKB48’s subgroups, as well as the 32 Yuya Kiuchi group’s hierarchy and some of the high-profile scandal cases, for example, instances of violence against and around AKB48, a dating controversy in 2013, and AKB48’s male-dominated fandom.

AKB48 as a Massive Capital-Generating Machine

Yasushi Akimoto and AKB48 are inseparable. Akimoto, a Japanese lyricist active since the early 1980s, is the founder and mastermind behind the group. As the chief producer, Akimoto launched AKB48 in the Akihabara district in Tokyo, in 2005. Akihabara in 2005 was known for its electronic district and its underground popular culture known as the otaku (geek) culture (Galbraith 210). AKB48 was initially considered as a local underground group; its popularity grew quietly until the late 2000s. Nendai Ryuukou,an online popular culture almanac, reports that AKB48’s first ten CDs never sold over 100,000 copies. Except for three songs, the sales were less than 30,000 copies per song. The sales, however, exploded in 2010 when the group hit a million sales with the sin- gle Beginner. Since 2011, all of AKB48’s singles have sold over a million physical copies, including Sayonara Kuroru (2013), which sold over 1.9 million copies. In 2015, the group became the first musical act in Japan to have twenty consecutive million-selling CD singles (“AKB48 Become First”). AKB48 differs from other popular idol music groups for its size. As of December 2015, the group has over 130 members divided into five groups: Group A, Group K, Group B, Group 4, and Group 8. Akimoto’s initial concept for the group explains the size of the group. He imagined that fans could “go and meet” AKB48 singers (“Japa- nese Idol Group”). First, the group’s size with over one hundred members helps attain this goal. Second, the group is split into several subgroups so that fans at various locations can meet a subset of AKB48 on the same day. Akimoto has also realized the concept by establishing AKB48’s own theater where the group performs almost every day. This structure enables a segment of the group to appear at the theater day after day. This is particularly important because many of the singers are in their teens and some are as young as thirteen years old, in junior high school. This is to say that AKB48 can appear at the theater and on TV while participating in a fan service Idols You Can Meet 33 event concurrently to realize the “idols you can meet” concept all at the same time (Hirata and Warschauer 72). AKB48’s contribution to Japan’s music industry is immense. Internationally, the music industry has been suffering, particularly due to both legal and illegal downloading of music. Music sales in the United States, for example, shrunk from $11.8 billion to $7.1 billion between 2003 and 2012. The revenue has been reduced by more than half during the same period after adjusting for inflation (“A Decade of iTunes”). In the meantime, Mariko Yasu reported that Japan’s consumer music revenue grew 3% in 2012. This growth enabled Japan to be the world’s largest market. Japan Record Indus- try Association also reported that Japan’s music sales in 2012 was about $4.3 billion, topping that of the United States. Yasu com- mented that “music sales in the country rose for the first time in five years” (“A Decade of iTunes”). Nikkei Weekly reported, “King Record Co. logged an 8.5% gain to 23 billion yen, with the help of... AKB48” (“What Crisis”). Of course, it is not just AKB48 that enabled Japan’s music industry to recover in the early 2010s. But Ikuo Minewaki, presi- dent of Tower Records, one of the largest record stores in Japan, attested, “When we hold an event for an artist, CD sales for that person or band are sometimes as much as 100 times bigger” (“Music Stores Look”). With the frequency of handshake events, general elections, and other fan events that AKB48 is involved in, it is no surprise that the band contributes substantially to the Japanese music industry. The sales trend of 2011 in Japan that saw 16% increase was a sharp contrast to the 50% decline in the world (“Music Stores”). In 2012, an AKB48 fan “reportedly spent US$6700 to secure 2700 votes in online auctions” to support his favorite singer (McCurry, “Japan Gripped”). Such a rise in CD sales is particularly intriguing as the music industry in general suffers from illegal music downloading and sharing that does not benefit the industry. Fans who wish to secure a ballot for their favorite singer have no choice but buy a CD. As noted above, some buy more than one copy. This CD-marketing strategy is significantly different from the cases with Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Adele who refused to have their music streamed online so that they could be properly compensated for their artistic work (Sisario). AKB48 promotes its CD sales by attaching a special 34 Yuya Kiuchi right for fans—ballots, invitations to attend special events, oppor- tunities to play a special game, and so on,—to CDs. The popularity of the group as attested by the sales figures and its impact on the Japanese market in general can also be attributed to several other reasons. One of them is what is called “sister projects.” These projects are similar to AKB48 but in different locations. Just like AKB48, SKE48 (based in Sakae and launched in 2008), NMB48 (based in Namba and launched in 2010), and HKT48 (based in Hakata and launched in 2011) are all managed by Akimoto in different localities. Like AKB48, these other groups all have their own theater where they perform and all consist of multiple sub- groups. Since these sister groups are also considered to be a part of the larger AKB48 project, many of the members also appear as a part of AKB48, allowing the group to attain more general popularity across Japan. Furthermore, Akimoto has also created sister groups abroad, namely JKT48 in Jakarta and SNH48 in Shanghai that were established in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Although a great major- ity of the members in these regions were auditioned locally, a few are also on AKB48 simultaneously. Akimoto’s empire is complex with close to 400 young female members in AKB48 alone and hundreds more in its sister projects. The group also attained its popularity through productization and cross-marketing efforts of itself as a brand. Located in Osaka, SK Japan Co., Ltd. has manufactured numerous products including AKB48 acrylic key chains, chopsticks, marker pens, badges, train pass cases, and LED keychain flashlights (“SK Japan”). AKB48 has also been featured in a mah-jongg game for children released by Ban- dai, a Japanese game producer. The Nikkei Weekly reported that “top 12 members... chosen in June fan balloting” were to be printed on mah-jongg tiles (“Junior Mah-jongg”). The band has also worked with All Nippon Airways to “motivate Asian youth to travel more” (“Japan: ANA”), with NTT to promote a fiber-optic broadband net- work that would broadcast the group’s performances in the 3-D video format (“NTT Unit”), and even with Japan’s Self Defense Forces to highlight its humanitarian missions (Rowley). Internationally, Aki- moto has launched an AKB48 cafe in Singapore. AKB48 members fly to Singapore to perform regularly while the cafe’s attached store sells merchandize (Lee; “Japanese Pop Stars”). Idols You Can Meet 35

Music groups other than AKB48 have similarly utilized business strategies such as merchandising such as apparel and stationary, and handshake events. What makes the group’s sales strategy unique is the so-called general election of AKB48 singers that is hyped as a major media and fan event. The election is a means implemented by Akimoto to determine which AKB48 members will be the lead singer for the latest song. Back in 2012, Patrick St. Michel and Dai- suke Kikuchi explained the election mechanism:

The premise of the election is pretty straightforward: Voters fill out a ballot to determine the most popular member of the sprawl- ing group, who becomes the school-uniform-clad face of AKB48 for the next year, earning the right to be the center performer dur- ing live performances. The lower rankings matter, too. The top 16-vote-grabbers get to appear on AKB48’s next single, which barring a radical change in Japanese consumer habits, should see big sales.

Logistically, this strategy makes sense because the group consists of over 100 singers, and it is practically impossible for all members to appear on TV or other media upon the release of a new song. There- fore, Akimoto allows fans to voice who they want to see the most and participate in the simulation-game-like experience. Not only does the election affect who will sing a new song but also who will stand in and near the middle of the stage. As of late 2016, there have been eight general elections since 2009. All of these schemes are a shrewd marketing strategy. Although the general elections have been widely criticized, its social impact is nonetheless immense. The election in 2012 attracted almost 1.4 mil- lion votes. Over 150 media organizations gathered to cover the poll event. Fuji TV broadcasted the event during the prime time for two houses and recorded an average of 18.7% of TV viewers in the Kanto region that includes Tokyo (Sukenari). The year after, the number of votes almost doubled to 2.65 million (Matsutani). Akimoto’s success of fan engagement brings profit to King Records, the copyrights holding company. This is because a CD comes with a ballot. There is no limit to how many ballots a fan can cast. Rick Wallace explains, “To get a vote in the periodic elections that decide not just the queen of the group, but also the composition of the sixty-four members, you must buy a single. The latest one, ‘Manatsuno Sounds Good!’ 36 Yuya Kiuchi was released before the ballot and sold 1.6 million copies in its first week.” Michel and Kikuchi further explain that since a ballot comes with a copy of a single which sold for just about $10, “die-hard fans, those obsessed with individual members, will buy extra copies to pro- cure more ballots.” The authors compare this phenomenon to a poll tax and even to the impact that Super PACs had had in US presiden- tial election in the same year. This sales strategy, characterized by Wallace as “cunning,” has resulted in AKB48’s exceptional sales records in the midst of the declining CD sales in the music industry.

Erasure of Individuality for the Good of the Group

The criticisms that Akimoto and AKB48 have received are not limited to their marketing schemes. Commentaries on the AKB48 phenomenon reveal not only an example of a musical venture to fight online piracy or the music business decline but also questions about young singers’ individuality and agency as they function as significant drivers of a massive marketing machine. Such questions especially arise with cases of intragroup competitions and hierarchy, violence against and around AKB48, and the dating scandals involving group members.

Intragroup Hierarchy Sociologist Satoshi Hamano explains that AKB48, for fans, is a serious simulation game (“AKB no Nani”). In other words, AKB48 is not very much different from many simulation games such as Microsoft Flight Simulator and SimCity that have attracted avid fans. Similarly, sport games also allow users to identify with a team and grow talents, develop and manage a squad, and attempt to win a championship. Just as fans of sporting games feel that they own a team or those who play SimCity feel they actually ran a city, many AKB48 fans actually feel as though they are involved in a massive simulation game that is more than entertainment or escapism. In fact, it involves real teenagers. Hamano argues that by voting for their favorite AKB48 member, fans partake in a kind of a simulation game in which each member’s life is developed and life courses determined. Idols You Can Meet 37

This is more than mere entertainment. AKB48 general elections can truly change the life of individual singers. Although Michel and Kikuchi once wrote that the election was “a harmless popularity con- test,” the reality is more consequential. The outcome of the election can promote or hinder a young singer’s future potential in the enter- tainment industry. Yuko Oshima, who won two generation elections, for example, has been active as an actress and won the 38th Japan Academy Awards’s prize for Supporting Actress, since she left AKB48 in 2014. Atsuko Maeda, similarly has been successful as a solo singer and an actress since her departure from AKB48 in 2012. These former members of the groups are called AKB48 graduates and the process of leaving the group is characterized as graduation. On the other hand, most AKB48 graduates do not fare well after their graduation. Mariko Shinoda experienced a bankruptcy of her apparel company. Tomomi Itano has seen the number of fans decline at her singing events. Tomomi Kawanishi has also seen very little media exposure. Performance as an AKB48 member, therefore, significantly affects each member’s future as an entertainer. For AKB48 members, this environment creates severe competition not just within the music industry against other bands and singers but also within the group itself. In the past, other music groups inte- grated the idea of fan popularity voting, but it had never been done on the scale of AKB48. The hierarchy of members within the group is constantly in the mind of both singers and fans. Other popular singer groups have had similar hierarchies. For example, Japanese popular bands like SMAP and TOKIO have a leader. Other bands consider the lead singer to be the leader of the group. In other cases, each member may be assigned to a role. One may be good at singing. Another may play a more active role when the group is on TV. Another may engage more with fans at a concert. But as for AKB48, the winner of the general election dominates the group’s media exposure for months to come. AKB48 relies on this competition and fan-driven hierarchy to generate sales. Even outside of the general elections, intragroup competitions are severe. For example, AKB48 Stage Fighter, an online social game for cell phones, has four million users who create teams based on their favorite AKB48 member. Each group supports a member and aims to make her the top of the AKB48 pyramid. Whoever wins the game can appear on a TV commercial. For fans, AKB48 Stage Fighter is 38 Yuya Kiuchi another way of identifying and developing a new talent or their favor- ite singer while at the same time indulging in a simulation game. Hamano speculates that it takes about seven fans, each of who can afford to spend about $1500 in a week to play, for a singer to accu- mulate enough support and win this contest. Akimoto does not discourage a particular singer from being far more popular than the rest of the group. Maeda, having won two general elections, was one such singer. Yuko Oshima is another who has won two elections. But Akimoto also realizes that there needs to be opportunities for others to gain media exposure. Rock-paper-scissors championship is an attempt to offer members who are not usually ranked high in elections to beat more popular members. Of course, such a project also has financial benefits by maximizing the popular- ity and visibility of as many singers as possible, and not just a few who constantly rank high in fan popularity voting. AKB48’s model of intragroup competition highlights individuals. Although the group and its subgroups are hugely popular, certain individual members—the ones that win a general election or a Stage Fighter championship—have become indispensable members of AKB48. On one hand, this business model has generated vast profit for the brand. As mentioned earlier, it is considered to be one of the most significant contributors to saving Japan’s music industry. After all, fans buy merchandise not only for material reasons but also to vote, and often vote multiple times for their favorite singer. But on the other hand, members tend to undervalue their popularity and contribution in public comments. Winners of the election are rarely seen celebrating their accomplishments. For example, when Atsuko Maeda won the general election in 2011, she asked AKB48 fans to keep supporting the group even if they “hated” her (Hamada). Com- ments like this led fans to question the appropriateness of the envi- ronment which AKB48 singers experience as teenagers and young adults.

Violence Around AKB48 The seriousness of competition among the AKB48 members encour- ages fans to be as engaged as they can to support their favorite singer. Sometimes their enthusiasm can be damaging to AKB48 and its members. For example, in May 2014, Satoru Ueyama, a 24-year-old Idols You Can Meet 39 unemployed man attacked two members of AKB48, Rina Kawaei and Anna Iriyama—nineteen and eighteen years old, respectively. They were attacked by Ueyama, who had hid a saw in his jacket pocket, during a typical AKB48 handshaking event. Kawaei and Iriyama “both broke bones in their right hands and received cuts on their arms and heads caused by the 50 cm... saw” (“Japanese Girl Band AKB48 Attacked”). Staff captured Ueyama and the police arrested him on suspicion of attempted murder. Both singers were released from the hospital the day after. But Ueyama was not an AKB48 fan and told the police that he simply wanted to kill people and it did not matter who it was (Hasegawa). After the incident, AKB48’s manager, Hiroshi Yuasa commented that he believed that the proper security checks had been provided to ensure the safety of the singers (“Slasher Attacks”). Although Ueyama did not necessarily target a particular AKB48 singer, he was able to hide among many of the avid fans. A local police officer, Takahiro Fujibayashi, disagreed with Yuasa. He noted that there were “no full security checks of bags” (“Slasher Attacks”). Security personnel were too little to instruct fans to remove accessories from a hand or to show the palms to check there was no dangerous item. The reality of the handshake event for AKB48 necessitated more security checks than what had been in place. Because of the popularity of the group, many fans travel from far away and bring their suitcases to AKB48 events, but no luggage or bag check was in place. An anonymous worker in the industry commented, “I was worried that something unexpected like this would happen soon” (“AKB Akushukai”). Although the poor quality of security is a concern at any entertain- ment event including concerts, it is particularly so when an event involves close contact between entertainers and fans. AKB48’s raison d’etre—”idols you can see”—exposes AKB48 singers to their fans more closely and more frequently. It can generate sales but it can also cause physical risks to the singers especially when their agent does not implement sufficient security for them. Furthermore, handshaking events and other fan events—they have events where AKB48 members pose for picture with fans, where they have private conversations with fans, and so on—are more important than for other groups because of the group’s promise to be accessible to fans. Fan events are critical for AKB48 singers to gain and main- tain popularity that will directly affect their future. They have 40 Yuya Kiuchi reasons to be more responsive to the needs and wants of their fans. Since purchasing a CD means acquiring a ballot, catering to the requests of fans leads to higher ballot purchases, which eventually determine the outcome of elections. The lack of security, as Fujibayashi noted, was particularly troubling for this reason. AKB48 has created a system in which aspiring singers must rely on their popularity among fans. Moreover, they rely on avid fans who are willing to purchase dozens, if not hundreds, of CDs so they can cast hundreds of ballots. A TV analyst stated, “It’s nice they are close to the fans, but we also have to remember there is a possibility that peo- ple like [the attacker] may sneak in” (“Slasher Attacks”). On the other hand, if they cannot have enough fan support, they will be “dropped back into the general talent pool” (Hasegawa). For those singers who strive to win an election, interacting with fans during such a hand- shaking event can boost their popularity. In fact, when the attack happened, fan voting was ongoing to decide who would lead the group for the following year. AKB48 members remained silent about the incident. It was just Erena Ono, a former member, who wrote online, “Such an incident should never have happened. Even if they recover from their physical injuries, their emotional scars will never heal” (“Slasher Attacks”). But others did not make any critical comments even after King Records, the AKB48 rights holder, admitted that they were aware of the risk and they felt “if something went wrong, it will be difficult to continue such events” (“Slasher Attacks”). It appeared as though the singers had been instructed not to make any comments about the incident. The value of handshaking events and the way AKB48 mar- kets itself continue to be discussed. Some argue that the risks to which AKB48 members are exposed should stop similar events. Others claim that improving security is the proper countermeasure. Either way, King Records’s comments reflect the emphasis that AKB48 puts on popularity and profit. Furthermore, it is clear that singers are driven to be engaged with fans even with risk because of the way the group is structured and operated.

Dating Scandal and AKB48 Sexuality It is common for Japanese idols to be forbidden to date. Although many of these idols—singers, actors, models—are in their teens or Idols You Can Meet 41 early twenties, when dating is a cultural norm, dating for Japanese celebrities is often taboo. Dating is considered not only a distraction from their profession but also a factor that could easily taint their image as an idol. An idol, in other words, must remain pure, free from the dramas associated with dating and break-ups as well as what dating ultimately implies: sex. AKB48 is no exception. The Bangkok Post explained that members were “allowed to have ‘one-sided roman- tic feelings’ for a boy but can never progress beyond hinting at their crush—and must never disabuse their legions of male fans that they might one day stand a chance with their fantasy woman” (“Japan Pop Idol”). When Minami Minegishi broke AKB48’s rule against dating, she “shaved her head and issued a tearful video apology” (“Star’s Apol- ogy”), enacting a “traditional form of penance” in Japanese society (“Germany, Thailand”). Minegishi, who was twenty years old at the time, was seen by a reporter of a gossip magazine as she came out of her boyfriend’s apartment. Although she started her apology video uploaded to the group’s YouTube channel calmly, she was seen crying with tears rolling down her cheeks. She apologized for causing troubles for other AKB48 members, fans, staff, family, and others. Minegishi also admits that not knowing what to do to make up for her behavior, she decided to shave her head. She continues, “I know that this [shaving my head] excuses my behavior, but I first and fore- most do not want to leave AKB48.... I am completely and solely responsible for what happened.” Near the end of her four-minute video clip which has been removed from the site since then, she struggled to speak clearly through her sobbing. The Nation commented: “It is beyond imagination that this rule still exists and there are people out there obeying it just to maintain their social status” (“Germany, Thailand”). In response to Minegishi’s dating, AKB48’s management agency demoted her from membership in a prestigious AKB48 subgroup to trainee status (“Girl Star”). AKB48’s manager, Tomonobu Togasaki, stated, “If you ask me whether it was necessary for her to shave her head, I would say it wasn’t.... But Minegishi said she felt strongly about it” (“Girl Star”). This case refueled the long-existing debate about the appropriate amount of control the entertainment industry could and should have over its talents. Many international media outlets reported on Mine- gishi’s case. Writing for The Guardian, Justin McCurry wrote that 42 Yuya Kiuchi her “crime” was “to have found herself a boyfriend—19-year-old Alan Shirahama, a dancer in a boyband (“I’ll Cry”). Many fans reacted sympathetically to Minegishi. Some Twitter com- ments included, “This is so sad. She has every right to a relationship,” and “To compel these women to remain celibate is oppressive and demeaning” (Rush). Additionally, Hisamichi Okura, a Japanese lawyer, stated, “This is too much.... Even a criminal defendant wouldn’t have to shave her head” (Yamaguchi). Both domestic and international media outlets had similar sympathetic views regarding Minegishi and agreed that the fact that she felt she had to shave her head in apology showed that AKB48 went too far with its rules and controls over its members. Another lawyer, Kazuko Ito, said that the head-shaving “underscored the exploitation of girl idols in the male-dominated society” (Yam- aguchi). Ito pointed out gender dynamics around AKB48 that were not only male dominated but also exploitative of females. On the one hand, AKB48 idols are expected to be innocent and pure. This is why dating is off limit to its singers. But on the other hand, AKB48 members have been sexualized for promotional purposes. All AKB48 members are females. Dressed in school uniforms and emphasizing their cuteness and looks, they are catering to many male fans. According to HMV, about 77% of AKB48 fans are males. It is their “sexual longings” that AKB48 tries to appeal to (Brasor). AKB48’s mostly male fandom helps to explain why AKB48’s video, which recorded 104 million hits on YouTube in 2010, fea- tured its members “having a pillow fight in their underwear, kissing each other and taking a bath (McGuinness). The video is not an inde- pendent incident. Many of AKB48’s songs are sexually suggestive. In 2013, the comics magazine Shukan Young Magazine was going to fea- ture Tomomi Kasai on its cover. The twenty-one-year-old AKB48 singer was going to be shown “naked with a blond child cupping her breasts from behind” (“Japanese Girl Band”). Kodansha, the publisher of the magazine, did not publish the photo after investigators exam- ined whether it might infringe child pornography laws. Similarly, AKB48 singers were seen passing “candy from mouth to mouth, hinting at homosexuality” (“Japan Pop Idol”). AKB48 singers have repeatedly been sexualized for male consumption. The dating controversy, then, is not just about the appropriateness of AKB48’s no-dating rule or the level of control that Akimoto and AKB48’s management impose on the group and its members. It is Idols You Can Meet 43 also a matter of the male-dominated music industry and the exploita- tion of young female singers’ sexual appeal. An idol like an AKB48 member “must be pure but sexy, docile yet energetic, reserved but always cheerful for photos. Those contradictions are not a realistic image for either gender. They are a projection of outdated, constrict- ing concepts for women” (“AKB48 and Sexual Politics”). This pater- nalistic structure is the basis for what enabled AKB48 to be so profitable.

Conclusion

AKB48 is unquestionably immense and successful. Writing for The Washington Post, Hesse commented, AKB48 is “as if Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and the entire cast of ‘Twilight’ were placed into a sau- cepan and simmered on a low boil until nothing remained but the sweet, cloying essence of fame, and if that fame were then poured into pleated tartan skirts and given pigtails.” As noted above, AKB48 is like a simulation game in which one can not only observe but also feel like being a part of the development of a singer. Although such a practice is not unique in Japan, other examples of theater and singing groups have similar fan engagement and follow- ing to make the entertainment group more successful (Kisui), AKB48 takes major advantage of the obsessive nature of its fans. On one level, Akimoto’s business strategies are innovative. For example, one of the AKB48 singers turned out to be nonexistent. In June 2011, it was questioned whether Aimi Eguchi, one of the newly added AKB48 members, existed. She identified herself on the group’s Web site as “a normal 16-year-old from a town north of Tokyo who enjoyed sports” (“Band is Digital”). Despite her bio and realistic appearance, she turned out to be a computer-generated singer based on six existing AKB48 members (“Japanese Girl Group”; Murray). Thanks to these strategies, AKB48 has become one of the most successful entertainment ventures in recent Japanese history. This is particularly significant especially during the aftermath or the global economic downturn in the late 2000s and the general decline of music sales. But on another level, Akimoto’s involvement in AKB48 has been highly controversial. Many critics argued that singers were not 44 Yuya Kiuchi properly protected from risks associated with interacting with a large number of fans, for example, during handshaking and other publicity events. When Kawaei and Iriyama were attacked in 2014, Hifumi Okunuki argued that the singers deserved to receive workers’ com- pensation. Using the four criteria issued by Japan’s Ministry of Labor in 1988 to determine the singers’ eligibility for compensation, Oku- nuki concluded that AKB48 singers qualified even without a formal employment contract. Additionally, he wrote,

it perturbs me that Akimoto, effectively the chief executive, has made no comment on the attack.... Not only naysayer, not one sulk or suggestion of self-pity, not a single negative tweet, not a single “let’s lay off for a bit and retrench” has leaked out from the AKB48 members since the violent incident, but it’s hard to imag- ine that this brutal attack didn’t horrify and terrify the girls. I can only venture a guess that perhaps they are under orders to stay positive in the wake of the attacks: under orders—like workers.

Despite the risk of bodily harm to its members, Philip Brasor argued that AKB48’s business model continues to prosper. When the dating scandal happened, many domestic and interna- tional media outlets questioned the appropriateness of Minegishi’s behavior. Even if it was her own will to shave her head, is AKB48 providing its teenage singers a healthy environment to develop as a singer and as people? It is nothing but normal for a teenage girl to want to date. But as Brasor wrote, “the AKB business model, like all business models, was devised to take advantage of specific consumer impulses, in this case the sexual longings of men, not all of them young, who feel isolated from women and maybe even society in gen- eral.” AKB48 members’ sexuality has become a property of the group, the industry, and Akimoto. This is not to say that AKB48 is nothing but a testament to capi- talist business endeavor that ignores the individuality of its singer. Thanks to the group’s popularity, AKB48 played some substantive role in promoting reconstructive efforts after the Great East Japan Earthquake that hit northern Japan in March 2011. By then, AKB48 was one of the most successful and highest-grossing musical groups in Japan. The Ministry of Finance, for example, used celebrities includ- ing AKB48 to promote special bonds issued to finance reconstruction after the tsunami (“Exclusive”; “Japan Announces Bond”). Similarly, Idols You Can Meet 45

AKB48 hosted MTV Video Music Aid Japan, a two-hour televised music event to support the Japanese Red Cross in June 2011. The event’s participants included international guests such as Lady Gaga, One Night Only, SHINee, and others (“Lady Gaga Opens”). Although Akimoto’s business strategies have consistently been suc- cessful in making AKB48 one of the most successful music groups in Japan’s entertainment history, it has also caused concerns among pur- ists. After AKB48 marked its twentieth consecutive million sellers with its single CD, Kibouteki Refrain, in December 2014, music experts pointed out that the group’s overall sales were close to that recorded by another Japanese band, B’z, the record holder for the overall single CD sales. What concerned those in the industry is that AKB48’s sales were pushed by a large handshaking event involving over 220,000 fans (“AKB48 no”). To be invited to the event, fans had to win a lottery. The lottery tickets were, of course, associated with the latest CD. While AKB48 represents the segment of the music industry that promotes sales with smart fan engagements, B’z represents traditional attitudes in the industry that prioritize the quality of music over marketing. AKB48’s popularity in the last five to seven years hints that the music industry might be changing. With the declining sales of CDs and increasing popularity of digital music sharing, traditional busi- ness models of the industry are no longer profitable. Some singers resist the change by limiting their music to be streamed online. What Akimoto has successfully done with AKB48 might represent one avenue for innovation in a struggling industry. However, this musical group’s strategy not only relies on manipulated images of young females as pure idols but also has realistic risks of being harm- ful to those singers in multiple ways. The system of AKB48 is exploits individual talents and fan passions alike. It also showcases how the music industry continues to be male-dominated and how it generates sales by selling young female sexuality to fans willing to spend over $1000 so their favorite singer could win a general election or another marketing event.

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Yuya Kiuchi is Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Michigan State University and the author of Struggles for Equal Voice: The History of African American Media Democracy, and the editor of Race Still Matters: The Reality of African American Lives and the Myth of Postracial Society, both published by SUNY Press. 本文献由“学霸图书馆-文献云下载”收集自网络，仅供学习交流使用。

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