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Hitotsubashi University Repository
Title: The Mindset of a Johnny’s Fan
Author(s): Tokuda, Maho
Citation: Kunitachi anthropological research (くにたち人類学研究)
Issue Date: 1/05/2010
Type: Journal Article
Text Version: Publisher
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10086/18563
Right:
Glossary and Foreword from translator
Foreword: The opinions and explanations provided in this essay are indicative of a Japanese fan in her 20’s. It was also written in 2010 so it’s a little outdated. It does not take into account the view of a foreign fan because of course, we have a completely different view and fandom but this is the view of a Japanese fan. Therefore the terminology used in this essay - whilst often self explanatory to a Japanese person - require further explanation to transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries. This is why my explanations will inherently be in my language, not in academic language.
Furthermore, regarding gender, as the majority of Johnny’s fans, including the original author, are female, the pronoun used for fans in this essay is feminine. Although Japanese pronouns are often not gender-specific, the essay implies the thinking is from a female fan.
I can also add ‘Zara Notes’ to aid in further understanding of certain things. Obviously, these notes did not appear in the original essay, but like I said, the essay is written in Japanese for Japanese readers and thus cultural boundaries will be there. I’ll try to alleviate them where I can.
GLOSSARY
Tantou: A bias. The word tantou in Japanese actually means ‘to be in charge’ of something. This means the fan of a particular idol is in charge of him. In English, we’d call that a bias but it falls sort of what this essay says the Japanese word tantou implies. Tantou is more than a fan who simply likes the idol, she is in charge of him. She is his mother, his lover, she knows everything about him, she sings his parts in karaoke, she’s the only one who knows everything there is about him, she is in charge of him.
Tanfuri: A fan who was a fan of one idol but moved onto another idol. The act of ‘furi’ means to fall, which always means that a fan who ‘falls’ from one idol to another, falls downwards. Meaning, from an older idol to a younger one. You can’t (as far as I know) tanfuri from a younger idol to an older one because that’s going up, not down.
Bias System: The Johnny’s bias system in which a fan takes one bias to identify with. This system is how the fan constructs her relationships within the system (according to this essay, a fan of one idol is not likely to befriend a fan who is a fan of the same idol because it shatters her metaphorical relationship with said idol. Instead, she is more likely to befriend fans of another idol within the same group)
Doutan: A fan of the same idol as you. As I mentioned earlier, the implication of the word tantou means a fan who is in charge of this particular idol. Because there cannot be two of her in her world, doutan is avoided in groups.
Burikko: Often a derogatory term for an idol whose entire image is overly cutesy and childish.
Otaku: A fan of a very specific thing. Often seen amongst society as a bit of a geek, often used for fans of manga and anime in particular but can be applied to other things. (Janiota - Johnnys Otaku)
Aum Shinrikyo: A doomsday cult founded in 1984. Responsible for the Tokyo Subway Sarin attack in 1995. (Don’t ask me why this is included in the essay, my only guess is that the author is comparing the devotion of cultists similar to that of a fan’s devotion to his or her idol. Personally I find the comparison a little insulting.)
Oriki: To chase an idol with single minded determination. It’s a practice known amongst particularly young Johnnys’ fans who make shrines in their rooms and school lockers.
Yarakashi: Anti-fan. These ‘fans’ are the kind who are very disruptive and even harmful to the idol. They’re the ones who throw things at the idol, yell horrible things to them and shape their lives around making that idol miserable. The author of this essay indicates that Yarakashi are common amongst very young fans but the reality is that yarakashi are all ages.
Janikara: Johnny's Karaoke. In which a group of fans will go to karaoke and sing only Johnny's songs.
Hitotsubashi University Repository
Title: The Mindset of a Johnny’s Fan
Author(s): Tokuda, Maho
Citation: Kunitachi anthropological research (くにたち人類学研究)
Issue Date: 1/05/2010
Type: Journal Article
Text Version: Publisher
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10086/18563
Right:
Glossary and Foreword from translator
Foreword: The opinions and explanations provided in this essay are indicative of a Japanese fan in her 20’s. It was also written in 2010 so it’s a little outdated. It does not take into account the view of a foreign fan because of course, we have a completely different view and fandom but this is the view of a Japanese fan. Therefore the terminology used in this essay - whilst often self explanatory to a Japanese person - require further explanation to transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries. This is why my explanations will inherently be in my language, not in academic language.
Furthermore, regarding gender, as the majority of Johnny’s fans, including the original author, are female, the pronoun used for fans in this essay is feminine. Although Japanese pronouns are often not gender-specific, the essay implies the thinking is from a female fan.
I can also add ‘Zara Notes’ to aid in further understanding of certain things. Obviously, these notes did not appear in the original essay, but like I said, the essay is written in Japanese for Japanese readers and thus cultural boundaries will be there. I’ll try to alleviate them where I can.
GLOSSARY
Tantou: A bias. The word tantou in Japanese actually means ‘to be in charge’ of something. This means the fan of a particular idol is in charge of him. In English, we’d call that a bias but it falls sort of what this essay says the Japanese word tantou implies. Tantou is more than a fan who simply likes the idol, she is in charge of him. She is his mother, his lover, she knows everything about him, she sings his parts in karaoke, she’s the only one who knows everything there is about him, she is in charge of him.
Tanfuri: A fan who was a fan of one idol but moved onto another idol. The act of ‘furi’ means to fall, which always means that a fan who ‘falls’ from one idol to another, falls downwards. Meaning, from an older idol to a younger one. You can’t (as far as I know) tanfuri from a younger idol to an older one because that’s going up, not down.
Bias System: The Johnny’s bias system in which a fan takes one bias to identify with. This system is how the fan constructs her relationships within the system (according to this essay, a fan of one idol is not likely to befriend a fan who is a fan of the same idol because it shatters her metaphorical relationship with said idol. Instead, she is more likely to befriend fans of another idol within the same group)
Doutan: A fan of the same idol as you. As I mentioned earlier, the implication of the word tantou means a fan who is in charge of this particular idol. Because there cannot be two of her in her world, doutan is avoided in groups.
Burikko: Often a derogatory term for an idol whose entire image is overly cutesy and childish.
Otaku: A fan of a very specific thing. Often seen amongst society as a bit of a geek, often used for fans of manga and anime in particular but can be applied to other things. (Janiota - Johnnys Otaku)
Aum Shinrikyo: A doomsday cult founded in 1984. Responsible for the Tokyo Subway Sarin attack in 1995. (Don’t ask me why this is included in the essay, my only guess is that the author is comparing the devotion of cultists similar to that of a fan’s devotion to his or her idol. Personally I find the comparison a little insulting.)
Oriki: To chase an idol with single minded determination. It’s a practice known amongst particularly young Johnnys’ fans who make shrines in their rooms and school lockers.
Yarakashi: Anti-fan. These ‘fans’ are the kind who are very disruptive and even harmful to the idol. They’re the ones who throw things at the idol, yell horrible things to them and shape their lives around making that idol miserable. The author of this essay indicates that Yarakashi are common amongst very young fans but the reality is that yarakashi are all ages.
Janikara: Johnny's Karaoke. In which a group of fans will go to karaoke and sing only Johnny's songs.
The Mindset of the Johnny’s Fan
Summary
I. Introduction
A Johnny’s fan is a fan who is crazy about the idols affiliated with Johnny’s Agency. There are fans who are crazy about other talents and artists but Johnny’s fans are distinctly different to them. They are called the tantou of their bias and go to concerts with their biases fan. They will tirelessly check for every TV and magazine appearance and will buy as many CD, DVD goods as they possibly can.
However, these girls are not simple fans. Despite being aware that the idols project a false image in the media, they live completely immersed in excessive surroundings whilst being ironically distanced from their bias. They are well aware that the idol they adore is fiction, yet they identify with him and feel an incredibly strong sense of affinity with him.
This state bears a close resemblance to the concepts introduced in Masachi Osawa’s “Ironical Immersion” (Osawa, 1998). How can such a mindset come about? This essay will investigate the factions between Johnny’s fans and clarify the inner workings of the bias system.
II. About the Johnny’s Agency
Johnny’s Agency is an entertainment agency created by founder Johnny Kitagawa in 1975. These days, they consist of top idols like SMAP, Arashi, KAT-TUN as well as a company of trainees called the Johnny’s Juniors. In the past, the “tanokin trio” (Masahiko Kondo, Nomura Yoshio and Toshihiko Tahara) ‘Shonentai’ and ‘Hikaru Genji’ took the world by storm and continue to remain at the top of the world of male idols even over 40 years later.
The talents affiliated with Johnny’s Agency generally have the image of the ‘beautiful youth’, ‘fresh faced’ or ‘talented sportsman’. In addition ‘masculine slimness’ is a particular trait of Johnny’s Idols. The general impression is that a lot of them have features which make them easy to mistake as girls. A lot of the talents are in their 20’s and 30’s but with sparse body hair and facial hair with slender bodies. They can appear as youths when necessary.
If one were to look at them closely, they’d see no pores and only smooth skin with sparse facial hair.
KAT-TUN’s Akanishi Jin’s beautiful body was the subject of an article in the magazine ‘Tarzan’. In an interview in that same article, Akanishi himself stated “I actually don’t want a slender body, I want a beard and body hair too (laugh)” (Tarzan No 515:20)
Similar to Akanishi, the members of NEWS spoke about their own ‘masculine slimness’ when they were on the TBS music show ‘Utaban’
Masuda: Everyone in NEWS has skin that is too pretty, we don’t grow beards. Even though we’re all over 20.
Kato: Everyone is amazing though. They don’t grow them.
(TBS Utaban - Aired 22nd March 2007)
As seen above, the Johnny’s Idols have no love for their well-kept physique, sparse body hair or any of the characteristics they’re required to have and can openly point out that they are lacking in masculinity. It’s an obvious comparison to talents who are not Johnny’s. The height and weight data of Johnny’s talents were collected and compared to popular units of other companies like ‘Tohoshinki’ and ‘EXILE’ as seen in the chart below.
Sayuri Yoshinaga of the 60’s and Momoe Yamaguchi of the 70’s were ‘untouchable gods’ but the idols of the 80’s were more like ‘friends’. It was the beginning of closing the distance between fan and idol. The days of idols being seen as something like gods had passed, the 80’s represented the age of fans who kept their eyes on their idols and were unmoved even by scandals that followed.
Fictional Era
With the explosive popularity of Matsuda Seiko and ‘Nyanko Club’ spreading in the background, public opinion changed to ‘false idols are ok’.
With this Star System, stars are sometimes seen as objects of blind devotion, something close to gods. But on the other hand, those who support this ‘Idol System’ are extremely calm. In the divide between the idol and the media-made fiction is a constant awareness of the fixed distance. In addition, one of the tactics the media employs is focus on the Idol System. That is, the view of the Meta-Media. (Inamasu 2004: 16)
With this, the idea of fiction is well recognised, the amount of wild enthusiasm for this fiction is not particular to those who support the idol system. This was the mindset that took over Japanese society in the 1980’s.
According to Osawa, the 1980’s were called the golden age of ‘fiction’. In 1983, with the opening of Tokyo Disneyland, the opening performance was a success. This was right in the middle of the fictional era. (Osawa 1996: 46) A new kind of human, the ‘otaku’ appeared in the 80’s. There lay a demand for a new religion like Aum Shinrikyo. (Osawa 1996: 48-49)
Despite knowing the fiction is fiction, there was still wild enthusiasm for it. On the flipside, this ‘VR’ had an ironic distance to it but being totally immersed in it was what Osawa coined ‘Ironical Immersion’. In other words, the idols of this generation are a remnant mindset of the idols of the 80’s.
The Era of the Winter Idols
By the time the 1990’s rolled out, idols who had been mainly singing disappeared along with the decline of music TV shows. With this, the era rushed into the long-lasting ‘Winter Idols’. At the same time, the otaku culture began to prosper. People who became infatuated with fictional characters from manga and anime appeared. If fictional idols were ok, it stands to reason that anime and manga characters were alright asas well and infatuation need not stop at real humans. However, the appearance of the gravure idol, who push out sex appeal as their facade, were increasing in popularity.
Fictional idols were progressing and with the consumption of the idols lives and youth by fans, the need for more realistic idols returned. This too is an example of ‘Ironical Immersion’.
Idol singers appeared in the mid-1990’s with the ‘Komura Family’.
Produced by Komura Tetsuya, Kahara Tomomi, Shinohara Kyoko and Namie Amuro appeared in this era and all released explosive hits. Thereafter, female musicians such as ‘SPEED’ and Hamasaki Ayumi appeared and fired off hits in rapid succession. However, the appeal of these women lay in their musicianship so they’re appropriately classified more as ‘artist’ instead of ‘idol’.
The ‘idol singer’ of the 80’s disappeared completely in the 90’s.
IV. About Johnny’s Fans
Ironically, Johnny’s fans are the same as those who support the ‘Idol System’. However, regardless that ‘idol singers’ had disappeared and there was a push for artists , the talents of Johnny’s Agency found success as idols rather than artists. The following chapters will go over the success of the Johnny’s regardless of the ‘Winter Idol Era’.
1. Biases.
You can’t talk about Johnny’s fans without hitting the word ‘tantou’. The word means ‘to be in charge’ and amongst Johnny’s fans, it symbolises their own favourite idol and her role as his fan. It’s used in conversation like “I am xxx-tan’” For example, a fan of KAT-TUN’s Akanishi Jin would be called ‘Akanishi-tantou’ or ‘Akanishi-tan’ or simply ‘Jin-tan’. The word ‘tantou’ is aimed at the person of worship (the bias) in other words, a Johnny’s fan will use this word to point out their favourite.
Tantou is one of the many ‘Johnny-ota’ (short for Johnny Otaku) words used frequently amongst Johnny’s fans like the words below.
Jitan: Your own bias.
Doutan: A fan whose bias is the same as yours
Tatan: A fan whose bias is different to yours.
Fukutan: Second bias.
Kakemo: A fan with multiple biases. (scattered amongst different groups)
Yunitan: No particular fan of anyone but a fan of the group as a whole
Jimushotan: Not a fan of anyone in particular but a fan of Johnny’s as a whole.
With the word ‘tantou’ comes the word ‘furiru’. (Meaning to fall) ‘Tanfuri’ is when a fan stops being a fan of her bias and ‘falls’ to another talent. It’s used a lot amongst fans. “Fell from XXX”. For example falling from Jin to Ryosuke means to go from being a fan of Akanishi Jin to becoming a fan of Hey!Say!JUMPs Yamada Ryosuke.
However, ‘tanfuri’ does not mean they hate their former bias. Their feelings for them haven’t changed but ‘tanfuri’ means when a younger generation talent comes out and you become a fan. The previous tantou idol can be referred to as something like a ‘god’. In some cases, after ‘falling’ from this tantou, they’ll still hold a special place in the heart of the fan.
To use the example of someone who went from ‘Jintan’ to ‘Ryosuke-tan’, to that girl, Akanishi Jin is something like a god to her. Easy to imagine this ‘tanfuri’ has already happened to many Johnny’s fans.
2. Everyday life of a fan
This chapter will go into the experiences of a Johnny’s fan. Firstly, you have to look at concerts.
Concerts
Once you successfully obtain a concert ticket, preparation for the concert begins. You can’t skip the first part: Listening to all the songs on the setlist and practicing the hand movements for each song. Even for veteran fans already familiar with the hand movements, this is a step which allows the fan to participate, raises excitement and shows appreciation.
There is also a vital step involving the uchiwa (fans) necessary for concerts. Fans holding a fan with their biases name are sold but there are a lot of fans who make their own. They put their biases name and a message for that particular idol onstage. If they’re lucky, the idol will see the message ‘blow a kiss’ or ‘do a peace sign’ and respond accordingly which is why the uchiwa is so important.
Makeup and clothes on the day of the concert are also important. Naturally, this is because there is a chance the fan will meet her bias (to the extent that he’ll actually just look at them). There will be an overflowing amount of girls who put their all in their hair, makeup, clothes etc...In the summer, you can also find girls in swimsuits and yukata. It’s not odd to see cosplaying girls either.
Standing out, even just a little, is absolutely vital.
Because some groups will have colours pertaining to a certain members’ image, there are a lot of fans who will incorporate their biases colour into their clothes. That way everyone can immediately tell whose fan they are just by looking at them. With appearance and goods taken care of, they must not forget to hit the salon. There are a lot of fans who go on diets and go to beauty salons in order to prepare for this day.
Then, on the day of the concert, fans will arrive at the venue several hours early in order to line up for concert goods. This is because in a popular performance, just buying the goods can take several hours. Because concert goods do not get sold again anywhere else, fans will line up several hours for them.
Concerts are also places where fans who don’t often see each other (or can’t) reunite. Lately there have been a lot of cases of fans who became friends on the internet, fans from school, work, different generations and even different countries who became friends. For these groups, the one place where they can gather again is at these concerts.
Outside the venue or inside, they’ll hold their cellphone in one hand, wave their fan around with the other like “D Block. The one holding the Yamapi uchiwa is me! Can you see me?” and in a huge venue, they can see each other. Buying goods, meeting up with friends, fixing their face, spotting other fans, eating together before the concert is how they spend their time.
Then after finding their seats and waiting for several minutes, the lights finally go out. At the same time, the screaming begins and as the concert starts, the sea of penlights flood the venue.
That’s when the group appears. Johnny’s concerts must begin with a bang. Members can appear from under the stage floor, from above, from the front or the back. Where they come from varies every time from group to group.
The creative entertainment continues. A transparent moving stage will go in all directions, members get on these. Rail carts come close to audience seats or a crane will lift them high into the air. Whilst all this is happening, idols change from one flashy costume to the next, they’ll throw out signed balls, they’ll run all over the venue. This is all in the course of 2 and a half hours.
However, that dream-like experience is over quickly. A lot of concerts will end with a ballad. The painful end of the concert is often felt in this gentle and sorrowful ending song.
The encore is brought out by shouting fans. With double and even triple encores, members will return to the stage many times. When the performance is finally over, the comedown from the high, the ‘afterparty’ or ‘post-con session’ begins.
This varies from dinner between fans, drinking parties or smaller scale gatherings at a friends house. There are also cases where internet friends will do something together as well.
Drinking parties often turn into ‘post-con sessions’ where fans exchange their impressions of the concert. They’ll go over the costumes, the way the concert was arranged, the direction the group is going...their conversation gradually gets longer, discussions get more heated as though they were personally involved in the creation of the concert. Of course, these fans are well aware that to the Johnny’s Agency, they’re actually outsiders. Even so, they get really excited in the post-con sessions.
Media
Johnny’s idols often appear on TV shows. Besides music shows, they’ll appear in a lot of things like TV dramas and variety shows. A lot of idols will be on TV and radio shows and when the bias is appearing on a show, video and audio recording happens.
Not just that, the amount of fans who will check when these idols will appear on the news or on 10 second spot ads, however short, will not miss them. There are a lot of these fans.
Checking magazines is important too. Namely Duet, Wink Up, POTATO, Poporo and Myojo are the five main magazines that feature idols. Depending on whether the idol is featuring on a drama, movie, new song or whatever, the magazines containing these idols can increase. There are TV listings, movie magazines, male fashion magazines, female fashion magazines, teen magazines and even gravure magazines where there will be interviews and photoshoots. Also, depending on the drama, movie, press conference, concert or play, they can appear in sports magazines.
Following up on all these publications is very hard but it’s a fans state of mind that they must. There are also fans who will buy multiple copies of the same newspaper or magazine.
There are a lot of fans who run blogs and fansites, they’ll share thoughts on articles, interviews, pictures, variety shows or dramas their biases have appeared in or they’ll write concert reports for other fans. In particular, a lot of fans can be incredibly methodical with the way they’ll write about TV appearances, magazine articles, newspaper articles and so on. To other fans, this can be a very valuable source.
Consumption of goods.
When a new album or concert DVD is being sold, fans will buy as many things as they can but with CD’s and DVD’s, better than buying the regular release is buying the First Limited Edition. The First Limited Edition has a different jacket to the regular, it can also contain bonus tracks and bonus footage that the regular edition won’t have and this serves as an incentive for fans to add it to their collection. Lately there have been several types of Limited Editions and even ‘First Press Regular Editions’ being sold. These sort of things are typical for Johnny’s.
Furthermore, the Johnny’s Ship, which sells official goods, is located in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka. Fans call it the ‘Johnnysho’. Here, mostly the goods sold are official photos and amongst these, individual shots of the idol as well as shots with other members and shots of the group as a whole. There are fans who will also go ahead and buy photos of the other members (aside from her own bias). At the most, these shop photos cost 150 yen each but stack that up with how many a fan can buy in one sitting and it can be thousands of yen in total.
Johnny’s Karaoke
To a Johnny’s fan, one important thing to do is karaoke. Either after an event or right after new songs are released in an album. The fans will gather and go to karaoke. Of course, the only songs they’re going to sing are Johnny’s songs and this is called ‘Johnnys Karaoke’ (Janikara).
The most supported system to a Johnny’s fan is DAM. That is because there are large amounts of Johnny’s PVs included in the system. Fans like to relive concerts as much as they can by using karaoke. They can order songs in the same order as the concert setlists. They can do the hand movements, add concert interruptions, clap their hands perfectly to the music, fans can bring uchiwa and penlights to these things. Amongst groups, there’s often an unspoken agreement that certain people will handle certain parts of the song. (A fan will sing her biases parts only).
Birthdays, Anniversaries, Debut Anniversaries…
To a Johnny’s fan, there are numerous days worthy of celebration. One will be the birthday of the idol. On the birthday of an idol, fans will begin sending out messages at exactly midnight. Some will even make birthday cakes. Birthday wishes will flood online boards (twitter feeds etc…)
Though the scale may vary from blog to blog, amongst fans, birthdays are a popular event. Birthday cakes can be decorated with “XX-kun congratulations” and even though the actual idol isn’t supposed to be there, there are many fans who will celebrate regardless.
Audition anniversaries, the day they entered Johnnys Junior and Debut Anniversaries are also just as special as birthdays. To fans, these days hold a special meaning and thus are also important events.
3. The reality behind a bias.
As mentioned in the previous chapter, the 1980’s were dubbed the ‘Fictional Era’ and idols were a ‘fiction created by the media’ between which is a wild enthusiasm despite the set distance. Behind them was their level-headed support crew. This was the successful ‘Idol System’. This ironical attitude is also found amongst Johnny’s fans. Particularly with SMAP, the age range of the Johnny’s fan base expands. In the current (2010) Johnny’s Agency, SMAP’s Kimura Takuya, TOKIO’s Yamaguchi Tatsuya and V6’s Inohara Yoshihiko are all married. However their popularity has been preserved even through aging, getting married and having kids.
Then, in September 2008, KAT-TUN’s Akanishi Jin was rumoured to be in a relationship with a female model and his picture was splashed all over tabloids. The reaction of his fans was interesting. Usually with idols, the problem of the opposite sex is a taboo subject but the Akanishi fans were totally undisturbed by this news. Just as shown in the blog extract below, they were completely level-headed about it.
Amongst them are fans who criticized not the girl but the fact that he couldn’t hide this. “The fact that they were able to get this picture is the problem. It’s like he has no awareness that he’s an idol.”
Fans are well aware that idols are ‘tricking’ them (into thinking they’re available) but the strong expectation is that idols continue to trick them. The girls are aware of the false image that they support. The real lives of these idols, whether they’re in love or they’re going to get married, it’s completely unrelated to the ‘Idol System’ that they support with the fictional idol created by the media. The support of the fans continues for this system.
On the other hand, to a Johnny’s fan, the ‘tantou’ is also an idol who exists in her fictional world. Some fans will play around with that.
The SNS below was written by an Akanishi fan to a KAT-TUN community on a site called mixi.
In the above post, the word ‘member’ in this context means fans who can become friends. The various events described in the previous section include ‘member’ parties. As ‘members’ they talk and as ‘partners’ they nominate people to go to concerts with.
These girls recruit members but there are various conditions. One of them being ‘no doutan’ in other words, this means they will not befriend a fan of the same idol as them. Finally, the members this fan is asking for include fans of KAT-TUN’s Taguchi Junnosuke, Tanaka Koki, Ueda Tatsuya and Nakamaru Yuiuchi. NEWS’s Masuda Takahisa, Kato Shigeaki and Koyama Keichiro and Kanjani8’s Shibutani Subaru, Murakami Shingo, Yokoyama Yu and Maruyama Shohei as well as backdancers (Johnny’s Juniors).
Fans of any other idol cannot apply.
Next follows a self introduction posted on the top page of the mixi blog by a girl who identifies as the ‘tantou’ of Kis-My-Ft2’s Fujigaya Taisuke
.
This girl was recruiting for ‘Kis-My-Ft2’ fans, particularly those who are fans of Miyata Toshiya, Tamamori Yuta and Senga Kento for ‘Maimiku’ (A Mixi friend of hers). She even welcomes doutan. However, fans of Nikaido Takashi cannot apply as she mentions someone is already there. Meaning she has a friend who identifies as a Nikaido-tan and probably does not welcome doutan of that particular idol.
(Zara note: She identifies her god is Domoto Tsuyoshi, meaning she was formerly a fan of his before she ‘tanfuri’d to Fujigaya Taisuke - see how that works?)
With Johnny’s fans, recruiting friends and self introductions, you’ll often see the word ‘linked’ in them. When Johnny’s fans want new fan friends, it’s not just about whether or not they’re a ‘doutan’ but it’s also about whether they’ll have the same bias as their friend. In other words, a friend has to not have the same bias as them, they must also not overlap with existing friends. When Johnny’s fans are widening their circle of friends, whilst making sure no one overlaps with them or any existing friend, they use this to increase their circle. Chapter 5 will go into how these ‘members’ work together in ‘tantou’ roles.
GROUP A
A-san (25) (Yabu-tan) and (KAT-TUN Akanishi Jin-tan)
B-san (26) (Inoo-tan) and (NEWS Masuda-tan)
C-san (26) (Yamada-tan) and (NEWS Tegoshi-tan)
D-san (25) (Nakajima-tan)
GROUP B
A-san (25) (Yabu-tan) and (KAT-TUN Akanishi Jin-tan)
E-san (Kamenashi-tan)
F-san (Tanaka Koki-tan)
G-san (Nakamaru-tan)
GROUP C
B-san (26) (Inoo-tan) and (NEWS Masuda-tan)
H-san (Tegoshi-tan)
I-san (Nishikido-tan)
J-san (Kato-tan)
GROUP D
K-san (Morimoto-tan)
L-san (Chinen-tan)
GROUP E
N-san (Inoo-tan)
M-san (Yamada-tan)
GROUP F
O-san (Nakajima-tan)
P-san (Miyadate-tan and former Morimoto-tan)
GROUP G
Q-san (Yaotome-tan)
R-san (Okamoto-tan)
In order to fully understand how these ‘member’ relations are structured, use the ‘Hey!Say!JUMP fan community. The above post shows how these known relationships work.
The general layout are these groups nominated to go out together to concerts and so on, the ones with ages indicate the core group.
A-san is a fan of Hey!Say!JUMP’s Yabu Kota. (Yabu-tan). B-san is an Inoo Kei-tantou. C-san is Yamada Ryosuke-tantou and D is Nakajima Yuto-tantou. These four belong to the same Hey!Say!JUMP group, same generation and along with going to concerts together, they’re also good friends.
K-san, the Morimoto Ryutaro-tan and L-san, the Chinen Yuri-tan, form group D and are each other's companions. N-san is an Inoo-tantou and M-san is a Yamada-tantou. They form Group E.
(Zara Note: Remember what this essay said about doutan. Group A already has an Inoo fan and a Yamada fan. This means Group E is unlikely to join events with the main group UNLESS B-san and C-san are not present. In cases where they are present, Group E can do things together - away from the core group. Whereas Group D share no biases with Group A and can join them in events that allow for more than four members. These will not be concert events though as all concerts have a maximum group seating of four)
Group F consist of O-san, who is a Nakajima-tan and P-san who is a former Morimoto-tan and is now a fan of Mis Snow man’s Miyadate Ryota.
(Zara Note: This means Group F is unlikely to join the core group. There is already a Nakajima-tan in that group and O-san has already left the Hey!Say!JUMP community as a former Morimoto fan.)
Group G, with Q-san as Yaotome Hikaru-tantou and R-san, the Okamoto Kei-tantou, form their own group of 2.
Group B consists of A-san, who is now a Yabu-tan but in the past, she was KAT-TUN’s Akanishi Jin’s fan. She ‘fell’ into Hey!Say!JUMP’s Yabu. Her old group includes E-san, the Kamenashi-tantou, F-san, the Tanaka-tantou and G-san, the Nakamaru-tantou, she still keeps in touch with them.
Similarly, Group C includes B-san, who is now an Inoo-tan but previously the fan of NEWS’s Masuda Takahisa. Her friends in the NEWS fandom include H-san, the Tegoshi-tantou, I-san, the Nishikido-tantou and J-san, the Kato-tantou.
Looking at these relationships, where possible, they make sure that no one overlaps with each other. At the same time, this is their network of friends. B and N are both Inoo Kei fans. C and M are both Yamada Ryosuke fans. D and O are both Nakajima Yuto fans and K and P both like Morimoto. They’re all doutan but as you can see by the way these groups are set, none of them overlap.
In B’s self intro page on Mixi, she wrote “Yabu, Kei, Hikaru, Yamada, Yuto, Chinen, Kei and Ryutaro fans are here”. This is designed in the group setting above to keep others away (because the group is full). With this community of 18 idols mentioned, the system has been established so as not to let anyone overlap.
This trend of widening networks of friends whilst avoiding doutan is a common thing amongst Johnny’s fans. To the fans, the ‘tantou’ is like a lover. Because of that, a doutan is like your idol having two lovers and therefore it’s a situation fans will avoid. So by making sure their friends don’t have the same bias as another fan, they make sure to avoid that awkward situation.
As mentioned before, the idol is a ‘fiction created by the media’. ‘Fictional Idol World’ is also created by the media and supported by the fans. It’s something Johnny’s fans are well aware of. However, at the same time, these fans call their favourite idol, their ‘tantou’ and build relationships whilst ensuring none of these biases overlap. It’s a similar emotion to love and allows the fans to relate to their idols and feel a very strong affinity to them.
The next chapter will go into how ‘tantou’ duties are handled. Despite fans being aware that this relationship they have with their idols is fictional, their overimmersion into their ‘tantou’ brings to light a conflicting behaviour.
V. Regarding Biases
1. Relationships between fans and relationships between ‘tantou’
Each Johnny’s fan calls her favourite idol, her ‘tantou’. One can almost see it like they’re making a link between them and their idol (marking them as their own).
So, in a fanbase, where there will always be ‘doutan’ many fans create groups whilst avoiding overlapping with each other. In other words, they don’t just think about themselves, they think about their friends and about the group as a whole having different biases.
Groups created with no overlapping is shown in the following diagram and chapter, the fan communities mirror the idol groups as their relationships are structured.
Fan
A-tan + B-tan + C-tan + D-tan
Idol
A + B + C + D
Now, with these fans calling themselves the ‘tantou’ of their bias, they have a role to play within the fan group. As covered in the prior chapter, we discussed the various activities a fan can do.
In concerts, fans will have uchiwa with pictures and the name of their bias, their fashion will reflect the member colours, they’ll do things like post-con review meetings and they’ll do karaoke where there is an unspoken agreement that the fan is responsible for all solo parts of her bias.
One Hey!Say!JUMP fan introduced in the previous chapter, A-san, the tantou of Yabu Kota is, because of him, the leader in her group. This is because Yabu Kota is the oldest person in Hey!Say!JUMP and he is the leader of that group. Naturally, the decision to make A-san the leader also relied on her personality but it’s influenced a lot by the fact that she is a Yabu-tan to begin with.
This is generally how each fan within the Johnny’s Fan Community fills the role of their ‘tantou’. As a general rule, a fan filling the role of their tantou is something only they can do alone. One can’t help but wonder if these fans see their bias as some sort of totem.
In other words, can we say that the common practice amongst Johnny’s fans is to pick out their bias by points of similarity and wear the role as something to define themselves? Totems are usually an animal or a flower of some sort that people identify with. (And because of this, that particular animal or flower is exempt from being killed or consumed by them)
The affiliated group will then use the animal’s name to label themselves or their belief system and this animal becomes their totem. (Oda 2000: 120-121)
Scholars have long since argued that the significance of a totem stems from the earliest roots of religion. However, as Levi Strauss claimed, the universal phenomenon of relationships between groups of human cultures and the natural order of animals should be perceived as a special case.
In other words, according to Levi Strauss, Totemism is the points of similarity that lie between the differences in nature and the differences in human groups. It’s not that humans use animals and flora as totems, it’s in using nature as a metaphor for social groups. Thus, it becomes a code for use between humans and animals.
To a Johnny’s fan, the relation between the tantou and her responsibility as his fan corresponds to the metaphorical relationship between natural species and social groups in totemism. The way fans create their own social construct with uchiwa, fashion, post-con meetings, janikara and relationships directly relates to their identity as a particular tantou. It can be said that a primitive being is the same in claiming an animal or flora as their roots and their totem. Thereby making it taboo to eat said animal or flower.
However, we can observe an important difference in totemism. In the classification system of totemism, the difference relation between the totem and social group that emerges from the fusion with the social group is important. What is emphasized and strengthened by the totem is the metaphoric relation between social groups.
However, conversely, what is important here is not the metaphorical relationship between the idol and the fan but rather the metaphorical relationship between the fan and her tantou. It can be said that the Bias System emphasizes and strengthens the ties between the fans and tantou that is created by practicing it.
As mentioned earlier in Chapter IV, the idol is fiction and based on the cold realisation that there is essentially no intimate relationship between the fan and her bias. However, by repeating the special practice of the Bias System, the metaphorical relationship between fan and her perception of her idol is constantly refreshed. In other words, by interacting with fans of a different bias, the relationship between that fan mirrors that of the idol's relationship with that idol in the group. This actually strengthens the relationship between fan and idol.
(Zara Note: For those of you who went cross eyed during that repetitive bit, let me simplify what this author is trying to say. According to this author (remember this is subjective) a Johnny’s fan will claim one idol as her bias. Her tantou. As I mentioned in the glossary, the strength of the word ‘tantou’ trumps the English word ‘bias’. She doesn’t just like him. She is in charge of everything to do with him, he is hers.
Now, go on with that in mind. She claimed him, he’s hers, she identifies with him completely and her social system is based around the fact that she is his fan.
Let's give her a name. Amy is a fan of Akanishi Jin. She is the Akanishi-tan, he is hers, she claimed him, he’s her totem. Her friends are not going to be his fans, they’re going to be fans of the same group. She’ll have a Elizabeth, who is a Kamenashi-tan. She’ll have Jason, he’s a Ueda-tan and she’ll have a Nick, he’s a Tanaka-tan. Her relationship with these people reflects Jin’s relationships with their biases. Therefore, this strengthens her identity as the Jin-tan. How she’s going to interact with Elizabeth will be similar to how Jin interacts with Kamenashi and this brings her emotionally closer to Jin which is the ultimate goal here.
It’s almost as though Amy thinks of herself as Akanishi Jin. She knows she’s not, but she’s as close as she can get to him. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.)
Taking this into consideration, this could explain why fans don’t tend to hang around fans of the same idol because that mirroring relationship cannot be made. Being around a fan of the same idol shatters that metaphorical relationship they have with their bias. The act of avoiding a doutan is therefore the act of protecting that bond they have to their bias.
In totemism, the metaphorical relationship between the social group and the totem is emphasized in order to strengthen the bond between the social group corresponding to the totem. On the other hand, in the Bias System, a metaphorical relationship is created between the fan and her bias by building relationships with fans corresponding to the metaphorical relationship between the idols. In this sense, the Bias System has actually been reversed.
The Bias System strengthens the bond by emphasizing on the metaphorical relationship between the fans. Natural totemism is an emphasis between humans and their totem.
Another thing in totemism is that the totem tends to be handed down through generations which is not done in the Johnny’s fandom. The idol cannot be handed down and they don’t exist in a relationship between fans with the same bias.
It can therefore be said that this is a ‘Practical Totemism’ in that the bond between idol and fan is developed in practice with the fan actively doing it themselves.
2. The relationship between fan and idol as seen from Tanfuri
The previous chapter mentioned that the Bias System is reversed totemism in practice. However the Bias System is, at its core, something like a mother’s love. The fusion of fan and idol mirrors the relationship between mother and child.
It’s well known that early mother-child relationships are so strong they are inseparable. For example, it’s even said that a mother refers to her child as the pronoun ‘I’ to symbolize the unity between mother and child.
(Zara Note: This only works in Japanese. The author is saying that a mother will use the Japanese pronoun ‘boku’ - I/Me. To refer to both herself and her child as a singular being rather than two separate beings.)
“Fan = Mother. Idol = Child” is a thing that brings the fans emotionally closer to the idols.
This is a scene where Domoto Tsuyoshi’s quiet condition is explained to the fan by another fan who says that his schedule is hectic and that’s why he’s tired. Her way of explaining his condition is as though she’s his mother.
The nature of the relationship that can be compared to that of one between mother and child, a similarity can be found in ‘tanfuri’. The act of which brings about a desire to see a young, immature child grow into a mature young man. The process of seeing an idol graduate from Johnny’s Junior and debut, then continue to grow and mature is similar to a mother watching her son’s growth. This is why Johnny’s fans can leave one idol and transfer to one who is still a junior so they can watch their growth from the beginning all over again.
This also means that the former bias becomes something like a god to them. Tanfuri means to eliminate the bond between fan and bias. The former bias then becomes the former revered. (Almost like a benchmark for future talents)
As described above, the Bias System is said to run on an emotion similar to a maternal love fans have for their biases. The company is aware of this and that is the basis of their marketing strategy.
For starters, there are a lot of young idols. With Johnnys Idols, the image of a refreshing, beautiful and sporty youth is firmly established. Focus on masculinity isn’t really emphasized. The thin and lean appearance of the Johnny’s Idol is similar to that of youth and immaturity and is in fact used to stimulate the maternal instincts of fans.
This could be the reasoning behind Johnny’s Junior. In putting these juniors behind their seniors, it’s not only promoting them but it’s also encouraging fans to ‘tanfuri’ to them. Many fans look forward to the futures of Johnny’s Juniors and cheer for them. They are the next generation idol, a supply source of sorts for fans.
3. The Heterogeneity of Johnnys’ Fans
Taking into account the previous observation, it can be said that the root of the Bias System is the maternal connection between mother and child. Fans continue to watch their idols growth from the shadows, supporting their bias with affection similar to that of a mother. Many fans find that the real pleasure of being a fan is in watching their biases growth.
However, there is another side to this. Johnny’s idols send sexual messages to their fans.
In concerts, idols perform intense and provocative dances, they can be shirtless and a lot of their lyrics and songs are about sex. Gravure photoshoots show them shirtless or even naked.
And fans are willing to receive such sexual messages. They consume that content despite the mother-child relationship. In other words, the bias becomes the target of love and desire as well as the child of the fan. Thinking about it this way, the concept of incest can appear. Some fans feel a sense of embarrassment, like they’re doing something wrong in liking their biases this way.
For this reason, Johnny’s fans tend to find their love of Johnny’s Idols embarrassing and will hide this from people who are not Johnny’s fans. This is because Johnny’s fans have the same roots as those who like young men. There is a stigma and they can be scorned for it.
“Why don’t you stan someone your own age?” or “I can’t even tell if that thing is a man or woman” are common comments.
Of course, women who like young men are a little hard to understand. Even in modern Japanese society, the relationships of older women and younger men are still in the minority. As of late, cases of wives who are older than their husbands have been increasing but it’s still an anomaly.
There’s also a thing that a wife who is older than her husband is referred to as ‘older sister’ whilst no such terms like ‘older brother’ exist for husbands who are older than their wives.
(Zara Note: Again, this only works in Japanese and has no English equivalent that I’m aware of. No one I know refers to their older wife as their older sister…)
It can be said that such recognition of older women and younger men as a couple supports the reality that couples with older men and younger women are more common in Japanese society.
But then, this begs the question as to why we perceive older men and younger women as the norm. Why is it that women who like younger men are perceived as strange whilst men who like younger women have no particular prejudices?
The existence of Johnny’s fans questions our view of sexuality in contemporary Japanese society.
VI. Conclusion
The 1980’s were said to be the golden age of the ‘Fiction Era’. In this era when the attitude of “Ironical Immersion” was established socially, the Japanese idol culture flourished. In a social situation where fictionalization was progressing, Johnny’s fans embraced the idols despite being aware of the fiction behind the idols.
Fans of a particular idol call him her bias and support him with a love similar to that of a mother's love. In addition, fans tend to cultivate relationships depending on their biases, as though denying the existence of multiple mothers for one child.
This system, seen as reverse totemism, is the way of building friendships between fans. By projecting the order in the idol group onto the group of fans, the bond between the relationship between fan and idol deepens. It’s also seen as practical totemism in which the metaphorical relationship between fans is strengthened through practice. Thus also strengthening the bond between idol and fan. In other words, strengthening relations between peers whilst ignoring fans of the same idol in order to steel the bond between fan and idol as a more realistic one.
However, whilst fans support their biases with maternal love, the behaviour of Johnny’s idols can be very suggestive. Songs and dances continuously send out sexual undertones to an excessive extent and fans actively consume such content. For fans, the idol is a child but also a subject of love and sexual desire.
The ambivalent emotions that cause the contraindication of incest can be considered one of the many things that make Johnny’s Idols so addictive.
It cannot be denied that the description of Johnny’s fans in this essay is subjective to the author who became a fan after turning 20. Thus the viewpoint can only come from fans of that same age range. There are many fans much younger in elementary and junior high whose practice of fan activities differ from those described in this essay.
Several materials and reports document things like ‘Oriki’ and ‘Yarakashi’ but details were difficult to recover and thus they were left out of this essay.
Because the essay is subjective, there will be a lot of Johnny’s fans who cannot relate to the observations included in this essay.
In addition, the phenomenon of Johnny’s fans avoiding doutan, that is, fans of the same idol, this paper cannot conclude that all fans practice this sort of Bias System and in fact there will be a lot of fans who do not relate to it at all.
However, amongst Johnny’s fans, such fans are few in number. That is, whilst recognizing that idols are fiction created by the media, they are connected with idols who live in that fiction world. This world is charged by the fans who create it whilst working with other fans to maintain it. These activities are not just limited to fan culture but also heavily influence the marketing of the agency. The feverish enthusiasm that comes with ‘Ironical Immersion’ is something that cannot be ignored.
Bibliography
Publications
1989 『アイドル工学』 薩摩書房。
1999 「SPEED にみるアイドル現象の変容」『鳴り響く性』北川純子編、 勁草書房。 2003 『パンドラのメディア：テレビは時代をどう変えたのか』薩摩書房。 小川 博司 1988 『音楽する社会』勁草書房。 大澤 真幸
1998 「仮想現実の顕在性」『岩波講座 現代の教育―危機と教育８ 情報とメディア』岩波 書店。
2008 『不可能性の時代』岩波書店。
2009 『増補 虚構の時代の果て』薩摩書房。 小田 亮
2000 『レヴィ＝ストロース入門』筑摩書房。 小菅 宏
2007 『芸能をビッグビジネスに変えた男「ジャニー喜多川」の戦略と戦術』講談社。 ジャニーズ研究会
2008 『完全保存版ジャニーズの歴史―光も影も４５年』鹿砦社。 松本 美香
2007 『ジャニヲタ 女のケモノ道』双葉社 レヴィ＝ストロース、クロード
1976 『野生の思考』大橋保夫訳、みすず書房。
2000 『今日のトーテミスム』仲澤紀雄訳、みすず書房。 『くにたち人類学研究』 Vol. 5 2010.05.01 46 レヴィ＝ブリュル
1991 『未開社会の思惟 上』山田吉彦訳、岩波文庫。
Magazine Articles
麻布台出版社
2006 年 7 月 22 日発行、『ポポロ』2006 年 9 月号。
学習研究社
2009 年 10 月 7 日発行、『POTATO』2009 年 11 月号。
集英社
2009 年 9 月 23 日発行、『Myojo』2009 年 11 月号。
マガジンハウス
2008 年 7 月 25 日発行、『Tarzan』No.515 。
Website References
赤西仁くん応援日記「Love&Natural」らぶなちゅ。 URL:http://loveandnaturaljin.blog60.fc2.com/―2010 年 3 月 1 日閲覧。
厚生労働省
人口動態統計年報、主要統計表(婚姻)、第 6 表「初婚腐譜の年齢差別に見た婚姻件数・構成 割合の年次推移」。 URL:http://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/saikin/hw/jinkou/suii07/marr6.html―2010 年 3 月 1 日 閲覧。
★naoko の赤西仁生活★
URL:http://naokojin.blog70.fc2.com/―2010 年 3 月 1 日閲覧。
Mixi
URL:http://mixi.jp/home.pl―2010 年 3 月 1 日閲覧。
文部科学省
2007 年度『体力・運動能力調査』「2．年齢別体格測定の結果」。 URL:http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/20/10/08092414/002.xls―2010 年 3 月 1 日 閲覧。
(Reviewed 10th April 2010)
(Zara Note: Mmm, nope. I am not translating that bibliography. It wouldn’t do you any good anyway, you can only find the sources in Japanese so if you want to find them, you’re better off finding the Japanese source rather than having me translate the names of the articles. Stick it in google translate if you’re really curious. It won’t be grammatically accurate but it’ll translate titles if you must know the sources this essay is referring to.)
The subject of this essay is that of Johnny’s fans. A Johnny’s fan is a fan of an idol affiliated with Johnny’s Agency and they are wildly enthusiastic in supporting them. However, the way they support the idols is not as simple as just liking them. The fans, despite being aware of the fictional nature of the idols, identify personally with them and feel a very strong affinity with them. How is such an ‘Ironic Immersion’ possible?
This essay will cover how Johnny’s fans identify with biases and explore the mechanism of how the bias system works by using the totem theory.
This essay will cover how Johnny’s fans identify with biases and explore the mechanism of how the bias system works by using the totem theory.
Keywords: Idol, Johnny’s, Fan, Totem, Japan
Contents
Contents
- Introduction
- About Johnny’s Agency
- Idols and Modern Society
- Idols from the 60’s to the 80’s
- Fictional Era
- Era of Winter Idols
- About Johnny's Fans
- Biases
- The everyday life of a fan
- The reality behind a bias
- Regarding Biases
- The relationships between a fan and her bias
- The hierarchy of biases amongst fans
- Johnny’s fans heterogeneity
I. Introduction
A Johnny’s fan is a fan who is crazy about the idols affiliated with Johnny’s Agency. There are fans who are crazy about other talents and artists but Johnny’s fans are distinctly different to them. They are called the tantou of their bias and go to concerts with their biases fan. They will tirelessly check for every TV and magazine appearance and will buy as many CD, DVD goods as they possibly can.
However, these girls are not simple fans. Despite being aware that the idols project a false image in the media, they live completely immersed in excessive surroundings whilst being ironically distanced from their bias. They are well aware that the idol they adore is fiction, yet they identify with him and feel an incredibly strong sense of affinity with him.
This state bears a close resemblance to the concepts introduced in Masachi Osawa’s “Ironical Immersion” (Osawa, 1998). How can such a mindset come about? This essay will investigate the factions between Johnny’s fans and clarify the inner workings of the bias system.
II. About the Johnny’s Agency
Johnny’s Agency is an entertainment agency created by founder Johnny Kitagawa in 1975. These days, they consist of top idols like SMAP, Arashi, KAT-TUN as well as a company of trainees called the Johnny’s Juniors. In the past, the “tanokin trio” (Masahiko Kondo, Nomura Yoshio and Toshihiko Tahara) ‘Shonentai’ and ‘Hikaru Genji’ took the world by storm and continue to remain at the top of the world of male idols even over 40 years later.
The talents affiliated with Johnny’s Agency generally have the image of the ‘beautiful youth’, ‘fresh faced’ or ‘talented sportsman’. In addition ‘masculine slimness’ is a particular trait of Johnny’s Idols. The general impression is that a lot of them have features which make them easy to mistake as girls. A lot of the talents are in their 20’s and 30’s but with sparse body hair and facial hair with slender bodies. They can appear as youths when necessary.
If one were to look at them closely, they’d see no pores and only smooth skin with sparse facial hair.
KAT-TUN’s Akanishi Jin’s beautiful body was the subject of an article in the magazine ‘Tarzan’. In an interview in that same article, Akanishi himself stated “I actually don’t want a slender body, I want a beard and body hair too (laugh)” (Tarzan No 515:20)
Similar to Akanishi, the members of NEWS spoke about their own ‘masculine slimness’ when they were on the TBS music show ‘Utaban’
Masuda: Everyone in NEWS has skin that is too pretty, we don’t grow beards. Even though we’re all over 20.
Kato: Everyone is amazing though. They don’t grow them.
(TBS Utaban - Aired 22nd March 2007)
As seen above, the Johnny’s Idols have no love for their well-kept physique, sparse body hair or any of the characteristics they’re required to have and can openly point out that they are lacking in masculinity. It’s an obvious comparison to talents who are not Johnny’s. The height and weight data of Johnny’s talents were collected and compared to popular units of other companies like ‘Tohoshinki’ and ‘EXILE’ as seen in the chart below.
| Average Age | Height (cm) | Weight (kg) | BMI | |
| Arashi | 27.2 | 171.2 | 55.6 | 18.96 |
| Tackey & Tsubasa | 27.5 | 169.5 | 53.0 | `8.45 |
| NEWS | 23.4 | 173.4 | 57.4 | 19.04 |
| Kanjani8 | 25.9 | 172.5 | 57.4 | 18.96 |
| KAT-TUN | 24.7 | 173.7 | 58.3 | 19.27 |
| Hey!Say!JUMP | 17.7 | 169.4 | 53.1 | 18.43 |
| Kis-My-Ft2 | 21 | 173.1 | 58.1 | 19.37 |
| ABC-Z | 21.6 | 169.6 | 56.4 | 19.58 |
| Tohoshinki | 23.2 | 181.2 | 62.8 | 19.14 |
| EXILE | 29.6 | 178.1 | 67.0 | 21.03 |
| Average Japanese Male | 18 | 171.4 | 63.4 | 21.58 |
| 19 | 171.4 | 63.4 | 21.59 | |
| 20-24 | 172.3 | 65.8 | 22.17 | |
| 25-29 | 172.1 | 66.7 | 22.53 |
Although the average height of a Johnny’s idol is roughly similar to the average Japanese male, their weight is about 5-10kgs lighter. Because of that, their BMI is lower as well. Compared to the popular Korean group Tohoshinki (DBSK) their average BMI is 19.14, about the same as the Johnny’s but their average height is 181.2cm, 10 cm taller than the average Johnny’s Idol.
EXILE, whose muscular bodies, facial hair and masculine charms are popular amongst young girls, are both taller and weigh more than a Johnny’s talent. BMI is at 21.02 which is closer to that of the average Japanese male and is in fact, in the healthy range. The fact that these features belong to non-Johnny’s idols is indicative that what makes the average Johnny’s idol popular and what is desirable amongst their fans is not masculinity but rather the adolescent and androgenous gestures as mentioned earlier.
Now, in the Johnny’s Agency, there are a lot of trainee boys who haven’t debuted yet called the Johnny’s Juniors. These boys train to be tomorrow’s stars, they go to dance and singing lessons daily, they are the wanna-be idols. However, amongst them are many who have already been recognised by the fanbase as idols. The main activity of a Junior is to be backdancers for their debuted senior idols in concerts or music shows. Johnny’s Idols concerts can have hundreds of Juniors, their contribution can be seen as a major reason behind the success of these concerts.
In other words, that is how they are trained. Before they are picked for debut, they already have a functioning knowledge of how things work. It’s not uncommon that the Johnnys’ Juniors who backdance for these idols and end up liking them and becoming their fans as well.
There are also fans who cheer for and wait for the Juniors, anticipating their futures for debut. Earlier this essay mentioned that the fans want a boyish, adolescent and androdynous charm, the truth is that from this we can see they prefer the juvenile charms of the Junior. This will be discussed at length later.
III. Idols and Modern Society
Idols of the 60’s to the 80’s
According to Tetsuo Inamasu (Japanese sociologist) In a Japanese context, the term ‘idol’ came about in the 70’s as the general term for a singer whose pop lyrics were aimed at young people. The charisma of the conventional star whose existence gained popularity by appealing the ideas of ‘youth’ and ‘sex’ rather than any ability as an actual singer. (Inamasu 1999: 155-156)
In the 60’s, the earliest known idol was Sayuri Yoshinaga. She was the ‘constructive’ idol who had absolutely no scandals and made efforts to balance her false image with her real image in order to live up to the ‘innocent’ label the world expected of her.
In 1973, Mamoe Yamaguchi, who debuted with the song ‘Toshigoro’ became the top idol of the 70’s. In addition to the contents of her songs, she embodied the ‘real life’ idol and gained sympathy, particularly with women. Her image abolished the concept of the female idol as merely a dress up doll. Meaning that amongst Momoe’s diverse values in the 70’s, the real image is actually what made her stand out. (Inamasu 1989: 67)
The leading idol of the 80’s was the singer Matsuda Seiko. She coined the term “Burikko” and in excess, was the exact opposite of Momoe who aimed for the realistic image. Whereas Seiko’s image was entirely false. Furthermore, fans were aware of this and supported it. (Inamasu 1989: 68)
In the late 80’s, the ‘nyanko club’ arrived. ‘Onyanko Club’ debuted on their own variety show ‘Yuyake nyan nyan’ (Fuji TV 1985-87) (Inamasu 2004: 162) In this show, idols were created with support from the viewers. For a program to show the system of making idols began the age of ‘Letting the public decide’ as a theme for variety shows. (Inamasu 1989: 177-178)
EXILE, whose muscular bodies, facial hair and masculine charms are popular amongst young girls, are both taller and weigh more than a Johnny’s talent. BMI is at 21.02 which is closer to that of the average Japanese male and is in fact, in the healthy range. The fact that these features belong to non-Johnny’s idols is indicative that what makes the average Johnny’s idol popular and what is desirable amongst their fans is not masculinity but rather the adolescent and androgenous gestures as mentioned earlier.
Now, in the Johnny’s Agency, there are a lot of trainee boys who haven’t debuted yet called the Johnny’s Juniors. These boys train to be tomorrow’s stars, they go to dance and singing lessons daily, they are the wanna-be idols. However, amongst them are many who have already been recognised by the fanbase as idols. The main activity of a Junior is to be backdancers for their debuted senior idols in concerts or music shows. Johnny’s Idols concerts can have hundreds of Juniors, their contribution can be seen as a major reason behind the success of these concerts.
In other words, that is how they are trained. Before they are picked for debut, they already have a functioning knowledge of how things work. It’s not uncommon that the Johnnys’ Juniors who backdance for these idols and end up liking them and becoming their fans as well.
There are also fans who cheer for and wait for the Juniors, anticipating their futures for debut. Earlier this essay mentioned that the fans want a boyish, adolescent and androdynous charm, the truth is that from this we can see they prefer the juvenile charms of the Junior. This will be discussed at length later.
III. Idols and Modern Society
Idols of the 60’s to the 80’s
According to Tetsuo Inamasu (Japanese sociologist) In a Japanese context, the term ‘idol’ came about in the 70’s as the general term for a singer whose pop lyrics were aimed at young people. The charisma of the conventional star whose existence gained popularity by appealing the ideas of ‘youth’ and ‘sex’ rather than any ability as an actual singer. (Inamasu 1999: 155-156)
In the 60’s, the earliest known idol was Sayuri Yoshinaga. She was the ‘constructive’ idol who had absolutely no scandals and made efforts to balance her false image with her real image in order to live up to the ‘innocent’ label the world expected of her.
In 1973, Mamoe Yamaguchi, who debuted with the song ‘Toshigoro’ became the top idol of the 70’s. In addition to the contents of her songs, she embodied the ‘real life’ idol and gained sympathy, particularly with women. Her image abolished the concept of the female idol as merely a dress up doll. Meaning that amongst Momoe’s diverse values in the 70’s, the real image is actually what made her stand out. (Inamasu 1989: 67)
The leading idol of the 80’s was the singer Matsuda Seiko. She coined the term “Burikko” and in excess, was the exact opposite of Momoe who aimed for the realistic image. Whereas Seiko’s image was entirely false. Furthermore, fans were aware of this and supported it. (Inamasu 1989: 68)
In the late 80’s, the ‘nyanko club’ arrived. ‘Onyanko Club’ debuted on their own variety show ‘Yuyake nyan nyan’ (Fuji TV 1985-87) (Inamasu 2004: 162) In this show, idols were created with support from the viewers. For a program to show the system of making idols began the age of ‘Letting the public decide’ as a theme for variety shows. (Inamasu 1989: 177-178)
Sayuri Yoshinaga of the 60’s and Momoe Yamaguchi of the 70’s were ‘untouchable gods’ but the idols of the 80’s were more like ‘friends’. It was the beginning of closing the distance between fan and idol. The days of idols being seen as something like gods had passed, the 80’s represented the age of fans who kept their eyes on their idols and were unmoved even by scandals that followed.
Fictional Era
With the explosive popularity of Matsuda Seiko and ‘Nyanko Club’ spreading in the background, public opinion changed to ‘false idols are ok’.
With this Star System, stars are sometimes seen as objects of blind devotion, something close to gods. But on the other hand, those who support this ‘Idol System’ are extremely calm. In the divide between the idol and the media-made fiction is a constant awareness of the fixed distance. In addition, one of the tactics the media employs is focus on the Idol System. That is, the view of the Meta-Media. (Inamasu 2004: 16)
With this, the idea of fiction is well recognised, the amount of wild enthusiasm for this fiction is not particular to those who support the idol system. This was the mindset that took over Japanese society in the 1980’s.
According to Osawa, the 1980’s were called the golden age of ‘fiction’. In 1983, with the opening of Tokyo Disneyland, the opening performance was a success. This was right in the middle of the fictional era. (Osawa 1996: 46) A new kind of human, the ‘otaku’ appeared in the 80’s. There lay a demand for a new religion like Aum Shinrikyo. (Osawa 1996: 48-49)
Despite knowing the fiction is fiction, there was still wild enthusiasm for it. On the flipside, this ‘VR’ had an ironic distance to it but being totally immersed in it was what Osawa coined ‘Ironical Immersion’. In other words, the idols of this generation are a remnant mindset of the idols of the 80’s.
The Era of the Winter Idols
By the time the 1990’s rolled out, idols who had been mainly singing disappeared along with the decline of music TV shows. With this, the era rushed into the long-lasting ‘Winter Idols’. At the same time, the otaku culture began to prosper. People who became infatuated with fictional characters from manga and anime appeared. If fictional idols were ok, it stands to reason that anime and manga characters were alright asas well and infatuation need not stop at real humans. However, the appearance of the gravure idol, who push out sex appeal as their facade, were increasing in popularity.
Fictional idols were progressing and with the consumption of the idols lives and youth by fans, the need for more realistic idols returned. This too is an example of ‘Ironical Immersion’.
Idol singers appeared in the mid-1990’s with the ‘Komura Family’.
Produced by Komura Tetsuya, Kahara Tomomi, Shinohara Kyoko and Namie Amuro appeared in this era and all released explosive hits. Thereafter, female musicians such as ‘SPEED’ and Hamasaki Ayumi appeared and fired off hits in rapid succession. However, the appeal of these women lay in their musicianship so they’re appropriately classified more as ‘artist’ instead of ‘idol’.
The ‘idol singer’ of the 80’s disappeared completely in the 90’s.
IV. About Johnny’s Fans
Ironically, Johnny’s fans are the same as those who support the ‘Idol System’. However, regardless that ‘idol singers’ had disappeared and there was a push for artists , the talents of Johnny’s Agency found success as idols rather than artists. The following chapters will go over the success of the Johnny’s regardless of the ‘Winter Idol Era’.
1. Biases.
You can’t talk about Johnny’s fans without hitting the word ‘tantou’. The word means ‘to be in charge’ and amongst Johnny’s fans, it symbolises their own favourite idol and her role as his fan. It’s used in conversation like “I am xxx-tan’” For example, a fan of KAT-TUN’s Akanishi Jin would be called ‘Akanishi-tantou’ or ‘Akanishi-tan’ or simply ‘Jin-tan’. The word ‘tantou’ is aimed at the person of worship (the bias) in other words, a Johnny’s fan will use this word to point out their favourite.
Tantou is one of the many ‘Johnny-ota’ (short for Johnny Otaku) words used frequently amongst Johnny’s fans like the words below.
Jitan: Your own bias.
Doutan: A fan whose bias is the same as yours
Tatan: A fan whose bias is different to yours.
Fukutan: Second bias.
Kakemo: A fan with multiple biases. (scattered amongst different groups)
Yunitan: No particular fan of anyone but a fan of the group as a whole
Jimushotan: Not a fan of anyone in particular but a fan of Johnny’s as a whole.
With the word ‘tantou’ comes the word ‘furiru’. (Meaning to fall) ‘Tanfuri’ is when a fan stops being a fan of her bias and ‘falls’ to another talent. It’s used a lot amongst fans. “Fell from XXX”. For example falling from Jin to Ryosuke means to go from being a fan of Akanishi Jin to becoming a fan of Hey!Say!JUMPs Yamada Ryosuke.
However, ‘tanfuri’ does not mean they hate their former bias. Their feelings for them haven’t changed but ‘tanfuri’ means when a younger generation talent comes out and you become a fan. The previous tantou idol can be referred to as something like a ‘god’. In some cases, after ‘falling’ from this tantou, they’ll still hold a special place in the heart of the fan.
To use the example of someone who went from ‘Jintan’ to ‘Ryosuke-tan’, to that girl, Akanishi Jin is something like a god to her. Easy to imagine this ‘tanfuri’ has already happened to many Johnny’s fans.
2. Everyday life of a fan
This chapter will go into the experiences of a Johnny’s fan. Firstly, you have to look at concerts.
Concerts
Once you successfully obtain a concert ticket, preparation for the concert begins. You can’t skip the first part: Listening to all the songs on the setlist and practicing the hand movements for each song. Even for veteran fans already familiar with the hand movements, this is a step which allows the fan to participate, raises excitement and shows appreciation.
There is also a vital step involving the uchiwa (fans) necessary for concerts. Fans holding a fan with their biases name are sold but there are a lot of fans who make their own. They put their biases name and a message for that particular idol onstage. If they’re lucky, the idol will see the message ‘blow a kiss’ or ‘do a peace sign’ and respond accordingly which is why the uchiwa is so important.
Makeup and clothes on the day of the concert are also important. Naturally, this is because there is a chance the fan will meet her bias (to the extent that he’ll actually just look at them). There will be an overflowing amount of girls who put their all in their hair, makeup, clothes etc...In the summer, you can also find girls in swimsuits and yukata. It’s not odd to see cosplaying girls either.
Standing out, even just a little, is absolutely vital.
Because some groups will have colours pertaining to a certain members’ image, there are a lot of fans who will incorporate their biases colour into their clothes. That way everyone can immediately tell whose fan they are just by looking at them. With appearance and goods taken care of, they must not forget to hit the salon. There are a lot of fans who go on diets and go to beauty salons in order to prepare for this day.
Then, on the day of the concert, fans will arrive at the venue several hours early in order to line up for concert goods. This is because in a popular performance, just buying the goods can take several hours. Because concert goods do not get sold again anywhere else, fans will line up several hours for them.
Concerts are also places where fans who don’t often see each other (or can’t) reunite. Lately there have been a lot of cases of fans who became friends on the internet, fans from school, work, different generations and even different countries who became friends. For these groups, the one place where they can gather again is at these concerts.
Outside the venue or inside, they’ll hold their cellphone in one hand, wave their fan around with the other like “D Block. The one holding the Yamapi uchiwa is me! Can you see me?” and in a huge venue, they can see each other. Buying goods, meeting up with friends, fixing their face, spotting other fans, eating together before the concert is how they spend their time.
Then after finding their seats and waiting for several minutes, the lights finally go out. At the same time, the screaming begins and as the concert starts, the sea of penlights flood the venue.
That’s when the group appears. Johnny’s concerts must begin with a bang. Members can appear from under the stage floor, from above, from the front or the back. Where they come from varies every time from group to group.
The creative entertainment continues. A transparent moving stage will go in all directions, members get on these. Rail carts come close to audience seats or a crane will lift them high into the air. Whilst all this is happening, idols change from one flashy costume to the next, they’ll throw out signed balls, they’ll run all over the venue. This is all in the course of 2 and a half hours.
However, that dream-like experience is over quickly. A lot of concerts will end with a ballad. The painful end of the concert is often felt in this gentle and sorrowful ending song.
The encore is brought out by shouting fans. With double and even triple encores, members will return to the stage many times. When the performance is finally over, the comedown from the high, the ‘afterparty’ or ‘post-con session’ begins.
This varies from dinner between fans, drinking parties or smaller scale gatherings at a friends house. There are also cases where internet friends will do something together as well.
Drinking parties often turn into ‘post-con sessions’ where fans exchange their impressions of the concert. They’ll go over the costumes, the way the concert was arranged, the direction the group is going...their conversation gradually gets longer, discussions get more heated as though they were personally involved in the creation of the concert. Of course, these fans are well aware that to the Johnny’s Agency, they’re actually outsiders. Even so, they get really excited in the post-con sessions.
Media
Johnny’s idols often appear on TV shows. Besides music shows, they’ll appear in a lot of things like TV dramas and variety shows. A lot of idols will be on TV and radio shows and when the bias is appearing on a show, video and audio recording happens.
Not just that, the amount of fans who will check when these idols will appear on the news or on 10 second spot ads, however short, will not miss them. There are a lot of these fans.
Checking magazines is important too. Namely Duet, Wink Up, POTATO, Poporo and Myojo are the five main magazines that feature idols. Depending on whether the idol is featuring on a drama, movie, new song or whatever, the magazines containing these idols can increase. There are TV listings, movie magazines, male fashion magazines, female fashion magazines, teen magazines and even gravure magazines where there will be interviews and photoshoots. Also, depending on the drama, movie, press conference, concert or play, they can appear in sports magazines.
Following up on all these publications is very hard but it’s a fans state of mind that they must. There are also fans who will buy multiple copies of the same newspaper or magazine.
There are a lot of fans who run blogs and fansites, they’ll share thoughts on articles, interviews, pictures, variety shows or dramas their biases have appeared in or they’ll write concert reports for other fans. In particular, a lot of fans can be incredibly methodical with the way they’ll write about TV appearances, magazine articles, newspaper articles and so on. To other fans, this can be a very valuable source.
Consumption of goods.
When a new album or concert DVD is being sold, fans will buy as many things as they can but with CD’s and DVD’s, better than buying the regular release is buying the First Limited Edition. The First Limited Edition has a different jacket to the regular, it can also contain bonus tracks and bonus footage that the regular edition won’t have and this serves as an incentive for fans to add it to their collection. Lately there have been several types of Limited Editions and even ‘First Press Regular Editions’ being sold. These sort of things are typical for Johnny’s.
Furthermore, the Johnny’s Ship, which sells official goods, is located in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka. Fans call it the ‘Johnnysho’. Here, mostly the goods sold are official photos and amongst these, individual shots of the idol as well as shots with other members and shots of the group as a whole. There are fans who will also go ahead and buy photos of the other members (aside from her own bias). At the most, these shop photos cost 150 yen each but stack that up with how many a fan can buy in one sitting and it can be thousands of yen in total.
Johnny’s Karaoke
To a Johnny’s fan, one important thing to do is karaoke. Either after an event or right after new songs are released in an album. The fans will gather and go to karaoke. Of course, the only songs they’re going to sing are Johnny’s songs and this is called ‘Johnnys Karaoke’ (Janikara).
The most supported system to a Johnny’s fan is DAM. That is because there are large amounts of Johnny’s PVs included in the system. Fans like to relive concerts as much as they can by using karaoke. They can order songs in the same order as the concert setlists. They can do the hand movements, add concert interruptions, clap their hands perfectly to the music, fans can bring uchiwa and penlights to these things. Amongst groups, there’s often an unspoken agreement that certain people will handle certain parts of the song. (A fan will sing her biases parts only).
Birthdays, Anniversaries, Debut Anniversaries…
To a Johnny’s fan, there are numerous days worthy of celebration. One will be the birthday of the idol. On the birthday of an idol, fans will begin sending out messages at exactly midnight. Some will even make birthday cakes. Birthday wishes will flood online boards (twitter feeds etc…)
Though the scale may vary from blog to blog, amongst fans, birthdays are a popular event. Birthday cakes can be decorated with “XX-kun congratulations” and even though the actual idol isn’t supposed to be there, there are many fans who will celebrate regardless.
Audition anniversaries, the day they entered Johnnys Junior and Debut Anniversaries are also just as special as birthdays. To fans, these days hold a special meaning and thus are also important events.
3. The reality behind a bias.
As mentioned in the previous chapter, the 1980’s were dubbed the ‘Fictional Era’ and idols were a ‘fiction created by the media’ between which is a wild enthusiasm despite the set distance. Behind them was their level-headed support crew. This was the successful ‘Idol System’. This ironical attitude is also found amongst Johnny’s fans. Particularly with SMAP, the age range of the Johnny’s fan base expands. In the current (2010) Johnny’s Agency, SMAP’s Kimura Takuya, TOKIO’s Yamaguchi Tatsuya and V6’s Inohara Yoshihiko are all married. However their popularity has been preserved even through aging, getting married and having kids.
Then, in September 2008, KAT-TUN’s Akanishi Jin was rumoured to be in a relationship with a female model and his picture was splashed all over tabloids. The reaction of his fans was interesting. Usually with idols, the problem of the opposite sex is a taboo subject but the Akanishi fans were totally undisturbed by this news. Just as shown in the blog extract below, they were completely level-headed about it.
“But it’s not a big deal, he’s having fun, isn’t that okay?
That’s what I think anyway.”
That’s what I think anyway.”
(Source: ★naoko の赤西仁生活★)
“Pushing your own dreams into his private life, getting upset because it’s not the way you want, I mean...do what you want but I really want Jin o be happy on top of his work. So long as I can see the beautiful Jin in work mode, I’m satisfied.”
(Source: NAMI☆RAIKA「赤西仁くん応援日記 Love＆Natural らぶなちゅ」)
Amongst them are fans who criticized not the girl but the fact that he couldn’t hide this. “The fact that they were able to get this picture is the problem. It’s like he has no awareness that he’s an idol.”
Fans are well aware that idols are ‘tricking’ them (into thinking they’re available) but the strong expectation is that idols continue to trick them. The girls are aware of the false image that they support. The real lives of these idols, whether they’re in love or they’re going to get married, it’s completely unrelated to the ‘Idol System’ that they support with the fictional idol created by the media. The support of the fans continues for this system.
On the other hand, to a Johnny’s fan, the ‘tantou’ is also an idol who exists in her fictional world. Some fans will play around with that.
The SNS below was written by an Akanishi fan to a KAT-TUN community on a site called mixi.
Recruiting Members
CONDITIONS
- Must be over 20
- Female (Unmarried)
- Common sense
- No doutan
RECRUITING
- Ueda
- Tanaka
- Taguchi
- Nakamaru
- Masuda
- Kato
- Koyama
- Subaru
- Murakami
- Yokoyama
- Maruyama
Only fans of the above members can be recruited. Back dancers ‘Johnny’s Juniors’ also OK.
ABOUT ME
- 28
- Lives in Kobe
- No doutan
- Good seat type
- Likes flashy things
- Docomo user
For any other details, please check out my blog.
In the above post, the word ‘member’ in this context means fans who can become friends. The various events described in the previous section include ‘member’ parties. As ‘members’ they talk and as ‘partners’ they nominate people to go to concerts with.
These girls recruit members but there are various conditions. One of them being ‘no doutan’ in other words, this means they will not befriend a fan of the same idol as them. Finally, the members this fan is asking for include fans of KAT-TUN’s Taguchi Junnosuke, Tanaka Koki, Ueda Tatsuya and Nakamaru Yuiuchi. NEWS’s Masuda Takahisa, Kato Shigeaki and Koyama Keichiro and Kanjani8’s Shibutani Subaru, Murakami Shingo, Yokoyama Yu and Maruyama Shohei as well as backdancers (Johnny’s Juniors).
Fans of any other idol cannot apply.
Next follows a self introduction posted on the top page of the mixi blog by a girl who identifies as the ‘tantou’ of Kis-My-Ft2’s Fujigaya Taisuke
.
‘Hana no Miyata World, Fujigaya-tan XX here.
Tantou: Fujigaya Taisuke
God: Domoto Tsuyoshi
Kisumai-tan Maimiku-san is recruiting. Particularly for Miyata, Tamamori and Senga!
Nikaido-tan’s, someone important is already here so, sorry.
Ebi-tan and Maimiku are recruiting! Doutan more than welcome. Feel free to send a message.’
Tantou: Fujigaya Taisuke
God: Domoto Tsuyoshi
Kisumai-tan Maimiku-san is recruiting. Particularly for Miyata, Tamamori and Senga!
Nikaido-tan’s, someone important is already here so, sorry.
Ebi-tan and Maimiku are recruiting! Doutan more than welcome. Feel free to send a message.’
This girl was recruiting for ‘Kis-My-Ft2’ fans, particularly those who are fans of Miyata Toshiya, Tamamori Yuta and Senga Kento for ‘Maimiku’ (A Mixi friend of hers). She even welcomes doutan. However, fans of Nikaido Takashi cannot apply as she mentions someone is already there. Meaning she has a friend who identifies as a Nikaido-tan and probably does not welcome doutan of that particular idol.
(Zara note: She identifies her god is Domoto Tsuyoshi, meaning she was formerly a fan of his before she ‘tanfuri’d to Fujigaya Taisuke - see how that works?)
With Johnny’s fans, recruiting friends and self introductions, you’ll often see the word ‘linked’ in them. When Johnny’s fans want new fan friends, it’s not just about whether or not they’re a ‘doutan’ but it’s also about whether they’ll have the same bias as their friend. In other words, a friend has to not have the same bias as them, they must also not overlap with existing friends. When Johnny’s fans are widening their circle of friends, whilst making sure no one overlaps with them or any existing friend, they use this to increase their circle. Chapter 5 will go into how these ‘members’ work together in ‘tantou’ roles.
GROUP A
A-san (25) (Yabu-tan) and (KAT-TUN Akanishi Jin-tan)
B-san (26) (Inoo-tan) and (NEWS Masuda-tan)
C-san (26) (Yamada-tan) and (NEWS Tegoshi-tan)
D-san (25) (Nakajima-tan)
GROUP B
A-san (25) (Yabu-tan) and (KAT-TUN Akanishi Jin-tan)
E-san (Kamenashi-tan)
F-san (Tanaka Koki-tan)
G-san (Nakamaru-tan)
GROUP C
B-san (26) (Inoo-tan) and (NEWS Masuda-tan)
H-san (Tegoshi-tan)
I-san (Nishikido-tan)
J-san (Kato-tan)
GROUP D
K-san (Morimoto-tan)
L-san (Chinen-tan)
GROUP E
N-san (Inoo-tan)
M-san (Yamada-tan)
GROUP F
O-san (Nakajima-tan)
P-san (Miyadate-tan and former Morimoto-tan)
GROUP G
Q-san (Yaotome-tan)
R-san (Okamoto-tan)
In order to fully understand how these ‘member’ relations are structured, use the ‘Hey!Say!JUMP fan community. The above post shows how these known relationships work.
The general layout are these groups nominated to go out together to concerts and so on, the ones with ages indicate the core group.
A-san is a fan of Hey!Say!JUMP’s Yabu Kota. (Yabu-tan). B-san is an Inoo Kei-tantou. C-san is Yamada Ryosuke-tantou and D is Nakajima Yuto-tantou. These four belong to the same Hey!Say!JUMP group, same generation and along with going to concerts together, they’re also good friends.
K-san, the Morimoto Ryutaro-tan and L-san, the Chinen Yuri-tan, form group D and are each other's companions. N-san is an Inoo-tantou and M-san is a Yamada-tantou. They form Group E.
(Zara Note: Remember what this essay said about doutan. Group A already has an Inoo fan and a Yamada fan. This means Group E is unlikely to join events with the main group UNLESS B-san and C-san are not present. In cases where they are present, Group E can do things together - away from the core group. Whereas Group D share no biases with Group A and can join them in events that allow for more than four members. These will not be concert events though as all concerts have a maximum group seating of four)
Group F consist of O-san, who is a Nakajima-tan and P-san who is a former Morimoto-tan and is now a fan of Mis Snow man’s Miyadate Ryota.
(Zara Note: This means Group F is unlikely to join the core group. There is already a Nakajima-tan in that group and O-san has already left the Hey!Say!JUMP community as a former Morimoto fan.)
Group G, with Q-san as Yaotome Hikaru-tantou and R-san, the Okamoto Kei-tantou, form their own group of 2.
Group B consists of A-san, who is now a Yabu-tan but in the past, she was KAT-TUN’s Akanishi Jin’s fan. She ‘fell’ into Hey!Say!JUMP’s Yabu. Her old group includes E-san, the Kamenashi-tantou, F-san, the Tanaka-tantou and G-san, the Nakamaru-tantou, she still keeps in touch with them.
Similarly, Group C includes B-san, who is now an Inoo-tan but previously the fan of NEWS’s Masuda Takahisa. Her friends in the NEWS fandom include H-san, the Tegoshi-tantou, I-san, the Nishikido-tantou and J-san, the Kato-tantou.
Looking at these relationships, where possible, they make sure that no one overlaps with each other. At the same time, this is their network of friends. B and N are both Inoo Kei fans. C and M are both Yamada Ryosuke fans. D and O are both Nakajima Yuto fans and K and P both like Morimoto. They’re all doutan but as you can see by the way these groups are set, none of them overlap.
In B’s self intro page on Mixi, she wrote “Yabu, Kei, Hikaru, Yamada, Yuto, Chinen, Kei and Ryutaro fans are here”. This is designed in the group setting above to keep others away (because the group is full). With this community of 18 idols mentioned, the system has been established so as not to let anyone overlap.
This trend of widening networks of friends whilst avoiding doutan is a common thing amongst Johnny’s fans. To the fans, the ‘tantou’ is like a lover. Because of that, a doutan is like your idol having two lovers and therefore it’s a situation fans will avoid. So by making sure their friends don’t have the same bias as another fan, they make sure to avoid that awkward situation.
As mentioned before, the idol is a ‘fiction created by the media’. ‘Fictional Idol World’ is also created by the media and supported by the fans. It’s something Johnny’s fans are well aware of. However, at the same time, these fans call their favourite idol, their ‘tantou’ and build relationships whilst ensuring none of these biases overlap. It’s a similar emotion to love and allows the fans to relate to their idols and feel a very strong affinity to them.
The next chapter will go into how ‘tantou’ duties are handled. Despite fans being aware that this relationship they have with their idols is fictional, their overimmersion into their ‘tantou’ brings to light a conflicting behaviour.
V. Regarding Biases
1. Relationships between fans and relationships between ‘tantou’
Each Johnny’s fan calls her favourite idol, her ‘tantou’. One can almost see it like they’re making a link between them and their idol (marking them as their own).
So, in a fanbase, where there will always be ‘doutan’ many fans create groups whilst avoiding overlapping with each other. In other words, they don’t just think about themselves, they think about their friends and about the group as a whole having different biases.
Groups created with no overlapping is shown in the following diagram and chapter, the fan communities mirror the idol groups as their relationships are structured.
Fan
A-tan + B-tan + C-tan + D-tan
Idol
A + B + C + D
Now, with these fans calling themselves the ‘tantou’ of their bias, they have a role to play within the fan group. As covered in the prior chapter, we discussed the various activities a fan can do.
In concerts, fans will have uchiwa with pictures and the name of their bias, their fashion will reflect the member colours, they’ll do things like post-con review meetings and they’ll do karaoke where there is an unspoken agreement that the fan is responsible for all solo parts of her bias.
One Hey!Say!JUMP fan introduced in the previous chapter, A-san, the tantou of Yabu Kota is, because of him, the leader in her group. This is because Yabu Kota is the oldest person in Hey!Say!JUMP and he is the leader of that group. Naturally, the decision to make A-san the leader also relied on her personality but it’s influenced a lot by the fact that she is a Yabu-tan to begin with.
This is generally how each fan within the Johnny’s Fan Community fills the role of their ‘tantou’. As a general rule, a fan filling the role of their tantou is something only they can do alone. One can’t help but wonder if these fans see their bias as some sort of totem.
In other words, can we say that the common practice amongst Johnny’s fans is to pick out their bias by points of similarity and wear the role as something to define themselves? Totems are usually an animal or a flower of some sort that people identify with. (And because of this, that particular animal or flower is exempt from being killed or consumed by them)
The affiliated group will then use the animal’s name to label themselves or their belief system and this animal becomes their totem. (Oda 2000: 120-121)
Scholars have long since argued that the significance of a totem stems from the earliest roots of religion. However, as Levi Strauss claimed, the universal phenomenon of relationships between groups of human cultures and the natural order of animals should be perceived as a special case.
“The practice of Totemism is not the homology between the levels of social constructs and natural species (flora and fauna) but rather the homology between the differences that appear at the level of social constructs and the differences that appear at the level of natural species.”
(Levi Strauss 1976 (1962): 136)
In other words, according to Levi Strauss, Totemism is the points of similarity that lie between the differences in nature and the differences in human groups. It’s not that humans use animals and flora as totems, it’s in using nature as a metaphor for social groups. Thus, it becomes a code for use between humans and animals.
To a Johnny’s fan, the relation between the tantou and her responsibility as his fan corresponds to the metaphorical relationship between natural species and social groups in totemism. The way fans create their own social construct with uchiwa, fashion, post-con meetings, janikara and relationships directly relates to their identity as a particular tantou. It can be said that a primitive being is the same in claiming an animal or flora as their roots and their totem. Thereby making it taboo to eat said animal or flower.
However, we can observe an important difference in totemism. In the classification system of totemism, the difference relation between the totem and social group that emerges from the fusion with the social group is important. What is emphasized and strengthened by the totem is the metaphoric relation between social groups.
However, conversely, what is important here is not the metaphorical relationship between the idol and the fan but rather the metaphorical relationship between the fan and her tantou. It can be said that the Bias System emphasizes and strengthens the ties between the fans and tantou that is created by practicing it.
As mentioned earlier in Chapter IV, the idol is fiction and based on the cold realisation that there is essentially no intimate relationship between the fan and her bias. However, by repeating the special practice of the Bias System, the metaphorical relationship between fan and her perception of her idol is constantly refreshed. In other words, by interacting with fans of a different bias, the relationship between that fan mirrors that of the idol's relationship with that idol in the group. This actually strengthens the relationship between fan and idol.
(Zara Note: For those of you who went cross eyed during that repetitive bit, let me simplify what this author is trying to say. According to this author (remember this is subjective) a Johnny’s fan will claim one idol as her bias. Her tantou. As I mentioned in the glossary, the strength of the word ‘tantou’ trumps the English word ‘bias’. She doesn’t just like him. She is in charge of everything to do with him, he is hers.
Now, go on with that in mind. She claimed him, he’s hers, she identifies with him completely and her social system is based around the fact that she is his fan.
Let's give her a name. Amy is a fan of Akanishi Jin. She is the Akanishi-tan, he is hers, she claimed him, he’s her totem. Her friends are not going to be his fans, they’re going to be fans of the same group. She’ll have a Elizabeth, who is a Kamenashi-tan. She’ll have Jason, he’s a Ueda-tan and she’ll have a Nick, he’s a Tanaka-tan. Her relationship with these people reflects Jin’s relationships with their biases. Therefore, this strengthens her identity as the Jin-tan. How she’s going to interact with Elizabeth will be similar to how Jin interacts with Kamenashi and this brings her emotionally closer to Jin which is the ultimate goal here.
It’s almost as though Amy thinks of herself as Akanishi Jin. She knows she’s not, but she’s as close as she can get to him. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.)
Taking this into consideration, this could explain why fans don’t tend to hang around fans of the same idol because that mirroring relationship cannot be made. Being around a fan of the same idol shatters that metaphorical relationship they have with their bias. The act of avoiding a doutan is therefore the act of protecting that bond they have to their bias.
In totemism, the metaphorical relationship between the social group and the totem is emphasized in order to strengthen the bond between the social group corresponding to the totem. On the other hand, in the Bias System, a metaphorical relationship is created between the fan and her bias by building relationships with fans corresponding to the metaphorical relationship between the idols. In this sense, the Bias System has actually been reversed.
The Bias System strengthens the bond by emphasizing on the metaphorical relationship between the fans. Natural totemism is an emphasis between humans and their totem.
Another thing in totemism is that the totem tends to be handed down through generations which is not done in the Johnny’s fandom. The idol cannot be handed down and they don’t exist in a relationship between fans with the same bias.
It can therefore be said that this is a ‘Practical Totemism’ in that the bond between idol and fan is developed in practice with the fan actively doing it themselves.
2. The relationship between fan and idol as seen from Tanfuri
The previous chapter mentioned that the Bias System is reversed totemism in practice. However the Bias System is, at its core, something like a mother’s love. The fusion of fan and idol mirrors the relationship between mother and child.
It’s well known that early mother-child relationships are so strong they are inseparable. For example, it’s even said that a mother refers to her child as the pronoun ‘I’ to symbolize the unity between mother and child.
(Zara Note: This only works in Japanese. The author is saying that a mother will use the Japanese pronoun ‘boku’ - I/Me. To refer to both herself and her child as a singular being rather than two separate beings.)
“Fan = Mother. Idol = Child” is a thing that brings the fans emotionally closer to the idols.
“Once when I was at a Kinki con, whilst watching Domoto Tsuyoshi, I commented to a friend next to me that he seemed a little quiet. Suddenly a janiota nearby said “Oh sorry, my kid is shooting a drama so he’s a little tired, please forgive him.”
The Janiota referred to her bias as ‘my kid’. In this sense, a Janiota is kind of like a virtual mother.”
The Janiota referred to her bias as ‘my kid’. In this sense, a Janiota is kind of like a virtual mother.”
(Matsumoto 2007: 49)
This is a scene where Domoto Tsuyoshi’s quiet condition is explained to the fan by another fan who says that his schedule is hectic and that’s why he’s tired. Her way of explaining his condition is as though she’s his mother.
The nature of the relationship that can be compared to that of one between mother and child, a similarity can be found in ‘tanfuri’. The act of which brings about a desire to see a young, immature child grow into a mature young man. The process of seeing an idol graduate from Johnny’s Junior and debut, then continue to grow and mature is similar to a mother watching her son’s growth. This is why Johnny’s fans can leave one idol and transfer to one who is still a junior so they can watch their growth from the beginning all over again.
This also means that the former bias becomes something like a god to them. Tanfuri means to eliminate the bond between fan and bias. The former bias then becomes the former revered. (Almost like a benchmark for future talents)
As described above, the Bias System is said to run on an emotion similar to a maternal love fans have for their biases. The company is aware of this and that is the basis of their marketing strategy.
For starters, there are a lot of young idols. With Johnnys Idols, the image of a refreshing, beautiful and sporty youth is firmly established. Focus on masculinity isn’t really emphasized. The thin and lean appearance of the Johnny’s Idol is similar to that of youth and immaturity and is in fact used to stimulate the maternal instincts of fans.
This could be the reasoning behind Johnny’s Junior. In putting these juniors behind their seniors, it’s not only promoting them but it’s also encouraging fans to ‘tanfuri’ to them. Many fans look forward to the futures of Johnny’s Juniors and cheer for them. They are the next generation idol, a supply source of sorts for fans.
3. The Heterogeneity of Johnnys’ Fans
Taking into account the previous observation, it can be said that the root of the Bias System is the maternal connection between mother and child. Fans continue to watch their idols growth from the shadows, supporting their bias with affection similar to that of a mother. Many fans find that the real pleasure of being a fan is in watching their biases growth.
However, there is another side to this. Johnny’s idols send sexual messages to their fans.
In concerts, idols perform intense and provocative dances, they can be shirtless and a lot of their lyrics and songs are about sex. Gravure photoshoots show them shirtless or even naked.
And fans are willing to receive such sexual messages. They consume that content despite the mother-child relationship. In other words, the bias becomes the target of love and desire as well as the child of the fan. Thinking about it this way, the concept of incest can appear. Some fans feel a sense of embarrassment, like they’re doing something wrong in liking their biases this way.
For this reason, Johnny’s fans tend to find their love of Johnny’s Idols embarrassing and will hide this from people who are not Johnny’s fans. This is because Johnny’s fans have the same roots as those who like young men. There is a stigma and they can be scorned for it.
“Why don’t you stan someone your own age?” or “I can’t even tell if that thing is a man or woman” are common comments.
Of course, women who like young men are a little hard to understand. Even in modern Japanese society, the relationships of older women and younger men are still in the minority. As of late, cases of wives who are older than their husbands have been increasing but it’s still an anomaly.
There’s also a thing that a wife who is older than her husband is referred to as ‘older sister’ whilst no such terms like ‘older brother’ exist for husbands who are older than their wives.
(Zara Note: Again, this only works in Japanese and has no English equivalent that I’m aware of. No one I know refers to their older wife as their older sister…)
It can be said that such recognition of older women and younger men as a couple supports the reality that couples with older men and younger women are more common in Japanese society.
But then, this begs the question as to why we perceive older men and younger women as the norm. Why is it that women who like younger men are perceived as strange whilst men who like younger women have no particular prejudices?
The existence of Johnny’s fans questions our view of sexuality in contemporary Japanese society.
VI. Conclusion
The 1980’s were said to be the golden age of the ‘Fiction Era’. In this era when the attitude of “Ironical Immersion” was established socially, the Japanese idol culture flourished. In a social situation where fictionalization was progressing, Johnny’s fans embraced the idols despite being aware of the fiction behind the idols.
Fans of a particular idol call him her bias and support him with a love similar to that of a mother's love. In addition, fans tend to cultivate relationships depending on their biases, as though denying the existence of multiple mothers for one child.
This system, seen as reverse totemism, is the way of building friendships between fans. By projecting the order in the idol group onto the group of fans, the bond between the relationship between fan and idol deepens. It’s also seen as practical totemism in which the metaphorical relationship between fans is strengthened through practice. Thus also strengthening the bond between idol and fan. In other words, strengthening relations between peers whilst ignoring fans of the same idol in order to steel the bond between fan and idol as a more realistic one.
However, whilst fans support their biases with maternal love, the behaviour of Johnny’s idols can be very suggestive. Songs and dances continuously send out sexual undertones to an excessive extent and fans actively consume such content. For fans, the idol is a child but also a subject of love and sexual desire.
The ambivalent emotions that cause the contraindication of incest can be considered one of the many things that make Johnny’s Idols so addictive.
It cannot be denied that the description of Johnny’s fans in this essay is subjective to the author who became a fan after turning 20. Thus the viewpoint can only come from fans of that same age range. There are many fans much younger in elementary and junior high whose practice of fan activities differ from those described in this essay.
Several materials and reports document things like ‘Oriki’ and ‘Yarakashi’ but details were difficult to recover and thus they were left out of this essay.
Because the essay is subjective, there will be a lot of Johnny’s fans who cannot relate to the observations included in this essay.
In addition, the phenomenon of Johnny’s fans avoiding doutan, that is, fans of the same idol, this paper cannot conclude that all fans practice this sort of Bias System and in fact there will be a lot of fans who do not relate to it at all.
However, amongst Johnny’s fans, such fans are few in number. That is, whilst recognizing that idols are fiction created by the media, they are connected with idols who live in that fiction world. This world is charged by the fans who create it whilst working with other fans to maintain it. These activities are not just limited to fan culture but also heavily influence the marketing of the agency. The feverish enthusiasm that comes with ‘Ironical Immersion’ is something that cannot be ignored.
Bibliography
Publications
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1999 「SPEED にみるアイドル現象の変容」『鳴り響く性』北川純子編、 勁草書房。 2003 『パンドラのメディア：テレビは時代をどう変えたのか』薩摩書房。 小川 博司 1988 『音楽する社会』勁草書房。 大澤 真幸
1998 「仮想現実の顕在性」『岩波講座 現代の教育―危機と教育８ 情報とメディア』岩波 書店。
2008 『不可能性の時代』岩波書店。
2009 『増補 虚構の時代の果て』薩摩書房。 小田 亮
2000 『レヴィ＝ストロース入門』筑摩書房。 小菅 宏
2007 『芸能をビッグビジネスに変えた男「ジャニー喜多川」の戦略と戦術』講談社。 ジャニーズ研究会
2008 『完全保存版ジャニーズの歴史―光も影も４５年』鹿砦社。 松本 美香
2007 『ジャニヲタ 女のケモノ道』双葉社 レヴィ＝ストロース、クロード
1976 『野生の思考』大橋保夫訳、みすず書房。
2000 『今日のトーテミスム』仲澤紀雄訳、みすず書房。 『くにたち人類学研究』 Vol. 5 2010.05.01 46 レヴィ＝ブリュル
1991 『未開社会の思惟 上』山田吉彦訳、岩波文庫。
Magazine Articles
麻布台出版社
2006 年 7 月 22 日発行、『ポポロ』2006 年 9 月号。
学習研究社
2009 年 10 月 7 日発行、『POTATO』2009 年 11 月号。
集英社
2009 年 9 月 23 日発行、『Myojo』2009 年 11 月号。
マガジンハウス
2008 年 7 月 25 日発行、『Tarzan』No.515 。
Website References
赤西仁くん応援日記「Love&Natural」らぶなちゅ。 URL:http://loveandnaturaljin.blog60.fc2.com/―2010 年 3 月 1 日閲覧。
厚生労働省
人口動態統計年報、主要統計表(婚姻)、第 6 表「初婚腐譜の年齢差別に見た婚姻件数・構成 割合の年次推移」。 URL:http://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/saikin/hw/jinkou/suii07/marr6.html―2010 年 3 月 1 日 閲覧。
★naoko の赤西仁生活★
URL:http://naokojin.blog70.fc2.com/―2010 年 3 月 1 日閲覧。
Mixi
URL:http://mixi.jp/home.pl―2010 年 3 月 1 日閲覧。
文部科学省
2007 年度『体力・運動能力調査』「2．年齢別体格測定の結果」。 URL:http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/20/10/08092414/002.xls―2010 年 3 月 1 日 閲覧。
(Reviewed 10th April 2010)
(Zara Note: Mmm, nope. I am not translating that bibliography. It wouldn’t do you any good anyway, you can only find the sources in Japanese so if you want to find them, you’re better off finding the Japanese source rather than having me translate the names of the articles. Stick it in google translate if you’re really curious. It won’t be grammatically accurate but it’ll translate titles if you must know the sources this essay is referring to.)
