A little bit off topic, but we were pleased to receive an invitation from E-Net Frontier to participate in their official DVD launch event last Saturday in Akihabara.

For those who aren’t familiar with the “Japanese Idol” concept, please refer to Wikipedia : ”In Japanese culture “idol” refers to mostly female media personalities in their teens and early twenties who are considered particularly cute and pretty and who will, for a period ranging from several months to a few years, regularly appear in the mass media, e.g. as singers for J-pop groups, bit-part actresses, TV personalities (tarento), models in photo spreads published in magazines, advertisements, etc.

It’s commonly said female Japanese idols represent the perfect female form in Japanese society. They’re symbols of female sexuality and are often dressed erotically. For this reason they are often idolized by both males and females. Male audiences’ infatuation with an idol’s good looks are fed with detailed information about the idol’s measurements, favorite colors, food, hobbies, blood type, etc. Female audiences are interested in imitating their style, hair color, fashion, etc.”.

It seems that all this started during the 70’s, and Idols are STILL extremely popular among teenagers and adults. It was very interesting for us to participate in this event and to better understand this world. There is no doubt that Sa-ya-chan is an extremely cute little girl and that she has many… convincing elements, but the most interesting and strange aspect for us foreigners were Sa-ya-chan’s fans.

Very similar to our VIP concept, certain fans had the opportunity of sitting next to Sa-ya and have their picture taken with her. Others only had the chance of shaking hands with her.

On the other hand Sa-ya-chan used this opportunity to explain more about herself to her fans, what she likes, where the DVD was shot, what she ate there and so on and so on… We wish to Sa-ya-chan all the best in her Idol carrier and hope she continues studying hard for her future.

Now, just out of curiosity, we’d like you to guess Sa-ya-chan’s age.

49% 10-15

30% 16-20

21% 21-25

(87 votes)