Tokyo Idols

"Tokyo Idols" is a documentary about the very young (10 to 18 or so, generally speaking) Japanese girls who become pop singers and cultural "icons" to a segment of Japanese society, in particular certain men aged about 30 to 50. These girls are pretty, cheerful, energetic and very much conditioned to want to please their fans. While this sounds creepy, and in some ways is creepy, the world of these idols is very controlled - the singers will have "handshake" meetings with their fans, for example, but the men are only allowed to shake the girls' hands and there are "minders" standing behind the men and forcing them to move from one idol to another after a set number of seconds has passed. So the girls are relatively safe in what could be a very dangerous situation. This film primarily follows Rio, a relative elder in the scene given that she's 19 as the film begins, 21 at the end of it. The filmmaker, Kyoko Miyake, is very gentle with all the characters; even when you think some of these men are terrible, she always treats them with respect and dignity and, in the end, the viewer is more likely to feel sorry for them than anything else (well, except the young man who is only interested in girls around the age of 10 - they "no longer interest" him when they get older than that). It's a really interesting glimpse into another Japanese phenomenon, complete with commentary from journalists, sociologists and others who have a stake in the culture; well done.

An interesting glimpse to businesses, market, culture and a demographics by the accounts of the people on it. The documentarian is barely there, never to be heard. However the camera speaks by moving portraits of the people and the city. The comments of the executives are cold and brash compare to the hype and alacrity of the young women they work with, as well as the melancholic hope evident in the fans. Overall the documentary conveys a portrait of isolation and loneliness, a glimpse of how patriarchy and market can exploit both genders most sublimes human characteristics.

I saw this film at a doc festival and here's what I took away in my notes....not so pleasant... The film to me was a glimpse and commentary on the Japanese pop idol culture. Alongside the performance aspect is the social engagement side...managed interaction events between the fans (mostly men) and the younger (under 20) girls. This a marketed and controlled industry with the "fans" voting in competitions for the next big thing. Borne out of recession times it gave people something to socially "cling" to. My final note was "one screwed up society". Judge for yourself.

This is a good documentary movie. It really reflects the real life of an "average" idol in Japan.

However, there are much more to discuss about this "Idol Phenomenon" in Japan.

Unfortunately, this film didn't discuss much more beyond what other Japanese documentary has already covered. But for English speaking audience this may be their first time understanding a small part of this unique social event in Japan.

I did a bit studies in this phenomenon.

AKB48 is briefly mentioned in this film. As a milestone of idol industry, their new approach to audience and business model are already deeply discussed in many Japanese documentary movies. This is probably

There are also many "underground idols" struggle very hard to get more fans and publicity. They have to live a ghetto life because they aren't making enough money while they are chasing their dreams. A couple of Japanese documentary has revealed it.

Until now, there are only books but not yet a film discuss two new phenomenons in this industry.

The first one is the impact of the social network. It burst a huge change to this industry. And there are always new things changed every year. For example, SHOWROOM, which showed up during this movie, was a mainstream "idol-focus" live streaming website. It's the most important live streaming website for idol industry in year 2017.

The second one is how "local idols" start to really mean it. NGT48 was not the first idol group focus on local audience and work with local enterprise. But NGT48 was the first idol group actually boost up the GDP of the local area(Niigatta Prefecture in this case), acknowledged by local government, residents, and enterprise.

Japan is the only country that has so many idols and mascots that many festivals and conferences have audience and participants for more than 10,000 people, thus budget and income.

Girl bands and their pop music permeate every moment of Japanese life. Following an aspiring pop singer (Rio) and her fans, Tokyo Idols explores a cultural phenomenon driven by an obsession with young female sexuality, and the growing disconnect between men and women in hyper-modern societies.

To the western world, Japanese culture is quite a mystery, especially the sexual aspects. This is a country that sells used underwear in vending machines and makes animated pornography featuring squids. Even the school "sailor" uniforms have become highly fetishized (though, in fairness, so have Catholic skirts in America).

"Tokyo Idols" does not explore a topic that is explicitly sexual, but does seem to have that aspect lurking just below the surface. Die-hard fans of grown men called "otaku" practice what they call a religion of following young women around as they sing and dance. One man, a transportation worker, comes across as especially creepy, paying $2,000 each month to follow a teenager he admits he is romantically interested in.

Critics of the otaku say Japanese men "worship virginity" and "fear strong women"; but, again to be fair, this is not all that different from American pop stars and beauty pageants. The film is fascinating in how it covers so many angles of what could be a simple topic: the path to success for young women, whether the fans are creeps or father figures, and just the sheer abundance of idols (10,000) in Tokyo alone! "Tokyo Idols" screens July 26, 2017 at the Fantasia International Film Festival. For those who love cultural documentaries, this is a must-see. Japan is a strange place, and this film only adds to the mystery.