You may have heard the word “aidoru” or “idol” a few times when you watch Japanese dramas or variety shows. Normally, an idol would mean someone who ’sets an example to the public’ or someone who ‘is highly adored’. In the Japanese industry though, what is exactly an idol?

An idol is (mostly) a female personality who is in her teens or twenties. Some males,

especially those in Johnny’s Jimusho, are referred to as idols, too, but the term is more accurately referring to females. Anyway, it is said that anyone can be an idol as long as she has the cute and feminine look, a nice body, proper dancing skills (enough to sway in correct rhythm to the music) and proper singing voice (enough to carry a simple tune). As an idol, a girl can do a wide range of projects: CDs, idol DVDs, dramas, small parts in movies, advertisements and magazines, and photobooks. Their agency profiles usually contains their age, blood type, body measurements and hobbies.

Before, the term idol refers to just any cute female celebrity. However, as time goes by, the term just becomes associated with teenage girls and their list of projects becomes more specific to the group. Because of the number of things an idol can do, a lot of categories for idols are developed depending on these things. An idol can specifically do just one of those categories or she can be an all-around idol. Here are some idol categories. Some because I don’t think I can name them all.

- A pop idol is someone who concentrates on her singing, be it as a solo artist or as a part of a group. Most of the time, the songs she sings have catchy tunes or lyrics but her appearance (in PV or live performance) is still the most prominent aspect. An example of a pop idol group would be Morning Musume and its subgroups.

- A fashion idol is someone who models for magazines and appears in ads. She may have other projects that involve singing or acting but her main and most well-known identity is being a trendsetter in published works. Examples of fashion idols can be found in teen fashion magazines like Ray or ViVi. The actress Ayumi Hamasaki, too, was once called a fashion idol.

- A talent idol, or simply a talent, is generally an actress. She appears in soaps, dramas, movies and other TV shows. She can also appear in PVs or advertisement. A talent, however, is different from mainstream actresses in terms of size of role, promotion, career life and earnings. Talents are subdivided into more categories but I’ll deal with that later. Normally, though, an idol always passes this stage of being a talent or at least an actress once in their career.

- A net idol is an idol who gains popularity through appearing in the Internet. She can have a fabricated history or not and she can have her own songs uploaded in her webpage, too. This category sometimes cross with gravure, because some gravure idols are introduced through the Internet. The first net idol known was Kyoko Date who had a fake history and has her own songs released.

- An AV (adult video) idol is someone who appears in adult videos or pornography. She can appear in print media or act in a DVD which content can range from moving around in scanty clothing or no clothes at all to downright pornographic scenes. This is said to be the fastest way to be recognized in the industry. Some idols who are not that popular are often given a career boost upon entering the AV world. Some AV idols also cross over to the mainstream (movies, dramas). One of the most well-known AV idol who made a career move to acting/singing is Sora Aoi.

- A gravure idol, or photobook idol, is someone who pose in bikinis and other sexy garments. She appears, skimpily-clad, in their own photobooks or DVDs (aptly called Idol DVDs) and sometimes in magazines targeting the male population. No matter how sexy she is, though, she never appears nude or doing sexual acts. Body for modeling, to be more specific. In my opinion, gravure is the most common path of an idol. Most young actresses have appeared in gravure at least once in their career.

Typical gravure idol types are:
a) U-15 (under 15) which are junior idols under the age of 15 who pose in sports clothes, school girl outfits and bathing suits. When they reach 16, they move on to another type of gravure. One example of such idol is Ayukawa Honoka.
b) Race queens which are cheerleaders in motor races and are used to heighten the sexual appeal of the sport. An example of a race queen would be Suzuki Fumika (now a seiyuu and gravure idol).
c) Chaku ero which is an idol who poses almost nude, most of the time with her chest covered by her arms or other objects. One example of a gravure idol who does chakuero books is Hirata Yuka.
d) Megadol which is an idol who wears glasses. Since meganekko (girl wearing glasses) is one of the prime fetishes known, megadols are quite well known. One popular megadol is Tokito Ami (Amimi).

An idol who is successful in going through her chosen project or all of the said projects can become a mainstream actress or singer depending on the public’s appreciation of her as well as her skills. Some singers who were once idols and are now popular singers are Bonnie Pink, Koda Kumi, Namie Amuro and Aya Ueto. Some actresses who were once gravure idols but are now well-renowned actresses are Ichikawa Yui and Toda Erika.

Some of their projects might seem too much or not too wholesome, but idols are a big part of the Japanese entertainment industries. Various contests like Seikore are held every year to find fresh new faces that can add vibrancy to the idol world. Sadly, not all idols become famous actresses or singers. Most of them, when not appreciated by the public, eventually drifts off the scene and leaves their career behind. In brief, becoming is a sure breakthrough to the mainstream world, but the numerous tasks and unstable status are challenges for the idol to overcome first before successfully carving her future.

Sources:
• Japanese Idols
• Gravure Idols
• Kyoko Date