I've been aware of Japanese idol culture for about 6 years now, but I did not learn this tidbit until this year. The term "graduation" and the idol love ban has a history that's over a century old and comes from a bizarre motivation. Namely, a train executive back in 1913 wanted more people to be taking his trains to his terminal station in Takarazuka outside of Osaka. And so he started a woman-only musical theater company called the Takarazuka Revue. The problem was that women were not legally allowed to act on public stages at the time, and so all the members were formally attending a university for the arts. They would have to "graduate" if they got married or otherwise exited the company even if it took decades for some of the more popular performers to do so. Johnny of the Johnny's Agency adopted many of the same rules, terms and monetization ideas from the Revue for his boy groups starting in the 60s which were then in turn adopted by Morning Masume and AKB48 etc. Unfortunately, I doubt there are many if any non-Japanese who are into that scene even as fans, but I would be fascinating to see you interview someone who was.
Great interview with Heidi! I follow her on social media and did so before she started with Merkmal Mermal. Happy to provide support for her since she worked tirelessly as a youngster to make her dream come true and earn a spot with an idol group in Japan. Doing so as a foreigner is also a feat on it's own. Hoping for much continued success with whatever she decides to do in the future.
I recognized Heidi from the preview picture right away. It just so happened that I see her groups performance just a few months ago. Regarding your question about the Akushukai: It is a very specific term regarding the AKB groups, thus Heidi probably got confused and only replied to this aspect. I assume, you rather wanted to hear about the Tokutenkai of her group and those of similar level. (The fan can take polaroid photos with the Idol and gets some talk time.)
started listening to/following idols since late 2016. just want to add to the "graduation" comment: it still feels like this is saying that "you are expected/required to graduate from a group at [x] age" and while may be true in some cases, is not the case for all. While it is uncommon to see an idol group member over 30, the overwhelming majority of groups I have followed/been following have never had a forced graduation due to member age. other than that, i appreciated this was a nice balanced discussion rather than going in with blatant biases unlike other popular videos on the ssubject.
As a fellow German, I think this podcast would be so much more entertaining if the host and guest would bounce off each other more! I loved this podcast episode, but I missed some sort of chemistry, fun and puns maybe, to make it feel less serious
idolmaster mentioned! very interesting subculture. i was all about the idol culture and music for a while, probably at its most hyped during the late 2000s/eary 2010s when the west really started to take notice. i think it petered out a bit since then but the chikai groups keeps things interesting. im still amazed that there are people from the west are still making it into these idol groups. i just wish these japanese companies took advantage of that cuz it probably would have taken off much like how kpop did but i think that time has passed so anyone in the idol culture are doing it cuz they really want to be part of it. enjoyed the candid discussion! i think the perspective of a foreigner idol is always honest and fascinating
I thoroughly enjoyed this. Thanks Heidi.
This is a pretty cool channel. (Subscribed)
Thanks for watching!!
Thank you both for the great interview! I'm now a fan of Heidi and Mermal!
LOL
Always support Heidi! Heidi, you are the best!
I've been aware of Japanese idol culture for about 6 years now, but I did not learn this tidbit until this year. The term "graduation" and the idol love ban has a history that's over a century old and comes from a bizarre motivation. Namely, a train executive back in 1913 wanted more people to be taking his trains to his terminal station in Takarazuka outside of Osaka. And so he started a woman-only musical theater company called the Takarazuka Revue. The problem was that women were not legally allowed to act on public stages at the time, and so all the members were formally attending a university for the arts. They would have to "graduate" if they got married or otherwise exited the company even if it took decades for some of the more popular performers to do so. Johnny of the Johnny's Agency adopted many of the same rules, terms and monetization ideas from the Revue for his boy groups starting in the 60s which were then in turn adopted by Morning Masume and AKB48 etc.
Unfortunately, I doubt there are many if any non-Japanese who are into that scene even as fans, but I would be fascinating to see you interview someone who was.
oh is that actually where that comes from, wild 👀
-editor
Great interview with Heidi! I follow her on social media and did so before she started with Merkmal Mermal. Happy to provide support for her since she worked tirelessly as a youngster to make her dream come true and earn a spot with an idol group in Japan. Doing so as a foreigner is also a feat on it's own. Hoping for much continued success with whatever she decides to do in the future.
I recognized Heidi from the preview picture right away. It just so happened that I see her groups performance just a few months ago.
Regarding your question about the Akushukai: It is a very specific term regarding the AKB groups, thus Heidi probably got confused and only replied to this aspect.
I assume, you rather wanted to hear about the Tokutenkai of her group and those of similar level. (The fan can take polaroid photos with the Idol and gets some talk time.)
started listening to/following idols since late 2016. just want to add to the "graduation" comment: it still feels like this is saying that "you are expected/required to graduate from a group at [x] age" and while may be true in some cases, is not the case for all. While it is uncommon to see an idol group member over 30, the overwhelming majority of groups I have followed/been following have never had a forced graduation due to member age.
other than that, i appreciated this was a nice balanced discussion rather than going in with blatant biases unlike other popular videos on the ssubject.
Heidi🪽! That’s my girl! 🤍 This was a great video!
As a fellow German, I think this podcast would be so much more entertaining if the host and guest would bounce off each other more!
I loved this podcast episode, but I missed some sort of chemistry, fun and puns maybe, to make it feel less serious
idolmaster mentioned!
very interesting subculture. i was all about the idol culture and music for a while, probably at its most hyped during the late 2000s/eary 2010s when the west really started to take notice. i think it petered out a bit since then but the chikai groups keeps things interesting. im still amazed that there are people from the west are still making it into these idol groups.
i just wish these japanese companies took advantage of that cuz it probably would have taken off much like how kpop did but i think that time has passed so anyone in the idol culture are doing it cuz they really want to be part of it.
enjoyed the candid discussion! i think the perspective of a foreigner idol is always honest and fascinating
Scrolling throught the sections and seeing "Watergate" I'm like wtf is that and realize it is maybe a misspelling of Wotagei
Fixed!! Thank you for catching that
Tobi really wanting to be an idol 😆 you can ask lady beard if he wants to be an idol duo with you, "buns and beard"
i was gonna say, there's a market albeit very niche market for that! something to think about when he graduates from podcasts lol
ﾊｲﾁｬﾝ､ｶﾜｲｲ ﾊｲ👏ｶﾜｲｲ
Wait a minute.. that voice. Sound a lot like Heidi
could it be?!