japanese idols

I first got into idol music back in the days of LiveJournal (~2002). I had been visiting random anime & Asian music websites I’d come across while surfing the web in the late 90’s and eventually found my way to LJ music sharing communities, where I was introduced to Minimoni., a subgroup of a larger idol group called Morning Musume. I was instantly in love. The first idol song I ever heard was Minimoni. Hinamatsuri, which was a double A-side single with a song I liked much more, Mini. Strawberry Pie. From the moment I heard it, I was hooked: I learned as much as I could about this group and became very interested in idols (a term I’d never heard of before, maybe in manga or anime, but never really understanding what it meant) and began following the group and its subgroups new releases. To this day, Morning Musume. holds a place near and dear to my heart… >w<

Here’s a list of some idol groups I’ve followed over the years:

hello! project
morning musume ANGERME beyooooonds berryz koubou buono! ℃-ute milkyway v-u-den W minimoni. tanpopo melon kinenbi
arc jewel
ange☆reve chu☆oh! dolly doll☆elements jewel☆neige lovely☆doll luce twinkle wink☆
codomomental
kaqriyoterror seireki13ya zenbu kimi no sei da.
dearstage
arcana project CYNHN dempagumi.inc ENGAG.ING kyururin to shitemite meme tokyo niji no conquistador
WACK
billie idle BiS BiSH kiss kiss mameshiba no taigun
22/7 (nanabun no nijuuni) 26-ji no masquerade afilia saga AKB48 ame no chi, halation artemis no tsubasa/wings of artemis #babababambi babymetal band ja nai mon! MAXX NAKAYOSHI BPM15Q candy tune cheeky parade cy8er electric ribbon ever! be mayowanai!! fes☆tive fruits zipper gunjou no sekai hey!mommy! houkago princess ichigo milk-iro ni somaritai. kamiyado kaze hikaru fukurou kirameki anforent koutei camera girl magical punch line maybeME MEWM musubizm.png neat and clean -nitokuri- NELN nightowl notall ototoi friday papipupepo wa muzukashii star fiorenerd summer rocket superbabys the world standard yanakoto sotto mute you'll melt more!/yurumerumo! yumemiru adolescence

oshi

The term oshimen (推しメン) comes from 推し, to cheer, and メンバー, member; so a member you cheer for (i.e. your best girl). The oshi you cheer for above all others may be known as a kamioshi (神推し), which adds the character 神 (meaning god) in front of the word, which can be used in Japanese to designate something as “the best” (神曲 kamikyoku, or literally “god song” meaning a really good song, for example). A bolded name denotes a member I am extremely fond of, and my kamioshi’s name is in bolded italics with a next to it.

hello! project
morning musume.

angerme

beyooooonds

berryz koubou

c-ute

v-u-den

milkyway

arc jewel
chu!oh☆dolly

luce twinkle wink☆

codomomental
kaqriyoterror

seireki13ya

zenbu kimi no sei da.

dear stage
arcana project

cynhn

dempagumi.inc

kyururin to shitemite

meme tokyo

WACK
BiS

BiSH

Mameshiba no Taigun

22/7

AKB48

ame no chi, halation

artemis no tsubasa

#babababambi

babymetal

band ja nai mon! MAXX NAKAYOSHI

bpm15q

candy tune

cy8er

electric ribbon

fes☆tive

fruits zipper

kaze hikaru fukurou

kamiyado

maybeME

MEWM

neat and clean

notall

superbabys

the world standard

you'll melt more!

solo idols