Earlier this year, the suicide of 16 year old underground idol Omoto Honoka due to harassment and overwork shocked Japan. It also exposed the working conditions that exist for underground idols. Four former members of the underground idol Nijiiro Fanfare have now told their story to The Japan Times.
“Don’t ever try to make it in the entertainment industry. I will crush you with everything I’ve got,” was what a manager told one Nijiiro Fanfare member when she raised her voice about working conditions. The conditions included little or no pay, out of pocket work expenses, and long contracts.
Another underground idol spoke of working so much, that she often had to go days without bathing. Her management also had her delete her social media accounts, in effect cutting her off from the world.
On December 24 at 7 PM JST, CDTV Special! Christmas Ongakusai 2018 will air. The show will feature performances by the likes of DA PUMP, Hoshino Gen, Kis-My-Ft2, Nogizaka46, DEAN FUJIOKA, Ken Hirai, L’Arc~en~Ciel, and Mariah Carey. There is a live stream of the show and Arama! Japan will be hosting a chat on Discord so that readers can chat with each other during the show! Links to the show and the chat are after the jump!
Arashi held their Tokyo leg of “ARASHI Anniversary Tour 5 × 20” at the Tokyo Dome on the 23rd. On this day, the unannounced “and more” phase of their tour has been announced! Their anniversary tour will total 50 performances and bring in 2.37 million audience, the largest tour record in Japan. With more than 2 million registered fanclub members, it was difficult for fans to score a ticket to an Arashi concert. The latest scale of the group’s tour will be able to accommodate a huge number of their fans.
Sakurai Sho comments “It was difficult to meet all fans. Finally we can announce it. I would like to see fans who we were not able to see until now, until the end of next year. We are holding the biggest tour in the history of Arashi.”
Matsumuto Jun “Since we haven’t done 50 concerts until now, I wonder what will happen? I hope you can see it while looking back on the past 20 years. I hope the power of our songs can be conveyed.”
The group has collaborated with Japanese visual and tehnical teams such as teamLab and WOW. There are plenty of contents such as an opening production using 2 million Swarovski crystals in costumes, gondolas, and an “ARASHI MOVING STAGE” that runs around the arena.
Hello, Arama! Japan readers! We are excited to announce that we are having our fourth annual awards show! The 2018 Arama! Japan Awards will be honoring the best in music, movies, television, anime, manga, and more this coming January! And the winners of these awards will be selected by you, the Arama! Japan readers!
The first step of this awards show is figuring out who will be nominated. That is where you guys come! Since you guys are picking the winners, you should also be picking who is in the running to win. We are asking that you fill out a survey, telling us your faves in various categories during the period of December 1, 2017 – November 30, 2018. Voting during this round will be open for a week starting now, with the final nominees to be announced a few days later. Voting for the final round will commence after the announcement of the final nominees. Voting in every category is not mandatory. If you don’t want to vote in a certain category, feel free to skip it. And remember: NO ARASHI, IN ANY CATEGORY, AT ALL! They have graduated from The Arama! Japan Awards. Any Arashi nominations will be declared void, according to the wishes of Arashi themselves.
The voting form is below!
This week’s guests were LiSA, DAIGO, and Ange☆Reve.
LiSA – ADAMAS
DAIGO – Sekaijuu no Dare Yori Kitto
Ange☆Reve – Itoshi Love
Today, Music Station Super Live 2018 aired. The show featured performances by the likes of Arashi, Daichi Miura, Perfume, Hoshino Gen, Thelma Aoyama, DA PUMP, Aimyon, and WANIMA. Check out the full show below!
Hey Arama Japan! It’s Friday so it’s Open Post time! Feel free to chat with your fellow readers about whatever you like! Enjoy!
On December 31, the 69th Kohaku Uta Gassen will air. The show’s performers include the likes of Arashi, Shiina Ringo, Seiko Matsuda, Daichi Miura, Perfume, Keyakizaka46, Hoshino Gen, and Suchmos. The song list for the show has now been released. See who will be performing what below!
