The Birth and Evolution of Idols in Japan

I am a virtual girl from Tokyo: Virtual influencers, digital-orientalism and the (Im)materiality of race and gender

“…For example, the figure of the bācharu aidoru 1 (‘virtual idol’) (Black, 2012; Finan, 2021; Yoshida, 2016) is one which has now existed for over two decades in Japan, part of a wider fascination with aidoru (idol), who are intensely manufactured singers, models, and media personalities who exist across a series of highly industrialised and interconnected entertainment platforms in Japan (Condry, 2011; Galbraith and Karlin, 2012). In the context of this aidoru genshō (idol phenomenon) – which has been defining a major aspect of Japanese pop culture since the 1970s – Japan has been producing and consuming virtual, female idols since the 1990s: Yuki Terai, a worryingly busty 17-year old Japanese virtual popstar who released her debut album in 1997, complete with a backstory and physical measurements (166 cm tall, 86 cm bust, 59 cm waist, 85 cm hips) (Galbraith/Japan Today, 2009); perhaps more recognised outside of Japan, Hatsune Miku, initially a consumer product – a vocal synthesiser software (vocaloid) – personified as a 16-year old anime-style illustration in 2007, the success of which has led to her holographic resurrection as a bācharu aidoru performing live concerts around Japan.…”