The problematic nature of Japanese Idol culture is acknowledged. I still thought this was heartwarming.
An important announcement regarding Seira Umegwa
Thank you all for your continued kind support of Idol Kyoshitsu New.
Seira Umegawa is currently in the sixth grade, and we are informing everyone that as of the time of this writing, November 25, 2024, she believes in Santa Claus.
We apologize for the suddenness of this, but following discussions between the other members of the group and Umegawa’s parents, we are requesting that fans conduct themselves, in words and actions, with the presumption that Santa Claus exists.
Wow, this sent me down a fascinating rabbit hole on that site. I should pay attention to this site more often. Like, we don’t get a whole lot of Japanese news in the states, but some of this is fascinating (and depressing, like the Mt. Fuji Lawson’s thing).
I came across this though: https://soranews24.com/2018/03/20/lesbian-idols-confession-of-love-prompts-veteran-to-say-idol-romance-restrictions-are-shit/
I found it fascinating from the standpoint that idol companies are branching out into the LGBT community to find new themes. I don’t know how I feel about it; on the one hand, more representation is good, and if their public presence is authentic then it’d give LGBT Japanese people someone to look up to. On the other hand, it’s a company capitalizing on the LGBT community.
Tbh, that said, something that I’d actually be kinda into is a trans idol group, with both mtf and ftm members. The idea though, would be to appeal to other trans people (as opposed to non-trans people) by making songs that talk about the trans experience, or documenting their transitions. Maybe part of the requirement for joining the group would be that you have to be pre-hrt and then you stay in the group until you’re “passing” (or at their “final form” so to speak); so that, over time, you build up a wide array of experiences that gender-questioning people can draw from. Bonus points if the company doesn’t try to force them to conform to a specific appearance or sound, letting trans women sing with their “man voice” and vice versa.
