Beyond the Male Idol Factory: The Construction of Gender and National Ideologies in Japan through Johnny's Jimusho
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Overview
A star-making factory without rival, the Japanese talent agency Johnny’s Jimusho has brought fame to several generations of male stars – singers, actors and performers. Beyond the Male Idol Factory asks what the phenomenon of “Johnny’s Idols” reveals about discourses of masculinity and national identity in contemporary Japan.
Examining the pervasive presence of these stars across a wide range of Japanese media, the book explores how Johnny’s Idols act as role models of ideal masculinity and good citizenship as well as entertainers. Taking a wide-ranging cultural studies approach, the book assesses the social, economic and demographic contexts of these familiar stars in post-industrial and post-Bubble Japanese society.
Explores the phenomenon of Johnny’s Idols – the manufactured stars of Johnny’s Jimusho talent agency – and what they reveal about attitudes to masculinity and national identity in contemporary Japan.
In depth study of the phenomenon of Johnny’s Idols - the popular male stars emerging from the Japanese star-making factor, Johnny’s Jimusho
Explores what Johnny’s Idols reveal about contemporary Japanese attitudes to masculinity and national identity
Examines the social, cultural, economic and demographic contexts for the emergence of these stars in post-Bubble Japanese media
1. Introduction
2. Johnny’s Jimusho in Japan’s Post-war History
3. The Male Idol Factory: How are Johnnys Produced in Post-Bubble Japan
4. If Japan is In a Predicament, Some are Meant to be Called National Idols
5. Gendered Idol Ideologies
6. The Voices of Japanese Fans
7. Conclusion: Johnny’s Idols’ Ideological Roles in Contemporary Japan
References
Index
Amid the controversies in the Japanese idol industry, the importance of this book cannot be overstated. Through its careful analysis of the role of male idols in the Japanese national imagination, it reveals how models of masculinity in Japan circulate and are reproduced in the media.
In Beyond the Male Idol Factory, Mandujano-Salazar provides an engaging analysis of the symbolic and ideological roles of male idols in modern-day Japan. This book is an indispensable resource for scholars and students seeking a deeper understanding of celebrity culture in the Asian context.
- Title: Beyond the Male Idol Factory: The Construction of Gender and National Ideologies in Japan through Johnny's Jimusho
- Author: Yunuen Ysela Mandujano-Salazar
- Series: Asian Celebrity and Fandom Studies
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2024
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Pages: 176
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781350359796, 9781350359789, 1350359785, 1350359793
- Resource ID: LLS:9781350359796
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-22T11:14:06Z
Yunuen Ysela Mandujano-Salazar is a professor and researcher at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, member of the Mexican National System of Researchers.