Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables Note on Japanese Names and Words Introduction 1 The Birth and Evolution of Idols in Japan 2 The Democratization of Idols 3 “Idols That You Can Meet” 4 The Affective Economics of the Idol Industry 5 The General Election 6 Toward a Critical Political Economy of Idols 7 The Ordinary as Extraordinary 8 Tears of the Idol 9 The Labor of Love 10 Female Fans as Aspirational Consumers 11 Placebo Idols 12 AKB48 in the Global Imagination Conclusion Notes References Index

Promotional Information

Introduces idols and the economics of affect through AKB48, Japan’s most successful mega-group to date.

About the Author

Patrick W. Galbraith is a Lecturer of Media and Cultural Studies at Senshu University in Tokyo, Japan. Based on over a decade of fieldwork in the Akihabara area of Tokyo, his most recent publication is Otaku and the Struggle for Imagination in Japan (2019). Jason G. Karlin is Associate Professor of Media and Gender Studies at the University of Tokyo, Japan. He is author of Gender and Nation in Meiji Japan (2014) and co-editor with Patrick W. Galbraith of Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture (2012) and Media Convergence in Japan (2016).

Reviews

Whatever you thought you knew about AKB48, I can guarantee it's just the tip of the iceberg ... Galbraith and Karlin write with authority ... [and] not a hint of sensationalizing.
*Japan Times*