Digital Asia and Activism

To what extent is celebrity activism in Japan effective?

Katayama's paper explores idol-led and fan-led activism in post-3.11 Japan. While celebrity-led disaster recovery efforts can provide hope and an escape as well as increase exposure for victims, we should also differentiate between humanitarian work and political activism, since the former has less social stigma in Japan and can thus more effectively mobilize and achieve its goals. Furthermore, their activism has been criticized as boosting idols' own image. Idol-led activism can be performative in that it utilizes media attention and is used to perform a role as an idol for their fans and the media. "Tokyo Idols" explores a more specific subculture of this idol/fan culture, or otaku culture, focusing on young female idols and adult male fans specifically. A lot of these fans seem to have felt alienated by Japan's heterosexual patriarchal society and turned to fandom as an escape and coping mechanism, possibly similar to the way celebrity activism offered 3.11 victims an escape. We see the power these idols hold as well as the lack thereof. A politically neutral image can be critical to the survival their careers. These idols are expected to maintain the purest image possible especially for male fans and thus avoid the political statements Katayama states could be detrimental to idols' career. The state endorses the celebrity in Japan as well, and political issues remain unresolved and seldom addressed due to societal and cultural norms.

Fan engagement in political movements driven by their idols does exist, with Nagabuchi Tsuyoshi notably being one of the few celebrities who have directly voiced their issues with nuclear energy post 3.11 and had fans who participated in anti-nuclear energy protests. However, even with Tsuyoshi and the few celebrities like him who voiced a political stance and influenced their fans to protest, this kind of fan activism still might be insufficient for sustaining a serious interest in such political issues. Fan activism share a similarity with idol activism in how the fan could also be performing their role as a fan for their idol. With both top-down and bottom-down approaches to celebrity activism having its limits, Katayama justly questions whether or not celebrity driven activism can effectively address political issues.

-Michelle

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