Idols

I'm not talking about images carved out of gold that you'd find in an Indiana Jones movie; I'm talking about Japanese idols, a totally different concept, but they are still worth their weight in gold over here.

In Japan, idols are usually large groups of young girls, in their teens or early twenties, who make a living singing, dancing and acting and have a surprisingly hugh fan base.

There really isn't an American counter-part because even cute child-stars like Brittney Spears and Christina Aguilera didn't appeal to members of the opposite sex until they grew up. I guess the closest thing America has to an idol is Justin Bieber (see what I did there? Because Justin Bieber is a guy...don't hate me Beliebers).

Here idols are everywhere, they are in advertising, television and all over the radio. One of the most popular idol groups is AKB48. What kind of name is that, you ask? Well the AKB part is short for where they are located, Akihabara, which is a haven for their biggest fans. The 48 part? Well that is in reference to the number of members in the group. Yeah, there are 48 young girls singing and dancing on stage and yet not one of them can pick up an instrument? There are so many members that their producer split them into different teams and themes, like Team B is all cutesy whereas Team K tries to project a powerful image. (How tough can they be, singing and dancing on stage? It reminds me of rappers.)

The groups is so popular that they spawned a whole comic book series called AKB49. The plot of which revolves around the group holding rehearsals for a new member and, as a joke, a high school boy dresses as a girl and tries out...and wins! He goes on tour with 48 young girls and none of them know that he is secretly a boy in drag. Good times.

And it doesn't stop there, Japan has many more idol groups - SKE48, SDN48, NMB48 and on and on and on. Yes, they each have 48 young girls.

 At some point is Japan going to run out of teen age girls.