アイドル・スタディーズ――研究のための視点、問い、方法

Deep dive into the history, modern state and future of idol studies

After having read Sakakura's exploration of the artificiality of AKB48 lyrics, performative characters and large-scale exploitation of young people in the 2014 AKB48とブラック企業, I was very excited to jump into this one, as it promised a more broad coverage of the idol industry. I can't say I was disappointed.

The writing was less dense than I had expected from an academic work such as this, though of course I can only comfortably recommend this to readers who are somewhere in the N2-N1 range, otherwise you might have to look up too many words to make the read enjoyable.

Kamioka et al. provide a fantastic insight into the study of the Japanese idol industry, with some shorter passages looking at global trends and history also. Due to the attention-gripping introduction and the gradual introduction of research methods and even studies of idol singers the team conducted themselves, I think this is a worthwhile pickup even for people usually not interested in academic writing, if they have an interest in idol culture and the understanding of said culture.