Arashi feature on Hiruobi

[xinkoe.livejournal.com]

This was aired a few days ago and analysed the reasons behind Arashi's popularity, and also featured interviews with their fans. In particular, the show tries to explore the reasons why Arashi is so popular amongst older women.

Highlights of Part 1:
Himitsu no Arashi-chan viewership demographic:
23.7 % females age 35-49
19.5% females age >50
15.5% males/females age 13-19
14.8% females age 20-34
7.6% males >50
6.9% males/females 4-12
6.3% males 35-49
5.6% males 20-34

Interview with 52-year-old fan from Chiba:
The reason why she has continued to cook/eat curry every week during this year's summer: so as to get the barcodes from the curry packaging in hopes of winning a ticket to Premium Night event at DisneySea
- She checks for Arashi's shows in the TV listings daily and records them
- While watching Arashi's concert DVD, she sings along (the footage shows her and her 27-year-old daughter singing along with her waving her uchiwa)

Why she is a fan:
- They do not feel like 'stars', but more like normal guys
- She feels healed by just seeing their smiling faces
- When asked how she would feel when she finally sees them in person, she said she might cry

Part 2:
Interview with 35-year-old female fan (mother of 4 children) who has been a fan for a year
- Arashi are a source for her enjoyment in life, she is energised by (watching) them
- She sent out 40 applications for the DisneySea event
- she attended the DisneySea Premium Night event with her 37-year-old sister

5 million applications received for DisneySea event, only 3525 pairs (7050 tickets) were given out.
1 box of curry costs 300yen, to send out an application you need to collect barcodes from 3 boxes of curry.
Hence it was calculated that Arashi fans spent a total of 4.5 billion yen. (300yen x 3 x 5 million)

Reason why Arashi is popular amongst females "arafou" (slang for "Around 40") according to a journalist:
- In Arashi, they see the shape of their Ideal Family, since Arashi get along so well
- They are seen as both Ideal Lovers and Ideal Family Members at the same time, and give the fans a feeling of safety yet also make their hearts go faster

Part 3:

Why are Arashi so popular amongst the "Around 40" age bracket in particular?, according to the journalist:
- At that age, the fans are at the stage in life where they are done with childbearing, and have already worked very hard in their careers, it's about time for them to start to want to reward themselves and yearn for stuff to 'heal' them. Just so happens that they found out about Arashi at this point in their lives.
- Arashi have the politeness not seen so much in young people these days
- The "Around 40" age group belong to the generation where they appreciate 'finally succeeding after continuously working hard', yet the current era seems gloomy and less hopeful
- Hence they feel an affinity with how Arashi have worked hard over the last 10 years to finally get to where they are now, as the fans themselves feel like they too, have been trying hard in their own lives

Interview with a Marketing Consultant on why Arashi has seen an increase in their "Around 40" fans:
- The "Around 40" group were the group of people that were right smack in the middle of the Idol Boom of the 1980s
- Hence they already have it in their cultural DNA to like idols


The show also goes on to track what an Around-40 fan would have experienced in her life:
1970s: The beginnings of the Idol era
The Around-40 were born during this decade.

1980s: The Idol Boom at its peak. The Around-40 were teenagers and were most probably fans of idols at this point of their life.

1990s: The peak era of the Idols had ended, and Artistes/Singers became very popular.
The Around-40 were in their twenties/thirties and were busy in their careers, getting married, and having children

Now: The Around-40's children have grown up and they have more time to themselves, leaving them time to discover Arashi and become fans.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I agree so much with the
IDEAL FAMILY & IDEAL LOVER:D
The 5 of them really give me that feeling too :D
*YAY* ARASHI!

[ofs1992.livejournal.com]

wow i got this tingly feelings all throughout reading this
arashi's that big now hmmm that tv shows even tries to analyze this arashi phenomenon

thanks for sharing! :)

[meoinkie2.livejournal.com]

just reading through the gist gives a warm and giddy feeling..^_^
i totally agree about the IDEAL FAMILY!
couldn't be more happier that i became an Arashi fan..kudos to the adorkable dorks! ♥♥♥

[oviparous.livejournal.com]

thanks for sharing these - haven't the time to watch the videos, but your summary was invaluable. i love media research and this really strikes a chord with me. thanks!

[fliii.livejournal.com]

i love how matsujun hit aiba at the end of the first clip xD aiba never changes ne~.
Arashi saikou<3~

[drigby.livejournal.com]

what i thought funny too was the fact that Aiba was waving and screaming back at the fans (with such an adorable funny face) before jun hit him on the head

[satoyan]

Thank you so much for the summaries! I haven't seen the videos yet but I am already crying happy tears. Oh, Arashi, you make me feel such feelings. ♥♥

[astrangerenters.livejournal.com]

I hope there's still Arashi for me to fangirl about when I'm 40 :)

Then again, that's only 14 years for me (your mileage may vary)

[green-yeti.livejournal.com]

Wow, just wow. Thanks for sharing!

[ippiki-tama.livejournal.com]

thank you so much for sharing!! interesting topic ne..why in that age they idolizing arashi, which is normally happen in 11-20th years age :)
i totally agree with ideal family and ideal lovers~~~

[lihui94.livejournal.com]

this is good news! :D
*BANZAI~!*

[i-k-a-h.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for sharing and for the summary!!!

[strwberry-muse.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with this, Ideal Family and Ideal lover. XD Thanks so much for sharing!

[charingyu.livejournal.com]

warm xD

nice to read about why grown up like arashi as well~~
it's actually not THAT different to the younger generations at least to me ~~
But i see them as perfect brothers insteads xD who are like at least 10 years older than me XD

[boohaysaging.livejournal.com]

thanks for sharing :) this is very interesting! :)

[tudorqueeny.livejournal.com]

I can so feel the love! I totally agree with that they seem pretty normal and they carry themselves with grace in spite of the job's difficulty! They are totally the ideal boys of every generation! Somehow i feel that i could reach them and that they dont take the celebrity air seriously! Im so proud of these boys and im happy that i met them!XXXDDD

[karadin.livejournal.com]

Wow, really interesting! As an older fan, I can relate!

[haru-desu.livejournal.com]

AGREEE!!
Arashi is the dorkiest boyband..
they can made everyone smiling just to watching their bakaness...lOL!

[helios-blue.livejournal.com]

this is very interesting!
i love how japanese people like to research on things that in some other places are thought as not that worthy to be researched

i totally agree that arashi is not like the typical idols, more like a family
and they do can "heal" people with what they're doing, i can relate to that :)

[bunnyrapper.livejournal.com]

thank you so much for sharing!!
arashi is never die XD

[hanaismail.livejournal.com]

"Arashi are a source for her enjoyment in life, she is energised by (watching) them" - this is what i really felt when i watch them.. when i feeling down i watched their shows and its like a treatment to me.. :D

[yamapi-to-yuya.livejournal.com]

my feeling about why i become a fan of arashi is same with that women from chiba...
that's why i love storm..
ARASHI SAIKOU~~~~~~~~~~!!!!!!!!!

[cassyclim8.livejournal.com]

i'm still in the middle of finishing the first video but i can't help but read what each video focused on. thanks for this!

it really warms the heart of arashi fans when reading stuff about why people love arashi and tend to reinforce their own reasons for liking them too!

their closeness really gets to you and their songs also heals you. i've personally experienced that. just looking at them makes people happy. one can certainly feel affinity towards them and not see them as idols that you worship from afar.

[shokim.livejournal.com]

I feel happy reading this analysis!

Ideal lovers and family ~ so right!

Arashi have the politeness not seen so much in young people these days

Agreed! Young idols and talent could and should definitely learn from Arashi!

OMG! They earned so much for House Curry! O_O Wonder how much were they paid to jostle with the Disney figures?

[amiegroove.livejournal.com]

wow sugoii!!
these can make into thesis writing if only there's a topic on arashi. LOL!
they really done the researches on arashi.
i can tell, i AM a proud fangirl and in a BIG HUGE fandom!
they succeed on spreading the STORM throughout the world.
aiba-chan's words are not going into dumpsites as he's only managed to say this during the debut days.
thanks for sharing!

[gilsy.livejournal.com]

it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, even when i don't understand a word of it.
:D