Rebirth of the Industrial Tycoon

Japan is a single-ethnic country, and Japanese society is relatively homogeneous, and its acceptance of foreign things is not high.

But this does not mean that Japan does not accept foreign cultures at all. If it is a strong culture in the world, Japan has always accepted it completely, but if it is not a strong culture, it is difficult to gain a foothold in Japan.

During the Tang Dynasty, China was the most powerful culture at that time, and the Japanese began to study China in all aspects, regardless of the acclimatization, and copied everything from the Tang Dynasty to Japan.

In modern times, with the rise of Western powers, European civilization was the world's strongest culture, and Japan began to fully westernize, copying all European practices to Japan.

After the end of World War II, the United States became the most powerful country in the world. American culture became popular, and Japan began to learn from the United States. Whatever was popular in the United States, Japan followed suit.

The simplest example is American football. Apart from the United States, only the Japanese play American football in the world, and they play it very well. In addition to not being as strong as American muscle sticks, their tactics, techniques, etc. are world-class. Top. .

The American football mentioned here refers to football under American rules, the kind played by the American NFL.

In addition to American rules, rugby also has British rules. The British rules are much lighter in terms of physical confrontation. British rules are generally used in international competitions.

Rugby leagues held in Europe and Australia are all leagues based on British rules. Japan is the only country outside of North America that has an American football rules league. Many rugby players who cannot play in the United States simply go to the Japanese league to make a fortune.

It can be seen that Japan learned from the United States very thoroughly.

Because of this, many artists who are popular in the United States are also very popular in Japan.

From the original Beatles and Queen, to later Michael Jackson, to Linkin Park in the 21st century, and in recent years Meimei and Gaga, as long as they are top American superstars, they are very popular in Japan. The concerts they held in Japan were even more popular than in the United States.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Korean culture also began to enter Japan. At that time, in order to get rid of the impact of the Asian financial crisis, South Korea formulated a strategy of cultural rejuvenation.

Japan was the largest market in Asia at the time, and was naturally the primary target for Korean cultural export.

What South Korea used to open up the Japanese market was the most popular hot group in South Korea at the time.

The hot group is considered the originator of Korean music festival idols. However, after this group arrived in Japan, they encountered acclimatization.

Hot's shaving, haircut, and blowjob look is considered avant-garde in other Asian countries, but in Japan it is commonplace. Which of the bosozokus in Japan is not non-mainstream? If you want to see monsters and ghosts, Japan is full of them, so why bother seeing Koreans?

As for songs, the level of song creation in Korea was relatively average at that time, and many traditional Korean folk songs even appeared on the pop music stage.

After decades of being baptized by American culture, Japan's song creation has become more Westernized and popular. This can be seen from the theme songs of Japanese anime at that time. Both the style and rhythm are the style of pop songs.

For Japanese people, if I want to listen to music, we in Japan have better ones. Why should I listen to your Korean music?

More importantly, the hot group is not handsome!

As an idol, you may not be able to sing well, dance poorly, or have no acting skills, but you must definitely look cool.

After all, this is a world based on looks. If an idol group is not handsome enough, that is the original sin!

When the hot group entered the Japanese market, Korean doctors had not yet developed the unique skill of knife skills. Those authentic Korean faces with single eyelids could hardly touch the aesthetic point of Japanese audiences.

Even the most popular group in South Korea failed to make any waves in Japan. This also made Mijima Iijima believe that this newly formed f4 group may not even have a chance to be a flash in the pan!

Japan's cultural industry is relatively developed. Books, magazines, etc. are all sold in Japan. Various magazines can be purchased directly in Japanese convenience stores, and bookstores, comic shops, etc. are also found on the streets of Japan.

Most bookstores and comic shops are relatively small, and the space inside is not large. There is only enough room for one person to pass in the aisle. Bookstores like Crayon Shin-chan are already considered relatively large bookstores in Japan.

The so-called sparrow may be small but has all the essentials, but the small bookstores on the streets of Japan still sell a relatively complete range of books and periodicals. In addition to best-selling books, they also sell magazines, celebrity photos, new comic book volumes, etc.

Some bookstores can also be used as filming locations for movies. Besides selling books, they can make some wonderful movies and earn extra income.

For example, "April Story", "Days at Morisaki Bookstore", and the Unspeakable series, etc.

In a bookstore, a young girl passed by the bookstore where celebrity photos were displayed. Her eyes glanced at it inadvertently, and then she immediately stopped.

Then the young girl rushed over and picked up a photo album from the most inconspicuous corner.

"It's really f4's photo album!" The young girl suddenly showed a treasured expression. Then the young girl held f4's photo album and walked to the counter to pay, as if she was afraid of being beaten first.

Seeing this girl buying f4's photo album, the bookstore owner suddenly smiled. In the bookstore owner's opinion, such photo albums of non-Japanese celebrities would most likely not be sold, so he only bought five copies and placed them on the Test the water on the bookshelf. If it doesn't sell, it will be disposed of as used books, and you won't lose too much.

As soon as f4's photo album was put up, one copy was sold, which made the boss feel that he had gained some blood.

Soon, the second, third, fourth, and fifth books were all bought by customers, and those who came to buy the f4 photo album were all young ladies.

All five f4 photo albums were sold out, and some customers came to ask when the new batch of photo albums would arrive.

Only then did the bookstore owner realize that this f4 photo album was actually a bestseller!

"It's really strange. They are obviously not celebrities in Japan, so why do so many people like them? Is it just because they are handsome?"

The bookstore owner sighed lightly, then handed the bookstore to the clerk, and drove the minivan to the bookseller to purchase goods.

However, what the bookstore owner didn't expect was that the f4 photo album was sold out!

In Japan, selling photo albums has always been an important source of income for idol artists.

When many young artists first debuted, they had to sing but not sing, dance but not dance, and act but not act. Record companies were unwilling to produce songs for them, film and television companies were unwilling to hire them for dramas, and even magazines were unwilling to invite them to shoot. , at this time the photo album became their only source of income.

Japan's so-called "underground idols" basically survive by selling photo albums. The larger the scale, the higher the sales.

In addition, there are some female artists who are resident on the hard drive, and several photo albums will be released after filming. After all, taking photos saves energy, saves your voice, and makes more money than taking videos.

The price of photo albums in Japan is below 2,000 yen. The so-called price below 2,000 yen is actually 199x yen. Even if it is full-color high-definition printing, the price is relatively high, so the profit from selling photo albums is very good.

Some film and television stars with better images earn much more from selling photo albums than their film salaries. Therefore, Japanese artists are more keen on taking photo albums.

The same is true for many singers. When they release an album, they also release a photo album. If you want to save trouble, just capture a few scenes while shooting the MV, put them in the photo album, and sell them together with the album, and you can make a fortune. .

And for popular idols, taking photo albums can also hide their personal shortcomings to the greatest extent.

Idols mainly rely on their appearance to make a living. Some idols are good at singing, dancing and acting. To put it another way, if you are good at singing, dancing and acting, you don’t need to rely on your appearance to make a living. You can completely rely on your strength. .

When taking a photo album, you don’t need to sing, dance or act, just pose. Moreover, the photos taken can also be improved through post-retouching, and the requirements for artists are minimal.

Young artists like f4 who have just debuted belong to this type of people who rely on their reputation to make a living.

In later generations of f4, some can sing, some can dance, and some can act, and they have also won some awards, proving their ability.

However, these skills are all developed after some training and practice after becoming popular. Just like acting, as long as you have some talent, after the experience of several male protagonists, you will definitely be able to master some acting skills and skills, and gradually become a capable person.

But the 2001 f4 obviously does not have these capabilities. So I can only rely on photo albums to make the first wave of money. So when "Meteor Garden" was broadcast in Japan, f4's photo album also came to Japan.

As expected, f4's photo albums are selling like hotcakes in Japan.

After all, this is a face-based world!

Before f4, Asian artist groups still relied on singing and dancing to become popular, rather than relying on their reputation to make a living.

In the early days of the Beyond band, they really relied on their ability to make a living. Later, there was a youthful and lively combination like the Little Tigers, and it was natural for fans to like them.

Later, there was the passionate and unrestrained style of hot, which showed the rebellion of young people vividly. nrg conquered the audience with good songs and gorgeous dances.

Even in Japan, Kimura Takuya's SMAP group showed healthy and lively characteristics when they debuted. Among the five members, except for Kimura Takuya, the other four's looks are definitely not close to those of idols.

It wasn't until the emergence of f4 that the idol group was truly defined. Four boys with different styles but good looks and figures came together to attract a group of nymphomaniac fans by striking a few handsome poses.

The emergence of the f4 group gave a hard slap to many young people who wanted to rely on their strength to make a living. Only then did everyone realize that the world really depends on face!

In the entertainment industry, although hard work is very useful, a handsome or beautiful face can easily surpass other people's decades of hard work.

At that time, Ms. Chai also spent a lot of effort to select the f4 combination. The first is that the height is required to be above 180 centimeters. This alone eliminates many young people.

After all, in that era, 180 centimeters was considered tall, and Ms. Chai’s audition was not in Shandong. It was not easy to find young people above 180 centimeters.

Among f4, Yan Chengxu has acting experience, and he has been spotted by Ms. Chai for a long time and booked a position. The remaining three people hope to be selected through auditions.

At that time, more than 200 people came to the audition. After one round of elimination, only 50 people were left. The "Meteor Garden" team needed to select three more people among these 50 people.

Then Ms. Chai met Wu Jianhao at the gym, met Zhu Xiaotian while eating barbecue, and accidentally met Zhou Yimin who accompanied a friend to the interview, and the other f3 was selected.

In other words, none of the more than 200 people who auditioned were selected, and they were all in vain. The purpose of this audition is to give Zhou Yimin an opportunity to accompany his friends for interviews.

Perhaps it was this kind of selection among amateurs that led to the selection of four different styles, which ultimately led to the creation of the most popular idol group in Asia.

As a middle-aged woman and a senior executive of an artist agency, Mijima Iijima pays great attention to personal appearance care and has never been short of various cosmetics and beauty products.

During the weekend, Mijima Iijima took advantage of his break and decided to go to a drug store to buy some cosmetics to replenish his inventory.

At the door of the drug store, an advertisement for f4 hangs. They are endorsing a relatively affordable skin care product.

"This kind of low-end artist group can only endorse cheap products. How can Takuya Kimura endorse high-end products!" Mijima Iijima thought sourly.

I walked into the drug store and found that there were quite a few people shopping today, and customers were already choosing products.

When the female clerk saw that Iijima Mitomo was well-dressed, she thought he was a wealthy customer, so she greeted her: "Madam, we have a newly launched face slimmer, do you want to take a look?"

Women are always more concerned about face slimming. Mijima Iijima nodded again.

The female clerk immediately brought the face slimming device over, and Mijima Iijima took a look and saw that it turned out to be a puppy brand!

"Hasn't this brand disappeared in Japan?" Mijima Iijima said unconsciously.

The female clerk replied: "Madam, you really know how to joke. This brand of face slimming device is currently the best-selling one. And if you buy this face slimming device now, you can also participate in the event!"

"It turns out that it's only through promotional activities that we can survive in the Japanese market!" Mijima Iijima thought to himself, and then asked: "What promotions are there?"

"If you purchase this product, you can participate in the brand's lottery." The female clerk explained seriously.

"What are the prizes?" Mijima Iijima asked next.

"The prize is right here, madam, please take a look." The clerk pointed to a small cabinet next to the counter and continued: "We have a total of first, second and third prizes. The third prize is a poster of the popular group F4 open!"

"Is it just a poster? This manufacturer is quite stingy. There shouldn't be anyone buying this face-slimming device specifically for the poster, right?" Mishima Iijima complained.

"Yes, customers buy this face-slimming device because they hope to win the first prize." The female salesperson said.

"What's the first prize?" Mijima Iijima skipped the second prize.

"It's a photo album of the popular group f4!" the female clerk said, picking up the photo album of f4, and then introduced; "This photo album is currently sold out. You can't buy it in the bookstore. You can only buy the puppy brand. You can only get the face-slimming instrument through lottery!”

"Why is it F4 again!" Mijima Iijima snorted coldly.

"Madam, this group is very popular among girls in high school and college!" the clerk said immediately.

"Can he be more popular than Kimura Takuya?" Mijima Iijima asked disdainfully.

"Kimura-kun is married after all." The female clerk pointed to the poster of f4 with a nymphomaniac expression: "Look, how handsome this f4 is! I really hope to sleep with them..."

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