An 11-year-old girl has been named “The Best Idol with Glasses” by music producer Tsunku, 39. Chihira Mochida, 11, who was chosen from 1,800 candidates, appeared at the event and said: “My goal is to be a good singer and dancer.” She said she has good eye sight.
The award is aimed at discovering potential idols who look good wearing glasses. Mochida will take professional lessons to become a "talent," according to the organizers.
© Japan Today
49 Comments
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dammit
How silly.
Such things exist? How ridiculous.
rjd_jr
Ha ha, best idol with glasses huh? Creepy.
wanderlust
Bestidolwithglassesist?
Sounds like something Gollum would say.....
wargalley20011
She has good vision. That should disqualify her. How can she be a role model for the vision impaired? Someone with bad eyesite could have used the prize money to fix thier vision.
gogogo
A "talent"... only in Japan
thepro
I hate the entertainment industry in this country. Really, really hate it.
Spidey
So if she didn't wear glasses, would she still be "best idol" material?
S
Hughgarse
thats ridiculous!
Nessie
She was not an "idol" when she was picked, so this is dumb.
slappayuki
Good for her! She will be very beautiful and talented in the future, I'm sure!
thepro
Maybe she can aspire to be one of the girls that sit behind the hosts on Yarisugi Cozy and do nothing but look good. The glamorous life of an 'idol'.
soothsayer
Well done to JT for putting the word talent into the quotation marks that it rightly deserves. On the topic of the girl, it's sad to see a kid thinking that becoming a carved chunk of metal or wood as a wise career choice.
GW
this comment isnt directed at the 11yr old.
Just how daft can this country get, it appears we have a long way to go before we hit bottom if that is even possible, pathetic, actually how about presenting something to the most PATHETIC "talent", now that cud prove a real challenge, come on Jpn gambatte ne!
soldave
wanderlust - dammit. You beat me to it!
And does she actually wear glasses if her eyesight is good? And Japan really doesn't need any excuse to oggle more pre-pubescent girls than is currently done.
Dennis Bauer
Japanes males like them young
LFRAgain
It is pretty vapid, I'll give you that.
I ran into a Japanese woman recently, who apparently used to be a "talent" in Tokyo some years ago, before she put on tremendous amount of weight and was sort of forced into early retirement. Her schtick was that she was just plain zany, saying really off-the-wall things, then running around the room after every bizarre utterance with her arms outstretched, making airplane sounds. Turns out her "talent" was an acute bipolar disorder compounded by a rather extreme case of ADHD. I couldn't help but think that all those years ago that people were laughing at her, they were laughing at a socially crippling disability. And I can't help but think that if she hadn't gained weight (from, as it turned out, a glandular imbalance), she'd still be making the rounds on those idiotic variety shows, running around the stage and saying nonsensical things, while the sponsors of the program continued to rake in revenue garnered from the exploitation of woman with a severe behavioral disorder.
medievaltimes
And her next goal will be to look cute and get married before 25.
NuckinFutz
An 11 year old idol? I'm living in a land of friggin pedophiles!
nath
Well, she might be spared half the Drew Barrymore experience, what with Japan being so drug free. Then again, she might not.
Loki520
Well, she'll have a head start on best Jeanist, depressioniest, loneliest, talentlest, sushiest, wineist, sakeist.
Have I forgotten any of the "~ist's"?
Sarge
And she's just turned 11!
Are her glasses Kazuo Kawasaki 704s? Pic's too small to tell...
Sarge
"Well, she might be spared half the Drew Barrymore experience, what with Japan being so drug free"
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
meanmutha
this is pretty sick stuff. Then again, a good half of the news here is.
Otaru
Tsunku is pure genius. Congrats to the glasses girl, it must be very exciting for her.
lol @ Loki520....."sushiest" :-)
TokyoXtreme
11, huh? I thought the official Japanese joke was about 12-year-olds mixed with Coke. Apparently there is an age deflation of sorts going on with creepy old men.
romulus3
oh no. don't report this rubbish. what kind of achievement is "best 11 year old with glasses"? this makes the person with glasses feel inferior to those without. How disgusting. 11 years old? JT! she is just a child, not an object.
bobcatfish
As soon as the "best middle-aged, balding, flabby, bespectacled, bearded, cynical sod" award comes around, I'm a shoe in!
Ah_so
I see the "Christmas Cake" myth still lives on among gaijin. This is 2008 not 1988!
Soochi
Hang on. So does this mean she doesn't need to wear glasses, she just happens to look "good" in them for an 11 year old girl. Great - Creepy and bonkers!
nath
Why is this "headline news"?
Pathetic.
bamboohat
megane-ko
Betting
The real sad part about this is idiots like Zunku trying to influence society, and apparently winning :(
Bogi
And people are amazed when little kids are kidnapped and raped. Look at what the media feeds the public and tells them what is "cute". Pedophile paradise.
Himajin
The Mickey Mouse Club ring any bells?
Sarge
"Mochida will take professional lessons to become a talent"
Heck, all she has to do is imitate Becky.
Nordon
11 year old children shouldn't be Idols at all. This is bad for society.
Bogi
Yes, it does actually. And it is is no way like how young girls are presented in mainstream media (and perverted publications) in Japan. Sorry, I don't get your point.
sallemanx
Another day in Loliconland.
noirgaijin
Himajin, take a close look at the clothes that are being worn by Ms. 11 yr old and her twenty something counterparts. I don't think the MM club does this nor do they classify 11 olds in the same category as adults. An idol in Japan, is an idol at any age and as some have indicated in this post prime hunting grounds for Pedophiles. I always get a kick out of some pervert getting nab for having sex in a hotel with some under aged hooker and then read crap like this just one page further in the same news paper.
LFRAgain
To be fair, I don't think just becoming a "talent," even at 11 years of age, is an automatic endoresement for pedophilic fantasies.
"Child actor" or "child model" does not equal "sex object," even in Japan. Yes, there is a subset of utter freaks that seem to get a kick out kids, but they are by far the minority, no matter how prevalent imagery to the contrary may be publicly visible.
magpie
Who are the three ladies presenting the award?
serindipity
Ummm, OK! I don't get it. Why are they searching for entertainers who look good wearing glasses. What is the relevance? One could say it is discrimination against people who don't wear glasses. This is one of the most stupid things I have ever read.
roobus1
oh dear.. 1) it gets broadcast as news, 2) people read about it 3) people feel the need to argue about it..
usaexpat
Professional lessons to become a talent eh? Maybe that's why all the talentos here have absolutely no talent, picked only for their looks.
rurika
It's so creepy that she's going to be moulded into an idol before she even got the chance to develop her own personality. I wonder how many of these girls end up completely messed up once they've passed their sell-by date. What are her parents thinking?
briantokyo
nice
GenevaMan
The birth is declining, and all they can do with the few kids remaining is this... Sick, sick, sick...
Spider
Japan, like much of the dveloped world, is driven by youth and entertainment. Why on earth are you getting so hysterical about this? It reflects popular tastes and sells (it it wouldn't exist) It's ridiculous that every time a young girl appears on the scene it immediately get associated, by some, with pedophillia! You are obsessed.
If some troubled individual is going to kidnap a child they'll do it regardless of whether there are kids in the public eye or not. I guess you also blame video games for the violence in society.
It's been going on for years in the pop industry. Get over it!