entertainment

Pop group Arashi inspires extreme fan worship

16 Comments
By Rona Moon

Check out the photo at left of extreme fan worship in Japan. Here we have a group of (human) Arashi fans, bowing down to their round paper souvenir Arashi fans at the Nagoya Dome… arousing floods of mockery on Japanese Twitter.

Mega pop group Arashi have been taking Japan by storm with another nationwide tour. In fact, the word "arashi" literally means “storm”. They have been electrifying stadiums all over Japan, beginning this month with Nagoya Dome shown at left. They next hit the Sapporo Dome, and will now move on to Osaka’s Kyocera Dome (Nov 22-24), Tokyo Dome (Dec 12-15), and Fukuoka Dome (Dec 20-22).

The level of devotion inspired in their fans is so extreme that Arashi fans have become known as “Arasick”. Having been stricken with a mild form of this malady, I can admire these beautiful singers aesthetically, without the need for public ritual.

However, others have not gotten off so lightly. Arasick fans who worshipped their idols by bowing down to the ground (this style of bow is known as "dogeza") in the public space of Nagoya Dome were recently slammed on Japanese Twitter and Matome Naver.

Some netizens called this fan worship “disgraceful behavior”, creepy and embarrassing. Others went further and said that it was not just bad for Johnny & Associates (talent agency which represents these male idols among others), but also bad for Arashi’s image. Thanks to the bad manners of their fans, the good name of pop singers can be tarnished. Look at the “wars” between pop idols Lorde, Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez, inflated out of all proportion by enraged fans spewing vitriol and threatening physical violence. Chill pill, anyone?

Oh yeah, and my favourite Arashi member is MatsuJun. If he was lying on the ground at Nagoya Dome, I would definitely bow down. But a paper fan lying on the ground with his face on it? I’ll pass.

Source: Matome Naver

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16 Comments
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This does seem extreme and I can understand how people could look at there actions and be a little concerned. I'm worried that their obsession could get out of control which it seems it may already has.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

bakayaro.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Yawn.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Such embarrassment !! People of the " doom "

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Well, who knows. There are going to be crazy fans for almost anything in the world. You only have to take one look at any religion in the world to see that this form of "worship" in the picture above is far more rational than you think.

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That's people who NEVER listened to real music before. Ex: Jazz, Blues, rock, metal, death metal, classic... too many options. But these idiots like pop! ZZzzzzz

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Not much different from 'Beatlemania' or having Motorhead's Snaggletooth tattooed on your body. Only difference is that the Beatles and Lemmy are legitimate musicians who can actually play.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Having been stricken with a mild form of this malady, I can admire these beautiful singers aesthetically

Beautiful singers? Got to be joking. Like SMAP, none of the members of this hand-made collection have any apparent musical talent. Calculated, money-making productions and living proof of the power of the media nowadays to create stars for profit.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

"The Nighttime is the Right time"

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Ha! Losers!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

it's the same as "onedirectioners" and "Beliebers", have you ever explored twitter with hashtags like "justin", "onedirection" or any name of the members of One direction? trust me it's sickening the level of worship of these guys for these artists, for example, a couple of days agor Justin Biebe was doing a live Show in Argentina and then came to Chile turns out that Justin had stomachache (presumably for partying too hard the night before and the next day when he arrived to Chile twitter was flooded with the hashtag #PrayforJustin... I just entered the #arashi hashtag and it is not that flooded but I think the level of fanaticism is as large as any other fandom worldwide,,,

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I hate to think what fans of 'Kis-My-Ft2' do!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

You haters need to take a CHIL L PILL. How about let fan's be fan's? and let them do what they wish to show love to their favorite idols.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

How about let fan's be fan's? and let them do what they wish to show love to their favorite idols.

Fair enough, when it's only making a public display like this, but what about when they create a shrine to their favourite member in their house? What if they follow them around while they're not touring (i.e. stalking)?

Deifying another member of the human race, no matter how talented (but especially a third-rate singer in a boy band) is not healthy behaviour. Put yourself in Arashi's shoes. If you went into a super-fan's room, and found pictures of your face everywhere, how would that make you feel?

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

How is this any different from extreme fan worship of any other popular group in any country in the world? No. I didn't think so either.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

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