Most of the People's understanding of Yasushi Akimoto began with the "48 Series" idol group represented by AKB48. Chinese fans use "Fat Autumn" to call Yasushi Akimoto, who has not been slim in the past decade, and Japan's young Generation Z (post-95s and post-00s) only knowSakb's Akimoto Yasushi, and do not know the multiple identities of Akimoto Yasushi as a lyricist, playwright, planner, director, businessman and so on. How did yasushi Akimoto, who is controversial and Chinese fans love and hate the so-called "Fat Autumn", span the entertainment community, and how has he influenced the popular culture of Japan and Asia throughout the past three decades?
Yasushi Akimoto.
Prodigal son, writer
Most Chinese's understanding of Yasushi Akimoto began with the "48 Series" idol group represented by AKB48. AKB48 was founded in late 2005, and in 2008 it gradually stepped out of the underground group era and entered the Japanese public vision, and from 2009 onwards, it was continuously featured in the "Red and White Song Festival" of the Japanese Spring Festival Gala, officially crowned as a national idol - and then with the group's excellent affinity and cooperation with the spread of the Internet, it became a topic that could not be bypassed when talking about "Japan", "idols" and "subculture".
Fans around the world not only laugh and cry with the various types of idols of the "48 Series", but also love and hate Yasushi Akimoto behind the "48 Series", the "godfather" of the Japanese idol industry and the versatile legend of the Japanese entertainment industry.
Yasushi Akimoto was born on May 2, 1958, the eldest of two brothers. His family is tokyo's ordinary working class, and he is completely an outsider to art and entertainment. In junior high school, Yasushi Akimoto still had the ideal of "governing the country and the world", and his goal was to become a famous middle school with a consistent system of junior high school (no examination for junior high and high school entrance examinations) (the number of students admitted to the University of Tokyo for many years in Japan ranked first), but the results were too poor to be admitted.
After entering the high school (high school) affiliated to Chuo University, he was still preparing to sprint to the University of Tokyo in his sophomore year of high school (1973), but he could not concentrate on preparing for the exam, but he overheard the radio program broadcast by Japan at that time, and thought that "but so, I can also write", so he proposed himself at the instigation of his friend and wrote a 20-page funny version of "The Tale of the Flat Family" in the notebook used for the preparation of the exam. The work, which was mailed to the television station, was immediately recruited by Yasushi Okoyama, a broadcast writer at the time (who mainly wrote screenplays for radio dramas and other programs broadcast in Japan), and Yasushi Akimoto.
At the age of 17, Yasushi Akimoto was soon able to work in writing, abandoning Dongda university to enter the Faculty of Literature of Chuo University, and finally almost did not go to school, dropping out of school full-time as a writer to support himself.
I am afraid that the word "feed" is too small to look at Yasushi Akimoto. Before Fa Fu became a "Fat Autumn", he was a complete prodigal son. From the beginning of writing, Akimoto Yasushi has never been short of money, arbitrarily using pen and talent to make money, and early on he has met a number of literary and entertaining people other than playwrights.
In 1980, less than four or five years after dropping out of college, Yasushi Akimoto crossed over to become the co-producer of the funny group "Tunnel Duo", and then crossed over from the funny planner, encountered a good opportunity to expand his career - composing lyrics for the single "Sudden Rain" of the group THE ALFEE, which was on the rise; less than two years later, in 1983, THE ALFEE appeared on the red and white song club of that year, which was equivalent to the first time Akimoto Yasushi crossed borders to give the group lyrics on the national stage. Since 1981, Yasushi Akimoto has also become famous in the lyric circles, writing lyrics for singers who can appear on the "red and white", and his wealth and influence have also grown rapidly.
"Fat Autumn" of literary and artistic spring and autumn
Yasushi Akimoto, who prides himself on his versatility and interests, quickly took advantage of the victory and seized the next opportunity – in 1985, the "Kitten Club" established to establish Akimoto Yasushi's status as the "Godfather of Idols", of which Yasushi Akimoto was one of the core producers. It was also from the "Kitten Club" that Yasushi Akimoto also attracted more attention from well-known entertainment media such as "Weekly Wenchun" that was later known as "Wenchun Cannon".
Kitten Club.
For idol fans, the history of the "Kitten Club" is familiar, and even a new generation of AKB fans know a little about this history of making a fortune - from its establishment in 1985 to its dissolution in 1987, although the time is short, but for the first time, the concept and charm of "Idol Next Door" are known to the world. Even after disbanding, the "Kitten Club" also walked out of well-known actresses such as Shizuka Kudo (who later married Takuya Kimura). For Yasushi Akimoto, in 1987 he paid taxes of nearly 100 million yen a year, which is a huge income.
But on the bad side, kitten's short two-year history is also fraught with discord, scandals, infighting, and controversy. These were the most violent firings by the "Weekly Wenchun" under the veteran Japanese magazine "Literature and Art Spring and Autumn".
In April 1985, not long after the group was born, several underage members who had finished recording the program were photographed by the ubiquitous "Weekly Wenchun" entertainment reporters smoking collectively in the café in Shinjuku, also known as the "Weekly Wenchun Smoking Incident", and the members of the "Kitten" group were jokingly called "smoking groups" by the good deeds. Obviously, he mainly plays "girl next door", "cultivation, affinity", but secretly smokes - Akimoto Yasushi and other producers quickly extinguished the fire and expelled several members of the regiment.
The bigger controversy comes from Yasuko Takai herself, a popular idol in the "Kitten Club", and just a year after the group disbanded in 1987, Takai Masako announced her marriage to Yasuko Akimoto. Akimoto Yasushi and Takai, who have been blessed and look not much different from today's "Fat Autumn", have appeared in various tabloids, and it is estimated that many people hate Akimoto Yasushi to the point of itching their teeth.
Takai said in an interview, "I'm just married to the man I love," envious of others. After living in seclusion in New York for nearly two years, Takai retired from show business and Yasushi Akimoto moved back to Japan.
Farewell and return
More than a decade after returning to China in 1989, Yasushi Akimoto was afraid that he still had a lingering feeling about the media's pursuit and interception, and he did not try his idol career again, but returned to the lyric world more, composing lyrics for the famous work "The River Flowing Endlessly" by the queen of the song, Miku Skylark, which became a classic of a generation (once sung by Teresa Teresa); participated in film shooting, acted as a director and producer; devoted himself to writing, and some of his works were also adapted into TV series. He also wrote a very Fitzgerald-style autobiographical novel "Farewell, Mercedes-Benz" for himself, who was less than 30 years old.
Cover of Miku Skylark's "Endless Streams".
In the past ten years, although he has not touched the idol industry again, he has not changed his low profile and has an active personality, and he has also met more new friends. During the period of Japan's bubble economy and the booming global Internet, Yasushi Akimoto met more cross-border friends with obedient personalities. The unstable tide of the early 21st century could not stop the ambitions of talented people, and in July 2005, AKB48, which was well known to world audiences, was established. Even under the guise of the well-known producer Yasushi Akimoto himself, the first performance of the group had only seven audiences - that is, the source of the core "Shinchi" title in the later early AKB48 group.
The confident Yasushi Akimoto never worried about having only seven audiences, "At that time, there were only 7 audiences in the theater for the first performance, but I was not worried at all, I just wanted to know whether those 7 people liked the performance or not." If they like it, the audience will definitely increase. Under his control, the 48 series quickly blossomed and spread its leaves, climbed to the top of the Japanese public trust list, and blossomed everywhere. In China, SNH48 and other sub-groups were also born. What follows is a story that many readers are familiar with - the "48 Series" represented by AKB48 has become a Japanese national idol for a whole decade, received by the prime minister, and even considered by the public to be "more reliable than today's politicians".
A member of the original "God Seven" of AKB48.
In February 2013, Yasushi Akimoto broke Akuyu's record and became the highest-selling lyricist in Japan. As a result, he was crowned the "godfather" and spent a lot of money on his career, from creating idols, to running entertainment apps with Takafumi Horie (Japan's first generation of Internet billionaires), and even taking up positions at the Tokyo Olympics and serving as vice presidents of universities...
The idol godfather, who has gone through several entertainment cycles, is talented and controversial — because he behaved in a young age and married an idol who was much younger than himself; and because he now sets rules and regulations for teenage members, is too strict, and does not hesitate to let members play the side ball when it comes to attracting attention. These make 48 series fans around the world love and hate it - on the one hand, they think that they are thanks to him today's AKB, on the other hand, they hate his company's crazy pursuit of profits and is destroying young girls.
Obviously, the story of "Fat Autumn" will definitely not end so simply. "Your Turn" is his return to the direction of drama and TV series, and in terms of women's groups, on June 19, the women's band he served as a producer officially debuted, and the amazing news continued.
Perhaps in 2019, a small "breathing symbol" was drawn on Akimoto Yasushi's controversial cross-border godfather life score, which was a "national-level" controversy two years ago - the "dedicated" reporters of "Weekly Wenchun" have continuously caught big news after thirty years, ranking 20 in the AKB48 total election, aged 20 and sweet-looking Sudo Rinhana, determined to preemptively expose themselves, not giving the media any chance, and announcing on the spot "about to get married and graduate from AKB" when delivering the acceptance speech. I don't know how Yasushi Akimoto would feel compared to his green years.
□ Suji Yan (Entertainment Reviewer)
Beijing News Editor Wu Longzhen Proofreader Zhai Yongjun