Oshi-Katsu Chronicle, the 1970s: Star Tanjo! and the Shineitai, Music on Cassette, and Yamato's Anime Fever
In 1970s Japan, many idols debuted from television audition shows. It was also the era of the shineitai, or “guard corps,” fan groups that wore matching happi coats and headbands at venues and coordinated calls during song interludes.
Events also began where anime and manga fans brought books they had made themselves. At the end of the decade came the Walkman, which let you carry your music around on cassette tape.
- Star Tanjo! beginsA viewer-participation singer audition
- Candies 10,000-Person CarnivalThe base of Zenkyanren
- First Comiket32 circles, about 700 people
- Yamato film releasedLines formed at cinemas
- The Best Ten beginsA live Thursday ranking show
- First WalkmanPriced at 33,000 yen
Fans organized themselves, then took their music outdoors.
Watching Singers Debut on Star Tanjo!
On October 3, 1971, Star Tanjo! (A Star Is Born!) began on the Nippon Television network. Planned by lyricist Yu Aku and hosted by Kinichi Hagimoto, it was a viewer-participation singer audition show (article on the show’s 50th anniversary, in Japanese).
The program broadcast ordinary applicants advancing through preliminaries to a final convention where record labels and talent agencies raised placards to bid for them. Being able to watch over and cheer for future stars from the pre-debut audition stage was something new in television music shows.
- July 1972Masako Mori
- Debuted with "Sensei" (Teacher).
- February 1973Junko Sakurada
- Debuted with "Tenshi mo Yumemiru" (Even Angels Dream).
- May 1973Momoe Yamaguchi
- Debuted with "Toshigoro" (Coming of Age).
Born in the same 1958 school year, the three were named the “Hana no Chusan Trio” on the show’s 100th-episode special in 1973, and entertainment magazines spread the nickname nationwide (Shukan Josei PRIME, in Japanese).
- 01Audition showStar Tanjo! begins in October 1971
- 02Mori debutsWith Sensei, July 1972
- 03Sakurada debutsFebruary 1973
- 04Yamaguchi debutsMay 1973
- 05Named a trioThe 100th-episode special, 1973
The three shared a school year, and the name caught on with fans.
Among male idols, Hiromi Go, Hideki Saijo and Goro Noguchi won huge followings as the “Shin Gosanke” (the New Big Three). Though the label sounds like a group name, the three competed with hit songs as solo singers (NHK Archives: “Arrival of Idol Singers”, in Japanese).
Playing Albums Over and Over, and Folk and Bands Take Off
In January 1971, the Tigers disbanded after a final concert at the Nippon Budokan. Vocalist Kenji Sawada made his solo debut that same year and won the 19th Japan Record Awards in 1977 with “Katte ni Shiyagare” (Do as You Please). Known affectionately as “Julie,” he lit up television song shows with flamboyant costumes and staging (The Tigers; Japan Composers Association, 1977, both in Japanese).
Meanwhile, folk and “New Music” singer-songwriters who wrote and performed their own songs expanded their support among young listeners. Yosui Inoue’s album Koori no Sekai (Ice World), released in December 1973, became the first LP in Japan to top one million copies in 1975, establishing the habit of listening through full-length albums rather than singles alone (Universal Music Japan: Koori no Sekai, in Japanese).
- 1 million
- Copies of Koori no Sekai, the first Japanese LP to pass that mark, in 1975
- 1.75 million
- Copies of Myojo's November 1975 issue
- 1.53 million
- Copies of Heibon's February 1974 issue
Magazine figures are copies printed, not numbers of fans.
Yumi Arai debuted in 1972, scored hits in 1975 with “Ano Hi ni Kaeritai” (I Want to Go Back to That Day) and the album COBALT HOUR, and changed her surname to Matsutoya upon marriage in 1976. In June 1978 Southern All Stars debuted with “Katte ni Sindbad,” and that same year Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto formed the electronic music trio YMO (Yellow Magic Orchestra) (Yumi Matsutoya; Southern All Stars; YMO, all in Japanese).
Zenkyanren and the Shineitai: Fans Organize Their Own Support
The trio Candies—Ran Ito (Ran), Miki Fujimura (Miki) and Yoshiko Tanaka (Sue)—made their record debut in September 1973 with “Anata ni Muchu” (Crazy About You). In October 1975, the “Candies 10,000-Person Carnival” was held at the Kuramae Kokugikan sumo hall, and out of its organizing committee fans themselves launched the National Candies Federation, known as “Zenkyanren” (Sony Music: “Candies”, in Japanese).
Zenkyanren linked branches across Japan, publishing newsletters and organizing group trips to regional concerts. An interview with Kengo Ishiguro, who belonged to its Hokuriku branch at the time, records the cross-regional camaraderie and excitement of traveling to shows (testimony from a participant at the time, in Japanese).
Around the same time, private cheering squads called shineitai were active at idol venues, wearing matching happi coats and headbands and leading synchronized calls and handclaps during song intros and interludes.
With no internet or social media, fans kept in touch through printed newsletters, phone calls and in-person meetups.
Fans organizeSupport built by fans themselves
- Regional branchesFan clubs linked across areas
- NewslettersKept members in touch
- Trips to showsEnsei to see the group
- Matching outfitsThe shineitai's look
- Timed callsCheers in unison at shows
Before social media, printed newsletters and meetups did the work.
Requests to Song Shows, and Lyric Supplements in Magazines
In January 1978, TBS launched The Best Ten, hosted by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi and Hiroshi Kume. Airing live every Thursday night, the show announced its own composite rankings and connected by live remote feed with singers at train stations or regional halls. Alongside record sales, cable radio and radio play, viewer postcard requests directly affected the rankings (records on the show, in Japanese).
On the late-night radio program All Night Nippon, 1970s hosts included Takuro Yoshida, Tamori, Chiharu Matsuyama and Miyuki Nakajima. Folk and New Music artists who rarely appeared on television built close ties with listeners through late-night radio talk (All Night Nippon 55th Anniversary History, in Japanese).
Among idol magazines, the November 1975 issue of Myojo reached an all-time high of 1.75 million copies, while the February 1974 issue of Heibon hit a record 1.53 million. Those figures represent copies printed rather than total numbers of fans (Yuki Tajima, Shuppan Kenkyu no. 46; Shueisha Myojo, both in Japanese).
The Space Battleship Yamato Film, and Comiket, Where Fans Bring Their Own Books
Broadcast on television in 1974, the anime Space Battleship Yamato gained middle-school, high-school and college fans through reruns and reached theaters in August 1977. Overnight lines formed outside cinemas before opening day, turning the film into a social phenomenon, and the 1978 sequel Saraba Uchu Senkan Yamato: Ai no Senshi-tachi (Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love) became a major hit as well. In April 1979, the TV anime Mobile Suit Gundam also began airing (Bandai Namco Filmworks, in Japanese).
Beyond watching works, fans created a venue to bring and distribute books they had made themselves: Comic Market, or “Comiket,” which held its first event on December 21, 1975, in a conference room at the Japan Fire Hall in Toranomon, Tokyo. Doujinshi are self-published books created by individuals or groups of friends who share a common interest.
- December 1975, 1st32 circles
- An estimated 700 participants. Many shojo manga fan circles took part.
- 1977Anime doujinshi increase
- Spurred by the Space Battleship Yamato boom, anime fan books and participating circles grew.
- December 1979, 13th290 circles
- About 4,000 participants. The section where Gundam circles gathered was crowded too.
(Comic Market Preparatory Committee chronology, in Japanese)
The Walkman Goes on Sale, and Cassette Music Goes Outdoors
On July 1, 1979, Sony released the first Walkman, the playback-only compact cassette player “TPS-L2,” for 33,000 yen. Pairing a cassette tape with lightweight headphones, it let users listen to stereo music while walking (Sony: record of the 20th anniversary of release, in Japanese).
Recording radio broadcasts onto cassette (“air-checking”) was already popular, and the Walkman allowed fans to carry tapes filled with their favorite songs on their commute and out into the city.
Taito’s arcade video game Space Invaders, released in June 1978, also swept game centers and coffee shops nationwide, with players stacking 100-yen coins on cabinets to compete for high scores (explainer on Space Invaders, in Japanese).
Key Events of the Decade
- 1971The Tigers disband after their final Budokan concertMusic
- 1971"Star Tanjo!" begins airing (Nippon Television)Media
- 1972Masako Mori debuts with "Sensei." Candies gets its nameIdols
- 1973Junko Sakurada and Momoe Yamaguchi debut, and are named the Hana no Chu-san TrioIdols
- 1973Yosui Inoue's "Koori no Sekai" is released and heads toward becoming the first LP to sell 1 million copiesMusic
- 1974"Space Battleship Yamato" begins airing on televisionAnime
- 1975The "Candies 10,000-Person Carnival" is held, and the 1st Comiket takes placeFans
- 1976Pink Lady debuts with "Pepper Keibu"Idols
- 1977Candies announce their breakup, and the "Yamato" film is releasedIdols / Anime
- 1978"The Best Ten" begins airing, with a pre-launch special rated 21.4%Media
- 1978Southern All Stars make their major debutMusic
- 1978Pink Lady's "UFO" wins the Japan Record AwardMusic
- 1979"Mobile Suit Gundam" begins airing, and the Walkman is releasedAnime / Business
Words of the Era
- Zen-Kyan-ren (All-Japan Candies Federation)
- The name of the National Candies Federation, an organization that cut across individual fan clubs
- Futsu no onnanoko ni modoritai ("I want to go back to being an ordinary girl")
- The words of Candies' 1977 breakup announcement. It is said to have become a buzzword of the time
- Julie
- Nickname of Kenji Sawada. It was used from his Tigers days and stuck through his solo years
- Comiket/doujinshi (Comic Market/fanzines)
- The short name of the Comic Market, and the word for books that participants make themselves and distribute
The chart lists singers’ nicknames and the abbreviations of fan organizations. Doujinshi is not a word born in the 1970s, but through Comiket, which began in this decade, it became firmly established among manga and anime fans.
Next comes 1980, when Seiko Matsuda and Toshihiko Tahara debut and new idols drew attention on TV song shows. The Gundam plastic models, “Gunpla,” also went on sale that year.
FAQ
What kind of decade were the 1970s in oshi-katsu history?
A decade in which a TV audition show turned amateurs into stars, and fans began building their own cross-regional "federation" organizations and markets for fan-made books. The decade ended with the Walkman, which let you carry music with you.
What kind of show was Star Tanjo!?
A viewer-participation singer audition show that began on Nippon Television in October 1971. It sent out Masako Mori, Junko Sakurada, Momoe Yamaguchi, Pink Lady and others.
What was Zenkyanren?
Short for Zenkoku Candies Renmei, the National Candies Federation: a nationwide organization that fans set up on their own, separate from the agency-run fan club. It grew out of the organizing committee for the "Candies 10,000-Person Carnival" in October 1975, with its founding ceremony held in October 1976.
What was new in the 1970s music scene?
Folk and new music grew up alongside kayokyoku, the Japanese pop of the day, and idols. Yosui Inoue's Koori no Sekai (Ice World) became the first Japanese LP to pass one million copies, and in 1978 Southern All Stars and YMO both got started.
How big did Comic Market get in the 1970s?
According to the organizing committee's chronology, the first Comiket in December 1975 drew 32 circles and about 700 people, and the 13th in 1979 drew 290 circles and about 4,000. From around 1978, participants also began walking around in costume.
What did the Walkman change about oshi-katsu?
It let you listen to music on cassette through headphones when you were out. The first model, released in July 1979, cost 33,000 yen.
