Oshi-Katsu Chronicle 1996: The Amuraa Phenomenon, GLAY's BELOVED, Pokémon Is Born and Yahoo! JAPAN Launches

In February 1996, Pocket Monsters Red and Green came out for the Game Boy. Players connected consoles with a link cable to trade the Pokémon they had collected or battle friends.

In the streets, “Amuraa”—young women copying Namie Amuro’s clothes and hairstyle—and baggy white “loose socks” became defining looks. On Monday nights in spring, the drama Long Vacation and the variety show SMAP×SMAP began airing back to back, reshaping prime-time television habits.

“Amuraa” and Loose Socks: Copying Namie Amuro’s Clothes and Hair

Young women who adopted Namie Amuro’s hairstyle and fashion were called “Amuraa.” Long brown-dyed hair, finely arched eyebrows, miniskirts and thick-soled platform boots filled the streets of Shibuya and Harajuku. Among high school girls, shortening uniform skirts and pairing them with bunched-up white “loose socks” also became standard style. Jiyu Kokuminsha (in Japanese)

At the 38th Japan Record Awards at year’s end, Namie Amuro’s “Don’t wanna cry” won the grand prize. At 19, she became the youngest solo singer ever to win the award. The Album Grand Prize went to globe’s self-titled debut album globe, which sold over 4 million copies, while PUFFY, produced by Tamio Okuda, won Best New Artist behind hits like “Asia no Junshin” and “Kore ga Watashi no Ikiru Michi.” Japan Composers Association (in Japanese) / ORICON NEWS (in Japanese)

In August, the four-member group SPEED from the Okinawa Actors School debuted with “Body & Soul.” Every member was still in elementary or junior high school, and their second single in November, “STEADY,” became a million seller. Natalie (in Japanese) / Japan Composers Association (in Japanese)

Monday-Night Drama Long Vacation and the Launch of SMAP×SMAP

From April to June, the romance drama Long Vacation, written by Eriko Kitagawa, aired in Fuji TV’s Monday 9 p.m. (“Getsu-9”) slot. Starring Takuya Kimura as struggling pianist Hidetoshi Sena and Tomoko Yamaguchi as model Minami Hayama sharing an apartment, its June 24 finale recorded a 36.7% household rating in the Kanto region. Video Research (in Japanese)

The show drew such a following that people said “office ladies disappear from the streets on Mondays,” and men inspired by Sena began signing up for piano lessons. The theme song, “LA・LA・LA LOVE SONG” by Toshinobu Kubota with NAOMI CAMPBELL, sold 1.85 million copies, and the drama’s instrumental soundtrack albums became hits as well. Sony Music (in Japanese)

At 10 p.m. on April 15—the same night Long Vacation premiered—the variety show SMAP×SMAP launched. With “BISTRO SMAP,” where members cooked full-course meals for guests, alongside comedy sketches and music collaborations, watching the 9 p.m. drama and 10 p.m. variety show back to back became a Monday night routine. That same year, Takuya Kimura appeared in commercials for Kanebo’s “T’ESTIMO II” lipstick, sparking a wave of fans taking posters from drugstores.

GLAY’s First Budokan Show, and a Fan Club Anniversary Live

GLAY released their second album BEAT out! in February, earning their first Oricon weekly No. 1. On September 9, they played Nippon Budokan for the first time on the final night of their tour, and their third album BELOVED, released November 18, became their first million seller. The lead single “BELOVED” also won the Grand Prix at the 29th All Japan Cable Broadcasting Awards. GLAY official site, first half (in Japanese) / second half (in Japanese)

On May 8, a live show marking the founding of the official fan club “HAPPY SWING” was held at Akasaka BLITZ. The first half was an acoustic set that included Oasis’s “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” and for the encore members came out wearing the commemorative T-shirts handed out to attendees. On December 1, footage from the Budokan concert was screened on a giant outdoor vision in front of Shinjuku Station’s east exit, drawing nearly 5,000 fans even though the band members were not present. GLAY official site (in Japanese)

1. 01BEAT out!First Oricon No. 1, in February
2. 02Fan club liveHAPPY SWING show on May 8
3. 03First BudokanTour finale on September 9
4. 04BELOVEDMillion-selling album on November 18

Releases and shows arrived one after the other, and fans followed both.

X JAPAN released DAHLIA, their first studio album in five years, on November 4 and played Tokyo Dome on December 30 and 31. L’Arc-en-Ciel released True—featuring “Kaze ni Kienaide,” “flower” and “Lies and Truth”—on December 12, achieving their first million-selling album. Imidas (in Japanese) / Tokyo Dome (in Japanese) / L’Arc-en-Ciel official site (in Japanese)

In October, the music program Break Out began airing on TV Asahi. Highlighting regional indie scenes and the bands that would be dubbed the “Big Four of visual kei” upon their major debuts the next year, it became a late-night gateway for discovering new bands. JBpress (in Japanese)

Trading Pokémon, Raising Tamagotchi, NINTENDO64 and Resident Evil

Pocket Monsters Red and Green, released on February 27 for the Game Boy, tasked players with catching and raising Pokémon to complete an illustrated encyclopedia. Because the species and encounter rates differed between Red and Green, a single cartridge could not collect all 150 Pokémon on its own. Pokémon official site (in Japanese)

By bringing Game Boys together and connecting them with a link cable, friends could trade and battle their Pokémon. Mail-order campaigns in Monthly CoroCoro Comic for Pocket Monsters Blue and the 151st mythical Pokémon “Mew” spread word-of-mouth excitement from elementary schoolers to adults.

On November 23, Bandai released “Tamagotchi,” a keychain-sized virtual pet synchronized with an internal clock. Caring for the character on its tiny LCD screen by feeding it and cleaning up after it changed the form it grew into, sparking a craze led by high school girls and long lines whenever stores restocked. Bandai (in Japanese)

Pocket Monsters

Connect with a cable to trade and battle the Pokémon you caught and raised.

Tamagotchi

Care for it every day, then show friends how it turned out.

Red and Green were priced at ¥3,900 each before tax, while Tamagotchi shipped 88 million units worldwide through March 2022. In home consoles, Capcom released Biohazard (Resident Evil) for the PlayStation on March 22, establishing the “survival horror” genre. On June 23, Nintendo launched its 64-bit console “NINTENDO64” alongside Super Mario 64, letting players run freely through 3D spaces with an analog control stick. Capcom (in Japanese) / Nintendo (in Japanese)

Comiket Moves to Tokyo Big Sight; Detective Conan and Rurouni Kenshin

Comic Market moved its venue to Tokyo Big Sight in Ariake starting that summer. Comic Market 50 on August 3–4 drew a combined 350,000 attendees over two days, and the 51st on December 28–29 drew 220,000. Comic Market Preparation Committee (in Japanese)

At the winter 51st, dedicated corporate booths were set up in West Hall 3 for the first time, with 12 game makers and publishers exhibiting. Corporate exhibitors expanded to 29 companies at Comiket 52 in summer 1997 and 51 companies at Comiket 54 in summer 1998. Comic Market Preparation Committee (in Japanese)

350,000

50th event, August

220,000

51st event, December

12

Companies exhibiting

Source: Comic Market Preparation Committee (in Japanese)

Winter 1996 (Comiket 51)

12 companies, with corporate booths set up in West Hall 3.

Summer 1997 (Comiket 52)

29 companies

Summer 1998 (Comiket 54)

51 companies

On television, the anime Detective Conan (Case Closed) premiered on January 8, followed two days later on January 10 by Rurouni Kenshin. JUDY AND MARY’s opening theme for Rurouni Kenshin, “Sobakasu,” sold over 1.2 million copies, and themes by T.M.Revolution, SIAM SHADE and L’Arc-en-Ciel encouraged anime viewers to pick up rock bands’ CDs. TMS Entertainment (in Japanese) / Sony Music (in Japanese)

Meanwhile, Neon Genesis Evangelion, which had begun the previous fall, aired its final television episode on March 27. Its unconventional final two episodes sparked intense debate, and late-night rebroadcasts across regional stations brought in waves of new fans. TV Tokyo (in Japanese)

Yahoo! JAPAN Launches: Searching for Sites You’re Interested In

On April 1, Yahoo! JAPAN launched as Japan’s first commercial web directory and search service. Starting with roughly 15,000 registered sites organized into categories by dedicated staff “surfers,” users navigated topics like “Entertainment,” “Music” and “Animation” or typed keywords to find pages. LY Corporation history

News and weather forecasts were added in July. Membership in commercial computer networks (pasokon tsushin) also jumped from 3.69 million to 5.73 million in a single year, and personal fan websites with hit counters, bulletin boards and kiriban (milestone visitor gift illustrations) began multiplying. LY Corporation history / Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (in Japanese)

April 1Service begins

Japan's first commercial search site.

At launchAbout 15,000 sites

Staff sorted and registered each site by category.

JulyNews and weather

Added to the service.

Orix Wins the Japan Series; the Giants’ Comeback Pennant Is a “Make Drama”

In the Central League, the Yomiuri Giants overturned an 11.5-game deficit to win the pennant. Manager Shigeo Nagashima’s July 16 declaration of a “make drama” (meiku dorama) became one of the year’s grand-prize buzzwords. Jiyu Kokuminsha (in Japanese)

In the Japan Series, the back-to-back Pacific League champion Orix BlueWave defeated the Giants 4 games to 1, clinching the title in Game 5 at Green Stadium Kobe for the franchise’s first championship since 1977. At the Atlanta Summer Olympics, marathoner Yuko Arimori won her second consecutive Olympic medal with bronze, and her post-race words—“I want to praise myself”—resonated across Japan. In the J.League’s single-stage season, the Kashima Antlers won their first annual championship. Orix look back (in Japanese) / Nippon Professional Baseball: Japan Series (in Japanese) / J.League (in Japanese)

Key Events of the Year

1. Jan. 8The anime Detective Conan begins broadcastingAnime
2. Feb. 27Pocket Monsters Red and Green are released (Game Boy)Games
3. Apr. 1Yahoo! JAPAN launches its serviceTelecom
4. Aug. 3–4Comic Market 50 (350,000 total visits over two days)Fan works
5. Aug. 5SPEED make their major debut with "Body & Soul"Music
6. Sep. 9GLAY hold their first concert at the Nippon BudokanMusic
7. Oct. 3The music program Break Out begins on TV AsahiMusic
8. Oct. 19–24In the Japan Series, the Orix BlueWave beat the Giants four games to one to become Japan championsSports
9. Nov. 4X JAPAN release the album DAHLIAMusic
10. Nov. 9The Kashima Antlers win their first annual J.League titleSports
11. Nov. 18GLAY release BELOVEDMusic
12. Nov. 23The handheld pet-raising game Tamagotchi goes on saleToys
13. Dec. 28–29Comic Market 51 (220,000 total visits; corporate booths set up for the first time)Fan works
14. Dec. 30–31X JAPAN hold DAHLIA TOUR FINAL at the Tokyo DomeMusic
15. Dec. 31The 38th Japan Record Awards (Namie Amuro's "Don't wanna cry" wins the Grand Prix)Music
16. Year-endThe 13th Buzzwords of the Year awards ("Amuler" makes the Top 10)Media

1. JanDetective Conan & Rurouni KenshinStart on TV
2. Feb 27Pocket MonstersRed and Green go on sale
3. Apr 1Yahoo! JAPANAbout 15,000 listed sites
4. Aug 3-4Comiket 50First at Tokyo Big Sight
5. Sep 9GLAY at BudokanA first for the band
6. Nov 23TamagotchiGoes on sale

Characters to raise, styles to copy and pages to find.

The Year’s Buzzword Awards

Grand PrizeJibun de jibun o homeretai ("I want to praise myself")

Yuko Arimori

Grand PrizeYuai / Haijo no ronri ("the logic of fraternity / the logic of exclusion")

Yukio Hatoyama

Grand PrizeMeku dorama ("Make Drama," Nagashima's phrase for a dramatic comeback)

Shigeo Nagashima

Top 10Enjo kosai ("compensated dating")

Katsushi Kuronuma

Top 10Loose socks (baggy white socks worn by schoolgirls)

Akira Tokita

Top 10Chobe riba / Chobe rigu (slang: "super bad" / "super good")

—

Top 10Heisokukan (dakai) ("sense of stagnation" and breaking through it)

Kiyoko Nakamura and Kenji Higa

Top 10Amuler (fans imitating Namie Amuro)

All the self-declared genuine "Amulers"

Top 10"Gan to tatakau na" ("Don't fight cancer," the "gan-modoki" theory)

Makoto Kondo

Top 10Fusakui sekinin (responsibility for inaction)

Ryuhei Kawada

“Amuraa” and “loose socks” both made the top ten, with the recipient for “Amuraa” listed as “everyone who considers themselves genuine ‘Amuraa.’” The grand prizes went to Yuko Arimori’s “Jibun de jibun wo hometai” (“I want to praise myself”), Yukio Hatoyama’s “Yuai / haijo no ronri” (“Fraternity / the logic of exclusion”) and Shigeo Nagashima’s “make drama.” Jiyu Kokuminsha (in Japanese)

In 1997, Princess Mononoke and Final Fantasy VII arrive, ONE PIECE begins serialization, and Morning Musume is formed.