Rebirth of the Industrial Tycoon

Chapter 622: The World of Faces

Japan is a country with a single nation, and Japan's society is also relatively simplistic, and its acceptance of foreign things is not high.

But this does not mean that Japan does not accept foreign cultures at all. If it is a strong culture in the world, Japan has always accepted it completely, but if it is not a strong culture, it is difficult to gain a foothold in Japan.

During the Tang Dynasty, China was the most powerful culture at that time, and the Japanese began to learn from China in an all-round way, regardless of whether they were not acclimatized, and copied all the things of the Tang Dynasty to Japan.

In modern times, with the rise of Western powers, European civilization was the dominant culture in the world at that time, and Japan began to fully westernize, copying all the European methods to Japan.

After the end of World War II, the United States became the most powerful country in the world. American culture became popular, and Japan began to learn from the United States. Whatever was popular in the United States, Japan followed suit.

The simplest example is American football. Except for the United States, only the Japanese are playing American football in the world, and they play it very smoothly. Except that their bodies are not as strong as American muscular sticks, their tactics, techniques, etc. are all in the world. Top. .

The American football mentioned here refers to the football under American rules, which is the kind played by the American NFL.

In addition to American rules, rugby also has British rules, which are much lighter in terms of physical confrontation. British rules are common in international competitions.

The rugby leagues held in Europe and Australia are all leagues with English rules. Japan is the only country other than North America that has an American football league. Many rugby players who can't play in the United States simply go to the Japanese league to make a fortune.

It can be seen that Japan has learned from the United States very thoroughly.

Therefore, many artists who are popular in the United States are also very popular in Japan.

From the original Beatles and Queens, to Michael Jackson later, to Linkin Park after the 21st century, and Meimei and Gaga in recent years, as long as they are the top superstars in the United States, they are very popular in Japan. The concert they held in Japan was even more popular than in the United States.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Hallyu culture also began to enter Japan. At that time, in order to get rid of the impact of the Asian financial crisis, South Korea formulated a strategy of rejuvenating the country through culture.

Japan was the largest market in Asia at that time, and naturally it was also the primary target of Korean culture export.

And what South Korea used to open up the Japanese market was the most popular hot group in South Korea at that time.

The hot group can be regarded as the originator of idols in Korean music festivals. However, after this group arrived in Japan, they encountered dissatisfaction.

Hot's washed-out, cut-and-blown attire is avant-garde in the eyes of other Asian countries, but it is uncommon in Japan. Of those bosozoku in Japan, which one is not non-mainstream? If you want to see ghosts and ghosts, Japan is everywhere, so why use Koreans?

As for songs, the level of song creation in Korea at that time was relatively average, and many traditional Korean folk songs even appeared on the pop music stage.

After decades of baptism of American culture in Japan, their song creation is more westernized and popular. This can be seen from the theme songs of Japanese anime at that time. Both the style and rhythm are the style of popular songs.

For the Japanese, if I want to listen to music, we have better ones in Japan, why should I listen to your Korean music?

More importantly, the hot group is not handsome!

As an idol, you can sing badly, dance badly, or have no acting skills, but you must pretend to be handsome.

After all, this is a world that depends on appearances. If an idol group is not handsome enough, that is the original sin!

When the hot group entered the Japanese market, Korean doctors hadn't developed the unique skill of knife skills. Those few authentic Korean faces with single eyelids were hard to touch the aesthetic point of Japanese audiences.

Even the hottest combination in South Korea,

It didn't make any waves in Japan, which also made Iijima Santomo think that this newly established f4 group may not even have a short-lived chance!

Japan's cultural industry is still relatively developed, such as books, magazines, etc., which are very popular in Japan. Various magazines can be bought directly in Japanese convenience stores, and bookstores, comic shops, etc. are also spread all over the streets of Japan.

Most of the bookstores and comic shops are relatively small, and the space inside is not large, and the aisles are only big enough for one person to pass through. Bookstores like the one in Crayon Shin-chan are considered relatively large bookstores in Japan.

Although the so-called sparrow is small and complete, small bookstores on the streets of Japan sell a relatively complete range of books and periodicals. In addition to best-selling books, such as magazines, celebrity photos, and new manga booklets, etc., are also sold.

Some bookstores can also be used as filming locations for movies. After selling books, they can make a few wonderful movies and earn an extra income.

For example, April Story, Days at Morisaki Bookstore, and the Unable to speak series, etc.

In a certain bookstore, a young girl passed by the place where the celebrity photos were placed in the bookstore. Her eyes glanced inadvertently, and then she stopped immediately.

Then the young girl rushed over and picked up a photobook from the most inconspicuous corner.

It's really f4's photobook! The young girl immediately showed an expression of treasure, and then the young girl held f4's photobook and went to the counter to pay, as if she was afraid of being preempted by others.

Seeing this girl buying f4's photobook, the bookstore owner suddenly smiled. From the bookstore owner's point of view, there is a high probability that this kind of photobook of non-Japanese stars will not be sold, so he only bought five copies and put them on display. Try the water on the bookshelf, if it can't be sold, it will be disposed of as a waste book, and you won't lose too much.

F4's photo album was just put out, and one copy was sold, which made the boss feel that he had a mouthful of blood.

Soon, the second, third, fourth, and fifth books were all bought by customers, and those who came to buy the f4 photobook were all young ladies.

The five photobooks of f4 were all sold out, and some customers came to ask when the new batch of photobooks would arrive.

Only then did the bookstore owner realize that this f4 photobook is still a bestseller!

It's really strange. They are obviously not Japanese stars, so why do so many people like them? Is it because they are handsome?

The bookstore owner sighed softly, then handed over the bookstore to the clerk, and drove a small bread to the bookseller to buy goods.

However, what the bookstore owner didn't expect was that f4's photobook was already sold out!

In Japan, selling photobooks has always been an important source of income for idol artists.

When many young artists first debuted, they wanted to sing but didn’t have singing skills, danced but didn’t dance, and acted but didn’t have acting skills. Record companies were unwilling to release songs for them, film and television companies were unwilling to hire them to make dramas, and even magazines were unwilling to invite them to shoot. , At this time, the photobook became their only source of income.

The so-called underground idols in Japan basically survive by selling photobooks. The larger the scale, the higher the sales.

In addition, there are some female artists who are resident in the hard disk, and several photobooks will be published after shooting. After all, taking photos saves energy, saves voice and makes more money than taking videos.

The prices of photobooks in Japan are all below 2,000 yen. The so-called below 2,000 yen is actually 199x yen. Even if it is full-color high-definition printing, the price is relatively high, so the profit from selling photobooks is very good.

Some film and television stars with better images earn much more money from selling their photo albums than their film salaries. Therefore, Japanese artists are more keen on taking photo albums.

The same is true for many singers. They also release a photobook when they release an album. If you want to save trouble, you can grab a few shots while shooting the MV, put them in the photobook, and sell them together with the album, and you can earn a fortune. .

And for popular idols, taking a photo album can also cover up the lack of personal ability to the greatest extent.

Idols mainly rely on their faces to make a living. Some idols are good at singing, dancing, and acting. From another perspective, if you can do one thing in singing, dancing and acting, you don’t need to rely on your face to make a living. You can rely on your strength .

For a photo album, you don’t need to sing, dance, or act, just pose. Moreover, the photos taken can also be improved through post-retouching, and the requirements for artists are the lowest.

A young artist like f4 who has just debuted belongs to this type of relying on his face to make a living.

The f4 of the later generations can sing, dance, and act, and they have won some awards, proving their strength.

However, these skills are all developed after some training and practice after becoming popular. Take acting for example, as long as you have some talent, after the experience of several male protagonists, you will definitely be able to master some acting skills and skills, and gradually become a powerful group.

But f4 in 2001 obviously does not have these capabilities. So I can only rely on photobooks to earn the first wave of money. So when Meteor Garden was broadcast in Japan, f4's photobook also came to Japan.

And f4's photobook is really popular in Japan.

After all, this is a world of faces!

Before f4, Asian artist groups still became popular by singing and dancing, not by their appearance.

The early beyond bands really relied on their strength to make a living. Later, with the youthful and lively combination of the Little Tigers, it is natural for fans to like it.

Later, there was hot's unrestrained passion and unrestrained passion, which vividly expressed the rebelliousness of young people. nrg conquered the audience with good songs and gorgeous dances.

Even in Japan, the smap group that Kimura Takuya belongs to showed healthy and lively characteristics when they debuted. Among the five members, apart from Kimura Takuya, the appearance of the other four must not be detached from idols.

It wasn't until the appearance of f4 that the idol group was truly defined. Four boys with different styles but good looks and figures got together and posed a few handsome poses to attract a group of nympho fans.

The appearance of the f4 combination gave a slap in the face to many young people who wanted to rely on their strength to make a living. At this time, everyone discovered that the world really depends on faces!

In the entertainment industry, hard work is useful, but a handsome or beautiful face can easily surpass decades of hard work by others.

At that time, Ms. Chai also spent a lot of effort in choosing the f4 combination. The first is to require a height of more than 180 cm. This alone has eliminated many young people.

After all, in those days, 180 centimeters was considered tall, and Ms. Chai's audition was not in Shandong, so it was not easy to find young people over 180 centimeters.

In f4, Jerry Yan had experience in acting, and he was spotted by Ms. Chai a long time ago, so he reserved a spot. The remaining three people hope to be selected through auditions.

At that time, more than 200 people came to the audition. After one round of elimination, there were only 50 people left. The team of Meteor Garden needed to select three other people among the 50 people.

Then Ms. Chai met Vanness Wu at the gym, and Zhu Xiaotian while eating barbecue, and accidentally met Zhou Yumin who accompanied a friend to the interview, and the other f3 was selected.

In other words, none of the more than 200 people in the audition was selected, and they all came for nothing. The purpose of this audition is to give Zhou Yumin the opportunity to interview with his friends.

Perhaps it was this kind of selection among amateurs that led to the selection of four different styles, which eventually became the hottest idol group in Asia.

As a middle-aged woman and a high-level executive of an artist agency, Sanzhi Iijima usually pays great attention to personal appearance maintenance, and has never lacked various cosmetics and beauty products.

During the weekend, Iijima Sanzhi decided to go to the drug store to buy some cosmetics while he was resting, so as to enrich his inventory.

At the door of the drug store, there is an advertisement for f4 hanging. They endorse a relatively cheap skin care product.

This kind of low-level artist combination can only endorse cheap products. It's not like Takuya Kimura, who endorses high-end products! Santomo Iijima thought sourly.

When I walked into the drug store, I found that there were still a lot of people shopping today, and customers were already picking products.

The female clerk saw that Santomo Iijima was well dressed, and thought he was a wealthy customer, so she greeted her and said, Madam, we have a new face-lifting device, would you like to take a look?

Women always care more about face-lifting, and Mitomo Iijima nodded again.

The female clerk immediately brought over the face-lifting device, and Santomo Iijima saw that it was a puppy brand!

Has this brand not disappeared in Japan yet? Iijima Sanchi said unconsciously.

The female clerk replied: Madam, you really know how to joke. This brand of face-lifting device is currently the best-selling one. And if you buy this face-lifting device now, you can also participate in the event!

So it's because of promotional activities that we survived in the Japanese market! Mitomo Iijima thought to himself, and then asked, What promotional activities are there?

If you buy this product, you can participate in the brand's lucky draw. The female shop assistant explained seriously.

What prizes are there? Iijima Sanchi asked again.

The prizes are right here, lady, please take a look. The clerk pointed to a small cabinet next to the counter, and then said, We have a total of first, second, and third prizes. The third prize is the poster of the popular group f4. open!

Is it just a poster? This manufacturer is quite stingy. There shouldn't be anyone buying this face thinner just for the poster, right? Iijima Sanzhi complained.

Yes, customers only want to win the first prize before buying this face-lifting device. The female shop assistant said.

What's the first prize? Iijima Sanchi directly skipped the second prize.

It's the photobook of the popular group f4! The female clerk said, picked up the photobook of f4, and then introduced; This photobook is currently sold out, and you can't buy it in bookstores. You can only buy dog ​​tags Only the face-lifting instrument can be won in the lottery!

Why is this f4 again! Iijima Sanchi snorted coldly.

Ma'am, this combination is very popular among girls in high school and college! the clerk said immediately.

Can you be more popular than Takuya Kimura? Sanchi Iijima asked disdainfully.

Kimura-kun is married after all. The female clerk pointed to the poster of f4, showing a nympho expression: Look, how handsome this f4 is! I wish I could sleep with them...

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