In a rare move in this conservative nation, Shinjiro Atae, a J-Pop idol, announced on social media and during an in-person event Wednesday, standing in front of a few thousand fans onstage in a ...

Japanese pop idol Shinjiro Atae came out as gay during a concert in Tokyo to over 2,000 of his fans. The announcement, which he said he’d been wanting to make, is highly unusual in Japan where ...

BiS-Kaidan is a cross-generational coup de pop, uniting two acts from opposing ends of Japan’s musical spectrum. BiS (short for Brand-New Idol Society) are representatives of Japan’s “idol” scene, a ...

Exploitative contracts that force young female Japanese pop stars to forego relationships and sex are at the heart of director Koji Fukada's latest film, which has premiered in Cannes. The 45-year-old ...

What really goes on inside Japan’s idol industry? In this episode of Japan Today Spotlight, we explore the strict no-dating and no-sex rules placed on Japan’s J-pop idols — especially young women.